Balance

The year is getting away from me and I am starting to see how difficult it is to balance work with family. I feel like CSUWPAI is being put on a back burner while I am trying to keep up with everything else. I am starting feel very nervous and uncomfortable about my conference commitment.

District policy

I emailed our district curriculum administrator and she said that the district does send out a permission slip for this purpose in their fall packet ( I never knew that!). She did suggest that I use my own slip too which I will. Sooo, I think I am set :)

Videotaping

I am so glad that you all responded to my entry. What incredible support and knowledge!!! It would not have occurred to me that videotaping would require district approval, but once I read it - it makes sense.

What did Rebecca mean when she said she would not record during class time (wording may be off here). Should the taping not happen during a normal class? Is it something I have to schedule after school? I will be sending home permission slips, does that count for anything?

I am confused - help!!!!!!

Researcher's Timeline

This is my researcher’s timeline for 2007/2008 school year. There are many parts that I marked for videotaping in hopes of getting some quality footage when editing. It is not definite that I will be able to video tape as much as I want to this year, I have never tried to do it before. It is also missing the goal for publishing, I am a little lost on that one :)

Key
Personal goals = blue
Surveys = green
Videotaping = pink


Mid August

School starts – LA 8 integrated with SS (American History)
Hand out T-R permission slips

Continue reading Nancy Atwell’s Writing Workshops

Complete 4-corners survey with students about writing preferences

Late August

Social Skills/ Multiple Intelligences project ~ complete using literature circles (goal is to connect lit circle roles to writing circle roles)
VIDEOTAPE

Mid September

Letter format assignment ~ complete using writing circles (make connection to lit circles) VIDEOTAPE

Complete notes from Literature Circles, Daniels

Late September

“Trail of Tears” reading assignment ~ use lit circles VIDEOTAPE

“Trail of Tears” writing assignment ~ use writing circles VIDEOTAPE

Meet with CSUWPAI

Beg October

Summaries writing assignment ~ complete using small circles VIDEOTAPE

Begin to edit videos


Mid October

Compare/Contrast writing assignment ~ writing circles VIDEOTAPE


Beg November

Journalism writing assignment ~ writing circles VIDEOTAPE

Finish reviewing primary data

Mid November

British Viewpoint reading assignment/homogeneous groups ~ lit circles VIDEOTAPE

Beg December

Character Sketch writing assignment ~ writing circles VIDEOTAPE

Survey writing circles

Meet with inquiry group (??)

Prep for CSUWPAI conference

Beg January

Flowers for Algernon ~ Lit circles

End January

Editorial writing assignment ~ writing circles

CSUWPAI conference

End February

“Why Do We Have a Bill of Rights?” reading assignment ~ lit circles

Beg March

“The Street” ~ lit circles

Mid April

Boasting Poem writing assignment ~ writing circles

Beg May

“Most Horrible Day/ Best Day” writing assignment ~ writing circles VIDEOTAPE

Survey writing circles and lit circles

Continue to review primary data

Researcher's Chair Notes ~ Thanks Rebecca

Monday, July 2
Renee’s Researcher’s Chair: Part I

I. Background on Project Presented
A. Renee directs the group to the questions on her blog, passes around the handouts for her writing circles, and gives some background on writing circles
B. Renee describes a discussion from her inquiry group and directs the group to the Sunday, July 1st post on her blog: revising the wording of her question—points us to the “streamlined” word

II. Critical Thinking Discussion
A. Natalie: Discussion is the epitome of critical thinking
a. Jason C.: Agrees the discussion is important because it allows for the questioning of the ideas of others
B. Renee recounts looking up the definition of critical thinking—can be a critical thinker without talking about it
a. Stacey: role sheet helps, but it doesn’t become critical until you have to justify it
b. Natalie: You need to defend your idea to make it critical thinking
c. Stacey: When annotating a text a student is alone—can do critical thinking alone, but not all students achieve this without direction
d. Jason C: suggests extending the definition of “discussion” as verbal—could be someone reading a text
e. Jason M.: Clarifies that you need to have someone else read the annotation to make it critical thinking

