Bronwyn Harris, Author

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 si...

I'm working with a teenage girl right now who's having a hard time.  There's custody issues and anxiety and probably depression and definitely ADD.  I wouldn't be surprised if there were some other mental health diagnoses as well.  Recently her guardian (another family member) decided that she didn't need her ADD medication.  This guardian decided that the girl was just "dramatic" and would be fine without the medication.  She didn't consult the doctor, the therapist, or the child. When I saw this student, she had been off her meds for a couple of days and was really upset.  She probably was being dramatic - teenagers tend to - but I think she was also going through some withdrawal.  After all, if you're going to go off any medication, it's a good idea to do so in a doctor-prescribed way and not just have it yanked away from you.  She had also been doing really well on this medication and was feeling stable and calm, so to have it taken away ...

I really liked this kid.  The school he went to before ours was George W. Bush Elementary School (in another city).  He told me "I don't know why they named a school after him.  He didn't do nothing for education.  A wise 8-year old. Friday, July 20, 2007 Meet a Child: "Kobe" This is a kid who moved away mid-year because his mom was terrified of all the violence - especially after someone came and threatened his teenage brother. Writing about himself: My name is Kobe. I am 8 years old and my birthday was born in 1998. My eye is dark brown and my hair is black and I like to play footbal. I like to play with my best friend. I am very talkative and honest. I am very cook and I am very nice. I make friends. I like school. Sometimes I get to change my card to Green that mean I am in trouble. Sometimes I stay on Blue. I got friends and we went to the coliseum the A's won the other day the other day the raider lost. I like school. I hav...

Every good teacher knows that teaching involves a certain amount of strategic dishonesty.  Not necessarily outright lying, but trickery.  I've definitely been known to tell kids that the flashing red light of the motion sensor (to turn the lights on) in the classroom was a camera recording their behavior so their parents and the principal can see how they are acting.  Yesterday, I was working with a particularly difficult teenager on writing.  She has ADD and anxiety, and a bunch of other diagnoses, but I think the main problem, as it often is, is that she doesn't feel like anyone wants her.  She gets shuffled around from guardian to guardian and it's entirely possible that some of them have told her outright that they don't want her.  She is constantly trying to distract me and complaining and telling me she can't do things. We've been working on writing and she's getting pretty good at writing about what she's experiencing.  It was time to introd...

The thing I like the most about teaching is not teaching; it's finding ways to connect with the kids, especially the kids who don't think that teachers have anything in common with them.  It's not that hard - I really do enjoy a lot of different books, movies, music, etc., and I'm very curious, so I've learned about many things even if I don't necessarily enjoy them. When I assess a new student, the first thing I ask them is what they like.  Of course, there are different ways to do this depending on how old the child is.  If the student is little, I ask them what they like to play and who they like to play with.  If they're older, I might ask them what they like to read or what movies they like to watch.  Sometimes it takes a few questions and sometimes they look at me like I'm saying the dumbest thing they've ever heard... until I get to the question that is something they love.  With my newest student, it's Harry Potter.  She is 12 years o...

In my years of teaching, I've worked with a lot of kids and adults on writing.  Many of these students have been extremely resistant to the writing process.  It's extremely common for people to have anxiety around writing, so it's important for teachers to not only teach the process, but to address this anxiety as well. Sometimes this involves tricking the student.  If, for example, the a perfectionist and overthinks everything, I often have them do speed writing.  They have to write for two minutes.  It doesn't have to make sense but all the words have to be actual words.  An old friend recently asked for help for her 9-year old who needs tutoring over the summer.  I wish I was near the kid because, as I immodestly pointed out to her, I'm very very good at this.  I did the best I could over the Internet and I think we've made a start.  Inter-state tutoring is kind of fun! The first timed writing exercise ended up being: "Man I word ...

From five years ago - I love this. Monday, June 26, 2006 Mexico I'm going to Mexico for two weeks to visit my good friends (second family) who run an orphanage there. In honor of that, I thought I'd share a little essay one of the kids wrote: My dad told me about when he was a soldier in Mexico. When he was a soldier he went on a helicopters to go where they told them to go and keep mexico safe from other armys. He told me his life as a soldier. He said life as a soldier wasn't easy so he said don't go to the army. soldado means soldier in spanish. for my little mexico. Four years ago: Oakland Reschedules the Fourth of July

  repost: Most people I've talked to about my experience teaching are aware that fathers, especially nurturing, consistent fathers, are rare in the inner city.  Not as many people are aware of how many children lack mothers.  For some of them, I mean that metaphorically -- that their mothers were 13 or 14 when they had kids and just didn't know how to be mothers.  However, for many of them, this lack of a mother was literal. I had student after student being raised by an aunt, a grandmother, a great-aunt, an older sister, or even a great-grandmother.  This could be because their mother had a drug problem, was in jail, was with a boyfriend or new husband who didn't want their children around, or had left them for an unknown reason.  Now, I'm not saying that the lack of a father is something that's easy to get over.  I think it is extremely damaging and that children need fathers or father figures.  But, in my experience, the kids whose mot...

