Just as a Baker Needs to Bake, a Teacher Needs to Write

When I began coaching, I was told that I needed to think about myself as a reader and the moves that I made to tackle unknown words and understand what I was reading so that I could be present with my students as a reader.  I had no problem with this whatsoever.  Meta-cognition as a reader sat very, very well with me.  I read every day, so that was no problem.  I talked to my students about what they were working on as a reader and felt very good about it.
Then Ralph Fletcher visited my district and started making me think about writing.  He prompted writing out of me when working with all of the adults.  I thought, "this is fun!" but didn't know where he was headed next.  When he modeled writing conferences for all of the coaches in the district, I noticed that he took out his notebook and talked to the students writer to writer.  This intrigued me.  I wondered how on earth I was going to do this in an authentic way with a student.  I didn't write!
As with any new learning, I had to contemplate it for awhile.  I wasn't sure how to write.  I didn't write when I was a student myself.  I had only followed formulas and prompts provided by my teachers.
Ralph did something with us that changed my life as a writer forever.  He led us through an exercise where we thought about what mattered to us.  Then he talked us through digging up stories from those things.  I wrote a story about the Sandman and how my mother terrified me into staying in my bed.  Once the writing started, there were so many stories!!! I wasn't done yet though.  As I had done with my reading, I really needed to begin to think about what I did as a writer.
I don't know if this is the RIGHT way to do it, but I began to write in whatever genre I was going to be teaching.  I would think as I wrote, so that I didn't end up with my own writing without teaching.  I found that writing narratives was not as easy as I had always proclaimed to my students.  I had a lot of thinking to do because I wanted my readers to know what I was thinking and how I felt.
My conferences with my students changed.  I was able to talk to them as a writer.
I encourage each of you to grab a notebook, laptop or anything that you can find.  Start writing and then as you get going, think about what you are thinking when you write.  Jot everything down so that you can really get into what you have done as a part of your process so that you have that experience to share with your students.
Let me know in the comments below how your writing helps you to be a teacher of writers!  Share your stories!  :)