As an elementary teacher, I dedicated much of my career to the creating lifelong readers and writers. I had a unique way of viewing the integration of these two literacy areas. Reading and writing existed together as one body, not separated parts of the whole. And so my journey began…
In 1995, I came across a nationally known language arts teacher named Nancie Atwell. Her book In The Middle was speaking directly to me. She got me as I did her. She understood the new direction I was taking in my Language Arts teaching. We spoke the same language! What a relief to know that I was not standing alone. I became even more passionate about teaching.
In meeting up with Nancie, she opened the door to other influencers…Lucy Calkins, Regie Routman, Katie Ray Wood. Through their influences, my teaching was making me more empowered. Then, there were childhood literature writers who were igniting my world and lighting fires in my students’ lives: Kate DiCamillo, Beverly Cleary, Avi, Cynthia Rylant.
So, one little fire that was set by an influencer, Nancie Atwell, ignited into a passion for literature and writing. Thank you, Nancie, for starting that fire.
