I was motivated to sign up for #TeachWritetober 2019 after seeing a few teacher-friends tweet about their involvement. I’ve been meaning to write more, especially after my Summer Blogging Project fell flat.
On the #TeachWritetober page of the Teach Write, LLC. website, one would see the following:
How does the #TeachWritetober challenge work?
- Commit to working on your writing in some way every day in October.
- Sign up here (link included on the page.
- You will receive a weekly email with inspiration to keep you going.
- You will have the opportunity to connect with other teacher-writers in small accountability groups if you’d like.
- Complete your daily accountability tracker.
- Share your writing progress on your social media using #TeachWritetober19.
What do I have to write?
You can write or work on your writing any way you want. The point is that you will spend time with your writing craft in some way every day for 31 days. You can:
- Write poetry
- Revise a work in progress
- Write a blog post
- Complete Morning Pages (or Anytime Pages if mornings are rough for you)
- Challenge yourself to explore writing in a new genre
- Work on a draft of a book, journal article, etc.
After looking over the parameters, I signed up. #TeachWritetober seems simple enough for a teacher finishing up my first month of my fifth year in the classroom.
I like #TeachWritetober because it allows me to make my own goals and still be able to be involved in something much larger than just me. I also get to determine how much interaction I want to have with others on this month long writing marathon.
#TeachWritetober19 Goals
Write digitally every day during October for at least 20 minutes
Digital writing is my favorite space to “write”, revise, and publish my thoughts, so my focus for the month is to get into a healthy yet balanced habit in this space.
Publish progress updates every 8 days AND write a reflection post
I constantly have my students complete reflection journals on task progress in class, weekly Article of the Week prompts, and what they thought about what they read. It’s my turn to reflect and be open and honest with myself about the process. I think it will be fascinating to look back and see what I was or was not able to accomplish.
Progress post updates will be on October 8, 16, and 24. The reflection post will be within the first week of November. I’m hoping that creating due dates will hold me accountable.
Read at least 20 minutes a day
What I read about is my fuel for writing and if I’m not reading, I’m not writing. The two go hand-in-hand, for me, so it’s time to dedicate the time.
Write about events and thoughts
I need to document the events, thoughts, and ideas that I have about education and teaching. I recently counted and shared how many tabs I had open in a PLC meeting because that’s how I bookmark blogs and thoughts. Having a previous thought, event, or resource either in draft form or as a published post will help me reference them in the future.
Are you participating in #TeachWritetober19? What are your goals?
Happy Writing!
Ben — I am so excited to see your goals and that you will be sharing your progress on a weekly basis. I think that’s a great accountability tool. I’m going to do the same. Happy writing! ~ Jen