Weekend Writing: To Live Inside a Book

If you could live inside a book as any character, what book and what character would you choose? Explain.

AuTHor Thursday: Madelyn Camrud

Greetings Readers,

Today, meet Madelyn Camrud. She is a poet. She graciously answered some questions for the Red

River Valley Writing Project and in turn gave us some questions to answer as well.

She highlights the idea that those who craft with words do not journey alone. Although the image of a writer isolated with a writing instrument is oft engrained in brains, writing is a shared journey filled with other people’s words, whether in classes, writing groups, face-to-face conversations, or shared words on a page.

Why do you write?

When in graduate school at UND, Professor Sheridan said one reason we write is to discover.  That thought and W.C. William’s lines about poems: men die for lack of what is found there, sent me along the path to discovery and becoming a poet.  I learned to look for whatever the poem will give me. Sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes I never find it. However, delight comes in words and sounds along the way: in how words look on a page, how a line breaks, and how meaning changes in the way words come together. One good line in a poem (usually near or at the end) is the discovery that gives me joy. Finally, the most important discoveries are the truths I might have disguised or never found in myself were it not for the poem.

Who encouraged you to be a poet?

Many people encouraged me and I thank them: my mother; a therapist; poetry teachers in classes and workshops: Robert King, Sharon Dubiago, Nancy Willard, Thom Tammaro, Mark Vinz to name a few. Main among them was Jay Meek. In his The Art of Writing class, I wrote and wrote to try and figure out what a poem really is. He encouraged me to continue my studies to earn a master’s degree with a creative thesis. Two years later, I was encouraged that New Rivers Press published my first collection of poems This House is Filled with Cracks. After graduation, I was encouraged by a Writers Group of five or six women.  A loyal friend from the group, Barbara Crow, has been my single most encouraging poet friend ever since.  Later still, Susan Meyers read and helped shape my second full-collection, Oddly Beautiful, which was terrifically helpful.

Who do you read to inspire you?

Poems by Sharon Olds I admire for the flow of her words moving down the page. I believe she says what she wants to say. There is no holding back. The Living and The Dead, her first book, is my favorite.  Christian Wiman survived a terminal disease and wrote Every Riven Thing, a powerfully spiritual book of poems. I opened the book and couldn’t help but read all the poems, straight through, aloud. His book of prose, Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet is a wonderful resource for all poets. Susan Meyers’ excellent crafting of poems in My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass made me want to write as did Carol Muskie-Dukes when I heard her read from Twin Cities at the UND Writer’s Conference. I read and reread Louise Gluck’s poems in Ararat. Today, The Genome Rhapsodies Anna Meek, Jay’s daughter, arrived and I am terribly excited to read it!

What is my advice if you want to be a poet?

Poets learn to write poems by reading good poems and writing, writing, writing. Robert Bly suggested budding poets go into a cabin in the woods for a winter, no footprints in or out. That might be a good start but poetry for me is not that simple. It’s a long process. Currently, I’m mostly revising, sifting through stacks of hard copy and computer files for a new collection, On the Way to Moon Island. Having found lines in stacks from 1992 that became the title poem for Oddly Beautiful, my second collection, I believe in hard copy.  I also believe in hand-written first drafts. I’m old fashioned.

Finally, I want to ask some questions. Doesn’t being a poet have as much to do with how you view the world as with it does with writing poetry? Isn’t it possible you’ve always been a poet though you might not have written poems?  Do you think you’re too busy to write poems? Isn’t poetry a place to go early mornings, at bedtime, and on Sundays?  Will there ever be enough time to live the introspective life you crave? Meanwhile, isn’t it enough to look in and out the windows of your life, to look forward and backward in your mind? Symphonic music in the background, birds, trees, and flowers in season, aren’t those lovely human faces and hearts, family and a few close friends, all you need to write poems?

Thank you Madelyn for sharing your poetry world, journey, and especially your questions.

