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.