“There’s something quite beautiful about having some writing be in a very public eye, while other writing may be fixed and made into a spectacle on the wall, but there’s also something about writing that you give way and do as a single act to be experienced in the moment and then it’s gone.”

 

John Stewart and I have been acquainted for many years through our extended circle of friends, but it was not until I ran into him at a technology symposium for Arlington County Schools in the summer of 2013 that I had a chance to see him in action as an educator.  As an instructional lead teacher for the school system, John was facilitating a class about apps and Internet resources to hook students into writing creatively.  With a career that began in the 1990s at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education , and has since spanned over two decades in the classroom, providing adventures far and near, I knew he would have a keen perspective on writing with his students.   When I found his name on the NVWP resource blog, I realized it was time to give John a call.

John says his writing philosophy is tough to say in a nutshell.  He agrees that there is a place for writing to learn, as well as creating an authentic experience for students through writing.  As he explains, “I think that, certainly, for many people writing is a way of knowing. You may think you understand something about the world or about your own emotional state, but until you actually write it down you can’t possibly be sure.  In that process of writing it down, you can discover new truths that you didn’t know were there; however, I also think that writing is a chance to be expressive and to get outside of your head space and  your comfort zone  – and maybe even to grow a little bit as a person under the right conditions.  When people emphasize authentic writing, that all writing has to serve some kind of greater purpose – you know, writing letters to people to affect change, or writing manifestos of some kind – I think that puts so much pressure on the act.  There is a time and place for that, but I also think that if it’s part of your expressive soul, you should be able to write and let it go.”

As is evident by his participation in various technology symposiums, including one this past year at the University of Mary Washington where he talked about flipped classrooms, John stands by the practice of publishing for a wider audience and using technology to hook students into the learning process, but he believes that writing opportunities are missed when the focus is directed strictly toward authentic and academic publication.  He reflects, “There’s something quite beautiful about having some writing be in a very public eye, while other writing may be fixed and made into a spectacle on the wall, but there’s also something about writing that you give way and do as a single act to be experienced in the moment and then it’s gone.  Taking a note from the dramatic arts, you know, you work on a play and you rehearse for three weeks, then you put on one show and it’s done.  Unless you were there for that moment, you missed it.  That was it.  Writing can be like that, too, and it can be very satisfying to create that type of product.”

John describes strategies and creative activities that he has used with his students to give them freedom to be expressive:

• This past year I took my students to a supermarket, and I said, “I’d like you to write a positive wish that you might say to someone, something kind of generic but absolutely pleasant and full of good tidings.” They were like, “We know, you want us to exchange these notes with one another.”  I said, “Nope, I want you to go into the supermarket and hide the notes somewhere for people to find.”  They thought that was so weird.  After about five minutes of “that’s the weirdest thing ever,” they couldn’t get enough.  Then they started stalking people in the supermarket to see if someone was going to find their note hidden in the watermelon or in the graham crackers.”
• Another time I said, “Here’s what I want you to do: I want you to write something on a rock and take it out into public and leave it somewhere.  I want you take a picture of what the rock said in the place where you left it.  Then go back in a couple of days and see what happens.”  There came all of this lore about the rocks, where they would find their rocks gone from the place they left them and moved to another place.”
• I had students reinvent the game of hopscotch and use any symbol or words they wanted on it, but it had to be playable when they were finished.  When presented with a writing task like this, a lot of kids are like “I can’t do this; it’s too weird,” and I say, “Yes you can, just start with something simple, and you’re going to be fine.”
• Our students who already think they’re writers become covetous of their words.  They’re like, “This is precious; I wrote this poem and I want everyone to acknowledge it and celebrate it.”  I say, “You should write your poem on the prettiest piece of paper you can find and then rip it to shreds.  You should not be afraid to sacrifice your best ideas.  Now, it would be a better idea to take that poem and instead of ripping it to shreds, to just give it to someone or let somebody read it, but you shouldn’t be attached.  If you are going to be an artist you have to give away your work; it’s not for you.”
• During class assignments, I’ll allow students to opt out of whatever writing I assign them in order to do whatever writing strikes their fancy, anything from writing letters to Grandma or writing recipes.  Students are able to write whatever they want at any given time as long as they propose it to me.

John makes assurances that writing to learn and writing for authenticity and purpose play a large role in his classroom.  He says, “Don’t get me wrong, my students produce something like 10,000 words per quarter for me; however, I think the academics of writing are over-emphasized, in fact.  Many teachers sense writing can be used for self-discovery and as a sort of stimulation of reflection, and there’s something to that, too.  I also think that if it’s part of your expressive soul, you should just write and let it go.  I want to show my kids that you don’t have to be some fabulous artist to be a creator.  It doesn’t have to be a devotion in order for you to just enjoy the sensation of it.”