The bell rings and the kids are jolted back to reality. I ask them to hold up their notebooks, and the majority have written at least a page in the ten minutes at the end of class. They pack and depart, some saying goodbye, some not. A few continue writing at their desks. They’ve gotten to the place we want young writers to go, a place with no bells.
I sit quietly and observe the comings and goings of students. One stops to ask when an assignment is due. Another would like to come for extra help. A third just wants a fist-bump.
The room empties. I turn off the ocean sounds playing on YouTube. Today we managed to give the kids a little writing time. This needs to happen more often.