Speak Up

 This past Thursday, I went to Strand Bookstore in NYC to see Laurie Halse Anderson at a book talk to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her celebrated novel, Speak. Speak is such an important book to many, including to me. I remember reading this book in seventh grade and it was the first time I felt a book had a real impact and connected to someone around my age. I fell in love with the book and fell in love with strong, powerful female characters who go through real life experiences.

Laurie was a dynamic, engaging, powerful, and honest speaker who captivated the crowd but also felt like she was having a conversation with a friend. She spoke about how much she loves teenagers and how she feels like the school system as it is does not nurture them and reflect them and their experiences in the curriculum. This is something as I high school teach I feel and see and it was another call to myself to challenge my own lessons and question am I listening to my students and am I seeing them and making my lessons relevant to their lives.

Laurie also spoke about the writing process and how writing can be a powerful tool for resilience. She stressed the importance of trying and failing and learning from failure. She still has a copy of her rejection letter for Speak. She also spoke about how the writing process isn't uniform and isn't pretty and writers and students alike she not be so tied to the formulaic writing process.

I was fortunate to get to speak with her briefly about how students are not seeing themselves in what they read and she encouraged me to reach out and connect with fellow educators who are doing work to provide more students with more relevant and reflective literature. I am so grateful to have heard one of my favorite authors speak, and I feel inspired. I am working to silence the inner critic that says "I'm just a teacher, I'm not a writer" and will keep reminding myself that my voice and story matters just like all the vices and stories of my students matters too.