We started a digital writing club this past month at my school. I have been trying to find ways to engage students and amplify the work they are doing. My partnership with YouthVoices and the National Writing Project has been a saving grace during this year of digital teaching. I wanted to invite more students into the space. It has been a relatively slow start, and I was concerned that it might not take off. But then, like I knew in my heart it would, the students took over.
I have always felt that students will direct their own learning when given the opportunity to do so. Students drawn to our group are writers at heart, they journal, and draw, and produce digital content all the time on their own, my role was simply to facilitate a space where they could find like minds. I want to share opportunities to produce media that can inspire others to add to the creative conversations happening with teens. I sat in gratitude this past week. Here is an excerpt of our meeting last week, as a student led the discussion on creating the portfolio.
And this feed is from a group chat, where one student posted her work for others to see over the weekend. Again, they lead, they support, they cheer on the voice. What is my greater message here? As the lead learner in the room, my role is to provide the tools and the structure for students to connect and then be there to facilitate as needed, stepping in and out of the conversations. I asked their permission to share here, and they were gracious to share their words. But clearly, when teachers speak less, students speak more, and their words of encouragement far exceed anything I could say.
Can’t wait for our meeting this week as they share their work and they post it on our youthvoices.live site for other teens to see and comment. I will facilitate the initial part of the meeting, giving guidance on meaningful commenting, and then, I will get out of the way and watch and learn. Stay tuned my friends!