(Kudos to those who understand the reference.)
Remember that website I mentioned in my post yesterday? The one I applied to be a writer for?
I got it!
My first paid writing gig!
As you can tell, I'm just a tad excited.
I'll be writing articles about writing, which is fantastic. I'll make sure to let you all know when my first article is published. My compensation will be based partly on views, so I could use all the support I can get.
Love Always,
Kristin
10 June 2014
09 June 2014
Putting One Egg in Each Basket
I still haven't heard back from that magazine I submitted a story to, but it's only been a couple of weeks so I don't expect to for a while yet (they said they would make a decision within ninety days).
However, I did just submit an application to be a writer for a website that publishes articles about all sorts of current events/local goings-on/everything else, and I'm supposed to hear back from them within two weeks. Fingers crossed!
I've found a few more journals to submit stories to as well, so hopefully I'll be published in at least one of them by the end of the summer. I'm getting started on those submissions right now.
I'm slowly starting to regain my motivation to tackle that novel project I talked about at the beginning of the summer. I haven't done too well on my other goals so far either, but I've still got a month and a half to get on the ball, right?
Love Always,
Kristin
However, I did just submit an application to be a writer for a website that publishes articles about all sorts of current events/local goings-on/everything else, and I'm supposed to hear back from them within two weeks. Fingers crossed!
I've found a few more journals to submit stories to as well, so hopefully I'll be published in at least one of them by the end of the summer. I'm getting started on those submissions right now.
I'm slowly starting to regain my motivation to tackle that novel project I talked about at the beginning of the summer. I haven't done too well on my other goals so far either, but I've still got a month and a half to get on the ball, right?
Love Always,
Kristin
06 June 2014
Reading for Pleasure (and the Amazing Woman Who Taught It)
Last one on this topic for a while, I promise. :)
I know I've mentioned her briefly in an older post, and I mentioned her in the other posts in this "series," but today I'm going to dedicate an entire post to the amazing woman who taught me what a teacher is supposed to be. I haven't asked permission to use her name, but if you know her...you'll know.
When I met her, I was a timid sophomore entering my second semester at a new school, still learning the ropes and still meeting new friends. Initially I could tell she was kind and she had a very specific set of rules that she expected us to follow in order to make the class time flow more smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary for a high school teacher. I had no idea how important of a person she would become in my life.
The first Friday of the semester, she stopped class a little early and explained to us that on Fridays, when she dismissed us, she would yell at us, and that she expected us to wait for her to finish yelling before leaving her class. At the time I don't think many of us thought much of it, but now, her Friday "yell" has become a mantra for every student who has ever had her class. There are posts on Facebook and Twitter of other students taking up her yell every Friday. It has become a part of us, and has forever tied us to the teacher who every week would yell above conversations and the sounds of students scurrying to their next class:
"Take care of yourself, take care of each other. Buckle up, hug a dad or a mother, and tell someone you love them!"
I'm certain that anyone who attended my high school could recite this from memory, like I just did.
This definitely wasn't the only thing that stood out to me about this amazing teacher. She was so passionate about each of her students and about providing them with not only a good education, but an enjoyable one. More times than not her desk was crowded at the end of class or during passing period with students asking for a new book to read, talking enthusiastically about the book they were currently reading, or about anything else. She met each student with a smile and eye contact and undivided attention. Each one of us was infinitely important to her. She genuinely cared about what was going on in our lives, and cared about what we cared about the most.
I feel like I really connected with her while doing my reading logs for her class. She read each page and made notes or circled things or put smiley faces, or most times all three. I opened up to her in these logs, and talked about how the things I was reading were relevant to my life and told her things I didn't tell a lot of other people, just because I knew that what I wrote in the pages of my reading log was sacred, and that it would actually be read and that she would write back. Like I mentioned in one of the other posts, I still have all of the reading logs from her class (and I took it twice just because I could!). They are still sacred to me
At the end of the year, she would remind all of the seniors that she had to have a senior picture for her boards. Her entire classroom (at least the part that wasn't covered with bookshelves) was covered with cork boards that were full to overflowing with pictures of seniors from her entire teaching career--and there were some pictures of people who had been her students with children of their own, or wedding pictures, or graduation announcements from college. My picture is somewhere on one of her many boards, amidst many others from my graduating class and those before and after me. I consider that an incredible honor. Also at graduation, she strategically positioned herself among the faculty so when the students lined up to make their way up to the stage, she could "steal hugs" from them as they walked past her. To be completely honest, that was one of the highlights of my high school graduation.