III. Discussion and Social Setting Discussion
A. Renee points out her assumption that discussion is important to critical thinking
a. Jason M.: What is your goal when you put those kids in that circle?
b. Renee explains that she is trying to get them to get some feedback, create a social setting, but she recognizes that she is also working in reality where she is dealing with time constraints
i. Renee asks WHAT HAS GOTTA GIVE?
B. Jason M.: Are you trying to get the social aspect through writing circles?
a. Cindy: Body of work that deals with learning through talk that can’t be learned elsewhere
b. Jason M.: Are you really trying to find out if the social part is helping the kids?
c. Renee explains that it is important just so students don’t say that Language Arts is boring

IV. The Time Factor
A. Renee asks “How much time should be given to workshop?”
a. Stacey: Do you want to wean them off of the sheets?
b. Renee explains that the sheets should help so that after they’ve used them for awhile they can do it on their own
i. Renee mentions that some of her kids wanted to get rid of the roles
ii. That is the ultimate goal—having the kids be able to do all of the roles
c. [Editoral choice: at this point folks begin discussing the exact time periods they have used in their classrooms—to sum up: less is more]
d. Cindy: Tried to become Nancy Atwell after reading her work
i. What she tried to do was lit for half a semester and writing for half the semester
ii. Did writing workshop whenever they were working with a specific genre

V. Semantics/Goal Discussion
A. Natalie: Are you asking how you can streamline writing circles? What do you mean by “streamline”?
a. Stacey: I don’t think you can streamline the process based on own writing group experience
b. Renee explains why she started to question the word “streamline” and asks for feedback on the revision of “How should I structure writing circles to be efficient?”
i. Renee offers the explanation that she learned from her experience with literature circles—this provided structure and the roles really helped and she wanted to create that kind of effect in the writing classroom
B. Natalie: What is your goal? Is this time?
a. Renee explains that her goal is not so much time—everything that she has looked at is loose and appears that that looseness could be confusing
b. Stacey: 8th grade they are in a transition area and writing groups are a loose idea and they can’t be efficient until the group creates that dynamic
c. Cindy: What makes you think that they aren’t efficient right now?
d. Renee [accurately J] diagnoses that the group is stuck on the word efficient
C. Natalie: What is your picture of the ideal writing circle? Cites Renee’s earlier example of the student wanting to escape the limits of the role. Efficient means that they all know and do their role.
D. Cindy: I keep hearing you talking about the issue of time? Is this a product of your integrated teaching context? Is this really an attempt to figure out what is the optimal use of time?
E. Renee explains that she is doing this in the hope of helping other Language Arts teachers who won’t do this because it takes too much time

VI. Structure/Logistics Discussion
A. Stacey: Anytime that you offer kids this unstructured time—you are empowering kids. Those loose frameworks are the chance for teachable moments
a. Natalie: Providing the structure will get them to the point where they will function on their own
b. Renee agrees, but reiterates that the other part is to help other teachers incorporate this into their classroom
c. Jason C.: I completely abandoned peer review the first year I taught
I think you might mean productive instead of efficient.
B. Steph: there has to be some degree of ownership or motivation on their part to want to do a good job; sometimes kids are too worried about the process and not as invested in what to do; you can give them the tools to be independent; quality vs. quantity: how do you get the students to care—how do you instill this?
a. Natalie: with 8th graders simply corralling them and getting them all thinking on the same focus is an achievement; The roles are just the beginning—not the end; structure helps them get to that point
C. Cindy: someone like Jason C. would be your audience—how can you help me do this and help me become better writers
D. Stacey: Some kids will see the value of it; wonders about the difference between reading something ahead of time and something read on the fly
E. Steph: Do they have each others papers in advance?
a. Renee explains that would be a logistical nightmare—she has them read in class in lit circles
b. Jason C: Do you have them read aloud to each other?
c. Renee explains that they do author’s chair—some students liked it and others found it repetitive with their finals
d. Jason C.: That is the chance to hear the voice
e. Renee explains that they like sharing out loud and they are super proud

A Few More Forgotten Questions

I was flipping through my notebook and I realized that I had some other questions. Here they are:
1. What are my assumptions about writing workshops?
2. Is it a good or bad practice to pick a few students to concentrate on when collecting data?
3. How do workshops effect high, middle, low level students?
4. If students enjoy creative assignments vs. content driven assignments, am I doing a disservice doing so much content based curriculum?
5. Do writing circle discussions matter as much as literature discussions?
6. Do discussions need to be formally assessed?

Researcher's Chair - AHHHHHHH!!!!

Well I guess I have to post my summary and general questions now. I admit it, I was having a fabulous bday weekend and I do not feel even close to prepared - yikes.

