by
Gordon Stamper, Jr.
A few years
ago, a fellow educator told me how she had resented her writing students. They occupied what could have been her
writing time with stacks of essays to grade.
How dare they complete their assignments!
Soon another,
more carefully thought-out, realization came to her: could she complete the writing work she assigned
them, let alone achieve high marks? The
instructor felt hypocrisy in her expectations.
She had preoccupied herself with the career necessities of creating
curriculum, writing prompts, and commenting on students’ essays, yet did not
allocate any other time for her own writing, fiction or nonfiction.
A turning
point came when she became a little selfish:
certain times of the week became her writing times, from a few “stolen”
minutes to several hours. From this came
multiple creative nonfiction essays, short stories, and two novels. And a positive byproduct of it was that she
enjoyed teaching English and writing again.
By regaining her writing voice, she saw the importance and pleasures of
helping her students gain theirs.
I went
through a similar “crisis” over a decade ago.
Here I was, a composition and research writing teacher who had not
written anything unrelated to school work in at least three years, and I felt
burnt out and discouraged. When I saw
there were writers’ groups that met regularly in our region, I gave myself
permission to write for them.
Of course, I
was mostly writing for myself, but a veil lifted for me as I continued my
pursuits. There is hard work and joy in
creation, and it is important to be a part of helping students—at least those
willing to listen and work—discover that joy.
Yes, I can still get frustrated and even a bit infuriated with student
writing, but my underlying resentment is gone.
I too am a fellow struggler in the writing craft.
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