I have a post on Nerdy Book Club today! (eeeeeee!) This is pretty much a dream come true for me. I love NBC and the amazing writers who post there, and I’m so honored to see my name on the blog.

Of course, I did a lot of reflecting on myself as a writer, and a teacher of writing, as I drafted and redrafted this post. I worked with my Writing Project buddies on Google Docs, and while I’ve thought about having student writing groups use Google Docs for collaboration (student-student interaction vs. student-teacher interaction), this experience gave me a sense of how that could work. Having multiple voices on my drafts wasn’t overwhelming, as I’ve feared. It was really helpful to have comments building off one another, different writers focusing on different aspects of the draft. Christy and I had a valuable experience regarding my use of “it’s not,” and the different ways that phrase can be read. I’m always reminding my students that readers can’t climb into a writer’s mind, so diction and explanation are important. This moment with “it’s not,” was a perfect example of how a phrase can mean one thing to the writer and another to the reader, and now I have an authentic document to share with my students. The comments that show our “aha!” moment alone are great examples of how to be a supportive writing partner. I’m proud not only of the piece we worked on together, but of the experience of working on it and the depth it gives my teaching.

See? I’m a perfect fit for a nerdy-themed blog 🙂

I’m so thankful to Donalyn Miller and the Nerdy Book Club community for posting my thoughts on the issue of bookshaming. Seemingly harmless comments that disguise insult as argument, bookshaming can turn readers off by belittling their accomplishments and replacing the joy of reading with anxiety and fear of rejection. Check out the post here!