A big thank you to everyone for your support over the past two years. Realizing that this blog keeps growing and that the options for making it navigable with blogger are diminishing week by week, I've moved over to WordPress. I hope this doesn't cause any unnecessary inconvenience.
The original article you are looking for is below this short message. After reading, if you have a moment to check out the new (and hardly changed) "The Other Things Matter", please drop in. Would love to hear from you.
Your Voice: a call for
stories, and stories of stories
On Friday I posted my idea
about a collection of short fiction by English language teachers for English
language learners. The idea was
inspired by a few of my friends who took the time to think seriously about
their students' needs and write some short stories to meet those needs. But
aside from writing some great fiction, my friends also took the time to explain
who they wrote their stories for, how they wrote them, how they used them in
class, and maybe most importantly, how students reacted to the stories.
It seems to me that a simple
collection of stories by language teachers is only just half of the story. The story behind the story is what
gives the fiction a sense of context.
It is the way short stories by various language teachers would find
their place and shape within the larger quilt of the English language teaching
world.
So after the initial wave of
feedback, I've decided to give the original idea a little more shape.
A Call for Stories (and
stories of stories):
- A short story which is
written for the specific needs of your learners, under 500 words (flexible).
- A description of who the
story was written for and why.
- If possible a description
of how the story was used and the students reaction.
Style Guidelines: There
is no specific style guidelines for this project. Write in the way that will give the clearest picture of your
writing process and of your teaching environment. Write in the way that you can say what you need to say. And then trust in your fellow teachers
to understand your intentions.
Just write and share your voice.
Compensation: I had a number of teachers and friends suggest that
any money earned from the project could be used as a charitable donation. And this seems like a very good idea to
me. For example, if the money generated by a collection of stories like this was used to provide free lessons on iTDi for teachers without resources for professional development, or provide books or access to online lessons for students with minimal resources, I think that would be very good (thanks Mike) It was also suggested that maybe a
"pay what you want" system would also be good as it would let the
largest number of teachers and learners access the book. I also think this is a good idea. But if you have a different idea you
would like to share, please do, either in the comments or via email. But I don't think I or anyone else is
going to make a lot of money off this project, no matter how we structure
it. So instead of worrying about
money, I would rather worry about getting the best stories we can into the
hands of the most teachers possible.
If this seems like a good idea to you, I hope you will share your voice.
Publication Format: At the
moment (August 5th), I have three stories which have been sent to me by three
teachers. So it seems a little
early to worry about how we will publish the stories which have not been
collected yet. But still, this
seems to be a point of great interest.
And I am also interested in what kind of format the stories will end up
taking. I will say that even if we
do an e-book format and digital distribution, my final goal would be a
book. You know, the paper
kind. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but
I think these are the kind of stories that will require a slow thumbing through
of pages. I cannot promise, but I
can say that I will do everything in my power to make sure that your stories,
that all of our stories, find a home between a set of book covers.
Submissions: Please send any submissions to
kevchanwow[at]gmail.com where the '[at]' is replaced by an '@'. You can also post any suggestions you
have for the project on this page.
I have also started a forum on iTDi to discuss the project as well under
the subject "short fiction by teachers for learners." (itdi.pro/itdi). And there is now a Facebook page as
well (http://www.facebook.com/groups/158188554318410/), where people can bat
ideas back and forth.
Additional Information: There really isn't any additional information. There's just a vague sense that a
collection of stories like this is necessary right now. And a much stronger belief that a group
of teachers working with other teachers is the right way to put it
together. Thanks for taking the
time to visit this page, thinking about what kind of stories your students
need, and maybe even considering sharing them with other teachers. Because in the end, your story, joined
to the rest of our stories, is what truly makes us a community of English
language teachers.
