It's Not a Mystery to Me!

I first heard of Peter Elbow last summer, but have been familiar with his idea of freewriting for several years and in the past have used it myself and in my class. I am the worst at sitting down and letting the pen fly across the paper. I don't have anything worth writing about and when I do I always feel like everybody else's sounds so much better than mine. (I can relate to many of my students.) With freewriting and a community of learners established in a classroom freewriting is a great way to get the ideas flowing from one's mind to one's paper.
While reading about inkshedding it reminded me of an idea I read about last summer in the Writing Project, scribing. Briefly, one student is notetaker for the day. The notes are jotted down and then read in class the following day. Students love to be able to remind the teacher of things she did yesterday like promising to do something or making a mistake. It gives each student a chance to read in front of the class on a regular basis something they composed and summarizes what was learned the day before.
At church this Sunday I was very aware of the readings. Not because what they were about, but because of how they were read. Usually it's the same thing week after week, but this past Sunday the woman reading used intonation. Normally I sit and listen to each reading and if there is something I can relate to I tend to remember what was read. This week no prior knowledge was necessary for me to remember the passage because as Elbow states, the speaker poured "meaning into the words."(17)
More to come...