We are the hero of our own story.
Mary McCarthy
Sometimes I seriously wonder what I am thinking. In our Journey of the Hero unit, I ask students to do a free write on their own ‘fatal flaws.’ Really? What fatal flaws could a 13 to 14 year old have? But boy, do I get a range. Everything from taking that epic skateboarding ramp a bit off, to the time when they betrayed a friend. The range is parallel to choices and life experiences they’ve had: in other words, happy kids=innocent mistakes; add a little more grit to their worlds=more emotion.
I’m not trying to dig out their hearts, I promise. They don’t have to share a thing, and may choose not to write. In terms of the writers’ workshop, this was not the prompt to launch the protocols, that’s for sure.
But keeping my sense of humor, I got an email from a student asking a clarifying question:
“What is the Fatal Laws assignment?”
Sounds about right.
