The Writing Workshop Chapters 9, 10 and 13

The section on homework that should be used to enhance the writing workshop was very interesting to me. All the writing homework I used to receive was exactly the kind that the book mentions, worksheets with many examples of compound, run-on and various other types of sentence structures that you must identify. I never thought to use homework as a time to gather topics and ideas to write about at school. This is genius because in school sometimes students get stuck and don’t know what to write about because they are confined to the four walls of the classroom and a desk. I know I’ve been there. However, if they have taken down many interesting ideas and conversations that happen in everyday life and in their own world then they have a multitude of resources to pull from, which also makes their writing time during class more productive.

The section on teaching conventions (ways to expect things) was very interesting. The author explains that these should normally be taught in small group and individual student conferences and not in whole class discussions if students already know them. I can understand this but how can you check for student understanding? For example, if a student uses correct subject verb agreement in a piece how can you be sure they actually know it and need no further instruction on it or if it was just a lucky guess? I personally think that even if students are familiar with a convention they could always use the extra practice. Maybe a teacher could provide time in a whole group lesson on a certain convention for students that know the convention well to help explain it to groups of classmates so everyone gets practice with it instead of just a chosen few.

The last thing I would like to comment on in this post is how helpful this book really is. It goes into such detail things that most books would vaguely comment on assuming a teacher knows how to teach it. For example, in chapter 10 when it goes through each of the kinds of things the author finds important in a writing workshop, it gives specific examples of ways to teach each of these and also the main points of importance. I plan to keep this book after this class because it will be such a useful resource when I am planning my writing workshop curriculum.  This book is also very inspirational, which I like. It encourages a general love for writing and gives much helpful insight to help your students view it that way too. After reading these three chapters this week I feel like I have a much better idea of how to fully conduct a writing workshop on a day to day basis.   

The Writing Workshop Chapters 1-5

I don’t believe that I have ever had the experience of observing a real “writing workshop.” I have seen writing instruction in classes as focusing on learning the writing process and practicing through the steps. I have experienced very little creative writing and student choice for topics throughout school. After reading the first couple chapters of this book I have definitely noticed that writing is something that was put on the back-burner in my schooling and the trend continues today.

This book brought up many interesting points as to why that way of teaching can be less effective for students. Students view writing as taking each piece “down the line” of the steps and never really get that involved into the process of actual writing. That is how I viewed this subject throughout school. This book encourages teachers to view their children as actual writers and to motivate them to achieve. This is so important to me and I hope to be that teacher that embodies those qualities. So often teachers don’t believe their students are capable and their students easily pick up on that attitude. The quote at the beginning of chapter 3 sums up that negative behavior and was kind of disheartening “And the plain truth is, not everyone can be a writer.” My spirits were then lifted when the author talked about how even if my classroom is the only real “writing workshop” children experience it will still make a huge impact of how they view themselves as a writer.

In my placement this semester I have already gotten to view some creative writing time from students. The teacher provided a book called “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” by Chris Van Allsburg that provides strange pictures and asks the children to create their own stories. The children were so excited about this activity and were very eager for me to read their writing as I walked around the room. Their enthusiasm really made me excited to learn new ways to teach writing this semester and practice it with these enthusiastic 4^th graders! However I have also seen the downside to teaching writing in this classroom. My teacher is extremely stretched for time and writing was squeezed into whatever time slot they could find and often was very short. How important is it to have writing at the same time everyday as the book states? Also, is it really realistic to allow that much time for writing workshop and independent writing time when so many other things have to be accomplished and taught in one year?