Student-Led Conferences and the Return of Rushcapades!

"Hello, Mama and Papa. I want to thank you for coming to my conference."

Her first student-led conference, and not surprisingly, Magnolia works through her checklist articulately, sharing her self-assessment, friendship reflection, and samples of her written work and handwriting. She directs us to recognize her growth, asks us for specific support to assist her in further learning, and shares her goal for the remainder of the year. Is this girl really seven?! My mama-eyes swell with pride at her confidence and growth.

At the end of the conference, Magnolia asks if we have a goal for her--we had been instructed to bring one.

We do. But a little background first.

Always an avid reader, Magnolia entered first grade hesitant to write, inhibited by spelling. This year, though, she has blossomed into a passionate writer, empowered by best gess sownd speling. She loves poetry, punctuation, capitalization, onomatopoeia, and especially the writing process.  From memory, she can explain the importance of each stage: prewrite - draft - revise - edit - publish. She loves to find and fix mistakes--like her Papa--and she loves to "add juicy details."

However, for whatever reason, she does NOT like publishing. Maybe rewriting in her neatest handwriting is boring? Maybe staple binding loose leaf paper is frustrating? Or maybe her passion for editing creates a feeling of the work never quite being done?

Whatever the case, to support Magnolia's passion for writing and encourage her to overcome her resistance to publishing, one of our goals is for Magnolia to share a piece of writing on our blog each week.

She loves the idea!

Selfishly, it is kind of a goal for me too -- along with some motivation and accountability!

Blogging is good for my soul, but it has been hard to find time the last few years. Currently, I have over 100 blog drafts in limbo. (Hmm, maybe I do know where she gets her resistance to publishing...) I may never get around to posting them all, but I'm hoping to at least start capturing some of our Rushcapades again.

Please support us by commenting and giving friendly nudges if we fall behind. And forgive any mistakes as we try to let go of worrying about being perfect in order to be published. As Brian likes to say, "Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good."