I am so incredibly thankful that I got the chance to know this amazing woman, this amazing teacher. Not a day went by when I was in her class that I thought I was unimportant. Honestly, I'm tearing up as I write this (and I hardly ever cry!). She completely changed my perspective on what a teacher should be. Even though she's now retired, she still keeps everyone updated (especially if you follow her Facebook or Twitter) on what's happening for education in the Oklahoma legislature, and what needs to change, and how we can change it. She values the minds and the hearts of her kids so much. I could go on for hours about how amazing she is and how much she does for the sake of education and for the sake of her kids, but I'm going to turn now to a more personal note.
After I graduated, and before she retired, I went back to my high school a couple of times to see her. During one of these visits, I was still in Air Force ROTC and we were talking about that, and about how I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but that I honestly still wanted to be a teacher. I will never forget that conversation, because she told me that she was so proud of me, and that she had always hoped I would be a teacher, and that she thinks I would make an amazing teacher. Something like that coming from someone like her is worth millions. The fact that this superhero of a person, a teacher, a mother, a wife, a grandmother, a friend, a reader, thinks that I, just one of her thousands of kids over the years, could be an amazing teacher...Even now, it's difficult for me to articulate just how awesome and important that conversation was to me. That conversation renewed my faith in myself and in my dream to be a teacher. Over the years I have doubted my abilities should I end up teaching, but when I remember the fact that she thought I would make a great one, there's no room left for doubt.
Having someone so great have so much faith in you is so exhilarating. It kind of forces you to have faith in yourself. And I know I'm not alone, that she has encouraged and given hope and support to all of her kids at one time or another. She has given us all the faith in ourselves to be who we are meant to be, and has been an irreplaceable cheerleader while we're on our way there.
And for that, I just wanted to tell her thank you.
Love Always,
Kristin
I know I've mentioned her briefly in an older post, and I mentioned her in the other posts in this "series," but today I'm going to dedicate an entire post to the amazing woman who taught me what a teacher is supposed to be. I haven't asked permission to use her name, but if you know her...you'll know.
When I met her, I was a timid sophomore entering my second semester at a new school, still learning the ropes and still meeting new friends. Initially I could tell she was kind and she had a very specific set of rules that she expected us to follow in order to make the class time flow more smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary for a high school teacher. I had no idea how important of a person she would become in my life.
The first Friday of the semester, she stopped class a little early and explained to us that on Fridays, when she dismissed us, she would yell at us, and that she expected us to wait for her to finish yelling before leaving her class. At the time I don't think many of us thought much of it, but now, her Friday "yell" has become a mantra for every student who has ever had her class. There are posts on Facebook and Twitter of other students taking up her yell every Friday. It has become a part of us, and has forever tied us to the teacher who every week would yell above conversations and the sounds of students scurrying to their next class:
"Take care of yourself, take care of each other. Buckle up, hug a dad or a mother, and tell someone you love them!"
I'm certain that anyone who attended my high school could recite this from memory, like I just did.
This definitely wasn't the only thing that stood out to me about this amazing teacher. She was so passionate about each of her students and about providing them with not only a good education, but an enjoyable one. More times than not her desk was crowded at the end of class or during passing period with students asking for a new book to read, talking enthusiastically about the book they were currently reading, or about anything else. She met each student with a smile and eye contact and undivided attention. Each one of us was infinitely important to her. She genuinely cared about what was going on in our lives, and cared about what we cared about the most.
I feel like I really connected with her while doing my reading logs for her class. She read each page and made notes or circled things or put smiley faces, or most times all three. I opened up to her in these logs, and talked about how the things I was reading were relevant to my life and told her things I didn't tell a lot of other people, just because I knew that what I wrote in the pages of my reading log was sacred, and that it would actually be read and that she would write back. Like I mentioned in one of the other posts, I still have all of the reading logs from her class (and I took it twice just because I could!). They are still sacred to me
At the end of the year, she would remind all of the seniors that she had to have a senior picture for her boards. Her entire classroom (at least the part that wasn't covered with bookshelves) was covered with cork boards that were full to overflowing with pictures of seniors from her entire teaching career--and there were some pictures of people who had been her students with children of their own, or wedding pictures, or graduation announcements from college. My picture is somewhere on one of her many boards, amidst many others from my graduating class and those before and after me. I consider that an incredible honor. Also at graduation, she strategically positioned herself among the faculty so when the students lined up to make their way up to the stage, she could "steal hugs" from them as they walked past her. To be completely honest, that was one of the highlights of my high school graduation.