Teacher Feature - Alissa Helm

Hello readers! Let me introduce you to this week's featured teacher, Alissa Helm. 

 First, tell us a little about you: I currently teach 7^th grade language arts on a STEM/AVID team at Cheney Middle School in West Fargo, ND. This is my 10^th year teaching, eighth at the 7^th grade level, but all at the middle level. I love being involved in an interdisciplinary team developing projects and meaningful learning experiences. I enjoy integrating the content areas and helping kids make connections between writing and reading and all other content. This summer, I will be teaching at our first ever Cheney STEM Academy summer school, trying out new ideas I can use during the school year. I will also be attending an AVID conference in Minneapolis focused on critical reading strategies. I became involved in the Red River Valley Writing Project in 2010, and I have continued to be involved ever since. The connections I have made with colleagues at different levels have been especially meaningful. In fact, I have developed a
strong friendship and working relationship with Kelly Sassi, NDSU professor, after meeting at the RRVWP. She has opened up so many opportunities for me, including

Weekend Writing: Advice

What is the best advice someone has given to you? Tell the story of why they told you and how you have used the advice.

Rejuvenation Fridays: Teachers Connecting Online

by Erika Dyk 

Story 1: Math Blogs

On March 31, 2015, NPR featured an article entitled "Live from Small Town America: Teachers who Blog to Stay in Touch." Reading the article, I learned about several teachers who blog, but Sarah Hagan stood out:

Hagan's own love of teaching was born in part from reading a math teacher's blog when she herself was in high school. It was called Math Teacher Mambo by Shireen Dadmehr."I just became amazed," Hagan recalls. "I thought, 'This is the way I want to teach.' For the rest of high school and college I read all the teacher blogs I could get my hands on."

From Sarah's blog Math=Love, I discovered this world of math blogs. Math teachers using writing to share their teaching practice. Sarah is big into using Interactive Notebooks in her math classroom and shares her resources freely with her online colleagues and visitors. I felt inspired and encouraged to see inside the math content world.

At the National Writing Project Conference

Story 2: Teacher 2 Teacher

At the National Writing Project Conference in November, my friend and I stopped by the booth that invited us to share our teaching story: #WHYITEACH. That day I wrote, "Because I was taught the love of learning and I am compelled to share, to welcome others to the joy" and shared it on the board.

The next day, at the National Council of Teachers of English conference, a similar booth was set up. My friend and I eventually wrote another one. This time, I wrote the same idea, but slightly revised to use the framework of gifts.

At the National Council of Teachers of English conference

The #WHYITEACH story sharing was facilitated by Teacher 2 Teacher. On their website, they note

"Born from the belief that no one knows teaching like teachers, Teacher2Teacher is a growing community where you can connect to share resources, learn from one another, and solve the big problems that no one can solve alone. Join us and help shape the conversation."

They invite you to join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and their website.

Reflecting back on those two conference moments where I had limited space to convey why I teach, I am grateful for that invitation. Simply putting my #WHYITEACH stories on the wall with other teachers reminded me not only why I teach, but that I am not alone in my love for teaching.

It is important to remember that we are not alone. And it is important to remember why we teach.

So, on this Friday, I invite you to also answer that question, "Why do I teach?"  

May your time of purposeful reflection help to refresh your teaching soul.

Have a wonderful weekend.

AuTHor Thursday: Brady Bergeson

Greetings Readers!

Today, on AuTHor Thursday, meet Brady Bergeson.

Bio

Brady Bergeson teaches writing at NDSU. He was a principal writer and performer for The Electric Arc Radio Show, a staged, episodic radio series that ran for three years in Minneapolis at the Ritz Theatre and the Assembly Theatre at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis. Episodes were also staged in New York and Chicago, and aired on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current 89.3 in Minneapolis. His work has appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Opium Magazine, among others. A found poem he created from a transcript of a Republican Presidential Debate is currently on display at the Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead as part of the Albino Buffalo exhibit. His short story, “The Girl, the Boy, the Goat, and Heidegger,” was published on a series of stickers last year by Albino Buffalo, an art collective that sells stickers designed by local artists through vending machines.

