Creating a breathing space: An online teachers’ writing group

Dawson, Christine M., Robinson, Eleanor Liu, Hanson, Kelly, VanRiper, Jillian, & Ponzio, Christina. (2013). Creating a breathing space: An online teachers’ writing group. English Journal, 102(3), 93-99.


Teaching can be a lonely profession. We really need the support and companionship of fellow professionals, but making that happen in our busy teaching lives can be difficult. All teachers need peer relationships, but a critical time for those relationships is definitely in the first years of teaching. Here, we have a short, sweet story of how a writer’s group that began with a group of prospective English teachers and their English methods teacher developed into a support group that continued into the first years of teaching, and that obviously made the professional lives of those teachers better.

I noticed several things that were key to the group’s success. Comfort with communicating electronically was key. Early on, the group realized that if they were going to rely on face-to-face meetings, the group would not happen. They found that meeting via Skype for about two hours every two weeks, after school, was the best way for them. Clearly, these teachers were part of the generation that has grown up with tools like Skype, and feels completely comfortable interacting that way.

A second key factor was the “no pressure” aspect. If a group member did not have anything to share in a particular week, or maybe had only a very small piece, that was fine. Of course, I doubt if a group member would want to go too long without contributing or risk becoming a “free rider”, but if a member had a week with nothing to share, she could still be a participant. The lack of pressure was important because teachers might shy away from a group for fear of not being able to find time to have something written every time, even though they might have something to share at many meetings.

Another important thing was that these teachers were not all employed at the same schools. Collegiality within a building is wonderful, but it has its limits. Sometimes we can be more relaxed and open with teachers we do not work with every day and who are not a part of the politics of a particular building. Plus, communicating with a colleague from another school gives us a fresh look, and keeps our time from being eaten up by the “gripe cycle” that exists in every workplace.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, these English teachers focused on their writing. Yes, they did talk about teaching and some of the challenges of that, but they saw themselves as writers in this group, and worked on their own learning as writers. Keeping our own learning and writing going, and continuing to learn what we teach, is powerful and nourishing. When we do what we teach, we are better teachers because we model that for students, and we can empathize with their struggles. Developing themselves as writers helped these teachers develop themselves as writing teachers.