Abstract
This narrative focuses on a classroom teacher called to forge a path for students during online learning by using journal writing as well as a variety of other methods including sharing life lessons, discussing time management, and organizing priorities. Transformative leadership requires vulnerability, courage, and innovation. During difficult times such as the recent pandemic, leaders need to demonstrate creativity and resilience. Anyone who wishes to enhance a leadership role can benefit from the strategies presented.
TopTeachers Set The Tone
Teachers need to meet the needs of students, and teaching during a pandemic requires teachers to demonstrate additional creativity. As Romano (1987) observes, “in a classroom full of opinionated teenagers, the last thing a teacher wants to feel is more vulnerable. The job is tough enough” (p. 39). But when teachers share their stories, students experience the practice of learning instead of only the theory.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Artistic and Technical Writing: Artistic writing focuses on the writer’s tone of word choice, also known as voice, while technical writing focuses on the writer’s specificity of word choice. English teachers design rubrics that incorporate both artistic and technical writing.
Multigenre Writing: Introduced to the field of education by Tom Romano, multigenre writing consists of creative writing in multiple genres and the writer’s analysis of the genres.
Writing Voice: Voice in writing describes how a writer uses word choice and tone to reflect the unique personality of the writer. Just like each person has a unique speaking voice, each writer has a unique writing voice.
Urgent vs. Important: Mary Pipher, Don Graves, and Stephen Covey all discuss the type of choices people make of how they spend their time and the resulting increased or decreased energy experienced.
Heart Maps: Writing teacher Georgia Heard believes in the value of heart maps, which ask writers to draw a heart and inside the heart write things that the writer loves.
Neck Pain Journal: Jen created a journal of what she was doing when her neck felt pain.
Writing Process: Composing an essay using percolating, drafting, revising, editing, and publication.
Multigenre Healing Project: This different perspective on multigenre projects connects the fields of education and medicine.
Journal Writing: The process of a person responding to prompts and writing about his or her thoughts and feelings. While journal writing is typically associated with writing classrooms, writing teachers including Julia Cameron and Natalie Goldberg advocate that journal writing can be done by anyone, anywhere.
Writing as Healing: James Pennebaker is a leader in the field which explores the health benefits of writing. Numerous studies have been conducted by researchers investigating the influence of writing on physical and emotional health.