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I’ve used Writer’s Notebooks in my classroom for about 10 years.  It’s harder when I teach kindergarten, but I make modifications because I think it SUCH A HUGE part of the writing process, even for very young children.  It was really cool, using this with third graders and hearing about it being used in other third grade classes.  It really shares the message that it’s easy to live a writerly life, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer.  There is nothing to be afraid of when if comes to writing! The girls in the video do a great job of inspiring young writers and showing them how much fun writing is!

After spending time talking about the e-course on Starting a Writer’s Notebook, I decided to re-watch the Playful Learning Spaces e-course that I had taken a few years ago.  When I first took the course it was something I signed up for, along with a group of moms and teachers who I had never met before.  Mariah sent us a video each week and we shared pictures of the playful spaces we created in our homes as a result of her lessons.  Well, I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was for Wednesday afternoons!  I knew the videos would arrive in my in box by the time I got home from school and I absolutely loved watching the videos and beginning to look around my home, thinking about changes I could make.

It’s been a couple of years since I took the course, and Mariah has totally revamped the video series.  The lessons were absolutely amazing!  The content was the same as I had remembered, but some of the videos and photos were new and updated.  I just loved this course and was inspired all over again!