Love Like a Spectator

  1.     Oh Ms. Believer , Twenty One Pilots      This song has been one of my favorites since I was 16. It’s very mellow, starting with a solo a cappella voice and a light tambourine before electronic strings come in with the underlying chords. Finally, the rhythm joins with piano and light snare drum. There are two rounds of verses and chorus, with long instrumental sections in between. The melody is in a major key, but there’s something reserved about it. It’s not quite happy, not quite sad, but there is a melancholy tone. The lyrics talk about walking alongside someone you care about on a cold wintery day as you both reflect upon your struggles.      For me, this song brings me back to my junior year of high school, when my brother had just barely left for his year as an exchange student in Germany. Twenty One Pilots was his favorite band and had been for a few years but I had never cared for the music I heard—much too electronic and hard...

       My 10 th grade students have just started a unit on personal narratives and this being the first major writing assignment of the school year, I know it’s important to plan for a solid writing workshop. I can already tell that many of my students are hesitant writers–meaning they hesitate to call themselves writers. I’ve been reading the writings of Robert J. Graham and Dorfman & Shubitz recently, so I’ve been grappling with figuring how to help them build their identities as writers and part of our writing community. The writing workshop is specialized time that invites them to focus on their writing in ways they haven’t previously.      WW’s are helpful for students to be able to visualize the writing process as all stages can be represented in a well-crafted WW. At the beginning of a unit, different stations can model various brainstorming and prewriting strategies. Inviting your students to rotate and try a strategy that’s different th...