As Cindy (pseudonym) was taking her gifted and talented entrance exam, her eyes became wide, eyebrows raised, and the smile that she normally wears had turned upside-down. It quickly became clear to me that she was distressed and a bit overwhelmed by the page that lay before her. After of few minutes of staring at the test, I noticed that she was discretely pulling out her small dry erase board and marker from her desk. Intrigued, I continued to observe her. Thinking that she had given up, I expected that she would begin to doodle. However, I was surprised to find that she was actually writing, “I can do it!” Before picking up her pencil to fill in another bubble on her scantron sheet, she had written this statement three times. I was touched, encouraged, and inspired all at the same time.
Reflecting on my observation of Cindy’s experience several weeks ago is still very inspiring to me as I continue to work on my MGRP. From high school forward, I feel that I was really only provided with the opportunity to write expository pieces. Consequently, I often feel that my abilities to write in other genres are diminished. Just as looking at the test questions overwhelmed Cindy, looking at all the different and artsy genres that exist almost have the same effect on me, but forcing myself out of my writing comfort zone is a challenge that I embrace. Because like Cindy, I CAN do it!
I always love hearing this story.
ReplyDeleteYou made a great point about the MGRP not always being comfortable. It makes you very vulnerable. Not only are YOU picking your topic but you are also using YOUR creativity to demonstrate your knowledge. With out assigned topics and genres the entire project is all about YOU and that is intimidating.
It is a great reminder to encourage our students, give them the tools for self encouragement and to create a community environment where people feel safe to share!
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI love your positive attitude!!! It is contageous! You know as I was reading this week I got the thought that all writing is multigenre?! What do ya think? It seems that even the kids cereal box is trying to inform them of something in some way. It really got me thinking about different approaches to info. Actually just prompted a bunch of advertising ideas...but sometimes that is all the energy my little brain has;)