She credited her success to the love of her family and the good fortune to remain at the same school regardless of how many times she was forced to move. My favorite book was written (and autographed) by a student whose family was forced to move almost yearly due to increasing rent costs. The four passionate student authors I interviewed had been accepted on scholarships to prominent liberal arts colleges where they would be able to pursue their writing careers. Many students wrote about how they had survived difficult challenges to succeed in school. When I reviewed the content of these books, I was overcome with emotion. They could then use these newly published books as part of their documentation to leverage college scholarships. When I interviewed the high school authors, they had just completed and published their books or novels for this book fair during the spring semester. A high school recently engaged a book publisher to print a limited number of each student’s novel for a community book fair. Through my networking experiences, I suggested that YPI work with a business partner to professionally self-publish students’ books that could be sold at an upcoming community book fair. We needed to participate in community book fairs and trainings with relevant materials for our target markets. Our publishing challenge was to market to parents and students within a short time frame. Self-publishing typically cannot compete with the professional editing guidance, binding, marketing, and sales support provided by traditional publishers. For example, the bloggers self-published four books for children and parents this past year using the CreateSpace Platform through Amazon. Use the Hemingway software application for editorial assistance.Īs Yvette and I discussed the strategies used by the teachers, we both became excited about teaching the students how to understand the self-publishing industry. Peer review and self-edit based on your peer’s feedback. Research a topic to complete an 8,000-word novel about a personal experience, hope, or dream. To initiate the project and monitor project milestones, teachers had students complete the following activities chart: 30 Day Project Month Activities They were impressed with how they could help each other write better using online software editing programs and through peer reviews. Students reported that they were able to write a significant amount of detail about a topic within a relatively short amount of time. Students, parents, and teachers became enthused about the success of the project. As the month progressed, students become engaged and committed to their novels’ development. YPI parents and students initially expressed concern about the magnitude of the writing project. By placing such a short limit on the writing time, writers can overcome their fear of writing by meeting the challenge. However, a few good novels have been published from the project entries. A common complaint of the program, which has been in existence since 1999, is that the writers’ work is seldom good enough to publish. Upon completion, the participants submit their novels for verification and receive a certificate from The Office of Letters and Light. Typically, NaNoWriMo program participants are challenged to write a 50,000-word novel from scratch from November 1 through November 30. Although the YPI students did not submit their modified novels to the NaNoWriMo contest, this incredible best practice can be adapted and replicated during any month of a school year. The middle school students were allowed one month in which to write an 8,000-word novel about a personal experience, hope, or dream. Last November, the 7 th grade teachers at YPI had their students participate in a modified version of the NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. A primary focus of her leadership is to fully engage students and their families in their academic success. Yvette is the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute’s Charter Schools (YPI). I worked with Yvette King-Berg, an urban school leader, for 20 years in Los Angeles schools.
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