More Writing Games

I wrote about helping a friend's son with writing by using the two-minute writing game I made up. You have the kid write any words at all - the only rules are that they have to be words and you have to keep writing for two minutes. It has helped a number of my students who are perfectionists and just think way too long and hard about writing, never getting to the writing part.

I got a Christmas card from this friend and actually laughed out loud. She wrote:

I honestly believe "Johnny" wouldn't be as successful in writing now without getting past the block with "Hey NASCAR toot fart butt pee poo yo he mom dad father"

I wanted to introduce another writing game. I don't have a name for this one, but I'm taking suggestions. i have the student pick a number between 2-10. Then we write a story together. If the student picks "5" for example, she writes five words and then I write five words. The story usually ends up being pretty silly, which elementary school kids LOVE - the sillier the better.

This is definitely something parents can do with kids or kids can do with each other. It will be fun. I promise.

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A Loss

(I have been putting off finishing this blog post for months. You'll see why) Today, I was cleaning a bookshelf and I found the journal from one of my third-grade students, who I call Fred in my book , in 2001. I still had it because he didn't come to the last day of school to get his stuff this year and I guess it got put in a pile and somehow I've kept it with me. He didn't come to the last day of school, probably because his family was a mess: dad in prison, mom in an abusive relationship, all the kids (understandably) acting out violently. Fred was expelled from our school in second grade for hitting a teacher. Then he was expelled from the other school, I don't know why, at the end of second grade. He came back on the condition from the administration that he be in my class because I had him as a student in first grade and he listened to me and worked well with me. We had a really good relationship, although Fred was definitely not easy to have in class....

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The Best Mistake

I recently wanted to get a pedicure (I promise this will be important) and was looking at nail salons nearby. I knew there was a place called Kim's Nails near my exercise class, so I quickly googled to see if I could make an appointment online (I hate calling on the phone) and it let me, so I made an appointment for a few days later and went on with my day. Later that day, I got a text confirming my appointment and I realized that I had made the appointment at the wrong Kim's Nails! I meant to make an appointment for the one in my city and I made one at a nail shop in the next city over (Kim's Nails is a common business name). Because I had already made the appointment and they had taken the time to text me, I figured I'd just go with it. OK, if you're still with me, this is where it gets exciting! A few hours after I got the confirmation text, the owner of Kim's Nails texted me again. the text just said, "Are you a teacher?" I didn't know why they...

Bronwyn Harris, Author

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