June 17, 2011
I recently received an email from the mother of a former student. She wanted to say hello and fill me in on her daughter, who is completing 8th grade and will soon be a freshman at a local high school. "She wants to be an author, you know," she mentioned, and attached a piece her daughter had written called, Elizaleah at the Convent. I downloaded the piece to my computer and decided to save it as a reward for when I'd finished some work that had to get done.
It turned out to be quite a reward. I was completely engrossed in the story from the beginning. Upon finishing, I had a crystal clear flashback of a conference I'd had with this budding writer when she was in the second grade. We were side by side on the little green couch in our classroom. She was writing a story called Crow Boy and Morning Star and was struggling to get the words just right. She was unhappy with the stiltedness, but didn't know what to do about it.
After listening to her story, I realized that her sentences were almost all the same length and cadence. Because she was so bright, I settled on a teaching point that had the potential to help her craft writing she'd be more satisfied with. "As an author, you have to feel free to take liberties with your writing, experimenting with robust language and varying the length and cadence of your sentences. Experiment with crafting short and long sentences, even phrases, until you feel your story is exactly what you'd intended it to be." We spent the majority of her second grade year working together on this goal, modeling, discussing, practicing, and discovering beautiful examples in mentor texts.
Now I'm sure she doesn't remember this conversation as clearly as I do, nor the many others we had over the two years I was fortunate to work with her. Yet, in her story, Elizaleah at the Convent, the fruit of the seeds I started sowing so many years ago were clearly evident.
There must have been many other teachers who've watered and tended the cultivation of this wonderful writer. Since we don't often get to see the work our students do once they've left our care, I feel so blessed to have had a chance to see the result of those seeds I planted so long ago. It can serve as a reminder to us all that whether we witness it or not, we have a tremendous impact on the children we serve.
Epilogue: I can't close without letting you know that this student, Jacinta, was ultimately responsible for naming our conferring notebook, "The Pensieve." Not only that, the first chapter of her book Elizaleah at the Convent landed her a spot in the Stanford Early Program for Gifted Youth Writing Camp this summer. I think I am as proud as her parents! I can't wait to download her first novel on my Kindle!