Teachers Write! 6/4/12

This has been a whirlwind year and I have been blogging far less than I would like to. Soon, I will be writing posts reflecting on what I have been learning this year, but for now, I want to get started on Kate Messner's virtual summer writing camp.

Today's Mini-Lesson Monday is about making time for writing. Here are my plans so far for the summer:

1. I am at a natural transition with the end of the school year coming up and also wrapping up my dissertation (almost there!). At this point, rather than cutting back, I am at the point where I am carefully considering how I will use the time that is freeing up. Writing will be at the top of the list (as well as focusing on spending time with my daughters as writers).
2. I would like to start each day with writing. I will set my alarm for 6 a.m., starting with a goal to write for fifteen minutes but will ideally build to a half an hour to an hour. This should allow me with some time prior to my family waking up in order to savor some writing time.
3. I will typically write at my desk in my bedroom if I need to type (my laptop recently crashed). If I am writing by hand then I will typically go to the love seat in my living room.
4. I have not had a chance to tell family and friends face-to-face, so announcing here on my blog is the first step to sharing my new plans. That seems like a natural step though as I am used to sharing with my on-line writing community for Slice of Life Stories.

I look forward to exploring and growing as a writer. There are so many choices as far as writing topics. I look forward to the prompts that will surely stretch me as a writer. I would also like to revisit Ruth Ayres' Discover. Play. Build. posts for inspiration, and I am also planning on doing the prompts for Ali Edwards' 31 Things class in July. Then there's my YA WIP (or maybe I should say WOP - work on pause as it has taken a complete back burner once I started my doctoral program). Throughout it all I will be reflecting on implications for my 6th-8th grade students and thinking about how I can foster a sense of passion toward writing.

And now because of a thunder storm, I better turn off my computer! A perfect reason to grab my writer's notebook and head for the couch. First, I will have to click over to see the prompt on Jo Knowles' blog as part of Teachers Write!