Personal stories in the classroom
Ode to Ellen
I’m going to use you again, my dear friend.
I had decided today to write about you in my Slice of Life blog as an homage to how you helped me get through the social eddies of fourth-grade through twelfth. What brought this to mind is, lately, in my 4th grade and 5th grade classes the girls have been cannibalizing one another on social media. Thinking back on how I survived I KNOW my survival kit was you.
This intent, however, inflected. My morning class asked to see today’s post before beginning their own Slice of Life writing. All I had was a messy draft quickly jotted on the back of a discarded envelope snatched from the trash while still in my pajamas. Here comes the personal story part.
As an offering to students who don’t know what to write about, I suggested writing an ode to someone or something in prose form, and I read my personal story about you out loud:
Ode to Ellen
I’m going to use you once again! Like I’ve done all my life since I was 9 years old. There is social drama in my grade 4 & 5 classes. Mean messaging, exclusion, shunning. Nothing new—ours was a ‘Slam Book’—only ours was slower, more visible, easily intercepted and squashed. Today’s is more insidious—harmful. So what can I tell them about our friendship that could help them through the dark, barbed tunnel of middle school? I can say with confidence that IT ONLY TOOK ONE—one friend who had my back, one glittering, gem-faceted, loyal person at school, at the other end of the phone, and only a short bike ride away to get me through.
Here’s what happened next. After seven minutes of writing (extended to 10 with begging for more time) two of today’s three shares came from girls at the core of the drama, and they were candid, heartfelt, and vulnerable. Oh, and Joseph recommended that I use /steadfast/ instead of /loyal/ because /loyal/ is “overused these days.” [YOU GO, Joseph!]
One of the girls ended her piece with the wish that the drama wouldn’t explode today and for the day to be peaceful. Some of the boys didn’t understand a word of what the girls were talking about, but most of the class did. There was silence for a moment, and we were a community. I wished her luck with her wish.
So, once again, YOU have helped me, my dear friend. This time to help others. I just wanted you to know. Be assured that I won’t tell stories that would turn your cheeks red, but you can be assured I’m going to use you again, and again, and again, my dear friend.
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