The Writing Workshop, Chapters 7, 8, 19

Simply reading the section about the kinds of supplies a teacher should provide for students in writing workshop made me so excited to one day teach writing. I know even to this day I LOVE getting to create things using different mediums and different styles of papers. I feel like this alone will encourage and get many students excited about writing. I also thought it was interesting to note the way the book encourages you to arrange your classroom. In the current classroom I’m in, there is no extra room for a specific class meeting area and no extra tables for students to spread out all of their work. The book describes the ideal situation, but as a teacher if you really put your mind to it you could utilize space inside and outside your classroom for writing.

I really loved the last paragraph at the end of Chapter 8 where the author describes many of the rewards of having a writing workshop. This really gives you optimism that even when days may appear crazy and unbearable to simply look at the big picture and know that your students are benefiting and they are the ones you are letting go of control for.

I thought it was interesting that the author went into so much detail on publishing and how it should not be a “party” every time where students’ parents are encouraged to come in and snacks and refreshments are provided. Publishing should be a common thing that happens often throughout the year and not all published works have to be made into a big commotion. I loved the part about the deadlines and providing students with a calendar of expectations at the beginning. I thrive on things like this and would honestly not survive in this early childhood program without syllabus’s and calendars with deadlines. So often we think elementary children can’t handle deadlines and are more lenient but they are actually a great way to show expectations and keep children on track with their writing.

The Writing Workshop Chapters 14, 15, 17

The section on conferencing really made me feel a lot more comfortable about individual conferences with students after I read it. I liked how it provided all of those essential questions to think about when deciding what to teach such as “what would help most at this time?” and “what is not likely to come up in whole-class instruction?” I felt the section on making a record of your conference with a student was very important. I will make sure to always write everything down because that makes it so easy to go back and see a child’s progress and what you have individually discussed.

I really found the section on survey sharing interesting. I like the fact that each student is expected to share, but not a whole piece, just a small segment. I know growing up and even now I am hesitant to share my work in front of the whole class, but if everyone else is sharing a small portion too it makes it less intimidating. These surveys can be very flexible and the teacher can choose them to go in any direction based on what she asks students to share. I also believe, as the book states that over time students can begin to notice patterns about the discussions and share and learn a lot from the discussion of that.

When questioning our students about their writing, it really is beneficial to treat them as adults and ask them questions that make them feel like experts of their own writing. I think it’s interesting to use these questions as a form of self assessment that a student can use for their writing. Writing is one of those subjects that is in the eye of the beholder, there is not one right answer or one right thing to do things. I think as long as students give logical reasons for why they did something or what effort they put in then they should be allowed to self assess their work.