2006

I thought long and hard before I committed to the five week summer institute that was run by our regional chapter of the National Writing Project. It would consume every day of the month of July, Monday through Thursday, 8:30-3, not to mention the at least half-hour commute. I have been spoiled by living less than 3 miles from my job for the last 30 years, and to me? Ten minutes is too long to get to work. But a close friend and mentor had encouraged me to apply for several years, and it turned out that this was the year.

I didn't know a single one of the 30 people I would spend most of my summer with that year, but by the end of the first day, I was all in. In the morning, there were 2 interactive presentations made by our peers, and in the afternoons we had either writing group, literature review, or another presentation made by an expert. Of course writing was the foundation of the program, and I never wrote as much as I did that summer. 

I had read many times how critical it is for a writing teacher to write, but after that summer, I was motivated to find three other teachers who wanted to be in a writing group, and we have met regularly ever since. And a couple years later, I connected with an online group of teacher-writers through the annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, and as a result I started this blog and the daily writing practice it has become. And, yeah, I'm a way better writing teacher.

I recently listened to an episode of This American Life about summer camp. The whole premise of the show is that people who have never been to camp simply can not fathom what is so freaking amazing about the experience to former campers. 

But I know. 

It's the intensity: it's being immersed with a small group of people in a common, meaningful activity. That was the shape of that summer, and it is a dynamic that, to this day, I strive to create in my own 6th grade class.