Sharing personal writing to build a classroom community

Posted on Dec 11 2009 at 10:00 AM

By Mollie Dickson

Last period of the day, just before Thanksgiving break: kids are wound up, we’re all half checked-out, and our school counselor courageously charges through her lesson on bullying. In the back of my mind, as I scribble lesson plans for next week’s Writer’s Workshop, I can hear bits of the conversation; she is urging students to consider the teasing and disrespect that goes on in our own middle school. Do you see it? Hear it? What’s the effect? The questions beg a particular answer, and so it is received. A solid, booming, “Yes,” fills the air. There was little room to disagree. Yes, bullying. Yes, here. Yes, it’s bad. Yes, we know.

And just as I’m ready to zone-out and delve into planning and grading (because what else do I do anymore?) I hear something else. Something new. A soft but sturdy, “Well…” murmured by a distinctive voice: Charlie. But Charlie? What could he possibly have to say to contradict the reality and prevalence of bullying? He, of all people, knows it firsthand. Lives and breathes the mocking, the smirks, the teasing every single day. Okay, now my ears are perked up. I’m holding my breath, just to avoid any noise that would keep me from absorbing his next words. And with a quiet confidence he continues,

“Well… yes, there’s all of that at our school. But. Well, not here. In room 30, 2nd and 7th period, it’s different. We don’t make fun of each other in here. There isn’t teasing or bullying or anything. Because we care about each other. It’s just that, well, we’ve all shared really personal writing… so we’re close. It’s made us see that we all are different, but the same too. Like we all have things in our life that are hard. We learn what we’re all going through and it makes us respect each other more.”

He scanned the room for reassurance, and heads nodded in approval. “Yea, we do do that,” another chimes in. Our counselor, eyebrows now raised, smiles, “Wow, that’s great. We’ll need to figure out how to do more of that, school-wide.” Needless to say, my heart is pumping and I’m doing my own little celebration dance on the inside. They’ve got it; it’s working, I sing to myself. Because this is what Writer’s Workshop is all about: expressing our voices, listening/responding with open minds and hearts, discovering the healing, contagious power of stories, and in doing so, building a strong community of writers. And I just heard it first hand… we are!

I whisper, “Charlie,” to get his attention across the room. “Charlie,” a bit of a shouting whisper now, and he darts his gaze my direction. His face lights up as he catches my smile. We lock eyes for a moment—no words necessary—we get it. We appreciate each other. And then the bell rings… class dismissed.

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