Wrapping up the Semester

I can't believe my writing class is finished once I turn my portfolio in on Sunday. The time really went quickly! I also can't believe that I was diligent enough to post to this blog (almost) everyday. YAY me :) I thought it would be appropriate to use my last post for this class with a little summary of the highlights:

-Attending demonstrations at the Lake Michigan Writing Project: I was able to sit in on three different demonstrations that taught me something new about writing. I had never experienced performance poetry or used a hand drawn map to inspire my writing before. I also saw different examples of how multigenre papers can be used in the classroom. I'm desperately hopeful that I can be a full-time member of one of these projects in the future.

-Being exposed to Anne Lamott and Peter Elbow who helped me realize how to find writing inspiration in every day life, and to WRITE about it, even if the first draft is complete crap.

-Learning about how reading and writing workshops can function in a classroom. I've included these in my fake syllabus and hope to incorporate them in a future classroom.

-Creating my own piece of multigenre writing. I am SO proud of that piece! It was so much work but I actually enjoyed it. It was fun to think of interesting and relevant genres and try and see what worked well with the message I wanted to convey. I actually wrote multiple drafts and thought critically about the best way to make the piece come together. Not only was it a fulfillment of a class requirement, it was very cathartic for me to write about the transition in my life.

-Developing a syllabus for a future classroom. WOW I seriously underestimated the work that goes into those few pieces of paper that I usually lose half way through the semester. It was challenging to picture the inner workings of a classroom and try and see what type of structure would be best. I had to pick texts to use and even wrote writing invitations to engage my students in the text. It was a much more difficult task than I expected, but I'm very proud of how it turned out.

After my class is done, I plan on posting daily (or close to it) to this blog. I'm not sure what direction my posts will go, but hopefully they are entertaining for the few followers I have.