I am so incredibly thankful that I got the chance to know this amazing woman, this amazing teacher. Not a day went by when I was in her class that I thought I was unimportant. Honestly, I'm tearing up as I write this (and I hardly ever cry!). She completely changed my perspective on what a teacher should be. Even though she's now retired, she still keeps everyone updated (especially if you follow her Facebook or Twitter) on what's happening for education in the Oklahoma legislature, and what needs to change, and how we can change it. She values the minds and the hearts of her kids so much. I could go on for hours about how amazing she is and how much she does for the sake of education and for the sake of her kids, but I'm going to turn now to a more personal note.
After I graduated, and before she retired, I went back to my high school a couple of times to see her. During one of these visits, I was still in Air Force ROTC and we were talking about that, and about how I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but that I honestly still wanted to be a teacher. I will never forget that conversation, because she told me that she was so proud of me, and that she had always hoped I would be a teacher, and that she thinks I would make an amazing teacher. Something like that coming from someone like her is worth millions. The fact that this superhero of a person, a teacher, a mother, a wife, a grandmother, a friend, a reader, thinks that I, just one of her thousands of kids over the years, could be an amazing teacher...Even now, it's difficult for me to articulate just how awesome and important that conversation was to me. That conversation renewed my faith in myself and in my dream to be a teacher. Over the years I have doubted my abilities should I end up teaching, but when I remember the fact that she thought I would make a great one, there's no room left for doubt.
Having someone so great have so much faith in you is so exhilarating. It kind of forces you to have faith in yourself. And I know I'm not alone, that she has encouraged and given hope and support to all of her kids at one time or another. She has given us all the faith in ourselves to be who we are meant to be, and has been an irreplaceable cheerleader while we're on our way there.
And for that, I just wanted to tell her thank you.
Love Always,
Kristin
05 June 2014
Reading for Pleasure (and the Benefits of the Class)
In my last post I explained kind of how the Reading for Pleasure class operated on a day-to-day basis, but today I want to talk about the more intellectual side of it.
The amazing woman who taught the class at my high school worked very hard to make a case for it, to prove to legislation that it's an important class to have. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand how important a class like this can be, and they just assume that it'll become a blow-off class. The thing is, though, that if you get the right people teaching it, Reading for Pleasure will never be a blow-off.
Everyone knows (or should know) that reading helps your brain function better. Reading helps you think better, be more creative, and retain more information. I've been reading since before I can remember, so obviously I enjoy it, but the amazing thing about Reading for Pleasure is that students who come into the class hating everything to do with reading leave at the end of the semester loving it as much as someone who grew up with it like I did. My teacher made us take a survey at the beginning and end of the semester, in which we said how we felt about reading (the scale was LOVE IT!, love it, like it, it's okay, don't like it, hate it, and HATE IT!). She would then compile the data from all of the surveys from all of her classes and put sticky notes on one of her white boards so we could see how her students felt about reading. She would leave the sticky notes up the entire semester, and at the end when we took the survey again, she would move the sticky notes. It was amazing to see that every single semester, so many students went from HATING reading to LOVING it!
I think one of the reason this class works is the students are able to choose what they want to read, and they're not at the mercy of "majority rules" or the teacher making the final decision. Those situations have their place, I'm sure, but in this class, the student calls the shots on what they read. When a student gets to read what they want, they end up exploring new genres and authors they never thought they would like (I will admit that part of this comes from the endless and fantastic recommendations of the teacher). When a student enjoys what they're reading, they get sucked into it. They become more invested in it. They can't put it down. And when a student is that enthusiastic about a book, they pay more attention to the little details. When they pay more attention to the little details, they remember more.
Over the course of the semester, students make a habit of this, and that carries over into other things they read. Reading what you want to read can help you pay better attention to things you have to read. This will lead to students retaining more information in other classes.
