Kristin Ackerman
September 9, 2011
A few Sundays ago I was getting my two year old ready for bed when we realized that her Ellie was missing. Ellie, is a little pink and purple elephant that my daughter has been holding onto since she was six months old. Ellie goes grocery shopping with us, to the beach with us, and even faithfully joins Leila in time out. As the reality sunk in I wasn't sure who should be more panicked about the loss of Ellie, me or Leila. We ran several errands earlier in the day and I wasn't sure how many places I was going to have to search. Luckily, I found Ellie sitting on a stool just around the corner from the toy isle at TJMax. As I drove home to put Leila to bed I started thinking about Leila's attachment to her Ellie. Anytime I think of Leila I always envision a pink and purple elephant with her.
One of my personal goals is to grow as a writer. I am teaching a unit on poetry right now and my goal has been to write a poem a day. If I am not writing the genres that I am teaching, then am I really teaching well? I have learned that a lot of ideas for writing kind of come to me unexpectedly and I need to jot down my ideas immediately. In an effort to model what real writers do I am trying to carry my little red notebook with me everywhere I go just like Leila carries Ellie. I want my students to envision a little red notebook when they think of me. After all, one of the easiest ways to grow as a writer is to write! I have also encouraged my students to carry their writing notebooks with them.
One day Leila will lose interest in her Ellie and she will no longer take her everywhere she goes. Hopefully I will be able to convince her to trade Ellie in for her own little notebook!