I love seeing improvement in students, so h ere's one of my favorites: Sunday, April 16, 2006 Writing Improvement! I thought I'd share a success story - this is about a kid who got held back in first grade and convinced himself he was stupid (his word) and fairly worthless. He's actually very smart (one of those who is too smart for his own good) and understands higher-level concepts than most third graders, but I think he may have some sort of processing problem that makes it harder for him to read and write. Anyway, he finally started believing that he could do the work and working at it and after much hard work and patience, he got the most improved writer award for the last trimester! Here are samples of his writing from October, January, and March. Look at the picture, even the handwriting is like it's from a different child. Each writing sample was supposed to be a paragraph. October : to mack a friend isto be nice and to shar and to play ...

A former student of mine, who talks here about how he "won't make a pout" in fourth grade when he has work to do, got to meet the president.  Like any 12-year old boy, he's a little unclear about how it happened "I got good grades so I got to meet the president," and which actual program it was.  What is not unclear is that he is an amazing kid who has grown and matured and is working very hard.  And he got to meet the president!  I'm so jealous.  Here he is: Before I talk about my trip, I want to ask this question. The question is if you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it or let it slip? (Eminem, "Lose Yourself")  Well, I took my opportunity.  It took a lot of hard work, but I got it done.  Now it's time to tell you about my trip to D.C. It all started one day in class.  I was in advisory when this man came up to me named Mr. M.  He came and took me out of class t...

Monday, April 19, 2010 More Journals Oh, please read them all.  They are fantastic. The best April fools day thing I can think of is im going to call my mom after school and tell her i got arested.  I think She might have a heart attack.  Thats my fools and all I got. If my parents came to school with me I would be so embarrased.  Because they might say to run faster in P.E. and in history say Oooo Ooo pick Carl.  And for lunch they will say get fruit and something to drink and that would be really embarrasing.  At science It would be like torture because they would always ask questions.  At math I would hate because my parents would make me pay attention to the math teaacher.  I would be having bad dreams for the rest of my life.  But if I had to go to school with my parents when they were little kids that would be a hole diffrent story. If my parents came to school everyday it wouldn't be good.  I would pro...

That's a description of a student's dog.  Really. Wednesday, March 01, 2006 My Sister is Brown Like Me "My sister is Brown like me. She is nice sometimes. She was in my teacher's class last year. She has short and kind of short hair. She smells like soap. She helps grandma clean up the house, because she likes cleaning up the house. I love my sister. My grandma loves my sister. I do too. My sister is the best. THE END" No, I didn't write this, and my sister is not, in fact, brown. This is one girl's descriptive writing assignment. I was going to write more about the loyalty and authority but I'm kind of overwhelmed right now (I can't keep up with my own paperwork and mess, let alone the paperwork and mess of 20 children) so I thought I'd share the kids' descriptive writing. The assignment was to pick something and describe it, using as many senses as possible. The things the kids picked to describe ranged from people (by ...

I'm hoping that this sub grows up a little before she becomes a teacher.  It's been a year.  She could very well be a teacher at this point.  Check out her helpful comments. Monday, February 22, 2010 First Day of School How often is the first day of school February 22? I am happy to report that I really like my new class.  I mean, I've met them for a total of 103 minutes, so that judgment may be premature, but I don't think so.  They are very diverse - not like my other district where "diverse" meant black kids - but actually diverse.  There are kids who came from Bosnia, Russia, China, Nepal, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Mexico, Central America, and a few other places I'm not sure of.  There are kids who didn't say one word and a couple who came in like it was their job to be a one-man (or woman) show. I'm impatient for Wednesday because at the moment, their sub of the last two months is still there.  The principal thought it woul...

