We Teach and We Write

by TWIG Contributor Daisy Rain Martin

Most days, I am unwaveringly convinced that I teach the best seventh graders the world over. I know that’s merely my opinion, but it feels like a fact. My students come into our classroom filled with energy and wonder. They also come with a plethora of opinions of their own that reverberate so strongly inside them that they often confuse them as facts. It is no easy sell, convincing 12-year-olds or 16-year-olds or 102-year-olds or even myself that the things we believe with all our hearts are simply opinions and beliefs, especially when they burn so strongly inside us. What’s a bit terrifying in these tumultuous times is that when people believe their opinions are, in fact, facts, it is difficult to introduce new information or offer another point of view. 

I can’t even tell you how very factual that feels to me.

One of the most powerful tools I took away from the 2021 fall semester with TWIG is a brilliant writing exercise where students have the opportunity to write about something they used to think, reflect on what they learned and explain how their views morphed into something else—all because they were brave enough to let go of their former misnomers in light of new information.

‘Tis a glorious thing. 

Before we ever get to argument writing, my students use this strategy to write a personal narrative. I want them to write about a time when they believed with all their hearts that something was true, but after being introduced to a different point of view, another lens, something downright miraculous happened. 

They changed. 

They evolved. 

They grew.

I want them to remember how that feels and acknowledge that they have moved the needle on their understanding of the world. I want them to talk about it and celebrate it and share their experience with others and give themselves permission to go through that process again and again. Perhaps developing this fundamental capacity is the gateway to engaging in argument that builds community.

Of late, it is as if we are witnessing the demise of expertise. We watch as people, diametrically opposed, plant their proverbial flags and die on their hills. It’s easy to believe that the world has painted itself in an impossible corner. None of us want to believe that is true.

So, we teach.

And we write.

BIO:

Daisy Rain Martin has spent over 25 years in the classroom and has managed to preserve her sanity—mostly. Actually, she feels quite blessed to be doing what she loves. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (1990), a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction (2004) as well as a Master of Fine Arts in writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota (2021).

In the summers, you can find Daisy in her gardens with her husband or in her office writing. As often as she can, though, she loves spending time with her grandbaby, Wiggle, who was born on her birthday and her grandniece, Giggle, who was born on Christmas Eve. Truly, she writes for them.

 

If you are interested in having Daisy speak for your school district, provide professional development for your staff, or visit your school to talk to students, please contact her through this website, www.daisyrainmartin.com.