Q & A with Brady

Who currently inspires you?

I’ve always been inspired by the short story writer George Saunders. His stories are exciting and address what it means to be alive in our current world. Even when his stories are satirical, they are still grounded in characters that are authentic. Everything he does is approached with a great deal of humanity. It’s a good way to be a writer, and it’s a good way to live your life. Here’s a short video of him talking about story.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve been reading some Scandinavian mysteries. I read Henning Mankell’s series of Inspector Wallander books years ago, and I just recently started reading Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series.

I’m constantly going back to the short stories of Aimee Bender. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt is a fantastic collection. And I seem to always be reading something by Louise Erdrich because I inevitably have her in the readings for whatever class I’m teaching.

I’ve also been reading two new short story collections: Steven Millhauser’s Voices in the Night, and Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles, which won the National Book Award.

And I just started reading The Odyssey with my son. It should be fun as he’s been obsessed with mythology and is currently more up on it than I am.

What advice do you have for writing teachers?

Be kind. Be honest. Be supportive. It’s easy to get caught up in marking areas for improvement, but remember to find the positive in a student’s work. Even the students who may be struggling the most have something to say. Help them see where they have opportunities, and they’ll start to see their strength and power. Every writer has room for improvement and growth, but if the hill looks too big they won’t take the first step. Encourage the first step.

I see a lot of students who are good writers, but they don’t think of themselves as good writers. They don’t see that they have strengths. So a lot of it is just about confidence. I didn’t have a lot of confidence as a creative writer in college. I remember walking down a hall with a professor and he sort of offhandedly mentioned something he thought was strong in my writing. And I was shocked. And he was shocked that I was shocked. It was the first time I felt this was something I could do.

Also, remember that mechanics are important, but a lot of students who struggle with mechanics are often the ones who have the most interesting ideas. So make sure to honor that part of their writing. 

Thank you Brady for graciously sharing your writing world with us.

Wednesday Wisdom: Pro+Verb

Pro+Verbs

By Erika Dyk

“By learning the old, we learn the new.” –Chinese Proverb

Wisdom in a sentence or two, a proverb wraps time-tested advice in a neat package to be applied to the messiness of life.

In my completely “unscientific” word dissection, I noticed something about that word, that proverb word.

Pro + Verb = Proverb

Pro = expert

Pro = for

Verb = linking (denoting being)

Verb = action

Using this “word dissection” logic, proverbs are expert ways of being and acting that are for our good.

Returning to time-tested proverbs gives us a wise framework to structure our teaching and learning. 

In my learning/teaching journey, I find myself returning to the following two proverbs often. 

 “Teachers open the door, but you must enter yourself.” {Chinese Proverb}

Monday Announcements

The YAL Book Club meets this Friday, February 19th, to discuss A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. The group meets from 4:30-6:00 at Usher's House in Moorhead. Contact Dan Dooher for more information: ddooher@moorheadschools.org.

Weekend Writing: An Opposite Love Story

Go to the 16 Personalities website and pick two opposite personality types. Read their section on romantic relationships and write a funny story about when the two of them knew they were in love.

Friday Rejuvenation: A Valentine's Day Box

"A Courageous Box"

A set aside Tide box,
A shoebox,
An oatmeal canister

Ordinary to the untrained eye
But through the eyes of a school Valentine's Day expert,
Anything but ordinary.

Freezer paper
Construction paper
Paper bags
Glitter
Glue sticks
Doilies
Construction paper cut-outs
More glitter

And the ordinary is transformed into extraordinary
A box, a Valentine's Day box, ready to receive the paper manifestations of love.

And so that box,
That box that thought its job was done when the detergent was gone or the perhaps the shoes,
Was really just preparing for what it was supposed to be.
And even though things were modified, trimmed, removed, added,
Hurting in the process,
This stretching and growing and becoming something new
Was all for the purpose of sharing love

All it took was for somebody to recognize
That there was more to this emptied and set aside box than first meets the eye
And follow through with the right time, resources, and skills

To prepare it for what it was meant to do: love.

