As per the last blog, I have been trying to actually write something for a long time but nothing ever felt right. I stumbled upon my old livejournal and laughed at my silly melodrama. I didn't want to do that again, I'm not 17 anymore. Today it came to me, like the elementary teacher I am. Dear Mr. Henshaw. Perfect.
Let me explain, in fourth grade I had the hardest teacher in my school career. Mr. Francis. The only male teacher in fourth grade and one of only two male teachers in the entire 3-5. He was like a myth to the third graders. He gives hours of homework, you have projects all the time, he makes you memorize famous speeches, he is so hard! And it was all true. He gave tons of homework, I remember being up to 10 pm still working. He gave tons of projects, I remember making my own simple machine and while every other 4th grade class read a book and did a project, we wrote our own books and did a project on that book. It was unbelievably hard. But it worked. The class picture from that year has the top ten percent of the graduating class including the valedictorian. Most have gone on to graduate college and start a career. Some even went into to teaching. The point of this is, that was the year I was pushed harder than ever and that was the year I read Dear Mr. Henshaw.
Dear Mr. Henshaw is about a boy writing his favorite author. He tells him about his life and the things going on with him. You never heard the author's voice, you just see the world through the writings of the main character. I can't remember if the author writes back in the end. But it doesn't matter. I always write fan letters to authors in my head. A few I've actually sent, but I'm always thinking about what I would tell them or what I would write. So tonight, while chopping onions, it came to me. Why not write them here? Sure, maybe I'll send a few but that's not the point. When you write a letter to an author you are thanking them of course, but you tell me about you. You let yourself be heard as well. That's what I'm going for. If I sent a letter, they may read it , they may not but now it will get written. And that is the point.
Let me explain, in fourth grade I had the hardest teacher in my school career. Mr. Francis. The only male teacher in fourth grade and one of only two male teachers in the entire 3-5. He was like a myth to the third graders. He gives hours of homework, you have projects all the time, he makes you memorize famous speeches, he is so hard! And it was all true. He gave tons of homework, I remember being up to 10 pm still working. He gave tons of projects, I remember making my own simple machine and while every other 4th grade class read a book and did a project, we wrote our own books and did a project on that book. It was unbelievably hard. But it worked. The class picture from that year has the top ten percent of the graduating class including the valedictorian. Most have gone on to graduate college and start a career. Some even went into to teaching. The point of this is, that was the year I was pushed harder than ever and that was the year I read Dear Mr. Henshaw.
Dear Mr. Henshaw is about a boy writing his favorite author. He tells him about his life and the things going on with him. You never heard the author's voice, you just see the world through the writings of the main character. I can't remember if the author writes back in the end. But it doesn't matter. I always write fan letters to authors in my head. A few I've actually sent, but I'm always thinking about what I would tell them or what I would write. So tonight, while chopping onions, it came to me. Why not write them here? Sure, maybe I'll send a few but that's not the point. When you write a letter to an author you are thanking them of course, but you tell me about you. You let yourself be heard as well. That's what I'm going for. If I sent a letter, they may read it , they may not but now it will get written. And that is the point.
Fun! :) Glad you found your inspiration and voice! :)
ReplyDelete