It is late. I am tired.  It has been a long but fun day of sharing and learning with educational leaders. But I made a commitment to blog every day and blog I will.  So, I’m going to write about writing.

As part of a recognition of National Day on Writing, on October 19, Steve J. Moore at Edutopia writes about why he writes with his students and the role writing plays in his own life:

Beginning to see myself as a writer, and coming to understand that this wasn’t some magical and unreachable status, was a crucial step on my journey in teaching. I encourage you to start writing for yourself and share what you do with your students. You won’t be disappointed.

Like many ideas, this idea is not new. As a young teacher, I read Nancie Atwell and was completely hooked on the idea of reading and writing workshops and loved spending time writing with my students. Ini 1985, Tom Gillespie suggested that writing himself makes him a better writing teacher:

Thus, as a writer paying attention to my own work, I learn to be more keenly attentive to my students’ work. My careful observation and listening to them is enriched by my careful observation and listening to myself as I write.

I don’t mind that a younger generation is adopting an old idea.  It’s a good one a worth refreshing in this era of online publishing.

And I was reminded of one of my favorite leadership writers: Warren Bennis.  In his classic, On Becoming a Leader, he describes the importance of writing to leaders:

Writing is the most profound way of codifying your thoughts, the best way of learning from yourself who you are and what you believe.

And here’s a short video interview of Bennis talking about writing his memoir.  He encourages others to do as, starting at an earlier age than he does.