AuTHor Thursday: A Valentine for Penny Kittle

The Red River Valley Writing Project sends a Valentine to one of our beloved authors: Penny Kittle.

Her recent publication Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers is the perfect read (or Valentine gift?) for a teacher who loves words and hopes to spark that love of reading in her students.

And here begins our Valentine to you, Penny Kittle.

A Warning.

When you read books written by Penny Kittle, you might just want to write beside your students. When you write beside your students, you might just want to keep a writing notebook. And when you keep a writing notebook, you might just want to share your writing struggles and thinkings and failures and successes with your students. And when you share your writing struggles and thinkings and failures and successes with your students, you might just want to try writing workshop in your classroom. And once you try writing workshop in your classroom, you will see how your students start to craft words because they have watched your writing struggles and thinkings and failures and successes. And once you see how the students start to craft words, you might just be inspired to try something else.

Like read right beside them.

And when you read right beside them, you might just find yourself talking about books. And once you find yourself talking about books, you might just find your students reading those books. And when you find your students reading those books, you might just find yourself conferencing about them with those books. And when you are conferencing with your students about those books, you might just find more books to love. And when you find more books to love, you might find your library shelves need expanding. And when your library shelves expand, you might just find that your students' love for books has expanded as well. When your students' love for books has expanded, you might just find that they have found friends in those books, have discovered the meaning of life in those books, have found the answers to questions they didn't even know they were asking in those books. And when that happens, those students might feel so connected with those books that they might want to take a picture with those books. And when they want to take a picture with those books, you might just find your classroom walls decorated with book love. And when you find your classroom walls decorated with book love, your teacher heart sings a happy song.

So. Consider yourself warned.

And here ends our Valentine to you, Penny Kittle. 

Penny Kittle feeling the love from a couple of North Dakotans--Callie Bowen and Jaime Jarmin.

Wednesday Wisdom: Happy Valentine's Day to my Teaching Mentor

I did my student teaching at North Pole High School in North Pole, Alaska in 1996-1997 with Pat Sheehan. I remember the long drive from my 12x16 foot cabin (no running water) in Fairbanks to North Pole, during months of subzero temperatures and darkness. Each day when I arrived at school, I was met by the smiling face of my mentor. Mrs. Sheehan was about to retire (though that was not the only reason for her smile), and she put a tremendous effort into passing on her knowledge of the teaching profession to me.

In addition to many in-depth conversations about teaching, we also kept a dialogue journal that we wrote in each day to each other. When one book filled up, we started another one. I have kept these journals over the years and use them in my current job of teaching future teachers. Reading my entries helps put me back in touch with the hopes, dreams and anxieties of being a new teacher. Reading Mrs. Sheehan's entries inspires me to do more, be more, for future teachers. Her writing has really stood the test of time, as this passage shows:

Teacher Feature - Jenna Trosvik

First, can you tell us a little about yourself and your involvement with the RRVWP?

I currently teach 4th grade at Robert Asp Elementary in Moorhead. I recently spoke at the National Writing Project in honor of the Red River Valley Writing Project and a grant I was able to be a part of at my last school. It was great to be able to speak at a National Conference, and it gave me such great access to the NWP and NCTE. I became involved in the RRVWP in the summer of 2013. All the experiences and education that the RRVWP has given me have made me a stronger teacher overall. It's one of the best organizations to be a part of.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading a variety of books. I am in a children's literature graduate class, and I am doing a 40-book challenge. I just finished The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate---amazing. I am also reading The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander to my class, and they are loving it. For my graduate class I am also reading Storytime: Young Children's Literacy Understanding in the Classroom by Lawrence Sipe and Picture This: How Pictures Work by McClure, Garthwait, and Kristo. I am looking forward to my 40-book

Monday Announcements

The Fargo Writing Group meets this Saturday at 9am at Dunn Brothers Coffee on the corner of 13th Ave South and 25th Street South.

