1st Edition

Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers

By Ruth Ayres Copyright 2017

    In her moving and personal book Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers, Ruth Ayres weaves together her experience as a mother, teacher, and writer. She explores the power of stories to heal children from troubled backgrounds and offers up strategies for helping students discover and write about their own stories of strength and survival. She shares her own struggles and triumphs and hard-earned lessons from raising a family of four adopted children. Her experience is invaluable to any teacher whose has met children living in poverty, in unstable households, or in fear of abuse. Ayres explores brain research and the ways trauma can change the brain and how encouraging all students to write can help offset some of these effects. She believes that all students benefit from revealing their stories, by communicating information and opinion that allows darkness to turn to light in the lives of children. In the last part of her book she offers up practical suggestions for enticing all writers, regardless of their struggles. Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers invites you on a journey to become a teacher who refuses to give up on any student, who helps children believe that they can have a positive impact on the world, and who—in some cases becomes the last hope for a child to heal.

    Introduction; Part I: Holding on in the Hard: Understanding Kids Who Need to Be Enticed to Write; Chapter 1: Stories Save; Chapter 2: Altered Brains; Chapter 3: Take Time; Chapter 4: Healing Happens; Chapter 5: See Their Stories; Chapter 6: Getting the Heart Right: Social Media and Stories; Part II: Setting the Stage to Entice Students to Write; Chapter 7: What Writing has to Do with Teaching Writers; Chapter 8: Writing Always Gives More than It Takes; Chapter 9: Everyone Hates Writing; Chapter 10: Is Writing Essential?; Chapter II: Writing Workshop is Essential; Chapter 12: Developing Faithful and Fearless Writers; Part III: Moves to Entice Students to Write; Chapter 13: Leaps of Faith; Chapter 14: Cultivate a Celebration Mindset; Chapter 15: Individualizing the Writing Process; Chapter 16: Writing Projects that Make You Want to Write; Chapter 17: Stretch Mentors to Meet Needs; Chapter 18: Simplify Conferring; Chapter 19: Expand Feedback Beyond the Teacher; Chapter 20: Tap Technology

    Biography

    Ruth Ayres spends her days helping students find meaning in their stories and encouraging teachers to refine the art of teaching writing