Week 6 - To Write and Publish in 8 Weeks

Story Progress

I have a slight change in my original plan-

Children's books usually require illustrations. I actually borrowed a couple "How to Draw Cartoon" books from my local library. I'm pretty good at illustrating, but realized for this type of project, it really would be better to hire a professional. Ultimately, this means I need to continue my first idea, which was writing a children's book during a time when I can fund hiring a suitable illustrator or spend adequate time working on the illustrations myself. As a result, I decided to transition from the idea of writing a book for elementary-aged children to writing a teacher reflection book and "How To" book.

I've decided it would make more sense, for the time being, to write about how a teacher can incorporate children's likes and/or interest into a way to build community, a team spirit, and a joyful classroom environment. I am currently working on a 2nd draft for the additional text. The Peanut Butter story still fits in, it will accompany the background information about how I got to the point of writing the original story and many of the classroom activities that evolved from a student sharing a strong desire to find peanut butter in school.

Integration of Readings, Concepts and Theories from Class. 

While reflecting on the changes I've made since last week, I thought about the chapter we read about expertise in Chapter 7 of Learning and Cognition, by Martinez. Clearly, I am not an expert illustrator and did not feel comfortable completing the images that are a vital part of a children's book. An expert would likely find the task at hand relatively simple and easier to manage. I also considered changing my mind and what the result of that would be in terms of this blog project. Expectancy-value theory (Chapter 6- Learning and Cognition) came to mind. Facing the decision to be flexible with my original idea along with a time constraint was tough. I expect a better outcome, because the components of my book will be addressed now as opposed to worrying about the interior formatting dilemma caused from the prior week. I no longer need to consider fitting the illustration in with the text. The value of a change in decision should make this project easier to attain.

The goal I started with led to a problem I had not anticipated. So this has become a trial and error (Chapter 5) event that should resolve itself.