From a student who wrote this after we had a lockdown because there was a shooting in the neighborhood. Storys make me feel that there is no lockdown and nothing happened to nobody and somtimes they make me feel that when there is thunderstormes i read a book and i feel that there is no thunderstormes and it is sraining a lot and it soundes like thunderstormes i read a long book because it rains a lot Three years ago: Another Possible Strike? Four years ago: More Evaluations                         Sinking to New Depths

I found some more old student papers.  These students are now in 8th grade, I think, which is strange for me to think about! This one had a tendency to pout whenever he didn't want to do something: I have 36 days in third grade.  I am not happy because when I leave my teacher's class I will have to do harder work and we would have to wait longer to go eat for lunch.  I will be good and listen to the teacher and I wont make a pout when I don't want to do that much work.I am sad because I am going to miss my teacher and the gecko.  I am sad because I am going to miss all the people who came to this class.  I am sad because we won't be able to be on the computer that much and I am sad because after summer I will be going to a fourth grade class. I really like this one: I have 36 more days in third grade.  I am scared to go to fourth grade because it sounds scary and hard and teachers mite be mean.  I do not want to get sunburned in the summer because...

My dream is to be a pediatrician because I want kids to be safe and have a better Life and have someone who cares about them. The reason I want to be a peditairican so I can help kids so They can be smart in school what I like about a pediatricain that I get to help small children and be heathly because some kids can die because the don't eat fruit and stuff so they won't be so sick and I want chidlen to Live heathly Lives like we do we want children to Live as Long as us. [that girl routinely ate Flamin' Hot Cheetos with nacho cheese and a Pepsi for breakfast] I want to be a sience teacher because I get to help students with sience and school problems and they can trust me with anything.  I want it because I can study animals because nature is interesting. I have a dreem.  I have a dream to be a spy so I can spy on People and take them to jail and help People and I will have to learn hard at shcool to be a sPy and I what to work for the CiA and so I can get money for...

From one of the most troubled students I've ever had: (her spelling wasn't good either) She needed this type of help.  More than almost every child I've ever met. My dream is to help chridren.  Because I have two help chrildren.  And enven if I had to help arofens I would treat them as my own chridren.  The chrildren I am going to help.  I hope they belive in there self.  In maybe part of the reason the chrildren ar poor I think maybe because they didn't get a good edecation. I really care for chridren.  I watch a lot of shows of poor chrildren.  And I hate what I see. One year ago: The Good and Bad of the Year Three years ago: The Money That I'm Owed Four years ago: Computers!

I have the greatest tutoring client, "Johnny."  He's an eleven-year old boy, finishing up sixth grade.  He is very bright but lazy and hated writing, which is why his mom brought me in. The first day I met him, I told him that he wasn't going to hate writing tutoring.  He answered me "We'll see about that."  It was almost too easy.  I found out that he loves fantasy novels and once I told him that he could write in the same genre, he was hooked. Now, this kid goes to a small expensive private school with very small classes.  Why his teacher can't give him the individual attention necessary to find out how to get him interested in writing, I have no idea.  It wasn't hard.   I finally got the kid to admit he likes writing fiction.  Big victory!  He started writing stories about talking animals and animals that fell in toxic puddles and got superpowers and all sorts of things.  When I broke it to him that he was going to write non-...

The kids are reading a book in which an English teacher reads kids' journals out loud to the class.  My students were appalled.  One of them wrote: I think Mr. Birkway is a horrible teacher because some people use their journals as a diary and write private stuff in them.  I know my teacher would never do any stuff like that because she cares about the students and knows our personalities.  I think she knows every one of us and what we do by heart.  Mr. Birkway did have a point about what the students write about.  he says this person is expressing their feelings and getting it off their chest.  But I still don't like the fact that Mr. Birkway read those journals. On another note, many of my students need extra credit.  I told them that they could get partial credit if they wrote me a letter about why they weren't doing homework.  One kid, "Francisco," said that his reasons were boring - could he make up a fictional reason?  This is h...

Most people I've talked to about my experience teaching are aware that fathers, especially nurturing, consistent fathers, are rare in the inner city.  Not as many people are aware of how many children lack mothers.  For some of them, I mean that metaphorically -- that their mothers were 13 or 14 when they had kids and just didn't know how to be mothers.  However, for many of them, this lack of a mother was literal. I had student after student being raised by an aunt, a grandmother, a great-aunt, an older sister, or even a great-grandmother.  This could be because their mother had a drug problem, was in jail, was with a boyfriend or new husband who didn't want their children around, or had left them for an unknown reason.  Now, I'm not saying that the lack of a father is something that's easy to get over.  I think it is extremely damaging and that children need fathers or father figures.  But, in my experience, the kids whose mothers left them were i...