Writer's Workshop: Chapters 7, 8, & 19

               At the begining of chapter 7 it discusses that teachers need to have a strong presence during writers workshop. The author made a strong connection between worksheets and writing. The author said the same consequence should be given when their writing is not completed as they do when their worksheets are not complteted. I'm not sure how much I agree with that statement however. I feel like if we punish students for not writing they will not like writing. If they are forced to stay in during recess and complete their writing they will see writing in a negative way as a punishment. I feel like as a teacher we need to tell the students that the due date of their paper is *blank* date. All papers must be turned in that day, and not a day later. If they want to waste their time in class not writing then they will just have to write at home if they want to submit their writing on time. Some days students just might not be in the mood to write or not be feelings very creative that day. Everyone has their days, they should not be punished for them but rather just reap the concequences if it's not turned in on the due date. As far as the space in the room goes I loved the idea of lapboards. I remember as a student how much I loved working on the floor. Working on the floor also gives the students plenty of room to spread out and have comfortable space. The students in my mentor teachers classroom have writing pads to use for their drafting. Just like the book said they are yellow and stand out differently than their final drafts on white paper.

               I was interested to read that their are such things as "writer's workshop kits." I agree with the book that I do not feel like they will be as beneficial. I feel like each year the Writer's Workshop will be different based on the children you have in your classroom and the level of writer's they are. If we try to use a kit to do these writers workshop it is almost like looking at the workshop closed mindedly and not allowing your self as a teacher and your students to step outside the box and get creative with writing.

            I can see opposing views on why giving students a date to publish too far in advance can be good and bad. On the good side nothing comes as a surprise to the students. The students are given the publishing dates at the begining of the school year and they know from that point on when their pieces of writing are supposed to be published. This can help students stay organized and plan ahead. On the flip side telling the students these dates this far in advance can overwhelm them and make them feel like they have so much due in that time frame. Depending on how your students seem to organize themselves and stress about subjects I feel like this decision should be made based on the class and not done the same every year. I liket the idea of having students do a refelection of their writing after they publish it. This allows them to look back at their writing process and to see what worked well for them and what did not work well for them. They can use these refelctions to decide what they will do differently next time. This can help them grow as a writer and learn to progress.

Writer's Workshop: Chapters 14, 15, 17

In the writing workshop it is important to conference with your students. I actually get to experience a Writer's Workshop everyday in my field experience classroom. Last week I got to experience conferencing with students on my very own. I was very skeptical when my teacher told me that I was going to conference with the students on my own. I just now learned about a writers workshop and I felt like I was not yet comfortable to do this. After the fact however, it was not as hard as I thought it was. I just listened to the students jumbled thoughts and helped them organize it into paragraph form. They had such great ideas and information they just needed that extra help to shape it all together. One thing I found interesting in the readings however was that the teacher could make a record after conferencing with the students. This record keeps track of who she has met with and can help us view what we are teaching as teachers to help us recognize patterns of what have been taught.

A part of writers workshop that I have not seen yet is the "sharing" time. I am only in the classroom two days a week so I'm sure there are days when they do share but I am just not there to observe it though. The reading gave many great ideas on how students can share their writings with each other. It is a great thing for students to share with one another because they get the opportunity to get ideas from their classmates and think of things that they might not have thought of on their own. Students can do a survey share and just read a single line or main idea from their writings with the class. This sharing method is good because many students will have the opportunity to share. Students can also share their whole writing piece or what they have completed. When students have the ability to listen to one another's ideas this may help them in their own writing pieces. Not all students have to share. Some students may be too shy or may just not feel comfortable sharing about what they wrote about. I can see why some students may not want to share and I do not see anything wrong with that.

In chapter 17 one of my favorite lines in the chapter was, "Most of us don't waste time asking other people questions that we already know the answers to, just to see if they know.." I really liked this line because it is so true. Writing workshop gives us the opportunity to ask personal questions that may not always have an answer. The answer is unknown to the teacher but to the student it may be very evident. The child is then responsible for the answer and it is found within them, and is not right nor is it wrong. Over the course of the writing workshop children have the ability to develop into great writers and a sense of finding them self as a writing can help this process. After the writing process is done the teacher can assess the child on how they feel about them self as a writer. Seeing how a student views them self and comparing their writing to that can help make sense of their progress.