Tamara Griffith
Published Author Guest Speaker
"Sometimes, inspiration just requires looking at things from a different point of view."
~ Aaron Hartzler
In order for students to successfully transition into productive 21st century global citizens, students must have effective oral and written communication skills. However, as I got to know my students, I realized that many of them had fixed mindsets, believing that the ability to write, especially the ability to write well, was something that people either could do or could not do. Most of them felt as though writing was something that they simply could not do.
Acknowledging that students' mindsets about writing needed to change in order to transform students' writing abilities, I sought an innovative way to help instill in students that they, too, can learn how to write and how to communicate their important, valuable ideas through writing. I began researching ways to improve student writing. Through this research process, I discovered that writing poetry and conducting read-arounds would be helpful to increasing student voice and ownership of writing ability.
During this process, I began looking for published authors in our region to come speak to my students about establishing their voice in writing and about writing as a potential career option to try to get students to take writing more seriously. After reaching out to three local libraries to get access to names and/or contact information for local published writer and coming up empty, I was discouraged, but I did not give up. I conducted several Google searches and reached out to fourteen different people, all with no luck. Desperate, I began asking fellow colleagues, both at my school and within my school district, if they knew of anyone who had published writing who would be willing to come speak to my students. After weeks of research and coming up empty handed, a former colleague currently working at a different school was able to put me into contact with Ms. Jo Donahoo, author of Do You Even Think Before You Speak and The Cookie Cutter House.
Prep Work
Mrs. Gainey was able to reach out to Ms. Donahoo and put me into contact with her. Once contact had been established, I emailed Mrs. Donahoo about what I was looking for in terms of a guest speaker for my students to see if it would be something that she was interested and willing to do. Sample email correspondence between us in included in the slideshow below. After this initial contact, we had had a long phone conversation to set up a date and time for her visit.
Once the logistics were established between Ms. Donahoo and myself, I submitted a guest speaker proposal form to my principal for approval. A copy of this form, with my administrator's approval, is included below,
Once approval from my principal was obtained, I sent an email, included below, to Ms. Donahoo in order to finalize the details and plan for her presentation. Upon receiving the email below, Ms. Donahoo called me to work out the final details of her presentation and visit.
In the days leading up to Ms. Donahoo's visit, my students read and analyzed some of her poetry and prepared questions to ask her after her presentation. This ensured students would have background knowledge of Ms. Donahoo's work to better invest them into her message. Some of students' classwork in preparation of our guest speaker is included below.
Images from the Guest Speaker Visit
During Ms. Donahoo's visit, Ms. Donahoo told students about her background and her journey into writing. For her, writing was not her first choice career, but instead was something that she happened into after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She told students about how writing helped her discover and share her voice with others after her diagnosis had taken away her dream of being a nurse. After reading some of her poetry to students, she conducted a short writer's workshop with students, encouraging them to write a short poem with sensory details about a sibling or other important person in students' lives. Students then read out some of their poems and received positive feedback from other students and from Ms. Donahoo. At the end of class, students were able to ask Ms. Donahoo questions about her life, path to writing, writing process, and advice about writing. Images and audio from her visit are included below.
Student Surveys
Students were given the opportunity to express their thoughts regarding Ms. Donahoo's presentation by completing a survey. Samples of students' responses are included below.
After reading students' surveys, I realized that students' responded to Mrs. Donahoo's presentation better than I had initially intended. Her words inspired my students to write and share their own poetry and validated students' experiences. Many students became excited about writing, especially writing poetry, where they could include their own experiences and insights. As a result, this experience opened doors of possibility for students as the vast majority of them are now open to the idea of exploring potential careers, such as blogging, news media, and writing, related to my content.
Teacher Reflection
When I first brought Ms. Donahoo in to speak to my students about her path to writing and the writing process, I had done so in order to expose my students to a perspective on writing that wasn't mine. I wanted them to see the potential that writing has outside of the classroom, to emphasize that writing can be creative, enjoyable, cathartic. I wanted my students to realize that they can develop and use their voices through writing to communicate effectively and more easily transition into the real-world. Upon reading my students reflections, I realized that bringing in Ms. Donahoo as a guest speaker did this and more.
Because bringing in a guest speaker served as a bridge to the real-world, my students were better situated to see the relevance between the skills we learn in class and the careers for which they potentially prepared students. Once students had crossed that bridge into real-world relevance, their curiosity took off. The vast majority of my students had gone home after her presentation and completed their own research; they came in the next morning asking me to bring in other guest speakers related to the field of writing -- publishers, sports writers, bloggers, social media managers, reporters, and more. Some of them even suggested helping me plan a field trip to our local newspaper, Northwest Florida Daily News, or to our local news station, WEAR. Getting the chance to meet someone relatable, someone like Ms. Donahoo, helped my students recognize their potential, sparked their curiosity about writing professionally, allowed them to describe additional outside opportunities to enhance the relevance of my content, and ponder different avenues by which they could make those additional access opportunities a reality.