Here is goes - a summary. First, I think my question was clarified in inquiry group by Rebecca. The question is: How can I streamline writing workshop in my classroom?

This is the situation. I am very integrated with the SS teacher and we team teacher. Our classes are intertwined. This creates a difficult time situation for me because I am not just responsible for my curriculum, but also the SS curriculum. We have to stay in sync because our projects extra are so dependent on one another.

My goal has been to create a method to help students workshop together with their writing. I seem to be concentrating on our discussion and student comments. Funny, on Thursday, after Stacey's research chair I was thinking about the research discussions that we have had and I realized that most questions are based on discussion. Discussions about reading, creative discussions, blogging discussions - I wonder what the link is there. Maybe discussion is the epitomy of critical thinking (now define critical thinking - ha ha)?

Back to my research... I am trying to create literature roles for writing, hence "writing circles". There are different questions on each role sheet that have helpful question ideas for the students to use. It also gives them a specific part to concentrate on when reading, like voice or organization. I want to simplify the role sheets and add to them. I will probably have to pass this around to those who are not in my inquiry group so you get the idea.

Soooo, here are some questions, but I know others will pop up tomorrow :)
1. How much time do you think should be given to workshop?
2. Stacey had mentioned not wanting to help with discussion - is it a bad thing to give out question prompts?
3. How can I simplify the roles?
4. Should I be worried more about the discussion or the comments students make on each others' papers?
5. How is the best way to group students ( I think I have my answer to this, but would be interested to hear other opinions).
6. I am thinking of adding roles to include 6-traits and writing types, are there any other suggestions for roles?
7. Other?

Is everyone impressed that I just figured out how to change the text color????

Day 4 Morning Pages - Background Influences

My topic of writer’s workshop affects me in so many ways. First, it makes me try to get students to become more social about their learning. It is hard because they have not figured out how to use their forces for good instead of evil just yet. This creates moments of wonder – are they ready to think on this level??? Then I listen to us and I wonder if, we are ready? Are the expectations unfair? How often do we not go off task?

I think I also have become biased about it. I don’t really feel that I want to go backwards and have them write individually about any given content driven assignment. Hmmm, I find that I am developing a bias about all of the content driven assignments too. I want my students to love writing as I do. My BA is in Creative Writing. How can I teach a love of writing while do compare and contrast papers? I can teach the purpose of writing and the functions of writing using these content driven papers…but where’s the love???

Honestly, I am listening for data and opinions that back up my theories too. It is like when you buy a car and then you see all the other cars on the road like yours – but they hardly existed for you before. I am a firm believer in the idea that you can back up whatever you want to if you look hard enough – does that make it right?

As for the students – I think I am their first true workshop stop. They do partnering things and stations before my room, but I do not think they experience writing groups. Now I wonder if I should say writing groups instead of workshop??? I think some of them have had bad experiences with partners and don’t want to try. The trust has to be developed. Then there are the teacher pleasers and the rubric readers who do not want to move with my approval. How did grades become so important in middle school?

Day 3 Morning Pages - If your topic was a _______

Day 3 Morning Pages

If your topic were a ______________ , which one would it be and why?

· Car = it would be a metro bus.

· Color = all other colors absorbed

· Weather pattern = Sunny with rainbows

· Food = Buffet, choices, choices, choices

· Animal = flea or some other parasite – it cannot work unless it has the life of the students

· TV Show

· Famous Person

· Country

My topic would be a flea because it requires the life of my students to work. Sometimes it can make them itch and feel like they don’t want to be there. Other times it spreads from one student to another until they are all scratching flea infested writers.

The fleas tends to get big and nasty and hopefully if all goes well they will take over entire households. Then the parents and siblings will get the ‘itch’ too.

Sometimes, I want to get rid of the fleas. They get into everything and the twitch from the ‘itch’ makes me stand out. They become uncomfortable and I wonder if it right to encourage my students to want fleas. Then I realize that the squirming and the constant jerks are just a part of a bigger picture.

At school the students might be judgmental of someone with fleas. But after they realize that the fleas are their friends they will want them too. In the end, it will be a big flea pile with bugs jumping from one to another, flea exchange will be encouraged and it will be cool to have fleas jumping from you skin, clothes and brain.

