Here we go again!

Within the last three weeks, I have begun using the Being a Writer program in my classroom.  I love it because I read examples of good pieces of writing to my students, then my students are given the opportunity to write, write, write, and write.  They can write in a style that is similar to what they just heard me read or they can write whatever they feel inspired to write.  At the beginning of the writing block I write for a minutes as well to model my love of and demonstrate the importance of writing.  Lately as I model and as I listen to my students talk about their writing experiences, I am reminded of how important writing truly is to express ourselves.  A 1980 Ensign article (Ensign is a monthly publication from The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about Ensign click here.) written by Janet Brigham when speaking of one gentleman's experience of keeping a journal expressed writing it this way, "He feels an urge to write that comes from within—an urge to express, to understand, to improve, to establish the validity of his experiences and his existence. When he sits at his typewriter to crash out a few quick pages or when he spends a quiet hour on a Sunday to catch up on the last few days, he is spending valuable time with himself, listening to himself." There is so much of ourselves that can be explored through our writing. So here goes another attempt at keeping a blog.  I hope to make it be what writing is truly meant to be - just an exploration of my thoughts as they come to me, not something that is meant as part of work or a regular routine.  So let's see where my mind takes me first...