The Writing Fire

I love to write - journals, blogs, stories, articles, scripts - it doesn't matter.  I ought to own stock in the company that makes composition books!  A fast moving pen on paper excites me, and the "New Post" boxes on my collection of blogs are quite addicting, as well.
Now, I'm not about to say I write well, or even consistently.  The world is so full of opportunities to share ideas in the techie world in which we live, I have a hard time lighting in one place too long.  Maybe that even adds to the adventure!
I think I heard a "So what?" out there.  Kids.  That's what.  I look into each face and see. possibly, the next Shakespeare, Rowlings, or Geisel... remember him?  How do we, as teachers, light that fire in young writers?  How can we share the craft, so that they never want to stop telling their stories?

We've been discussing writing on our campus.  We've asked the question, "Why don't kids like to write?"  I started thinking about what excites me.  Maybe it's the story-telling.  I love to tell stories.  Possibly because we ask kids to write a large amount of expository writing...
That's not it, though.  I write a large amount of expository writing, and I love it.  It happens I'm working at it right now.... hoping to spark an idea, share a thought - even if for just one person.  It's real for me.  I have an audience (I know I do because I read my posts to my dog) and a purpose.  Kids need the same thing.  They need an audience outside of the crazy lady with the red pen.  They need a real purpose - not a writing prompt.  Ok, I know they have to be able to write in response to a prompt for the sake of passing a test, so don't start shooting, yet.  That should not, however, be the reason we write - any of us.
An audience, you ask?  Surely somebody asked.  Ok, maybe it was the dog... but yes, an audience!  Again, with our high-tech world, opportunities for writing for a world-wide audience are at our fingertips, and our kids' fingertips, like never before.

I absolutely love to set the stage for a particular writing project.  I don't think my students even realize how much they write for me!  After some prep work this week, you could have heard a pen drop as an entire room of kids wrote for 45 minutes without a peep.  You see, it is important to them.  Their writing will be published, and, no, I'm not talking about hanging on the bulletin board!  We're just using good ol' pen and paper at the moment, but let me introduce you to some fantastic tools.

Let's start with Boomwriter.  This website can be used on computers, tablets, and phones!

A blurb from the site:

Get your class, student group, or club using technology to collaboratively write a real book. BoomWriter is totally free, and groups of five children or more can use it to read, write, compete and get published! Register your school or club on BoomWriter today.

Another great tool is Book Creator for iPad.  Students can create multi-media books with ease!  Students can collaborate and compile articles/chapters together to create a book.  These can be exported to ebooks readers without cost.

Need ideas?  Check out @mywriteabout on Twitter!  The website is coming soon, as well.  Daily pictures give interesting ideas for student writing.  I know, I said it's not about prompts, but it does have some good ones!

My post is getting quite long, but I must mention Bookemon, as well.  My kids have used this book designer for several years, and I love it!  It is web-based but has an app called bookPress.  Teachers can set up a classroom, and everything is free.  Students can actually have their books printed if they so choose - for a fee, of course!

I haven't even scratched the surface of the incredible writing tools available for our students today.  If you have some great finds, please comment and share!  Now, teachers, get those authors writing.  By the way, who's got the Stephen King of the future in their class???