The big news this week is that we are ready to advertise the 2016 RRVWP Summer Institute. We need all TCs "on deck" to help recruit the strong candidates. We hope to continue to expand our reach to Northwestern Minnesota, rural areas of North Dakota, teachers in High-Needs Schools, and content area teachers from K-college. Remember, the most effective thing you can do to help our efforts is to talk face-to-face with a colleague about your experience with the writing project and to encourage them to apply. Following up by sharing the flyer (attached to Monday's list serve announcement) is a great next step. Thank you all in advance for your efforts!

We anticipate offering an Advanced Institute for TCs on the NWP's new College Ready Writers Program as well. More information on that to follow.

Weekend Writing Prompts: A Book About You

If someone wrote a book about you, what would it be called? What genre would it be? Explain.

AuTHor Thursday: Elizabeth Raum

Greetings RRVWP Blog Readers, 

Meet Elizabeth Raum. She has graciously shared part of her writing world with us. 

Elizabeth Raum has written over 100 books for young readers including picture books, nonfiction, and middle-grade novels. She spent several years as a teacher and librarian in New Jersey and North Dakota. She taught at Mapleton High School in Mapleton, North Dakota, in the 1970s, and worked as a librarian at Concordia College from 1992-2003, in Moorhead, Minnesota. She has been writing fulltime since 2003. She has lived in six states, but claims North Dakota as home. She is a teaching artist with the North Dakota Council on the Arts and the Regional Advisor of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her website is www.elizabethraum.net.

Why do you write?

Every life is a story, and the lives of others (both true and imaginary) nourish us. I write to tell these stories.

Who currently inspires you?

My Fargo writing group is a source of inspiration. They work at their craft, constantly revising to make their work sing. And like all of us writers, they don’t let rejection defeat them. They continue to produce amazing work, even though they seldom get the recognition they deserve.

Who encouraged you to be a writer?

Two of my teachers played a special role in my life. Mrs. Brown, my third grade teacher, assigned the class to write a poem. Mine was about snowflakes, and when Mrs. Brown read it, she told me that I would be a writer someday. Of course, I didn’t believe her. Later, in 9^th grade, my history teacher, Mr. O’Brien, encouraged me through his supportive comments on my papers. My Mom always read to my brothers and me, and my Dad was a great storyteller. He saw every incident as fuel for stories. No wonder I do, too.

Wednesday Wisdom: Blog as a Classroom Resource

Greetings Reader on the Other Side of the Screen,

Perhaps you are a first time reader of this blog. Perhaps you are an occasional reader. Perhaps you are a daily reader. Whatever your readership status is, today I invite you to explore the RRVWP blog as a resource for your classroom. 

AuTHor Thursday: Many Thursdays, a local author is featured. These authors share insights into their writing process and world.  Here are a few authors who have been featured:

Denise Lajimodiere
Jill Kandel
Heidi Czerwiec
Ryan Christiansen

Consider sharing these posts with your student writers to help not only inspire them to write and to gain insights into the writing world, but also to show them the local writing community that they could be a part of some day.

Monday Announcements

Scholastic Art Exhibit from 2015

 Here is a list of upcoming events this month:

Wed. 2/3--There is a Scholastic meeting at Plains Art Museum to plan out the statewide ceremony, to be held March 12th. We are looking for volunteers to help with this event!
Sat. 2/13--Writing Group Meeting
Sun. 2/14--Grand Forks Professional Book Club
Fri. 2/19--YAL Book Club in Moorhead
Fri. to Sun. Feb 26-28--Winter Writing Retreat at Maplelag
Mon. Feb. 29--Grand Forks Book Club

Wanted: Photographer and Videographer for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Statewide Ceremony on March 12th
Call to action: Subscribe to our Google Calendar if you would like RRVWP events to pop up on your calendar automatically!