In this COVID economy, students’ writing pierce the darkness
12-year olds publishing eBooks at Benjamin Franklin High School
T o be honest I’ve never been more inspired by the work my students produced this weird year. Their capstone project in my 2020 class in computers & technology has always been an eBook. This year, as an experiment I relaxed the guidelines. Keep in mind this class began online, then were kicked into ‘hybrid’ (in-person just twice a week) and then slid into a 5-day schedule. With so many boundaries COVID placed around young people, I wanted to see what had been brewing in the their minds. How might they use this moment in time to come up with ideas, rather sans boundaries? I was in for a shock!
Last evening was the deadline — it accounted for 50% of their final exam. There was more fiction emerging this semester than all those before, combined. Here are some of the topics that were submitted: “The Mind Traveler,” “Girl Astronaut,” “A Vacation in the Woods,” “The Mystery Letters.” Two books were on drama about softball, a romance, one on the technologies affecting young people, and two on mental illness. There’s more….
Even the non-fiction was telling. Topics include, “The most tragic events in history,” one on “The solar system,” one on somewhat gruesome events of World War II. Two on dance techniques.
But to get back to the outpouring of fiction many admitted they had never written fiction before, and ‘found’ their voice during this project. Some became so prolific I permitted them to go beyond the 24-page limit that the eBook format on Flipsnack.com placed. One student began writing a sequel, unable to contain her output.
It’s not just the writing. My students had to design the front and back covers using only copyright-free images from Unsplash, Pexels, or Pixabay. They control margins, and on my insistence, ad nauseam, use plenty of white space. Take a look at these, and let me know if what we are seeing is an explosion of creativity. In 12 and 13 year olds. Perhaps, with so many ups and downs, being homebound has rekindled the urge to read, to imagine and share stories. I hope I am right.
Feathered Friends. In the Dark. Mystery Letters. Outcast. My Spiritual Goal. The Solar System. Four Interesting Baseball Players. Programming Python.
It makes being a teacher so rewarding. Yes, we are juggling with making videos, scheduling video conferences, responding to hundreds of emails between classes, sorting though spreadsheets, and…teaching. But moments like this make all of that easy to ignore. These kids are going places!
Click on the images and they link to actual eBooks.
