Kittle's exploration of student-selected topics and evocative writing is one that I imagine strikes a nerve with teachers everywhere largely due to the commonality of this task. I myself just spent a few days with my junior students discussing personal statements and finding those moments that offer a snap-shot of who my students are as the fabulous people they are. The responses were diverse. One young woman wrote about how she hates being stereotyped as an actress of color because she fears it has and will continue to exclude her from classical drama (which is her favorite). One student wrote about surgery, another about her first conflict with her mother's strong religious beliefs. I've seen first-hand the passion that comes from stories that mean a lot to us. However, I've also seen the failure that can come from a student shaking his/her head and stating, "I don't know what to write about."
This miniature crisis is exactly what Kittle's chapter was able to help me respond to. The idea of creating story boards and opening up the topics of conversation to include student choice offers a broader field for topic selection and can, in turn, open up the flood-gates to student writing. Particularly the idea of having students make maps of their childhood, list important ideas or words, and other forms of brainstorming offers the chance for struggling students to flesh out ideas and jump into a story that is meaningful and sincere on top of being organized.
This process is one that I will replicate should I ever be in the position again to teach students creative non-fiction writing. It seems to get to the heart of students' struggles in writing and offers quick responses to "I don't know" while still balancing students' rights to not always know right away what moment defines them.
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