Writerly Play for Educators

Tap Into Your Own Voice

Summer is here! We hope you’ve already had time to relax and celebrate a school year well completed.

At a recent conference, I guided educators through a visualization and writing exercise. Afterward, their questions were so thoughtful, questions not only about how to facilitate writing through games, but about how writing in this way feels. They considered how large motor movement helps us access depth of emotion. We discussed visualization, and whether one can actually forget that we’re in an every day space when we’re moving through an imagined alternate world. We considered whether total immersion is necessary to tap into that deeper connection with our writing.

Our conversation reminded me how important it is, as educators who teach writing, to take time away from thinking about writing to actually experiencing it ourselves.  And what better time to explore and experiment than summer?

In this Writerly Play Kit, I’ll point you toward a number of Inklings resources to spark your own creativity, and to guide you through quick writing experiences of your own. You might choose to then use these materials in your classroom. Or, you may discover new insights about accessing joy, authenticity, and depth in your writing that you can take back to your teaching. Allow yourself to write fast, to write short, and remember, there’s no “right way” to approach writing. Here’s to you and your creativity!