Writing Marathons: A Gift to All Writers by Amy Bouch

 Writing Marathons: A Gift to All Writers

One of my beloved memories of my undergraduate experience as an English Education major at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania includes wandering around the campus and writing. I remember watching squirrels run across the Oak Grove as I sat typing on a bench. I remember walking to the nearby Taco Bell and sitting in a booth writing, surrounded by my classmates. I remember absorbing all of the sights, sounds, and smells and using it as inspiration for writing that I would later share with my writing group. This experience of being outside paired with writing and sharing is an experience that has stayed with me over the years. There’s just something magical about Writing Marathons.

During the first summer of the pandemic, it finally worked out that I was able to participate in the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project Summer Institute for Teachers. My participation led me to participate in my first Virtual Writing Marathon hosted by various National Writing Project sites for #WriteAcrossAmerica. Again, I was able to experience that magical feeling of being inspired by an environment and sharing with others. 

Last school year, I finally shared this magic with my students. My fellow 8th grade English teacher and I invited our 8th graders and then also our school’s 7th graders to participate in mini Virtual Writing Marathons during two of our virtual Fridays. Even though we had minimal participation because it was an optional experience on a Friday when students were learning from home, the students who participated felt that same magic that I always feel. We planned for only a half hour of observing, writing, and sharing, but we always ran over the time because we were all bubbling with creativity, excitement, and support for one another. Here’s a copy of one of our Virtual Writing Marathon slides.

This school year, to celebrate the National Day on Writing and #WriteOut, we took our 8th graders outside and had them experience our school’s first in-person Writing Marathon. We all experienced the magic--we watched caterpillars crawling through the grass; we admired the cloudless, bright-blue sky; we smelled the crisp fall air; and we touched unexpectedly fuzzy tree branches. These experiences outside led us to write letters, short stories, memoirs, poems, reflections, conversations, and more. The magic continued as we met together in writing groups to share, celebrate, and polish our writing. 

I urge all teachers to make the leap and incorporate Writing Marathons into their classrooms, schools, and lives. Writing Marathons are writing at their best--an experience that will stick with you forever. 

Even though October has passed, there are still many opportunities to incorporate Writing Marathons: the end of a grading quarter/semester, before a holiday/season break, as a celebration day, a random Friday, or any day! If you’re unsure where to start, you can adapt a copy of the Writing Marathon slides that my colleague and I used this fall. It (hopefully) includes everything you might need: an explanation, directions, writing invitations, and sentence stems for when students share in groups.

Now, get out there and WRITE! Writing Marathons are a gift to us all.

Amy Bouch is a reading-obsessed 8th grade English teacher at Chartiers Valley Middle School. She is the Vice President of the Western Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English (WPCTE) and a Teacher-Consultant for the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project (WPWP). When she isn’t teaching, she is making her way through all of the U.S. National Parks and traveling the world with her husband. Connect with her at abouch@cvsd.net.