Some people assume that reading fiction is a waste of time, that you aren't gaining any real knowledge from it, but that's simply not true. When you read fiction, you're able to step away from reality for a bit and explore another world. This can allow you to rest your thoughts while keeping your brain active. You also train your brain to think creatively and develop your own writing.
I know I don't have any revered studies to cite, or statistics to quote, but I'm speaking from my own personal experience and the experiences of people I know. And honestly, I think experience speaks louder than some impersonal study done at some faraway university. Just my opinion.
Imagine what it would be like if all high schools offered Reading for Pleasure, if all of these students discovered the freedom there is in reading for enjoyment and not just for homework, and think about what it would be like when all of these students did better in all of their other classes as a result! Wouldn't it be fantastic?
Love Always,
Kristin
The amazing woman who taught the class at my high school worked very hard to make a case for it, to prove to legislation that it's an important class to have. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand how important a class like this can be, and they just assume that it'll become a blow-off class. The thing is, though, that if you get the right people teaching it, Reading for Pleasure will never be a blow-off.
Everyone knows (or should know) that reading helps your brain function better. Reading helps you think better, be more creative, and retain more information. I've been reading since before I can remember, so obviously I enjoy it, but the amazing thing about Reading for Pleasure is that students who come into the class hating everything to do with reading leave at the end of the semester loving it as much as someone who grew up with it like I did. My teacher made us take a survey at the beginning and end of the semester, in which we said how we felt about reading (the scale was LOVE IT!, love it, like it, it's okay, don't like it, hate it, and HATE IT!). She would then compile the data from all of the surveys from all of her classes and put sticky notes on one of her white boards so we could see how her students felt about reading. She would leave the sticky notes up the entire semester, and at the end when we took the survey again, she would move the sticky notes. It was amazing to see that every single semester, so many students went from HATING reading to LOVING it!
I think one of the reason this class works is the students are able to choose what they want to read, and they're not at the mercy of "majority rules" or the teacher making the final decision. Those situations have their place, I'm sure, but in this class, the student calls the shots on what they read. When a student gets to read what they want, they end up exploring new genres and authors they never thought they would like (I will admit that part of this comes from the endless and fantastic recommendations of the teacher). When a student enjoys what they're reading, they get sucked into it. They become more invested in it. They can't put it down. And when a student is that enthusiastic about a book, they pay more attention to the little details. When they pay more attention to the little details, they remember more.
Over the course of the semester, students make a habit of this, and that carries over into other things they read. Reading what you want to read can help you pay better attention to things you have to read. This will lead to students retaining more information in other classes.
Some people assume that reading fiction is a waste of time, that you aren't gaining any real knowledge from it, but that's simply not true. When you read fiction, you're able to step away from reality for a bit and explore another world. This can allow you to rest your thoughts while keeping your brain active. You also train your brain to think creatively and develop your own writing.
I know I don't have any revered studies to cite, or statistics to quote, but I'm speaking from my own personal experience and the experiences of people I know. And honestly, I think experience speaks louder than some impersonal study done at some faraway university. Just my opinion.
Imagine what it would be like if all high schools offered Reading for Pleasure, if all of these students discovered the freedom there is in reading for enjoyment and not just for homework, and think about what it would be like when all of these students did better in all of their other classes as a result! Wouldn't it be fantastic?
Love Always,
Kristin
04 June 2014
Reading for Pleasure (and the Way the Class Works)
When I was in high school, I had the privilege of taking a class called Reading for Pleasure. I know, it sounds like a blow-off class, but it totally wasn't.
Yes, the students got to choose what they read, but there were requirements. We couldn't read a textbook (although if we were a senior we could read our senior paper novel), and we couldn't work on homework or sleep. We had to read. The last five minutes of class, we would write a "reading log" about what we read that day, and keep track of what pages we read. Yeah, we didn't talk a lot in that class, and we didn't really get to know our classmates, but it was hands-down one of my favorite classes in my entire high school career (I guess I would say it's tied with my creative writing classes).
