ch. 7,8, 19

Whew, what a relief!  All throughout the readings I have been wondering if a writing workshop is something that I will be good at or an epic failure.  It gives me great comfort to read that it’s something that not even the greatest ever really master.  With my personality, I know that I can always do just about anything, but I never know right off the bat if I can master something, leaving me feeling like a bit of a failure.  So, when Ray expresses on page 86 that, “In fact, having a writing workshop is such complex, hard work that the best writing teachers I know sometimes spend their whole careers never feeling like they’ve quite got a handle on it—feeling like it’s just slightly out of their control,” that gives me comfort to know that not even the best have it down pat.  It was even more reassuring when reading Barbara Ann Porte’s “Writer’s Voice” on page 87, when she says her “most productive days are spent in chaos.”  That gave me something to relate to because when I implemented a literacy center where children were cutting out “Y” words and pictures, it was very chaotic, but I still felt it was helpful.  So, reading Porte’s comment reassured me that my center was still helpful, even though it felt like a tornado and a hurricane were meeting while we did the center.  I think the whole point is what Ray kind or says on pages 90-91, that the point is not for us as the teacher to be in control, but let the whole process take over, while we just direct the students into that process.

            The chapter about publishing was very long, so I will try and limit myself to two points of interest.  For one, I really liked the idea of having set publication dates along with varying dates that the children set for themselves.  This way, the aspects of writing that are vital for the whole class can be addressed, and the teacher can have a frame for keeping up with student’s progress.  On the other hand, students are getting to have a choice of what to write about and when to write about it.  These choice publication dates will be extra beneficial if students are getting choice of genre as well. Sometimes you might not feel like writing your informational piece, but could be much more productive if having a personal narrative to work on instead of simply staring off into space as you work through an informational writer’s block.  I also believe this will be a great lesson in time management.  The other point of interest is the fact that publishing is a must.  I don’t know exactly how Ray feels about it, but the actual pretty, neat looking end result that is published is not that important.  However, and I know she agrees with me on this because I will quote her in just a moment, the act of going through the WHOLE publication and “writing process” is what is important.  I completely agree when Ray makes the claim, “The only way they get experience with all parts of the writing journey…is to use that process over and over to do important work for them.”  And I believe what she is saying here is that the real lesson is coming in the complete follow through of the whole process, and not just the finished product.

ch. 14, 15, 17

In most, if not all of our classes, we hear about differentiated instruction.  The major point that came into my mind and stayed there is that individual conferences are the ultimate differentiated instruction.  Students get a chance to try everything that you present to them over the course of the year, but the individual conferences allow the teacher and the student to address what is most important for that writer at that moment.  Not only does the teacher get to see where the writer is at in his or her progression, but the teacher and student get a chance to actually discuss the student’s progress.  I had been under the impression that the teacher was just walking around looking over shoulders and waiting for raised hands before conferencing with a student.  So, it surprised me that the conferences were on a schedule.  Once I read when Ray says, “I want them to eventually feel like they don’t need me at all,” did I really think, Ah that makes sense. We want them to eventually become independent and be able to work through their problems and not need our help for every little thing.

            When reading about share time, I totally agree with Ray on its importance for receiving feedback from piers and the teacher.  I could be totally wrong because I did not have my highlighter when reading this chapter, but I believe she missed the fact that it is important for the writer to be able to actually hear what he or she has written.  Sometimes we can recognize or solve our own problems just by being vocal and hearing the way things sound.  Ray makes a great point on page 178 that may have taken me ten years of experience to realize.  When she states, “For one thing, we’ve learned that if students read something to the whole class, we often see that they don’t have much energy to return to the piece after that.”  I can see myself being the same way saying, “Well, it has been put out there.  Guess there’s nothin’ else to do.”  One other thing that I’m glad she addressed is the use of partner sharing.  I use it with my kids every time there’s a chance to share something, and as long as there’s some type of structure for who shares with the whole class, everyone is happy.

            The assessment chapter is the chapter that I’ve had some struggle with whether I agree with Ray, or not.  I feel like she places a little too much importance on the individual assessment for the overall assessment.  I think it is very important for the writer to take part in assessing his own writing, and it is vital for assessing the things the teacher cannot see, such as work done away from the writing workshop.  I just feel that self assessment can be too great an opportunity to fudge it a little, however.  Ninety percent of the writers may be completely honest and take the self assessment serious, but there’s a chance the other ten percent may see this as an opportunity to slack off for a while and not use all the procedures the assessment is evaluating.  The teacher won’t be able to see how hard some children are, or are not, working until the student’s writing is read and evaluated.  So, in the mean time, if there’s a point where the student just doesn’t feel like doing his writing work, he can take advantage of the self assessment if he wants.  But like I said earlier, there is only so much work the teacher can actually see to evaluate, so some self assessment is necessary.  Plus, I’ve just gotten tired of agreeing with Ray, and have been looking for an opportunity to disagree or at least play devil’s advocate.