This semester I took a course called The Politics & Creativity of Being & Becoming (CI 5368) with Dr. Susan Waite at Texas State University. One key component of this course was to complete an inquiry project.
Author: JJ Burry
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Back to School 2022!
Our first week of teacher in-service finished up last week, and we have one more teacher day before school starts for the school year. I cannot believe how quickly summer ended. Toward the end of July, I started working on my classroom since I wanted to change quite a few things. Here's a TikTok video [...]
A Case FOR Creativity
Dear Students, What have you heard about creativity? When I was your age, I thought it meant someone could draw or paint really well. I thought it only had something to do with arts and crafts. “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”― Vincent Willem van GoghGoodreads That's not always true! One of [...]
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 5 — Road Work
Throughout this semester, I've been working to update Writer's Block based on verbal feedback from students, research for this project, and personal preferences to make it a little easier on me.
Where did you go? #IWSG
Why I didn't participate in IWSG last month? Why I promised something exciting in July but failed to follow through?
You are asking all the right questions, and I'm thankful you want to know. I've been busy, stressed, anxious, and so much more over the last few months.
“A Shared World”
Welcome to a special blog post! This particular post is the second half of a project I'm completing for my Talent Development class (taught by Dr. Susan Waite), which is part of my master's program at Texas State University. With this activity (one of four different choices), I'm supposed to explore the phrase "apart, we are together" or the phrase "a shared world" in relation to an issue I care about in the world today. Then, I'm supposed to create a piece of "art" and share it with others.
What is success? #IWSG
To me, success isn't determined by my ability to produce words...
Learning from the masters #IWSG
My favorite writing craft book is The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing by the editors of Writer's Digest. This book features articles and interviews from numerous authors and is broken down into five parts.
Are you still there, JJ?
Great question. I'm here, and I'm working on something big! Check back in later this month for something I never thought I'd share. In the meantime, please enjoy this poem I wrote just now when I'm supposed to be finishing up a baby quilt... From the quilt I'm supposed to be working on... A lot [...]
Summer Goals… 2021
Have you missed me? It's been quite some time since my last post [NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (Author Toolbox)], which was in October of 2020. I have been busy since then, so this lovely blog of mine has been moved to the back-burner. What exactly have you been up to? First, I'll give you a quick [...]
NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (Author Toolbox)
The Young Writers Program (or YWP) is a way for NaNoWriMo to be accessible for participants 17 and younger (18 only if they're still in high school). Writing 50,000 words would be near impossible for young writers, so YWP allows them to choose their own writing goal.
Her Favorite Ride — a short screenplay
A young woman, who is avoiding her mom’s repeated phone calls, is eager to commence with her birthday tradition as soon as her sister arrives at their favorite theme park.
Rules Are Rules — a short screenplay
When a law-abiding teenager breaks one of society’s oldest rules, he discovers that his watch doesn’t actually answer to him.
Competing in NYC Midnight
Caviar? What? I had to research caviar, something I have never eaten and will never eat (I don't care for seafood). Then, I had to figure out how to fit it into my story... Oy vey.
A Treasure Map of Ideas (Author Toolbox)
You may or may not have heard about mind maps for brainstorming ideas. However, I find coming up with those ideas to be considerably difficult sometimes, especially when it comes to teaching essays in class.
MC’s garage sale (Author Toolbox)
This exercise creates questions. Will all the answers show up in the novel? Probably not... but the answers will help us better understand our character.
3 Tips for Starting a New Notebook (Author Toolbox)
I don't know about you, but every time I go into a store that sells notebooks, I find myself picking up each one and flipping through it. Even if I don't intend to buy one, I imagine what could be written on those pages.
Evolution of my Writer’s Notebook: 7 notebooks and counting…
Not only have my notebooks changed over the years, but my writing has also changed. Please join me as I walk you through the evolution of my writer's notebook, including four key things about each notebook.
4 Ways to Self-Motivate (Author Toolbox)
For my return to Author Toolbox, I want to share with you the four ways I've used to find my motivation to write again. I hope that some of them will work for you if you ever feel like this writing thing needs a break.
“Rise Again” — Quarantine, Family, and Reflection
Four months... I haven't posted anything on this blog for four months. Did you miss me? I don't know about you, but life has been pretty crazy since January. Long story short, I've had a lot of reasons (excuses) not to write. However, I plan to remedy that now. But first, you should listen to [...]
Immortal Words of a Mortal Writer 