literacy – Page 5 – matt finch / mechanical dolphin

Guest post: Adele Walsh on blogging your way to a dream job

September 9, 2012Mechanical Dolphin

Adele Walsh, aka Snarky Wench, runs the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne.

Adele Walsh, Centre for Youth Literature programmer

Adele’s one of my writing heroes because she used her blogging skills to shift from a career as a schoolteacher to a dream role as champion of youth literature in one of the coolest and most hipsterious* cities on the planet.

After I blogged on the unexpected joys of copywriting, I started to think of other writing careers that don’t focus on the ‘hunched over a desk cranking out a Great Novel’ model, and Adele came to mind.

There’s a lot of waffle written on the Internet about following your heart and living the dream – but Adele really did find a way to turn her passion into her career, using her writing skills as a springboard.

*Yes, hipsterious.

Here’s Adele on ‘how to get your dream job in 10 (easy?) steps’:

NaNoWriMo in New South Wales: Australian Update from the Office of Letters and Light

February 25, 2012March 2, 2012Mechanical Dolphin

Stars from Tracy Dawson's NaNoWriMo project in Parkes, Australia

Last year, I ran a number of writing workshops for teenagers in Parkes, New South Wales. I had the privilege of working in a high school with an inspirational teacher librarian, Tracy Dawson. She was willing to let me try unconventional approaches for reluctant writers, like a 6-hour course on “How To Con Your Way to a Million Dollars.”

When I wasn’t light-heartedly promoting the grifter mentality among Australian youth, I encouraged the young writers to sign up for NaNoWriMo, the awesome challenge that sees contestants committing to write a complete first-draft novel in the month of November.

The Office of Letters and Light, organisers of NaNoWriMo, have just interviewed Tracy for their blog:

http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/18151281043

You can also find Tracy’s recent guest post for my site here.

A drought stricken billabong…or an oasis of cool? News from Australian High School Libraries

February 22, 2012February 26, 2012Mechanical Dolphin

This week we have a guest post from Tracy Dawson, teacher librarian at Parkes High School in New South Wales, Australia.

I first visited Tracy’s library last year while working with the literacy scheme Paint the Town REaD. I was impressed by the vibrant, witty and hip vibe of this rural high school library – a real oasis of unconventional thought and inspiration for local teens.

Tracy did heroic work in 2011: she encouraged a group of teen writers to participate in NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program. In that program, young people commit to writing a long piece of fiction in the month of November. Parkes lacks a tradition of writing and writer’s groups, so Tracy’s success in shepherding four of her students through to completing the challenge is exceptional – especially as November is exam season for Aussie teens! See media coverage of Tracy’s young NaNoWriMo participants here.

Now over to Tracy:

I’ve taught English here at the same Australian state high school for seventeen years and was so passionate about my subject; I never imagined I would change focus.

But a period of time in which I became disillusioned with the education system and society’s attitude to education in general made me rethink my career, and retrain as a Teacher Librarian. I’ve ended up in the same school – the same school I attended as a teenager! – which some people would say is like being stuck in a drought stricken billabong. But a move up the stairs and out of the classroom has invigorated me, my relationship with colleagues and students, my love of literature and my belief that teachers make a difference.