The first step in my becoming a writer again was purchasing a writer's notebook. A few years ago I was really into journaling, so I knew what I was looking for. Something small, with an envelope in the back to keep important things in, with a strap to hold a pen. I found the perfect journal, it is plain enough that I won't get tired of it yet colorful enough that I want to pick it up. The paper smells like the wood always smelled in Lowes Hardware when I would go with my Dad. Simply buying the journal has made me want to write again. I enjoyed my weekend at home because it felt like I was searching for writing topics which has lead me to uncovering memories. I enjoy trying out new writing strategies and modeling authors that inspire me. I often find myself writing about things that I am emotionally attached to, have a funny story, or have had an impact on my life. I am excited to fill my journal with sweet stories, lists, ideas for teaching, memories, and so much more. I love the idea presented by Ralph Fletcher presents in his article, Writer's Notebook: A Place to Dream, Wonder, and Explore that a writer's notebook can be used for anything and should be a place to experiment. Students should have time to jot ideas down in their notebooks throughout the day so that they can refer back to these ideas and use them as a starting place for writing (2001). I took time to jot down the idea of word work, moving to paper, revising/editing, and final form in my own writer's notebook. I want to use this strategy with my own students, so that they know their writer's notebook is a place where ideas are born and can be turned into published work. The getting started ideas in Fletcher's article by JoAnn Portalupi seem fun and approachable for students of varying ages. I especially felt drawn to the three by three invitation because it felt poetic (Fletcher, 2001).

Mentor Texts

I enjoyed using non-fiction texts as mentor texts during summer reading clinic. Students were immediately excited about writing because they wanted to use certain text features that had caught their eye while reading the mentor text. Mentor texts within a classroom serve as a snapshot into the future for writers (Dorfman, 2017). This was true in reading clinic, I would look through Pink is for Blobfish with my students and we would point out different text features that they wanted to try out in their own books. It was awesome to observe them modeling their own writing after the authors of the mentor texts and being so proud of the product. It is important for teachers to use their own writing as a mentor text and be vulnerable in front of students to model the process. Dorfman and Cappelli state that, "Almost nothing does more to sustain a culture of writing than a teacher who writes with students, thereby underscoring the importance of writing and also allowing students to see the process-one writer's version of it-as it unfolds." (2017)