Teaching Writing Workshop & Developing Focus Lessons.... (chapters 9, 10, & 13)

Hello again! I must say I found the reading this week to be much easier and it contained a lot of important information. I think I mentioned this in the previous blog, but I really do like how the author of our textbook, Katie Wood Ray, words things and has written the chapters as if she is really talking to us....it makes it less boring and easier to understand! With that being said, I want to touch on a few different points from the assigned chapters that resonated with me.

I enjoyed the section in Chapter 9 about Structures and Routines because I myself am a very organized person who likes to be on a specific schedule and routine. A daily routine in a school classroom and more specifically, a writing workshop, is very important because it "helps maintain a supportive classroom environment where students are willing to share" (Ray, p. 95) Something that Ray went on to discuss was how the long term goal of structures and routines is for students to be able to work on their own inside the classroom and learn from this routine without the teacher even having to be inside the classroom. This came as surprising to me because typically I never think of children learning inside a classroom without the teacher in there! There were a couple examples of structures and routines that Ray gave that I decided I want to use in my writing workshop one day: 1. a table in the room where students may sign up to teach small groups some strategy or technique they have been using as writers 2. a bulletin board that is changed every two weeks where various groups of students may display pieces of writing I like the first example because it allows the students to teach their peers, and it requires them to have to fully understand strategies/techniques in order to teach them to their classmates. The second example to me is a good way to give students the option of sharing their hard work with others. I know that I personally was proud of writing and projects I completed in school and it was nice to get to show people my finished "masterpiece." I think it allows students to have an audience to write to and maybe they will truly put forth a lot of effort in their writing if they know it will be shown.

Another big point in the reading that stuck out to me was how it is important for teachers of a writing workshop to share their own writing with their students. I liked how it said the teacher is to talk "across" to the students and act as a fellow writer, and not talk "down" to the students. The thing I worry about though is that I do not write much as all as far as a personal journal or notebook unless assigned. I also do not think I'm a very good writer myself. I guess my question is, what on earth will I share with my students in a writing workshop?! Ray says to carry around a notebook and encourage students to do so also, so I guess I should start doing that so I will have writings to share with my future class. She says to share past writings so that you will make students feel comfortable about you being a fellow writer, and you will also have physical examples to show the students. I wish I had had the experience of a writing workshop growing up because then I would have past writings to share, AND I think I would be a much better writer and enjoy it more.

I truly do look forward to implementing a writing workshop in my future classroom because I have already learned so many benefits of it. Although I did not have the experience of writing workshops when I was growing up as a student K-12, at least I will be able to open doors and opportunities for my students and teach them about writing, which will be something that they use for the rest of their lives. After reading about focus lessons this past week, now I am anxious to see if I will be able to write an effective one. I have looked at a few examples online but hope to understand better after class tomorrow! :)