The Open Write for Educators

An Invitation to Write

Welcome to the 2024-25 Open Write!

Ethical ELA strives to be an accessible, sustainable, inclusive, and supportive space for educators to nurture their reading and writing lives. The Open Write is a monthly invitation to educators to write. Every month, for five days, we offer writing prompts for you that we also hope you will share with students. In April, we experience a 30-day celebration of National Poetry Month, and in May, we review and reflect to plan for the next year.

What is the “Open Write”?

Five days a month, teachers come together to write a poem a day for five days. There is a different “host” each month who develops poetry inspiration prompts along with tips for writing and a mentor poem. I schedule the five prompts to publish at 4 a.m. (CST) each morning. Teachers go to ethicalela.com any time (day or night) to write a poem and respond to a least three other teacher-poets. I offer some suggestions for how to respond, but the heart of a writing community can be found in expressing how you relate to and honor one another’s lives in these comments.

In nurturing our own writing, we keep alive and vibrant our writing lives so that we can serve our student writers. Maybe teachers will find a new idea for their writing classes. Maybe teachers will learn a new poem form or be introduced to a new poet or author — and that will lead to a more inclusive English curriculum. But our greatest hope is that teachers will share their writing lives with their student and nurture in their classrooms a writing community much like the one we have created together here.

It is called “open” because all are welcome to participate in any way they need. You can write in your journal or online as many or as few days as you wish.

How did Open Write begin?

I launched Ethical ELA in June 2015 as a space to start and continue conversations about the ethics of teaching English language arts.

What has always weighed heavy on my shoulders and heart has been the responsibility I have to do what is “good” and “right” for the human beings with whom I have been entrusted as a teacher. And so I have written about books and methods and projects and assessment. However, what I think has most impacted who I am and how I serve as a teacher is the act of writing.

For the past few years, I have hosted a thirty-day poetry writing challenge each April. Teachers from across the country joined me in writing a poem a day. This year, authors and celebrated educators hosted several days of the challenge to keep the teacher-poets inspired all month long: Anna Roseboro, Travis Crowder, Kip Wilson, and Aida Salazar. This was the first time I collaborated with writers to develop ideas for writing, and it deeply impacted my writing life.

Here is what a few teachers had to say about April’s writing challenge:

I post a poem a day for the teachers I work with during the month of April, and am also always on the lookout for poetry resources to share with teachers. This site provided SO many resources!

First, I cannot thank you enough for the inspiration. At first, I was using this as a springboard for my own writing. I would briefly talk and share with my 8th grade students – one day it hit me – let’s do this together. It has been such a pleasant surprise – I would even say life changing with the group that I have. They have loved every minute of it. I through out my old lessons and basically used yours each day. It was perfect. The students could not get enough. My only regret is that I didn’t start on day one. Can’t wait until next year.

I wanted to get my students into national poetry month. We’re being more reflective in this way and preparing for a This I Believe essay!

My students do not have a lot of knowledge of poetry, so, I used the poem of the day the whole month of April.

The online forum motivated me to write as often as I could.

Feedback from April 2019

After 2019’s 30-day poetry writing challenge, I have come to know that the act of writing is powerful but that the act of writing in a community has far-reaching effects that I am only beginning to understand. Several writers from April reached out to me to say they missed our community. Was there a way we could continue to write?

At first, I thought we could just write one day a month, but that was not enough contact time with other writers and did not allow for the writing routine to take hold. We needed a few days in a row to get into the flow of writing and to get reconnected to the community. But the “challenge” really comes in days four and five when a week of teaching, of life takes its toll and pushes to the margin what is “extra” in our lives.

Every teacher knows that what goes first when we are busy is self-care. We stop bringing our lunch. Don’t have time for that walk. Neglect to hydrate because who has time to take a bathroom break. But we are writing teachers, teachers of writers. We ask them to write and so must we. These 5-day challenges are about giving yourself a nudge to give yourself time to write just 5 days a month. We are here for you. We welcome you.

And so began, the 5-Day Monthly Open Write.

How do I join?

Join us by subscribing. You will receive an email when the Open Writes begin.

This is completely free. If you would like a certificate for continuing education credits from Oklahoma State Writing Project, you must 1) write an original poem each day, 2) comment on at least 3 other poems in a meaningful way, and 3) complete the post-challenge quick feedback form with your mailing address and school name.

How does it work exactly? What do I do?

When the open write begins, I will email you morning reminders to write with a link to the writing prompt. You will see an explanation of the prompt, tips for writing, and an example poem. Scroll down and enter your poem. You do not have to follow the prompt, and there are no rules as to how long the poem has to be. Just write. We all understand that the daily writing is in draft form and not polished or copyedited. That is just fine. Just write.

Then, check back throughout the day to read and respond to other poems (and see the comments on your own). Always anchor the comments in personal response or by noting lines or phrases that were well-crafted or powerful.

This site let me experience poetry from a variety of voices I’d not been aware of.

That given the freedom to try – students appreciate the opportunity to experience the craft of writing poetry.

We learned that poetry is a great way to be reflective. Also that poetry is a great way to practice revision!!!!

I loved the variety of styles.

I learned that writing poetry sparks joy for me! The feedback was amazing. I really appreciated the thoughtful insight from fellow writers.

Feedback from April 2019′