The reading logs were one of my favorite parts of class. I started out not knowing really how to write them, and therefore didn't like them much initially, and I tended to do a sort of synopsis about the part of the book I had read that day. But as the semester went on I started to figure out my flow and I enjoyed writing them more. At the beginning of the semester, I would struggle to find things to write about for the greater part of the five minutes, but by the end of the year I was struggling to finish writing by the time the bell rang. One of my favorite things about the reading logs was that our teacher would write back to us, comment on our thoughts, and make little notes while she was grading them. I still have all of my reading logs with all of her notes in the margins. It made me feel like I was writing for more than a grade, like I was actually having a conversation with my teacher through these five-minute assignments every day.
At the beginning of every class period, the teacher would share about a book she had recently read or was currently reading. Throughout the semester, each student was required to do at least one "book share." This was a simple thing; we only had to talk for a couple of minutes and have maybe three slides on a Power Point presentation. This was good to see what other students were reading and parts that they thought were important. A lot of people were nervous about sharing, myself included, but that was one of two chances to actually hear from the other students in the class.
Also, at the end of the semester, we had this big two-day assignment called Booksellers Day. The class would sign up to "sell" on one day, with the class being basically split evenly between the two days. When you were "selling" your book, which was one you had read at some point that semester, you had to have at least three visual aids (not including the actual book), and the whole point was to talk to other students in the class about your book for the entire period. (Our teacher warned us when explaining the assignment to pick a book we liked enough to talk about for an hour!) The other half of the class, the "book buyers," would come around to your desk and ask you questions about the book you chose. This was a great way to have awesome conversations with people about a book you loved (and a great way to try to convince them to read it if they hadn't already).
I absolutely loved my teacher for this class. She was so passionate about teaching, and was so passionate about books and about each of us, there was no way you could feel unimportant in her class. She recently retired, and although I'm pretty sure the entire district was saddened, she definitely deserves a break. She worked so hard to make an impact in so many students' lives, and she definitely made an impact in mine. I actually took her class twice, once my sophomore year of high school and once my very last semester as a senior. I'll make another post more about her later.
Also, now that I've explained how the class actually functioned, I'm going to make a post about how the class is beneficial and why it should be included as an elective for all high schools (not to get all preachy about it or anything, ha!). Hopefully you'll check those out as well.
Love Always,
Kristin
Yes, the students got to choose what they read, but there were requirements. We couldn't read a textbook (although if we were a senior we could read our senior paper novel), and we couldn't work on homework or sleep. We had to read. The last five minutes of class, we would write a "reading log" about what we read that day, and keep track of what pages we read. Yeah, we didn't talk a lot in that class, and we didn't really get to know our classmates, but it was hands-down one of my favorite classes in my entire high school career (I guess I would say it's tied with my creative writing classes).
The reading logs were one of my favorite parts of class. I started out not knowing really how to write them, and therefore didn't like them much initially, and I tended to do a sort of synopsis about the part of the book I had read that day. But as the semester went on I started to figure out my flow and I enjoyed writing them more. At the beginning of the semester, I would struggle to find things to write about for the greater part of the five minutes, but by the end of the year I was struggling to finish writing by the time the bell rang. One of my favorite things about the reading logs was that our teacher would write back to us, comment on our thoughts, and make little notes while she was grading them. I still have all of my reading logs with all of her notes in the margins. It made me feel like I was writing for more than a grade, like I was actually having a conversation with my teacher through these five-minute assignments every day.
At the beginning of every class period, the teacher would share about a book she had recently read or was currently reading. Throughout the semester, each student was required to do at least one "book share." This was a simple thing; we only had to talk for a couple of minutes and have maybe three slides on a Power Point presentation. This was good to see what other students were reading and parts that they thought were important. A lot of people were nervous about sharing, myself included, but that was one of two chances to actually hear from the other students in the class.
Also, at the end of the semester, we had this big two-day assignment called Booksellers Day. The class would sign up to "sell" on one day, with the class being basically split evenly between the two days. When you were "selling" your book, which was one you had read at some point that semester, you had to have at least three visual aids (not including the actual book), and the whole point was to talk to other students in the class about your book for the entire period. (Our teacher warned us when explaining the assignment to pick a book we liked enough to talk about for an hour!) The other half of the class, the "book buyers," would come around to your desk and ask you questions about the book you chose. This was a great way to have awesome conversations with people about a book you loved (and a great way to try to convince them to read it if they hadn't already).