Day 2 Morning Pages - Group Types

Wow! What a great question I just received. Natalie asked, “What are some of the problems I see with homogeneous groups in writing workshop?” I am grateful for this question because I do see problems with homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. The more I think about the topic, ask questions, and research…the more I understand why people throw up their hands when it comes to workshop in the classroom. So let’s see –

Homogeneous cons
The low groups would struggle
The low groups may not improve the others papers
The middle group may grow or stretch, but there might not be anyone to push them in their group
The middle group might also argue about strategies
Middle and low would most definitely get off task
The high group would become tense about who is ‘right’
The high group would become defiant about possible corrects
The high group would also become complacent in their writing because they are the ‘high’ group
Students would wind up with their friends

Homogeneous pros
I could concentrate on working with the struggling writers
Students would wind up with their friends
Students may feel more comfortable sharing with others who are on their ‘level’
Students may feel more useful because lower writers would be able to help lower writers, but they may not be able to do the same with students of higher levels
Students might be more willing to share with peers who are on the same level of writing and they would be able to avoid the feeling of being ‘the worst’
Higher level students would feel more challenged by their peers
I would be able to differentiate the writing assignments by ability


Heterogeneous cons
Some feel like the worst
Higher level students become bored
Students doubt others
Social groups will be even more mixed and their would be tension
Lower level kids may get good ideas from others, but higher level kids would lack input
Topic can get lost quickly due to different speeds and abilities
Higher level kids may start to work on a lower level to avoid being the “smart kid”

Heterogeneous pros
Lower level students will be pushed to improve
Higher level students will be using their skills to think about writing and help others
Avoid clichés within workshop groups
Diversity makes the students strive to impress


The suggestion was given to me by two teachers to let them form their own groups at first. This way they will have a comfort level with who they are with and usually the students put themselves in homogeneous groups naturally. Let them stay in these groups for a while and then make necessary changes.

I am thinking that groups of 4 are the goal. From what I have experienced and heard in Kagan cooperative training that is the best number. Also, I am thinking that keeping them in the groups for 6 weeks is a good time. They could be in these groups for lit circles and writing circles. 6 weeks is a hexter and Kagan cooperative training suggests that amount of time also.

Day 1 Morning Pages - To Do List

I have so many FABULOUS ideas and have become very scatter-brained with my follow through. I want to read:
Atwell's workshop
Daniels' Lit Circles (again)

I want to find a definition for cooperative learning. It seems that different people interpret it in different ways. I need a definite place to start - if that makes any sense.

I need to re-do roles with just questions on them and add roles specifically made for traits and types of writing.

I am thinking that I want 'writing baskets' that include dictionary, thesaurus, roles, step up etc. for group writing.

I have to make a decision and interview/research these questions:
"Is it better to have homogeneous or heterogeneous groups for writing workshop?"
"Is the time spent prepping for workshops worth it?"

The data I have collected has been interesting. I am currently working on organizing student answers. Then I need to begin reviewing the student work I collected.

My goal for next year is to re-do some assignments in the beginning to incorporate literature circles. I believe that they will set the ground work for the connections I am trying to get my students to make.

Kagan training

I am doing a 2 day training for Kagan cooperative learning. Honestly it has been a bit disappointing. Most of the structures are ones I already use and did not realize that they were "Kagan". The rest feels EXTREMELY elementary - this is okay and usually I can adapt to secondary, but it is so far out there that I am not sure I can adapt.

Positive parts: I did find that they suggest 6 weeks for groups. This was a question I had about writing circles - how long do I keep them in the same groups? So now I have some researched answer to lean on for a while.

I was also shown a pretty cool way to keep track of students and to make heterogeneous groups. It involves index cards and is pretty elaborate, but i think it might to have the reminder of levels and possible growth.


Kagan also pushes STRUCTURED cooperative learning and claims that unstructured paired work will actually decrease test scores. We were told that if you were unable to structure the lesson then you were better off doing "cemetary" style teaching so all students would be assessed.

I am very behind - I am banking on the idea that others are too. If you aren't behind though - could you lie to me because I might start to panic :)

List of Things I need to do!!!!!! AGGGHHHH!!!

1. Pull all files and organize data
2. Create new roles based on 6-traits
3. Go back to orginal reading list and take some notes
4. Review CSUWPAI schedules and make sure I am not missing anything
5. Go to liquor store :)

Before I forget

I just re-read my 'Finally, I am Back' post and realized what I was talking about.

