Black and White and Gray

Free writing. Journal writing.

I’ve shunned this in the past thinking that it was a go-to for teachers wanting to include writing in their classrooms without actually having to teach writing. But it turns out I call it silent writing and it’s basically the same thing.

My students and I write for 5 minutes at the beginning of writing workshop. I usually provide them with a prompt related to the current writing unit.

Recently, I participated in a free writing session after engaging in an activity to generate ideas. I really enjoyed the exercise and the writing time. Generating ideas, in and of itself, would help my students when they don’t know what to write about. And if we share before writing, it would get them ready to write with greater confidence.

I am blogging about this because it reveals some things about me as a person that I don’t particularly like.

I’ve always seen the world as black and white, struggling to recognize the grays. Not understanding the value of the grays and seeing them as the easy way out. The middle ground, which is nothing if not safe. Taking a stand means to be on one or the other side of a binary. I’ve resisted the in-betweens. The messy side of things. The conflicting emotions. Either/or has suited me just fine.

I always thought that not taking a stand for or against something was a sign of weakness. I still believe that some things are not negotiable or debatable, they truly are black and white, but most things are firmly in the gray zone.

And that’s OK.

Recognizing that about myself and giving voice to it allows me to confront it head on. This way I can continue to become a better teacher (and human) tomorrow than I was yesterday.