I absolutely loved my teacher for this class. She was so passionate about teaching, and was so passionate about books and about each of us, there was no way you could feel unimportant in her class. She recently retired, and although I'm pretty sure the entire district was saddened, she definitely deserves a break. She worked so hard to make an impact in so many students' lives, and she definitely made an impact in mine. I actually took her class twice, once my sophomore year of high school and once my very last semester as a senior. I'll make another post more about her later.
Also, now that I've explained how the class actually functioned, I'm going to make a post about how the class is beneficial and why it should be included as an elective for all high schools (not to get all preachy about it or anything, ha!). Hopefully you'll check those out as well.
Love Always,
Kristin
02 June 2014
The Struggles of a Twenty-Something Writer
Is it just me, or did May fly by really fast?
I would like to say that my summer has thus far been immensely productive, but unfortunately I would be lying. I haven't worked out as much as I wanted to, I haven't written or read as much as I would like, but I still have two months to get it together.
I've been hoping that inspiration would hit me like a lightening bolt and I would have an entire story--or at least a couple of chapters--written in one night. I know it doesn't usually work like that (I've been doing this a while, even if I've never gotten paid for it), but that doesn't keep me from dragging my feet.
Motivation to write, even when I don't have a clear idea of what I want to write, is one of the hardest things to come by, in my opinion. I can be completely in the mood to write, and I sit down at my computer, and...
...the cursor just keeps blinking, taunting me on that stark-white blank page.
What I usually end up doing is reading through a story I've already started, something that I want to work on, and spend my entire "writing time" making minute edits and reading over what I already have, but not adding anything substantial. Sure, I may write a short little scene, or add a sentence here and there, but at the end of my time I feel like I've accomplished nothing and have wasted my entire evening.
There seems to be a general feeling towards my generation that we are lazy and never follow through on anything, that we don't work for what we get and expect everything to be handed to us. While this is definitely true for some people, I like to think I don't fall under that umbrella. However, I feel like the most stereotypical American twenty-something when I try to write and can't. I'll confess something: I've never finished a novel. (Well, I have, but I didn't think it was publish-worthy, so I don't count that. It's stuck away in some notebook somewhere amongst all my things.) I desperately want to, but all of the words seem to leave me around Chapter Four. Yes, I've tried writing short stories and flash fiction and other types of fiction, but the ability to write a full-length novel is something I aspire to have.
So, basically if anyone has any tips on how to get past the Chapter Four Writer's Block, let me know! I'm excited to hear your strategies.
Love Always,
Kristin
I would like to say that my summer has thus far been immensely productive, but unfortunately I would be lying. I haven't worked out as much as I wanted to, I haven't written or read as much as I would like, but I still have two months to get it together.
I've been hoping that inspiration would hit me like a lightening bolt and I would have an entire story--or at least a couple of chapters--written in one night. I know it doesn't usually work like that (I've been doing this a while, even if I've never gotten paid for it), but that doesn't keep me from dragging my feet.
Motivation to write, even when I don't have a clear idea of what I want to write, is one of the hardest things to come by, in my opinion. I can be completely in the mood to write, and I sit down at my computer, and...
...the cursor just keeps blinking, taunting me on that stark-white blank page.
What I usually end up doing is reading through a story I've already started, something that I want to work on, and spend my entire "writing time" making minute edits and reading over what I already have, but not adding anything substantial. Sure, I may write a short little scene, or add a sentence here and there, but at the end of my time I feel like I've accomplished nothing and have wasted my entire evening.
There seems to be a general feeling towards my generation that we are lazy and never follow through on anything, that we don't work for what we get and expect everything to be handed to us. While this is definitely true for some people, I like to think I don't fall under that umbrella. However, I feel like the most stereotypical American twenty-something when I try to write and can't. I'll confess something: I've never finished a novel. (Well, I have, but I didn't think it was publish-worthy, so I don't count that. It's stuck away in some notebook somewhere amongst all my things.) I desperately want to, but all of the words seem to leave me around Chapter Four. Yes, I've tried writing short stories and flash fiction and other types of fiction, but the ability to write a full-length novel is something I aspire to have.
So, basically if anyone has any tips on how to get past the Chapter Four Writer's Block, let me know! I'm excited to hear your strategies.
Love Always,
Kristin
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