The Ghost Plant and Other (Potentially) Fateful Tales

Nancy Drew Vintage Books

Holding my number 2 pencil in perfect form, I smiled at the empty page before me. I was ready. Today my mystery plant would be revealed. Like the great literary masterpiece series: Nancy Drew Mysteries, I had high hopes that my story, The Ghost Plant, would one day be the first of a trilogy to include: The Ghost Cat and The Ghost Tree.



Line by line, I painstakingly formed my letters, capitols and lowercase, meticulously connecting to the lined boundaries on the paper. My ambition was to craft a story about a forest plant so rare and mysterious, the plant could not be found in my fourth grade Science textbook. It was, however, hidden in one of the volumes in an Encyclopedia Britannica which sat on a shelf at my Grandparent's farmhouse.

Back Story:

Vintage 1952 Edition

As my Papa tells it, he had been sucker punched into buying a set of  leather-bound Encyclopedia Britannicas by a door-to-door salesman. Who can put a price on knowledge? History is history and they'll never be out of date! What better gift than to leave the gift of knowledge as an inheritance to your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren! the salesman (most likely) pitched.

And so my Grandparents bought the 24 volume set and autobiographical addition for more money than they care to admit. But like many Americans in the 1950's and 1960's, having a set of encyclopedias in one's home was like having the internet today. If you owned Encyclopedias, well, you had the world of knowledge at your fingertips. To the elation of my Grandparents, I was carefully taking notes on the bit of information I could decipher about this one-of-a-kind plant. I suspect I wrote something to this effect:

Yes, Mrs. Killjoy. This is a real plant.

1. Ghost plants live in forests.
2. Ghost plants do not use Photosynthesis.
3. Ghost plants do not have chlorophyll and are transparent.

As I scripted my story during class, I defaulted to my imagination and filled in the blanks for pieces of information I had failed to include. I also did not understand the difference between a "book report" and a "story."  When my name was called, I handed my "story" appropriately titled "The Ghost Plant" to my fourth grade teacher. The next day my "story" was handed back to me with a C- on the cover.

As a further act of humiliation and shame, Mrs. Killjoy (not her real name) wrote in ominous red ink next to my title: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GHOST PLANT.

In one swoop of her evil pen, Mrs. Killjoy had squashed my excitement and confidence. My aspirations of becoming a mystery writer had both been born and died in fourth grade.

Moments like these, are forever stamped in our childhood memories, and if we are not careful, can begin to shape our self-image as a writer and as a person.

I recalled this story last  summer while working with a reluctant seven-year-old writer named Conner. He is vivacious, talkative, and loves to read about sharks. He also hates to write. When I asked him why he didn't like to write he answered, "It takes too long!"
"What if you could write about sharks and you could write as little or as much as you wanted?" And to close the sell I added, "And you won't have to rewrite to make corrections."

3D color page by @quivervision

He looked at me suspiciously, chose a marker and wrote, "Sharks have five rose of teeth."

What did I notice? He had written "rose" instead of "rows."

But that was NOT what Conner needed to hear. He needed to know that he could use writing as a way to communicate. He needed to write about anything he wanted and read by (not corrected by) an authentic audience. Conner needed to have the freedom to write with confidence without a writing teaching saying, "Now go back and correct..." which is like saying to a emergent writer, "Your writing isn't good enough."

In a competitive world and race to be academically exemplary, WHAT IF we carved out moments when our learners could write without the fear of being corrected? WHAT IF the Conners of the world could create without being graded or corrected under the guise of "teachable moments? WHAT IF this generation finds their voice and believe that what they have to say matters?

Rose instead of rows

I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that we, as educators, are devaluing our kids when we rush to point out how many points they did or didn't earn. I can't help but wonder, Are we creating a culture of fearful writers?

In a world of high stakes testing in fourth, seventh, and ninth grades, we are thrown into a very real conundrum. How do we affirm children's writing and teach the skills needed to become effective communicators? How do we embrace "teachable moments" without shutting down a struggling writer?

What if we, as educators, stepped back and paused before marking up a child's writing and comparing against a 6 point rubric? What if we pledged to ourselves: Before I have the right to correct, sit down, point out your errors, I will affirm you as a writer who has something important to say? 

Assessments will come and go...but valuing (or devaluing) a child's voice will stay with them forever. When we give them a voice we empower them to make changes in their own lives, their community, and the world.

The question is, "Are we listening?"

Confession Reflection:

• Have you ever experienced a time when your writing was not affirmed by a teacher? How did this impact your attitude towards writing?
• How do we cultivate a generation of confident and creative writers while teaching the necessary skills to be effective communicators? i.e. blogging, interactive writing.
• How can we Differentiate Instruction for diverse writers such as in RtI, economically disadvantaged, ELL learners? Is differentiation a fair practice? Why or why not?