First - the grading. I want to become more active with students assessing themselves. I need to read about this because I am not familiar with how it works in a classroom. Also, I think I need to go back to lit circle roots and use particpation charts and observation in my grading. To me that is more important than the final product many times.

Second - the mistake. I said I made a mistake about asking the students to share how they felt about themselves as writers after I did my poetry assignment and not before. At first I felt like the whole process should begin with the students being asked to think about how they felt about writing. Now I am glad that I made the mistake because I have two different situations to compare.

NOTE TO SELF - next year, start with the 4 corners statements to get the kids thinking about their own attitudes right away.

The Natalie Inspired Post

Okay - Natalie asked me some great questions about my last ramblings. I am going to try to answer them all coherently since I haven't been able to before.

First - What are Writing Circles? They are what my research is about actually. During my first stay at "The Project" I came up with the circles to help writing workshops move a little better. The true inspiration is from Literature Circles. Lit Circles give students roles in small book clubs like questioner, vocab finder, summarizer etc. The students then read with their role in mind and use the role to help with discussing literature. I came up with using the same idea in writer's workshop. The difficult part about workshopping is that you cannot get the students to invest in what they are doing and you cannot get them to discuss their writing or anyone elses on a deeper level. Well, 'cannot' may be a bad word, but both tasks are difficult. So the writing circles use roles to help the students understand what they should, could, and will talk about with each other. The students are in groups of 2-6 people and they all have different roles. They read each others papers and comment using the direction of the role they are assigned (voice finder, conventions editor, organizational editor etc.) The difficult part is when they are finished reading, they need to discuss their papers and help each other. Okay - I think that answers the first quesiton.

Second - What is the 4 corners game? This is where you have a list of statements to share with a group. In each corner of the room you post a possible answer. In my case the possible answers where 'Definitely Me,' Definitely NOT me,' 'I Am in the Middle,'and 'I Don't Care.' I would read a statement like "I like to write ' and let the students go to the answer that best suits them.

Third - How did I have the students grade examples? I had examples of voice and word choice on the overhead. Well back up, first I gave them rubrics for voice and word choice and we went over what needs to be in writing to succeed at both traits - we made class posters with keywords about the traits on them. Then I showed the examples and we discussed what was good and what was bad. Then we scored them 1-6 and then I shared what the papers 'official' scores were.

Fourth - What children's book did I use and how did I use it? I used the book Alexander and the No Good, Very Bad, Horrible Day (I am sure I messed up that title :) I told them to pay attention to the details given, the point of view and voice and any other techniques the author used. I read the book aloud and then we discussed it a bit. Then I gave them their assignement. "Write about your worst or best day." I told them they had the option because I like the room for optimism. Then we discussed prompts and what you could do to make your response more interesting, like combining two or three bad days and making them sound like one, exaggeration, borrowing things you know happened to some one else, etc. They were to write 1-2 paragraphs. Well, they all begged to write more. I received typed pages, 4, 5, 6 paragraphs - it was pretty amazing.

Fifth - What mistake did I make with the questions? I have to get back to this one because I don't remember what I was referring to in my original post.

Sixth - What about grading? Well my intention was to ask the students how it should be graded and have them come up with a rubric, but the truth is that I ran out of time. I wanted to include self evaluation too. I knew I wanted to grade on voice and word choice and I had rubrics set up, but that was not my goal with this assignment. I wanted experiment.

Whew - aren't we all glad that Natalie asked all of those questions? Truthfully, I am because it made me go back and think about what I was doing again. I am going to re-read my post and refresh my train of thought.

The other thing that answering all of these questions did was make me think. Many teachers believe that writer's workshop takes up too much time. It is cumbersome, it may not always be productive. But after this experience I am thinking that doing this kind of writing 6-7 times in a year would makes students grow a lot more that the regular grind. What do you think???

Finally, I am back!

Okay - it ahs taken me a while but I am back! I had out of town guests and school stuff to do and did get a bit sidetracked, but not really. You see, I have been working on writing circles and workshops for almost 2 weeks in my classroom. The time has been spent wisely and even my mistakes feel successful.

First, I had the students do a poetry assignment with the writing circles. I used examples in a different way and tried to be role specific. I was also able to put some student work on the overhead and comment out loud so the class could see what was going on in my head. This is not the first time I have done this, but I did change it around a bit and students seemed to respond well. Especially when I was able to use their work (this is not always easy to do).

