You might assume Mt. SAC Early College Academy (MECA) would have a challenging and stressful English class however, the students at MECA will 100% say it is far from that.
Ms. Bell introduced her students to brilliant stories, helpful advice, and a loving learning environment. She did this by assigning her freshmen to write their own short novel with NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is a free writing website that allows people of any age to start their own novel.
Immediately, students were intrigued and excited. Many of MECA’s students love to read and write. Knowing this Ms. Bell gave them the opportunity to write anything they wanted. Her goal was for her students to freely express themselves. Freshmen Alicia Flores describes her experience writing a novel with NaNoWriMo: “It helped me get a better understanding of writing. I never really liked writing before, but I feel like NoNoWriMo gave me something to do. It lets me feel more creative about writing.”
Freshmen student Alicia Flores also says “My novel meant a lot to me. There are some parts that I think need fixing, but overall it was special to me. Just because it was my own story to tell.”
The website itself was also very easy to work with. Ms. Bell made sure to guide her students through each and every step. She provided tutorial videos and let her students see her own novel as an example. This allowed students to get started writing quicker and more efficiently.
They were encouraged to not use the backspace button. This allowed students to focus on the creating aspect of their story rather than stressing over grammar.
Aside from her examples, Ms. Bell was also writing another novel right along with us. She made sure to show her errors and improvements, this allowed students to feel supported and not alone when it came to fully expressing themselves through the art of literature.
Being able to share their novels and gain personal feedback from friends is also what made NaNoWriMo exciting.
Freshmen student Genevive Hijar says, “One of my favorite parts was when I got to pick the person that read parts of my article because I felt comfortable with them, and I wasn’t forced to share it with someone I didn’t want to.”
Once their novel is completed students had the opportunity to publish their story. Ms Bell provided clear instructions and examples. This made the process of publishing easy and something students could see themselves doing. Leading to more excitement with writing and overall English class.
Goals and accomplishments were not ignored. Milestones were celebrated with tons of hot chocolate, crowns, party horns, Phineas and Ferb, pizza, and lots of sweets.
Once students reached their milestone of writing 5,000 words half of their 10,000-word goal they got a party. Ms. Bell played much loved Finneas & Ferb. With an uplifting show in the background, students enjoyed Ms. Bell’s iconic hot chocolate along with pizza and delicious desserts.
Another factor that made NaNoWriMo different from other assignments was how Ms. Bell made sure nobody was made fun of or put down because of their novel. This created a safe environment for students to really let loose and write to their best potential!
Ms. Bell definitely made freshman English class a fun, supportive, enjoyable, and overall great experience with NaNoWriMo.
