The War of Art: break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles

[Ron Bonomo]

As I finished the classroom portion of the ISI I found myself struggling with how I could implement all of the great material/information that I had collected.  Initially I focused on how I would arrange for classroom materials and how those materials would be utilized within the context of the variety of classes that I teach.  Exploration of my lesson plan books, social studies standards and reviewing of demonstration projects has led me to the idea that I need to not just teach writing but inspire it. 

 

Many students have shared with me the idea that they "couldn't do it."  This book by Steven Pressfield has allowed me to construct meaningful bypasses around academic language that students can travel.  Pressfield describes his battles with his own inner "resistance" to writing.  He uses vivid analogies, descriptive personal narratives and relates a wide variety of literatures as examples with the struggle of writing.

 

This book was suggested to me by a friend that is a professional writer and editor.  Much like the book "Mastery" by George Leonard, Pressfield uses this book to describe the pursuit of the struggle that includes both the failure and success.

 

While a few pages of this book are not classroom appropriate for some levels many of the chapters can be read in as little as one minute or in as much as three.  The chapters/lessons are short and meant to defuse the the excuses that people invent to keep them from truly attempting to write.

 

Questions for discussion:

 

How do you find the balance between inspiration for the student and instruction when not in the content area?

 

How should the "struggle" of writing be used as an instructional tool?

 

 

[Stephen B. Duncan]

This is pretty much my current concern as well. I feel that I need to be careful of not going overboard. With all of the strategies I have now become aware of, it is tempting to try them all out, but I do feel that many of them are still outside the scope of what I wish to accomplish, which is to give my students basic writing skills that will help prepare them for college.

[Rose Whistler]

1. The children inspire me! When I read their writing, I usually find at least one example that makes me smile. First graders are so sweet and innocent that even a simple sentence is cause for celebration. That aside, making use of picture books offers inspiration that is literally at my fingertips. I have certain books that I use each year, but am always on the lookout for more. I categorize my collection according to the 6 traits and I use them to teach minilessons.

2. I think assessment of the writing traits is how I use the "struggle" of writing as an instructional tool. As I focus on things the writer can do, I am helping him/her focus on the writing process. Then the task is to chart growth. This allows each student to start where they are and compare themselves only to themselves, not others in the class. As I have a clear vision of success, and inform the students of how it looks in our classroom, and also inform the parents, we can keep expectations high, not shoot for perfection, but encourage students to stretch and take risks in their writing. Sometimes it is the parent who struggles, not the student, so it is important to let the parents know what is expected.

[Julianne Dillard]

Cool questions, Ron! I especially like how you consider the struggle as an instructional tool--so interesting. It makes me think of how we do our students a disservice when we don't show them the struggle, don't model the ugly, messy parts that precede the finished product. What a great chance to show students how you approach a challenging concept in your field. I think that having that modeling might make students less fearful of being wrong and more willing to risk if they see us willing to do it. I bet it would be a real confidence builder. In prepping to teach Fahrenheit 451 and Huck Finn and all this year, I have to really fight the urge to bone up on all the literary criticism, to know every symbol, theme, bit of technique. But that completely plays into the "let me bestow my great knowledge upon you" way of teaching and, beyond that, into my continuing a way of approaching literature that I learned and don't necessarily think is the best way... Thanks for sharing this book! I hadn't run across it! Julie

[Jennifer Reynolds]

1. It is hard to use in depth writing techniques when you are not in a class where writing is explicit curriculum. I liked how a few people discussed writing to learn versus learning to write and I think you have to decide where that line is in your classroom.

2. I like how you use this word "struggle" because I think that it relates a lot to history. In your area of teaching, I think you can go through the propaganda that occurs during writing. Who create/decide what is true/reality? How is it revised? Who defines what is relevant? Will those things that the writer feels are important align with how the reader interprets them? These are all questions about the struggle of writing that really are about history also.

[Karen Pedersen]

Hello Ron:

1. This sounds like a great book. In your content area, the standards address specific areas of mastery related to your field whereas in the literacy classroom the focus is reading and writing skills. I think that is where the balance is. Writing is a powerful tool for expression that can easily be integrated into all content areas without the isolated focus of teaching writing rather writing to learn. So, the common thread is expectations and traits. If content area teachers expect writing with proper conventions and great use of the writing traits, then writing becomes an engine for demonstrating learning and understanding in addition to continued practice of writing for a variety of purposes and audiences. Does this make sense? writefix.com has a lot of great ideas for writing across the curriculum that include poetry. Have you checked them out?

2. I have to agree with Julianne here. I love the approach of "struggle" of writing. I know I have struggles at times with my own writing, and the struggle never seems to be in the same part of the process. Showing students that we all struggle with expression, focusing in on a clear idea, etc. is powerful. I also believe that a teacher's attitude about writing is reflected within the instruction and learners success, so being honest about the process and struggles helps students to see that we are all human and are life long learners.
I hope I am making sense; it has been a long day.

See you soon.
Karen