Monday, January 31, 2011

Reflecting on Chapters 9, 10, & 11!

I love how Ray broke down the five layers of teaching into simple terms that should be used to have a successful writer’s workshop in chapter nine.  I feel that how we as teachers set up the room plays a big impact on how students will engage themselves.  I think it is so important to set up the room where your students can learn from what is in the room even if you are not there.  I really liked how Ray compared the classroom setup to a hands-on science center or museum.   As Ray said “You learn in these places because you are surrounded by things to learn from”.  Writer’s workshops should and can be like this.  If teachers set up the classroom learning environment to allow students time to write and resources all around the room to use it will help them become better writers.  I also like the suggestions of having students visit another class to talk about their writing.  I also think the idea of having a place in the room where students can teach small groups a writing strategy they have learned about is a wonderful idea.  I also feel it is so important to display students work.  I think this can help build their self-confidence.  My favorite suggestion was the “notebook news” board where students can write down their new strategies and other students can use the board to support their own writing.    I also agree that as a writing teacher it is vital to demonstrate what a writer is and students will respect that I can speak about writing from my own experiences.  This is something I know that I will have to work hard on because I have not really practiced writing on my own.  The only writing I have done is letters to people and school work!  I do see however that becoming a writer will help me be a more effective teacher.  I also agree with chapter nine when it discusses homework for writing.  I really like the idea to ask students to collect ideas from the real world and record them in their writer’s notebook.  I think this would not be too stressful for students but would also serve as a powerful tool to have when they are working on their writing pieces during writing workshop.
                The next chapter discussed what to teach during writing workshop.  These included teaching strategies, techniques, questions, relationships, and conventions to students.  When discussing strategies to use during direct instruction and during conferences I really enjoyed the example to help students sense their audience and how she suggested that the students have someone read their writing and then retell what happened.  I thought it was important that she mentioned not to ask the reader if it made sense, but instead ask questions about the content to see what the reader did understand.  I also think it was neat how the author suggested also allowing the student you were working with to read a short piece you have written and tell it back to you for practice.  Not only will this help the student understand the strategy but will help develop a strong relationship and trust because you as the teacher are using your own work for example.  I also think that teaching students to ask questions when writing and reviewing their writing is so important.  These questions can become habits that students ask themselves throughout the writing process.  I also think the idea of connecting the writing process to metaphors can be very beneficial to students.
                In chapter eleven it pointed out “The teaching of writing should revolve around strategies, techniques, and understandings that aren’t connected to specific material”.  I completely agree with this point.  When I was in school I remember us only writing about the same topic.  I still see this going on in schools today.  I think it is so beneficial to have students decide on their own topics based on what they have been observing in their writers notebooks.  I giving students the opportunity to choose their own topics will allow them to express themselves more and allow you as a teacher to see the individual writer.  I also think it would make it easier for you not to compare students to one another based on just their story line.  I also think students would enjoy writing more if they had more individual choice.  I know I would have enjoyed writing more this way.  Due to the fact I never really got to pick out my own topics that I felt were important for me to write about, now if I do have that opportunity I have a real hard time thinking of ideas because I have always been provided with what to write about!

Monday, January 24, 2011

My thoughts on Katie Wood Ray’s “The Writing Workshop”

I felt the first five chapters in Ray’s book were truly inspirational.  Before reading these chapters I did not completely understand the benefits of conducting a writing workshop in my classroom.  I personally have never been in a classroom setting that had a writer’s workshop like the one Ray describes in her book.  I have always been in classrooms that assigned what genre students were to use, the topic students should write about, the length the paper should be, and the amount of time they would have to complete it.  The students showed no real attachment to their writing because they viewed it as simply another assignment that was not meaningful or showed who they really were or felt.  After reading I completely agree on the potential power these workshops could have in developing my students as writers.  These workshops could give students an opportunity to display their identities and write about topics that are passionate and meaningful to them. I feel that having a writing workshop as described gives students a purpose for writing and serves as a valuable tool.  As quoted in the book, “They see the writing process as a tool they can give their students to use when rocking the world, not just something to learn to do”.  I agree with Ray that so many times teachers just focus on teaching students the writing process but that is not the only thing that writing is about.  I love how writing workshop gives students the opportunity to decide their own topic to write about that is powerful to them.  I feel that this is how writing should be and what it is all about.  Writing is not just something you learn to do it is about having something to say and sharing it.  I also agree that if a writer cares about the topic it will influence how good the writing will be.  If students are not passionate about what they are writing about it seems that it would be challenging for it to be good writing. 
                In recollecting on my past as a writer I only did writing to support my learning, not writing to compose my own ideas.  I really wish that I was given the opportunity to explore writing about my own ideas when I was younger.  I feel that if I had been given this opportunity I might feel more confident in my own writing.  I think it is great to give students a set thirty five to forty five minute time frame each day to write about the topics they would like to write about.  If this continues all year long as a set routine with set expectations it will work in the classroom and help develop more confident writers.  I know that many teachers worry about maintaining classroom management while conducting a writer’s workshop where all students are working on different things but I think this is totally possible and beneficial if students know their expectations.  Students have to realize like Ray said that writing workshop is a block of time with rituals and routines to follow.
                I really liked how Ray broke down the difference between writing to live and composition and then related it to the writing that goes on during the school day and why writing workshop is still needed.  If you really think about it most of the writing that occurs during the school day is writing to live and students need time to compose their own ideas not just the ideas and concepts the teacher is requiring.  It’s clear to see that writing workshop has the potential to positively develop writers if it is conducted properly by allowing students choices about content, time for writing, teaching, periods of focused study, publication rituals, high expectations, safety, and structured management.  To be successful it must incorporate all of the above along with the teacher setting a tone in their writing workshop where students know all about their teachers as writers and teachers know the same toward their students.  To be honest the fact that students should know their teachers as writers makes me a little nervous because of my own insecurities with writing.  Though I am nervous because of my own writing insecurities Ray seemed to stress that this is not uncommon so hopefully I will continue to improve my writing over time so I too can successfully implement a writing workshop in my classroom.

Ray, K. (2001). The writing workshop: working through the hard parts (and they’re all hard parts). Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.