About time I wrote something!

I’ve been busy living life and lately working hard preparing for the MSCA conference next week and another workshop in Wellington New Zealand at the beginning of September. Aside from writing about teaching writing, a couple of other commitments have been taking up time.

Koru the poodle has reached level two agility and she’s fast! I should have got her ten years ago when I was still a little more speedy in body and in mind. She basically does an obstacle course which I have to memorise so she knows where to go, what hoop to jump or seesaw to put a couple of paws on briefly before hightailing it through a tunnel or two. She loves it so much, she whimpers with excitement on the way to the park. She knows that just makes me drive faster so we get there quicker. Thats only an hour of the week aside from the regular dog walks and ball chasing antics.

I am also trying to develop skills in pickleball at the new Rec centre near me. People who play there are friendly to newcomers and proved patient with teaching me the rules alongside getting me into a game. Im slowly improving my serve and returns and understanding of the scoring.

Rebecca Solnit is one of my favourite American essay writers and I’ve just bought her latest collection “No Straight Road Takes You There – Essays for Uneven Terrain” In her introduction she says she has become a “lover of slowness, patience, endurance, and long-term vision because these things seem crucial equipment for changing the world or even understanding it.” She says she’s “ become a storyteller who seeks out examples of these tools at work as I’ve come to recognise that changing the story, dismantling the stories that trap us, finding stories adequate to our realities, are foundational to finding our powers and possibilities.”

Also Quoting Audre Lorde “To refuse to participate in shaping our future is to give it up”

I think as teachers we definitely are at the forefront of shaping futures. There is nothing more rewarding than being with and being inspired by children and young people. Its also very demanding especially in the education climate today.

While working on some material for talking about writing, I came across some of my conference notes for a six year-old in our Montessori classroom. He usually spent a lot of time wandering and watching in the classroom seemingly in his own thoughts much of the time.

I wrote: L loves to draw and sketching is no problem for him. He can tell the story with prompting of what he has sketched. The last story he told teacher (me) what to write. I wrote and he copied the words underneath. He finished really quickly – and had good focus on the task. “You can do this anytime –  sketch and write a story,” I said.

 “I can do this whenever I like,” he exclaimed and skipped off with story in hand.

I am reminded of L when I buy a book at this year’s writers festival – ‘The Monsters of Mckyus’ by an autistic boy who lives on Moa Island in Torres Strait who also loved to draw.

It’s such a beautiful image of L skipping off. It stays in my mind and brings a smile on this rainy dark inside-day.