Quick Writes

11/08/2012

"Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish." - Ovid

          I completely agree with this quote. If you do not allow your self the opportunity for chance to take over your life, you are bound to miss out on some of the most important things. If I had not given up my "hook...in the pool where [I] least expect it," then I would have never met my boyfriend; the man of my dreams. Now, as I remember back to that time where I let chance take over my life, I am reminded that I again must chance take hold so that my hook can catch hold of my boyfriend as my future husband. Only in time will chance allow this to happen. I must release my hold and let chance take over.



11/1/2012

"She was sure this was where he had disappeared."

            She had gone to the hole they had made together underneath the leaves that they were to use as their hideout incase things took a turn for the worse. Katniss could tell it seemed to have been visited recently, because inside she found a small medallion; Peta's medallion.




10/25/2012

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." - Anton Chekhov

           This makes me think that as a writer, would shouldn't write the obvious, but strive to highlight the subtle nuances in things. It is much more interesting to read/write about what lies beneath things than what they are at face value.




10/18/2012

"Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other." - Paulo Freire

           If we do not inquiry about subjects, we will never learn about new things. If we do not re-invent the way we think about things, we may miss out on new knowledge.




10/11/2012

"A good storyteller doesn't have to be a good writer, but a good writer must be a good storyteller." - Dorfman & Cappelli

          This quote makes me think about how sometimes people poses the ability to be wonderful storytellers but lack to skills to write them out. I feel this could apply to illiterate people who have wonderful stories to share, but do not know how to write them down. The opposite is true for someone who does know how to write. They must be able to captivate their reader with a great story in order to be considered a good writer.




10/4/2012

"It is only through risk taking and experimentation that our writers will continue to grow and become better writers tomorrow than they are today." - Dorfman & Cappelli

         This is a wonderful word of advice to students because it shows them that as a writer, you have the liberty to do things in a different way. You are allowed to break the rules of grammar sometimes, but only if it adds to your piece. Writing about things that you are not comfortable with or things that intrigue you are the best to experiment with. They help you see what does and does not work for you as a writer, and helps you become a much better writer because you tried.      




9/27/2012

"When I was a kid I had certain chores I had to do. The first one was...."

        The first chore I had to do was to dust. Dusting was an easy job but it was kind of tedious. You would spray the cloth with furniture polish and dust the wood furniture. I can remember the smell, sometimes lemony and sometimes with a musky quality to it. At my grandmother's house my job was to  dust the table and chairs in the dining room, then the book shelf with all the knick-knacks on it, and then the curio cabinet that held all of my grandma's most prized collectables. The chairs took the longest. I had to be sure to polish each rung found on the backs of the chairs, the legs, and all of the fine detailing found on each rung. I remember how slippery the seats would be after I finished dusting/polishing them. I would put the seat cushions back on a slip around on them for a minute until it was time to move onto the bookshelf.




9/20/2012

" The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and a lightening bug." - Mark Twain

       This quote makes think of the say "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grinades." It doesn't matter how close a word may sound or how close you may be to that word, the definitions or what you are trying to say will never be the same just like lightening is lightyears away from being the same as lightening bugs.




9/13/2012

"One day I think it's the greatest idea ever that I'm working on. The next day I think it's the worst that I've ever worked on - and I swing between that a lot. Some days I'm very happy with what I'm doing, a
he next day I am desperate - it's not working out."  - Eric Carle

       This quote really says a lot about how I feel on a regular basis. Sometimes my ideas just seem so perfect and then I begin to think that it's just an awful mess of ideas and nothing makes sense. I personally experience this when beginning a lesson plan. An idea comes to mind, it sounds great, but as I begin to write it up I begin to think it is the worst idea ever. I know kids must feel this way all the time about their writing or their abilities in another subject. We have to teach kids to power through these feelings because all is not lost, even when we believe that everything we think up is an awful idea.




9/6/2012

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Ronald Dahl

     This quote makes me think of how magical everything we encounter in the world is. If you don't look with hope in your eyes, you won't be able to see how special you are and how great your abilities may be. Likewise for looking at others, you never seem to see how capable or special someone is if you don't have hopeful, optimistic eyes.



8/30/2012

"One essential characteristic of being a good teacher of writing--that you have to love the learning journey." - Katie Wood Ray

     I agree with this quote because if you don't love the learning journey then you are going to hate writing because it learning who you are as a writer is a journey. A teacher must also model what his/her students are doing (writing during free time, composing their own stories, etc.) to help facilite the authenticity of the writing workshop. If the teacher can't love the journey of learning who they are as a writer, how are they going to be able to fire up their own students to love the learning journey?