Writerly Thoughts

writ·er·ly   [rahy-ter-lee] — adj

of or characteristic of a writer; literary Embracing the title writer is a bit like claiming to be bilingual. One day you just see that this is indeed what you have become. There is no formal test. There is just a life of writing (or of being bilingual). Well, of course there are writing tests in the realm of education, of school accountability. They are necessary for assigning grades to students' writing work, and to the work done by those students' teachers, their schools and their school districts. But writing tests and writerly thoughts are two very different things. The funny thing is that by starting a blog entitled "Writerly Thoughts About Teaching Children", I feel someone might read it. And that feels a bit like turning in a writing assignment. Reread.  Revise?  Does this introductory blog say what I'm thinking? Check the spelling and grammar. Ready to publish? Hit the Publish button. No, wait! Don't misunderstand me, I do hope someone reads this. If that someone is you, I hope you will write feedback. Not test grader feedback: A+, A, A-, B+... D, D-, F(lunk). No, none of those short one-letter comments are necessary. Or, at least I don't think so. But if my writing touches a vein of recognition in your life, I'd love for you to tell me. After all, that's part of my writerly life - making a connection with a reader. You won't have to be a schoolteacher to see that our lives correlate. Maybe you'll see yourself in the students I have known, or in the life-lessons I have encountered while teaching, or in some other piece of a writerly morsel from my career.  I do hope you will come back here, often. But more than that, I hope I will come back here often!