The second time I did this I was concentrating on word choice and voice. I used examples and had students grade them. I used a children's book for the prompt. But first and foremost, I started to ask them questions. This was my mistake. I realized I should have done this before the poetry asignment, but now I like having the comparison of the two assignments and see how the responses go. When I asked questions I started with basic questions about writing (do you like to write, do you prefer fiction or nonfiction, do you consider yourself to be creative, do you like to share your work). WE did this using the 4 corners game. I recorded the responses too. Then I asked them in a conversational way what they liked about workshops and what they did not like. The responses were really interesting.

So they have just completed their writing circles after all of this research and I have taken their suggestions and responses into consideration and have implemented some too.

My final question will be "how should this be graded?"

Oh yeah - I had them pick the roles in the circles too!

What Next?

I collected a writing circles assignment this week. Hopefully I will see something I haven't seen before. We did a lot of modeling and discussing, there was conferencing too. The disappointment was when I asked the students what could happen to make the participation part easier for them they seemed totally confused...disconnected would be the actual word. It was as if the entire exercise had nothing to do with them. Again, another assignment they do because they are told. They disconnect, do, and then do not even know what they have done.

Before we started I discussed what I saw going on, I told them they could be broken up into 3 groups: the naturals, the won't do, and the do it as fast as we can so we can talk. They laughed, they got it, then proceeded to breakdown into the 3 groups I mocked. It was as though they understood but did not relate to it personally.

My big question - how do I get them to discuss their own writing critically?

It is an age old question. Which brings me to my next thought. After reading blogs and posts I realized how much more I was inspired by questions than answers. I am diving into a personal issue but I think it is important as I grow professionally. It occured to me that I get really annoyed with "the answers". They seem like something else to me that everybody has...hmmm. Anyway, I was thinking about my co-workers, veterans and new, and I realized that it is the ones that have questions that I find myself drawn to naturally. If I meet a veteran teacher and they ask questions about what I am doing or what they are doing, I find them inspiring. If I meet a new teacher who asks thoughtful questions, I find myself respecting them as a thinker. When either comes across as lecturing or 'know-it-all' I turn off almost immediately.

So what does this have to do with anything? I have decided to take a dive into the student driven evaluation. Next week I intend to ask them how they would like workshops to go. What would they like to write? How should they be graded? I want to set up norms and see what happens. This goes back to Ch 3 I think. I think I need to put my trust back into the students and see what happens.

If any one has any experience with this I would love basic input. I will be jumping in without the proper knowledge - shhhh don't tell :)

Notice to All Blog Buddies

I want my blog buddies to know that I am becoming increasingly aware of my typo-itis. I have decided to ignore it, move on, and hope you all "know what I mean".

I am discovering other patterns in my informal writing too, but those are for another blog!

Note to self

Research should include: lit circles, student driven assessment, portfolios in the classroom, writing workshop techniques, and...crap, I knew I would forget!

Rice Cereal Stuck to My Pajamas

It is 9:13. I am tired, but I am afraid if I don't use it I will lose it. "It" being my understanding of how to blog.

I have been trying to collect student data for my writing circles. There are so many questions and things I want to try that I know it won't all happen this year. My hope is to get two good workshops in before the end of the year. One is with poetry and the other will be a narrative (I think?).

The struggles I come up with are always the same: how do I get them to discuss the writing, how do I get them to truly revise their work, how do I assess discussion. I will be trying a question sheet specifically about their writing circles experience tomorrow.

The permission slips will go out tomorrow too. I wonder what the response will be.

After reading COA's chapter 3, I really think a lot of my answers are going to be with student self-assessments - giving more control to them. I think conferencing is a must. I would like to let them create their own writing assignments, but I won't be able to do that before the year is out. I will try letting them create groups by the roles they want to take next time - one corner organizational editor, another corner voice finder, etc. - then create the groups based on their role preference.

I hope some of this makes sense. My son is asleep and I think it is time for me to scrape the rice cereal off of my pajamas ( I am too lazy to actually change!).

My first blog posting...I shoudl say something deep, meaningful, on-topic at least...I got nothin.

Hi! I am Renee and I am going to research my idea of writing circles. There are lots of questions and I do not know where to begin. But - nothing ventured, nothing gained :)

I figure if I research and work really hard I can win nothing instantly.