Every spring since arriving in Cambodia, I've assigned a Multi-Genre writing project to my grade 9 students. They pick a topic - from fairy tales to food to faith - and express a theme about it using a variety of genres: collage, short stories, poems, persuasive essays, interviews, and so on. At the end, each student compiles his or her work into a small book.
I always enjoy reading their thoughts on a topic they're passionate about. Last year I even featured a student's poem from this project in a blog post.
This year, as we were discussing possible topics, one of my students asked me, "What would you write yours about, Ms. Cooper?" I had to admit I had no idea. And that's when I realized: This is the year that I'm writing my own Multi-Genre project. I know it's so good for them when I write alongside them, and I enjoy writing, but I never felt before that I could take the time to complete this whole project. But since I might not teach English 9 next year (a new teacher is likely taking it over), this could be my last chance.
I'm not even one step ahead of them, just trying to keep up with the due dates I'm assigning them. I have a rough idea of where I'm going, but I'm curious to see how my project will unfold...and hoping not to let perfectionism take over. I'd really like to let them see how I too have to wrestle with each part. Even picking a topic took me days of reflecting, though I knew right away when I'd found the right one.
An authentic audience is always a good motivator, so in addition to sharing my writing with my students, I'm going to be posting each piece on here. The topic that unites them all is Belonging.
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