Reflecting on Ralphie...

So I was anxious to have Ralph Fletcher visit our school and thought his workshop might lend some new suggestions for engaging kids (particularly boys), but apparently he sticks pretty tightly to his books and even in those there is little research of value twitch. "Boy Writers" did offer some interesting things to ponder about our tendencies as educators, but it wasn't especially eye opening. In fact, I was unimpressed by his whole visit twitch twitch.

During the day that he spent with the kids, he engaged them in summaries of his books rather than real writing activities. The one group he did write with (6-8 all in one room) loved it purrr, but it involved a five minute poem exercise. I felt frustrated as the promises of real interaction that I had made were falling by the wayside. The kids spent months reading all of his books, but I don't think it made much of a difference. If we had read a particular one, he summarized one we hadn't read. It was less about the things he preached in his book on writing and more about getting books sold.

Before the community night opened up to the public, my Girls Talk and Teen Voices group invited him to have dinner with them and discuss his book that we read. Well, I made the mistake of also inviting the B.E.L.C.H (Boys Engaging in Literary Conversation Heartily- yes, I made it up) group that is a much smaller group for reading "boy stuff". When he saw the table of boys he practically ran to it twitch, which left the girls that have been reading ALL YEAR feeling a bit neglected. All in all, I was just DISAPPOINTED! So purrr for the boys who felt more than honored and twitch for the girls who felt slighted. But he really did connect with the boys and got them excited about writing and sharing their writing that night. His one writing activity of the night was a name reflection. The boys took to it and felt proud to share- they even got their "leader" to share. So it wasn't all a loss.

The best thing out of his visit, for me, was the workshop presentation he gave on his new book "Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That Sparks Writing". It went along with many of the educational philosophies that promote the element of play in the classroom. He suggested a number of fabulous opportunities for word play and playful instruction. I will definitely pick up a copy when it comes out. My final thought on this matter is that I am Ralph Fletchered out. My hopes were just too high, but it was great for the kids to get the opportunity to meet an author. In fact, they are now bugging me to get Brandon Mull- their favorite "Fablehaven" author to come and speak with them. I love how they think it is so easy....purrr.