I'm a writer. And a teacher, too.

Bring me into an English class. At the high school or middle school level. As a lay teacher. A guest teacher.  An amateur.   And I’ll perform as well or better than most professional teachers.  I have confidence in my ability to teach writing. Because I’m a writer. I write virtually every day of my life. I made my living by writing. As a journalist. People like me should be recruited. To go into classrooms. To assist English teachers. I could do it here in Italy. Where I am living. Go into English classes. I’d love to do it. To see how it works. And without pay. All I need is a little bit of gratitude. If I could persuade one student to pursue a career in writing, I’d be thrilled. Believe me, I could do it. If given the chance. I’d talk up writing. Learning English. By writing short and uncomplicated sentences. That’s effective writing. Easily understood. Easily learned. As for a  career in writing. It can be glamorous. And fulfilling. Fun, too. Which makes it seem less like work. I want to motivate potential writers. Open them to the wonders of the written word. In their own language, Italian. But in English as well. I want them to fall in love. With words. With sentences. And paragraphs. And stories. Hey, I ain’t a professional teacher. But that doesn’t make me less of a teacher. I’m a writer. And I know how to teach. –Jim Broede