On a personal note

On a personal note, I decided to go out on a limb and really challenge myself this year.  Shortly before November, I had a dream about four characters who were living in an abandoned warehouse (I later changed this to an abandoned 7-11) during a post disaster, futuristic time.  The four characters, who were not previously known to one another or related in any way, were completely dependent on one another for survival.  One day they decided to stop merely surviving and attend the local community college.  When I woke up, the characters were still so vivid and real, I decided to try my hand at science fiction - nothing too crazy, just four characters in their late teens trying to survive in the not so distant future.  Due to their circumstances, they had very limited access to any technology, so I thought,  perhaps I could pull it off.

Now it is two weeks into NaNoWriMo and I can say without any doubt, I suck at science fiction.   (I know, I know, you’re surprised!)  In  fact, I’m so bad at it, that I’m lagging farther behind in my wordcount than I ever have before.  Today, in order to make up for time, I sent my four characters to Club Retro to attend a concert in which a 1990s Ska tribute band, Unholy Genius, performs.  They play songs from Madness, No Doubt, Save Ferris, and Reel Big Fish.  This scene has been the most fun to write so far and I got 5,512 words out of it.  So much for my career in Sci Fi!

Where did the time go?

Well, it's the end of week two already and I have neglected to update this blog in the crazy rush to get NaNoWriMo 2010 rolling!

We spent two weeks in October prewriting, which went much more smoothly than last year.  My eighth graders consistently griped and complained.  We have to do this again?!  Once we hit November first, the eighth graders were off and running, with double and triple their goals from last year, keeping pace without a problem.

My sevies are struggling a little more than my students did last year.  I've started individual writing conferences and here's the problem:  they are worrying way too much about their stories!  Rather than writing a lot of nonsense, which is what last year's sevies did, this year's sevies are much more concerned about plot (as well as spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.)  Little by little, we're working them out of the worry.  It helps a ton that I have an assistant and a student teacher as well as thirty or so volunteers.  Oh, and a lot of Halloween candy!  Daily wordcount challenges and Word Wars competitions for candy are boosting those wordcounts.   We're entering the second half of NaNoWriMo slightly behind in our wordcounts (me included), but we're gaining momentum and excited for the upcoming week.

Contest #5: NaNoWriMo

Contest:  National Novel Writing Month

Genre:  Novel

Theme:  Anything you want - YES!!

Prize:  a new novel written by you, stickers, buttons, certificates, candy, party in December, increased writing fluency, self-esteem boost, rollicking good time

Publication:  need not be shared, unless the author wants to

Odds of winning:  EVERY SINGLE STUDENT CAN WIN - isn't that the BEST?!
For more information:  http://ywp.nanowrimo.org

 

 This is the writing contest that started it all.  NaNoWriMo.  I have published a couple of articles about last year's experience doing NaNoWriMo with students, so I won't rehash it all here.  Essentially it is a personal challenge to write a novel in thirty days.  I wanted to start recording this year's process and I'll begin with this year's goal: to go BIGGER and BETTER than last year.  I intend to do it in these ways:

1.  EVERY single English Language Learner in my program will write a novel this year.  Last year I only required intermediate and advanced students.  This year, everyone, including the Newbies (what I affectionately call students who have been in the United States for less than one year).  These students are non-speakers of English, and thus, (technically) non-writers.  Don't worry, we have lots of support in place: volunteer tutors, scaffolded worksheets, sugar-laden candy, and proof that it can be done - (thanks to last year's newbies who wrote novels even though I didn't think they could).

2.  More adult participation - last year we had four adults in our building writing novels, this year we are up to about six.  I have another week to convince some more to get on board.

3.  Reading a novel before NaNoWriMo.  Last year I decided to do NaNoWriMo two weeks before November, so there wasn't time to read a novel together before we did it.  Most students had read novels before, but not all of them had.  This year we read "Summer on Wheels" by Gary Soto.  It took a lot longer than I would have liked and we had to barrel through it without many of the assignments I would typically do.  It was a great choice, though, for several reasons.  It's funny, it's realistic, it's got GREAT characters, and it incorporates a LOT of Spanish (and a little French, which my one French speaker really enjoyed).  It has been a great reference as we've started planning our own novels.

4.  Last year's two biggest complaints were: writer's cramp, and counting words, so I booked the library's computer lab for the month of November.  Students can type, handwrite, or a combination of both.  This gives options and options are always good.  I also received a classroom donation of a handful of flashdrives in case students need to move their novel from home to school.

5.  Two more teachers are participating, one at Bryant (mi hermana, Adrianna Jorgensen) and my esteemed colleague, Suzan Lake at East High School.  Last year I shared ideas and pitfalls with teachers on the NaNoWriMo educator forums, but it will be more fun to collaborate with real-live teachers.

6.  Bigger and better December party.  Not sure what this is going to look like this year, but I've promised the NaNo-experienced 8th graders that they could help plan the party.  I'm considering an evening parent night?  Not sure.  We'll have to see . . . 

More posts to come as our pursuit for the 30 day novel begins in just EIGHT days . . .

Contest #4: USOE's 27th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest

Contest:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest

Genre:  Essay

Theme:  What impact has Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy of community service had on your vision for the future, and what can you do to be responsible in your community?

Prize:  1st place: $125; runner-up: $50 (Attend Keynote Address and Luncheon)

Publication:  Contest info. doesn't report anything, but I have heard previous year's winning essays read on various radio stations during Black History Month

Odds of winning:  one middle school winner in the state of Utah, 4 runner-ups from grades 7th - 12th
For more information:  http://www.schools.utah.gov/equity/DOCS/mlk-essay-packet.aspx

 

This contest is a very big deal at our school.  Our school has had a recent grand prize winner and a history of submitting numerous entries.  This year's theme ties nicely into things we've been talking about at school.  "Responsibility" was our theme in Advisory class last month and community service is an on-going emphasis at our school.  Social justice is always an important topic in my classroom and one I enjoy talking about with students.  I haven't always been into writing contests, but I have had students enter this one numerous times in the past.

However, now that we do NaNoWriMo, the MLK Essay Contest comes at a very, very bad time.  I was hoping to get the contest information early enough this year to do something about it, but at the moment, it's just not possible.  We are so pressed for time as November is rapidly approaching.  

 

Because this essay contest is important and because of my quest to enter as many contests as possible, I decided to have my advisory class participate.  It is a tricky thing doing something so heavily academic in Advisory class.  We do not give letter grades in Advisory and it is only a twenty minute period.  Typically, it's difficult to get Advisory classes to buy into this sort of thing without a grade to hold over their heads.  I'm feeling pretty good this year, however, since I've taken the "writing contest" motivational approach as opposed to the "do it for a grade" motivational approach.  Also, I have loaded my Advisory class with eighth graders from my program, so although not all of them are currently my Language Arts students, most of them are and are familiar with this project to enter contests.  I'm going to do a follow-up post to report how this goes.  If it works out, I might try doing more writing contests in Advisory.  We'll just have to see . . .

Contest #3: UCCU's Young Leadership Scholarship

Contest:  Utah Central Credit Union's Young Leadership Scholarhip

Genre:  Narrative Essay

Theme:  "What is the Greatest Lesson You Have Learned in Life?"

Prize:  1st Place: $1,000; 2nd Place: $500; 3rd Place: $250

Publication:  Read aloud at UCCU's annual member meeting in 2011

Odds of winning:  three winners in Salt Lake and Carbon Counties
For more information:  www.utahcentral.com and click on "For Teens" under Life Phases

 

So, it has been a long time since I have posted.  Mostly what we've been up to is reading "Summer on Wheels" by Gary Soto, getting ready for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  I thought it might be nice to read a novel before starting to write our own.  After we finished the novel, I had three days before I wanted to start preparing for NaNoWriMo, so I squeezed in this contest.

I had the students discuss the "life lessons" Hector and Mando learn as they journey on a bike trip from East Los Angeles to Santa Monica.  We then discussed our own life lessons, choosing the most important one to write for this essay.  The essays needed to be typed to be submitted to the contest and we didn't have that kind of time, so I gave them the UEA weekend to type their essays for extra credit.  I was surprised at the number of submissions I received, which told me that many of the students are buying into this writing contest thing.

Special thanks to my student teacher, Emily Primrose, for hand delivering our entries to the credit union!!

Contest #2: Teen Ink Magazine

Contest:  Points of View Essay Contest

Genre:  Persuasive Essay

Theme:  Opinion on a Controversial Topic

Prize:  $200

Publication:  Teen Ink Magazine and EBSCO website

Odds of winning:  two winners chosen every month
For more information:  www.teenink.com

My sevies had to take the Analytic Writing Task, so while they were doing that, I had the eighth graders enter the "Points of View Essay Contest" from "Teen Ink Magazine."  "Teen Ink" is a monthly magazine completely comprised of teenagers' entries.  You must be between the ages of 13 and 19, so that left most of my sevies out.

The seventh grade "Analytic Writing Task" was a persuasive essay, as well.  In the state of Utah, fifth and eighth graders take a persuasive writing test, so there is a big emphasis on persuasive writing.  It was good to get some practice in early in the year.

Poetry Scams and Contests to Avoid

I received a postcard for "Creative Communications" which hosts three poetry and three essay contests each year and divides students into small subcategories so they are competing against their peers.  It's one of those deals where if you win, they try to sell you the anthology that your work is published in.  I've gotten tied up in these before.  Mostly it's just a giant disappointment when you realize probably no one even read your work, they send a form letter to everyone trying to sell books.

I scoured "Creative Communications" website www.poeticpower.com.  It seemed like it was legit.  They are up front in saying that you can buy an anthology, but you don't have to.  They make most of their money from advertising.  They seem like they are legitimately trying to help more students get published. 

I found a great discussion about this contest at the following link.  It's not a scam, but it's not considered highly selective.  I'm still considering whether or not we'll do this one.

http://donsavant.14.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=139

I also found a great list of ways to figure out if a contest is a scam or not.  The link is here.

http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/avoid/av_signs.php