Teachers, please check out my archived posts for some helpful tips for teaching writing to your students. Also, I’ll have a new little writing book, Teaching Writing the WISE Way, coming out this summer. It’s more of a pep talk to those of you who need a little push to really bite the bullet and get that writing going in your schools. Studio WISE is here to provide assistance. As the Eagles sang, “Just do something.” You’ll be surprised at the growth you see from your students.
Happy writing.
Man, do we live in a noisy world! Horns are honking. Music is blaring. Tires are screeching. Machines are roaring. Everywhere we wander, there is noise. Soft noise. Loud noise.
Noise typically is “unwanted sound judged to be unpleasant.” It is also defined as “any sound that is undesired or interferes with one’s hearing of something.” I often think about how little quiet time with no noise that most of us really have. Quiet time for me has to be planned in a strategic manner, or it just does not happen. Lately, I have begun to think about all the noise we are bombarded with from social media and the news.
That kind of noise is ” irrelevant or meaningless data or output occurring along with desired information.” It seems that what once was news is now noise. Most people I talk with are operating on “information” overload. For me, I think it’s more “noise” overload than ” information.” Sometimes there seems to be no way out of it. We stick headphones in our ears attempting to shut out the noise with more noise. We get busier. We shop. We eat.
I say it’s time to turn down the noise. We do not have to be consumed by social media or news stations. We CAN take back our lives, our time! Pick up a book. Write in a journal. Pray. Meditate . Visit a friend. Write a letter. Hug your children. Paint a picture. Feed some animals. Clean a house. Tutor a child. Visit a nursing home. Call your parents. Listen to good music. Talk to your spouse. You get the picture.
Turn down the noise and turn up the love.
I was reminded recently after a funeral of a friend that we all leave a legacy, something that will remain even when we are gone. We are writing our legacies every day, all day, with choices we make and all we do. Are we leaving the world better than we found it? We all will leave a legacy of some kind, either a positive one or a negative one. As you ponder this, please use the following topics to journal or as topics of discussion.
1. What have I done today to change the life of someone?
2. Do my friends and family members know I love them?
3. What is my purpose in life? What am I doing to fulfill this purpose?
4. What causes do I support and why?
5. What do I want people to say about me 25 years after I’m gone?
Happy journaling.