Celebrating NaNoWriMo accomplishments and hard conversations

My 8th graders turned in their NaNoWriMo stories on Monday and they are STILL talking about how much they loved the experience. One girl said today, "I learned so much about writing from NaNoWriMo. I wish we were still doing it." Another said, "Now whenever we're asked to a short essay, I'll be like, 'this is a piece of cake' after going through NaNoWriMo." I've only had a couple students write and talk about it being a bad experience for them. Most of them said they really enjoyed it. So I'm still basking in the glow of their writing motivation. Clearly I need to do NaNoWriMo with my students every year.

In addition to celebrating their NaNoWriMo accomplishments, however, we also had some really tough conversations this week about race in the wake of all that is happening in our country right now. I was initially very hesitant to discuss such an emotionally-charged topic with my students, but overall, they were very mature and respectful, even if we didn't always agree. It was hard to hear some of the things they were saying, but I also know that sweeping this issue under the rug would have been a missed opportunity for a teachable moment. I'm glad I decided to stick my neck out, crawl out of my turtle shell, and talk about the tough stuff with them.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres