Friday, July 5, 2019

Q & A from a Teacher in Hungary

So I was contacted by a teacher in Hungary asking me questions about NaNoWriMo and teaching the Young Writers' Program. Apparently it was almost unheard of there, and she wanted to know how I handled it here. Here are her questions and my answers.


1) Is the Young Writers Program (YWP) organized as an extracurricular activity or is it integrated into the classes? (If it is integrated: is it compulsory for students to participate?)

The YWP that I was running was set up as part of English Language tutoring and as an extracurricular program only because I am not a full time elementary/middle/high school teacher. But it is designed to be integrated into the classroom for English Language Arts. I adapted it to fit what I was doing and truncated some of the program to focus on more key elements of the program, so I can add in sections on: reading comprehension, spelling & vocabulary, and writing conventions (sentence structures, grammar, paragraphs, essays, letters, etc.).

2) How popular is the Young Writers Program there? How many students participate usually/did participate when you organized it?

While I was teaching in the tutoring organization, it was decently popular, though grew to be too expensive as an extracurricular program. People wanted to do this program for free with me as the teacher. I cannot work for free.

3) Do students write together? (If yes, how often?) Do they share their stories with each other? What kind activities do you organize for them for this project?

Students (I usually teach middle-school to high school grades 4 through 9) write parallel (so together but not in a group novel as co-authors) and as homework. Yes, they share sentences, paragraphs, scenes, etc. with their classmates for peer review. Later they exchange their novels with other students for peer editing after they have done their first round of self-editing. They spend September through November learning to create characters, describe objects and scenes, about plot, and a great many small parts that they later put together as their novel. Over the December holidays, they take a break and do reading of a novel or collection of stories in the same genre as the one they are writing. Then they spend January (not November) writing.

4) How do you motivate students during November?

No, November is too soon for them to write as many have much to learn first and often confidence to build before even trying to write. I write through November, but their official writing month is January.

5) What was the most challenging to you as a teacher/organizer?

There were a few challenges: Negotiating learning disabilities and inspiring/motivating students who have been told repeatedly that they are stupid or cannot do it; Finding volunteer editors and artists; convincing parents and teachers that YES, these kids struggling with writing can absolutely write a novel and it will change their lives to do so. By the way… it totally DID change their lives to do so. Their grades improved dramatically. The dyslexic students moved from being hardly able to read to reading at their grade level. And there are no words for the confidence that shone in the children’s eyes afterwards that was not there before.

6) What happens after November? (Eg. Do you and the students do anything with the novels?; Do you celebrate the progress?; Do you continue working on the stories/edits?; etc.)

They write in January not November. So after….
February is self-editing and finishing up the story. March is peer editing and cleaning up their work. They also learn about professional editors and artists and the publishing world. They spend a day interviewing possible professional editors and picking one to be the editor of the anthology of all their stories. April, the professional editor works on all their stories and I put it together as a preliminary manuscript for publication. April they verify the edits and see the manuscript, as well as do their own art for their individual stories. They interview artists and pick one to do the cover for the anthology. May it gets completely finalized with biographies they write, an introduction from the editor and myself, and is sent off for publication. They then learn about writing promotional material, finding a location for a book launch, organizing a book launch, public speaking, formal greeting of people as hosts, and doing readings from selections of their stories. By the end of June, the books come back and they host their own book launch. They take home a few copies of a published anthology and the sales of extra books goes towards a children’s literacy charity.

7) What is your personal opinion about the Young Writers Program? (Do you think it aids or hinders students’ development? I’m asking this because many educators in my country believe students need to acquire a good command of the language first /university or PhD-level/ and only then can they start writing.)

My opinion is that if you make it fun, they will want to learn. If you create something with prestige, the prestige they feel will follow them for years and make amazing changes in their lives. I think it aids students, especially coupled with other language arts lessons that compliment what they are doing. Never under-estimate the power of giving a child the power to write what they want to express and celebrating the completion of a large project. This alone teaches a child that their ideas matter, that they can explore their creativity, that they are capable of completing a huge project especially when it is taken in small chunks. They learn not just writing skills, but reading and comprehension, time management, professional conduct, and what it is like to be in a position of power. They learn teamwork as well. They learn to celebrate their accomplishments and face their challenges constructively. They also learn to give back to their community and help others. It is incredibly empowering from end to end… even when you see them frustrated and challenged at the beginning. (they read pep talks from authors and meet some local authors and learn about the challenges and how to get through them)