Slice of Life: Stories on the Wall

(This is for the Slice of Life challenge, hosted by Two Writing Teachers. We write on Tuesdays about the small moments in the larger perspective … or is that the larger perspective in the smaller moments? You write, too.)

Like many teachers, I try to display student work throughout the year, both as a way to get some of our stories read by classmates and to showcase some exemplary work. I often will take names off the work, for various reasons, and my closet door often becomes one of the classroom posting sites. Students line up near the closet at the end of class, so it becomes a prime viewing spot.

I had placed a bunch of stories written as part of a lesson around remixing stories from a different character perspective — we used Rikki Tikki Tavi as our core story — and it was a few days later that one of the writers was reading the stories during a lull when he gasped, and shouted out that he recognized his writing. (The stories were typed, so handwriting was not a visual give-away).

“Hey, that’s my story! I wrote that! That’s my story!”

His friends all came over to look and read with him. Then, they started to read and re-read the others.

Student Writing on Display

Peace (displayed, read, celebrated),
Kevin

 

10 Comments
  1. Sometimes it just takes being seen! Great that he wanted his friends to know his writing. This year I have done a poor job of displaying lots of student writing- I must improve!

    • I’ve done better other years, too. Dang it. A moment like this is a good reminder of why it’s worth doing (and, well, expected by our school administrators, too)
      Kevin

  2. In a world where there are too many people with teaching degrees in front of classrooms, it is always so comforting to see a REAL TEACHER who actually cares about students.
    Thanks, Kevin.

  3. “Hey, that’s my story! I wrote that! That’s my story!” May we all provide and experience more of these amazing moments. “That’s my story! I wrote that!” What could be more perfect?

  4. I. Wrote. That.
    Three simple words, carrying so much meaning in the context you weave via this slice. I can feel the speaker’s pride.

  5. Being “published” is exciting! Posting on the closet door where students line up is still one of the best sites for displaying student work (pun intended). I love that you post them typed and anonymously.

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