Book Recommendation:

Click to read an excerpt from Katherine Bomer's book, Hidden Gems.

Hidden Gems: Naming and Teaching from The Brilliance in Every Student's Writing 

Building Creative and Confident 21st Century Writers

It's a scenario I've seen play out in middle school over and over again. Ask a learner to write and one of two things happen. I get the "deer in the headlights" look or get bombarded with a slew of questions like, "Is this for a grade?" and "When is it due?"

I have yet to see a face that is fearless and excited about writing. Why is this? I've pondered this question longer than I probably should have, but I think I've put my foot on at least part of the solution.

This is what I pledge to do in 2015:

1. Create a safe environment that embraces mistakes as part of the learning process.

I believe that confident writers are fearless. They know mistakes will happen but they are willing to jump anyway. They know that their attempts will be affirmed and not condoned.

In order for this to happen, the learning environment is set up in such a way to celebrate risk taking.

creative writers collaborating on a class newsletter

Trust me. One of the most difficult things for an educator to do is to step back and give learners control over their writing.

I can already hear the voice of naysayers. "How will young and inexperienced writers learn if we don't show them?" True. But we also need to step back and let young writers fall into their own style and find their voice.

The last thing we need are more cookie cutter writing samples. My goodness! We need to create writers who will stand out from the crowd!

Easier said than done, right?  Shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is imperative in order to accept imperfection and embrace the writing process. Freeing writers from fear based writing begins with an environment that celebrates taking risks!

2. Create a learning environment that focuses on growth not the grade.

I've come up with a name for an excessive focus on grading. I call it "gradidous". It seems to start in 6th grade and reaches near epidemic proportions by 8th grade.

creative writers give and get feedback from peers

Gradidous is most often the root cause of fear based writing. Symptoms include (but are no limited to) plagiarism, overt parental involvement in assignments, or worst of all, an "I don't care" attitude of the heart.

I learned this lesson from Samantha (not her real name). Samantha was the archetype perfectionist writer who relied heavily on parent coaching. I finally required journals to be left in the classroom. Samantha one upped me and asked to use technology to write. Of course! Isn't part of learning about giving voice and choice?

creative writers have voice and choice

Are you sitting down? I discovered a parent (or someone) contributing to her writing from another location using a shared google doc.

Samantha was literally having another person write for her using google docs! When Samantha discovered what she was able to do on her own, learning could take place. Furthermore, removing the "A" or "100" ball-and-chain allowed her to de-stress and find her own voice.

What does a grade say anyway?  It is far more valuable to sit down with a learner and talk thru their writing, or better yet, have writing communities for learners to support one another. Even the best of compliments are nothing but hot air without meaningful feedback that encourages and coaches on ways to polish their writing. Some of our learners may write like scribblers. Everyone is on a different stage and page in the writing process and they need to be treated as such.

Digital portfolios, writer's notebooks, reflection journals allow learners to show growth throughout the year. Keep the focus on growth!

3. Create an environment that extends beyond the classroom.

By middle school it isn't enough to have a their papers taped to grandma's refrigerator door. LearnersWhat does my writing matter? Why am I doing this? Kids need to know the expectations and purpose for the assignment.

Is the assignment to relay information about a Science experiment? (Expository) Is the purpose to share with others my feelings or write a story? (Narrative). Every writer needs to have purpose other than "it's part of the curriculum" or "it will prepare you for high school."

creative writers composing interest-driven stories

Marcus (not his real name) refused to write. Not only did he refuse to write, he was an in-your-face kid would wasn't afraid to show his contempt for writing. However, he did like to draw
.

our class "wonder wall"

Exasperated I said, "Forget that you're writing. If you can express yourself in pictures, go for it!" What happened? He doodled daily and ended up creating a series of doodles which became a graphic story with high hopes to publish one day.I truly believe that Marcus's ability to express himself was a far greater lesson than anything he could have learned thru traditional methods.

Marcus needed purpose beyond the four walls of our classroom. He needed to know that his writing mattered. Yes, there were teachers who shun this method, but when a learner is failing and emotionally heading down a destructive path...you do what's best for that child.


As the new year begins, I pledge to give learners more opportunities during the school day to blog, journal, free write, and even text. Now that I think about it, isn't writing about communication? There is an ebb and flow to every writer as they step into their own style. Fearless writing begins in the safety of a classroom where risks can be taken, growth is celebrated, and purpose goes beyond the walls of a school.

Confession Reflection:

1. Why is it important to individualize writing instruction?
2. What are some other ways writing can be measured other than grades?
3. How can writing instruction be designed to teach structure but also spark creativity?