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 |   Theses are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call life. |
| Today's blogs... 30 Day blogging Challenge We all know it's WDC's 14th Birthday. And they are having lots of parties this month. Well ,you are invited to a theme party. However the theme is rather unusual everyone must come as a human emotion. What's your costume? Remember it is funny Friday! Oh I love this prompt.... I can see this party. Sadness with his droopy grey hoody that is dripping all over the carpet. Happiness fluttering about in her rainbow dress her smile dazzlingly brilliant. I swear there are birds flitting around her... and butterflies. Anger is wearing a cloak of blood red and black accents that he thrusts back and forth in such an agitated way no one dares go near him. Jealousy is in a green jumper and even has matching green converse shoes. I swear her skin even has a greenish hue. Depression is looking dark, hovering over by Sadness. The two of them make quite a pair. She’s wearing a navy dress that hangs off her like rags; so unkept; like she just doesn’t care anymore. I arrive in dress of white gauze with pale pink angel wings that sparkle with diamonds. I am brilliantly dazzling from the tips of my translucent wings to my dainty pointed shoes. I am Hope and Hope has arrived. I am not flashy and buoyant like Zeal who sports an orange suit complete with black top hat and a harlequin cane. I am quiet and unassuming slipping in and floating about calm as you please. Happiness in drawn to me as is her quieter cousin, Contentment who is wearing a lovely pink dress and her hair is done up on top or her head. Golden curls spiral out about her pixie face. Faith emerges beside me smiling with kindness. She is all pink loveliness with splashes of baby blue across her dress. Love joins us as well. Her outfit a satin red that flashes both passion and tenderness. We are a happy group, but I long to move over to the more drab group to try to lighten them but Doubt holds me back. His suit of grey shimmers, then dims; not really sure what colour it truly wants to be. I oblige with a smile reassuring him, but I know soon I will make the rounds and try to stir up Hope within this room. Already a cloud has formed over in the far corner by the sliding glass doors, Negativity seems to throb just knowing things don’t look good. While over by us, Positivity bounds about getting everyone treats and drinks and trying to make everything as wonderful as she can picture it.  Blog City – Day 193 {Day 11 of the LIST} Tell me about your favorite hobbies? Why do you do them? Could you teach someone else how to do them? My biggest interest and hobby (of sorts) is my writing... poetry, short stories, novel amibitions (from NaNoWriMo) and blogging. Why do I do this? It motivates me... I find I am drawn out of bed to connect and write. I have woken up to get a poem down on paper. I have gotten up to jot down story line notes I don't want to forget. I am drawn to sites like WDC to connect with like-minded people and find encouragement and contests to submit to... I rise to the challenge of my creativity. I also like to draw. Hiking and exploring new trails is an adventure. I enjoy a good bike ride. Yoga is also calming and life expanding - it is said to be mood enhancing. The benefits outweigh the the not doing of it. Could I teach someone to do them.... for writing, I would encourage the development of a writing voice. I would encourage writing everyday and not be judgmental of attempts. First drafts are crap and being able to write crap gives you a freedom that will allow the gems to appear. Not everything we write is glorious... and beginning anything has many missteps... writing crap is part of the process. Learning to find the little gems and polish them into fine works is a process that takes patience and time. I find children write a piece once and are done, teaching them to revise and rework a piece is part of the process. Conferencing with them to work on one or two things at a time does not overwhelm them. Building confidence in what they do attempt is paramount. The program is geared it to each individual student or at least grouping them into ability groups that challenge them to try within a safe place. Reading great examples fuels them to try their own writing and reading different genres and forms of writing gives children a chance to explore their options. We are expected to teach to these, but it is also important to give free choice and encourage their efforts. Some are good at poetry, others non-fiction. Giving them a safe place to experiment is the goal... they will find their way, but they need to try. Adults who want to write may be an easier group to teach as they are coming to it with a desire to learn. It is still imperative to stress the importance of 'it is okay to write crap' so that they are not blocked by perfectionistic tendencies; we want to free them up. Giving them an opportunity to share is important with all age groups of writers; but it should not be forced. Sharing can also be done one to one or in smaller groups making the anxiety of sharing not so great. Giving a variety of options in a classroom will build classroom community and cohesiveness. Teaching yoga would be fun too... encouraging people to try and go to their level. Some people are more flexible that others. It is important to stress that you go at your own pace and not compare your abilities to that of another... the benefits of yoga is in the doing, not in the comparing. It is not a competition, it is a process... one that sees a person to improve from one place to another. Self improvement, not competition in all things. I want to foster the group as a whole, not as competing entities. As you can see many of my so called hobbies are self motivated and focus is on process and improvement and development. Competitiveness is discouraged. Cooperativeness is encouraged and praised. I want to build people up, not tear them apart. List Of Books To Encouruage And Promote Self Improvement #1. No More "I'm Done": Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades by Jennnifer Jacobson #2. Teaching That Changes Lives: 12 Mindset Tools For Igniting The Love Of Learning by Marilee Adams PhD #3. Writing Stories: Ideas, Exercises and Encouragement For Teachers and Writers Of All Ages by Carolyn Loman #4. The Cafe Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment & Instruction by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser #5. The Daily Five by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser #6. Escaping Into The Open by Elizabeth Berg #7. bang the keys: four steps to a lifelong writing practice by Jill Dearman #8. Dojo Wisdom for Writers: 100 simple ways to become a more INSPIRED, SUCCESSFUL, and FEARLESS Writer by Jennifer Lawler #9. Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver #10. Writing Magazines - Writer's Digest, The Writer... #11. Gotham Writers' Workshop: Writing Fiction; The Practical Guide For New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School. #12. On Writing by Stephen King - I am sure I have a copy of this but if I can't find it soon I am going to buy another one.... #13. Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg - anything by her actually. #14. The Artist Way by Julia Cameron - anything by her as well. Some of these are teacher reference (#1 to 5) the rest are writing reference. Some have been read many times (#13 and #14) others are being enjoyed now (#6 and #9) some are future reads I hold in high esteem. All are wonderful. This list is more self indulgent in that it is a book list of my own, but if you see anything intriguing, I'd say go for it.... and share any writing or teacher reference books that resonate with you. |
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