I could barely breathe. I was belly laughing, and I was not alone. Hundreds of others belly laughed with me, some pausing only to dab their eyes with tissues.

Esme Codell was at the microphone, having just shared the story about how she became agented. In that moment, I realized that I had much in common with the several hundred other children's writers present at the 2005 SCBWI mid-winter conference in New York City. That we could all relate to Esme's tale of persistence and stalker-like writing obsessions meant that we all shared a certain understanding - an identity, even. I felt a sense of camaraderie amongst my writing peers. And that feeling was about to get stronger.

Ms. Codell interrupted the hysterics by conducting an informal poll. She asked us to raise our hands if any of us were teachers. A collective murmur spread through the audience when more than half of those in attendance raised their hands. A former teacher herself, Ms. Codell had made her point. Many writers, especially children's writers, are teachers.

In the three years since that energizing conference in New York, I've had lots of time to reflect on the teacher-writer career. When I look in the mirror, I see a teacher who writes, and a writer who teaches. I don't separate these identities because to me, they are as reciprocal as the processes of learning how to read and write. Forgive the cliché, but I really did become a teacher because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of children. I write for children for the same reason.

Teaching and writing are both complex balancing acts between science and art. In teaching, there are bodies of knowledge to impart, but the challenge is to deliver this knowledge to human beings who have diverse social and emotional needs. A good teacher delivers instruction in just the right way so that the student can receive it. She nurtures the learner, and inspires the learner to discovery. A good writer does the same for her readers. How many times are we told as writers to "show, don't tell"? Avoid sounding encyclopedic? Add "cool factor" to our non-fiction pieces? Create more memorable characters in our stories? Use a more distinct voice? Like many writers, I've confronted each of these issues in my writing, some with more success than others. And like many teachers, I've also confronted these very same issues in the context of my classroom. At the end of the school day, I sit down and ask myself, Was I too "tell-y" today? What did I help my students discover? How can I make this content more motivating? These questions sound remarkably similar to the ones I ask myself as a writer when I finish a draft. Writing, like teaching, is a compromise between science and art.

In my reflections on the writing-teaching career, I also realized something that may explain why so many of us choose to both write and teach, when we might be fulfilled doing just one or the other. There are enormous benefits to pursuing both careers simultaneously. First, there's the benefit of having a stable, consistent income of a full-time teaching career, to offset the more inconsistent and unpredictable income that writers tend to face. Knowing I have a teaching paycheck coming takes some of the pressure off in my writing world. I don't have to write to sell, sell, sell. I can, instead, write what I love, and without the guilt of thinking that my family's going to starve if I don't pay close attention to market trends. But what if you make enough money writing? Why continue to teach?

At the time I attended the SCBWI conference, teaching was my livelihood. Though I was writing, I wasn't making enough money to support my family without keeping a "day job." In the year that followed, however, things changed. My list of publishing credentials grew, and I suddenly found myself turning enough of a profit that I now had the option of leaving my teaching career. This was a tempting thought, since, at the time, I was frustrated by the lack of support in my classroom.

In contemplating this decision, I imagined looking in the mirror and seeing only a writer, with my teacher identity absent. How would that affect me as a writer? Would I be happy with my writing alone? Ultimately, I decided to continue teaching for the same reason I started teaching. I believed in what I was doing in the classroom, and I still wanted to make a difference. So long as I was in the classroom for the right reason, I knew I should stay there. But I also knew that it was time to jump-start my teaching career - re-energize it - by making the most of my decision to be a writer-teacher.

Like many other teachers with what my colleagues call "Type A" personalities, I love lists. So that's where I started. I listed the many benefits of choosing dual careers:

• I am with readers in my target age group every day.
• I get to see funny misspellings and hear hilarious mispronunciations that can become story seeds. (Think, Hooway for Wodney Wat!)
• I have access to wonderful writing resources written by great thinkers, such as Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, Ralph Fletcher, and Katie Wood.
• I can model my writing habits and processes for my students, and share my love for reading and writing with them, too. I get to read and write alongside students, and give and receive constructive feedback. This means that I read and write each and every day!
• I am constantly reminded what topics kids are curious about, which ones they are bored with, and which ones my fellow teachers are discussing in their classrooms.
• Teaching requires me to be knowledgeable of state and national curricula. (Wow! That's like free market analysis!)
• I have wonderful teacher-patron privileges at the school library. The librarian herself is an excellent resource, too. (When I'm ready to give out bookmarks to promote my books, here's where I can start!)
• I can observe children in various settings: cafeteria, field trips, gym, recess, music class, etc. Observing children in this way can help me to internalize kidspeak, and create more believable child characters in my stories.
• I have access to leveled books, so I can stay up-to-date on vocabulary, sentence length, and concepts that suit interests and reading abilities.
• I get to make a difference by communicating with children through my writing and my teaching.

After I made the list of benefits, I made a list of simple goals. These are some goals I set for myself so that I could think like a writer and a teacher all day long:

• Keep a notebook handy to jot down observations, story ideas, funny misspellings, etc.
• Make friends with the librarian. Ask for catalogs and magazines that will otherwise be discarded. Keep her apprised of upcoming publications so that she can display them in the library.
• Offer to do a free author presentation for the school district.
• Spend at least one free period a week observing students in a particular setting.
• Ask colleagues what specific curricular topics are underrepresented in children's books.
• Ask school staff to share their favorite school-related stories, preserving anonymity of students by omitting names from the stories. (Just think of all the weird things the school nurse could tell, or the most bizarre experiences that a custodian or bus driver could share! And don't forget the principal!)
• Re-read writing resources. Keep copies of all the stories generated as part of writing instruction. They may provide good material for writing topics later.
• Reflect daily by keeping a journal. Write down at least one thing I did in the classroom or in a story that can or will make a difference to someone else.

I keep my lists of benefits and goals in the front of my plan book, which follows me daily from home to school and back home again. Though my schedule is very full, I'm happy to say that I'm making the most of dual careers. When I look in the mirror, I see a writer-teacher and a teacher-writer, and I see fulfillment.