In Chapter 9, the author discusses the goals of writing workshop and characteristics that are trying to be established that resemble science experiments and museums. Strangely enough, the author compares the two and says that it's possible to create a writing workshop with similar ideas. It asks the intriguing question, "What could students learn without my presence in the classroom?" As a prospective teacher, this idea is initially humorous. How can students learn without a teacher? Without instruction and guidance can students really learn? The author is clearly not saying classrooms can go without teachers, but I began to wonder myself the importance of creating a learning environment where students can teach/learn for themselves. The author also included some of my thoughts about the teacher's role. For writing workshop and I'm sure many other subject areas, teachers can create lessons and activities that are student focused and guided. I do believe that often, teachers can set the rules and basic instructions, provide the necessary materials and set students along their learning ways.
Writing is something you do, not something you know. There is validity in this statement, personally. As I have progressed through school I have learned that writing is so much more than the way some teachers show. Writing is more than research papers and essays. Writing can be creative, enjoyable, lyrical and telling. Writing can be freeing and expressive in ways other forms of literature and communication cannot. The text quotes the line from above and follows with "but there are all kinds of things to know about how to do it." I also agree with this in that students should be informed of the many styles and types of writing. I remember in grade school learning how to write business letters and friendly letters. I would place a high importance on practical, real life writing styles, because know these things, such as how to write a resume, are types of writing that will benefit students long after high school research papers. I think it is necessary to review the dept and breadth of writing. Where there is freedom in writing, I also see the importance of proper formatting and style within it also.
I have a wonderful mentor teacher from Fowler Drive this semester and some awesome fourth grade students. My teacher has already demonstrated at least two times how she uses writing workshop in her classroom. She has taken the time to explain how she creates the writing lesson plans for the week. Before we read from the text, I already knew the term "focus lesson." I loved being able to read from the text about how to actually create and implement the steps of the focus lesson, but more importantly I am going to enjoy getting to observe focus lessons being taught in my field placement.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Concrete Poetry
I love the resources I am already gaining from this class. Hopefully by the end of the semester there will be a long list of websites and book titles that will help with writing in my future classrooms.
Check out: http://www.tagxedo.com/
A great idea we discussed in class for a poetry unit for students was to allow students to use Tagxedo to create concrete poems using descriptive words about themselves. It would also be a useful tool for teachers to create his/her own concrete poems or to create class poems.
I made this one from a friend's blog about her trip to South Africa.
Today's writing assignment was to create a concrete poem using words and phrases from the text. We created a clock because time plays a large role. It was easy to pull keywords and ideas from the text to create an image to help supplement the words used to create the poem.
Check out: http://www.tagxedo.com/
A great idea we discussed in class for a poetry unit for students was to allow students to use Tagxedo to create concrete poems using descriptive words about themselves. It would also be a useful tool for teachers to create his/her own concrete poems or to create class poems.
I made this one from a friend's blog about her trip to South Africa.
Today's writing assignment was to create a concrete poem using words and phrases from the text. We created a clock because time plays a large role. It was easy to pull keywords and ideas from the text to create an image to help supplement the words used to create the poem.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Writing Workshop: Chapters 1-5 Reflection
I never thought it was possible for a noisy classroom to be a sign of hard work and creative learning. It has taken a while for me to recover from what I have experienced as a student and from also what I have witnessed in the classroom as a prospective teacher. What once seemed like the model of a perfect classroom, including silent students, has been recreated. I am beginning to realize the importance of noise. I give credit to my experiences and also my parents for my personality that desires the quiet and controlled setting for students. However, I am in the process of breaking down those improper standards I and other teachers have set for classroom management and allowed myself to witness the wonder of a nice little roar of students throughout the room. I haven't let go of all my values and importance of a having productive students remaining on task and at the highest level of learning. A classroom described in the first chapter of The Writing Workshop, these students are talking and communicating with each other, but they are also being very productive and are remaining at an appropriate level of noise. Like anything, it is necessary to have a balance. Writer's workshop seems like a fantastic tool to set up the learning environment described that will provide students with optimum learning opportunities through discussion, listening, and writing.
Can everyone be a writer? Apparently the author of The Writing Workshop would be appalled if anyone ever questioned it! Although I believe the answer is clear, it is definitely an idea to ponder. I come from a fairly successful writing background and experience. I have vivid memories of writing in elementary school and my teachers being proud of my writing progress and achievements. Throughout grade school I continued to make the grades in writing. At the beginning of college I struggled with the different expected writing styles, but have somehow managed my way through assignments. In high school I wrote articles for the newspaper and thoroughly enjoyed the creative writing aspect. I absolutely believe everyone can be a writer. I don't any teacher or society in general should hold any standards or rules for writing. With the various genres and types of writing, the broadness should allow for all types of people the opportunity to write and to find their own identity in writing. These outlets could include journalism, writing lyrics to a song, creating poetry, play writing, or writing novels.
The essential components of writing workshop are helpful to me in that I can visualize and use them as a foundation in my classroom. Structure behind flexibility seems to be key for writing workshops, allowing enough direction and lesson, but providing the flexibility of topic and writing styles. It seems important for the Georgia set standards to provide the basis of the workshop by providing a lesson that prompts students for the independent writing time. Time spent during the second phase on writing seems extremely flexible as to allow for different students' writing time and style and any other reasons. Sharing is something I am familiar with from experience in my own classes, but also after observing first graders last semester. It is crucial for students to have the opportunity for sharing, whether in front of a classroom with a mock-spot light and curtain, or if they simply go through the publishing process, which allows work to be displayed about the room or in the hallways.
Can everyone be a writer? Apparently the author of The Writing Workshop would be appalled if anyone ever questioned it! Although I believe the answer is clear, it is definitely an idea to ponder. I come from a fairly successful writing background and experience. I have vivid memories of writing in elementary school and my teachers being proud of my writing progress and achievements. Throughout grade school I continued to make the grades in writing. At the beginning of college I struggled with the different expected writing styles, but have somehow managed my way through assignments. In high school I wrote articles for the newspaper and thoroughly enjoyed the creative writing aspect. I absolutely believe everyone can be a writer. I don't any teacher or society in general should hold any standards or rules for writing. With the various genres and types of writing, the broadness should allow for all types of people the opportunity to write and to find their own identity in writing. These outlets could include journalism, writing lyrics to a song, creating poetry, play writing, or writing novels.
The essential components of writing workshop are helpful to me in that I can visualize and use them as a foundation in my classroom. Structure behind flexibility seems to be key for writing workshops, allowing enough direction and lesson, but providing the flexibility of topic and writing styles. It seems important for the Georgia set standards to provide the basis of the workshop by providing a lesson that prompts students for the independent writing time. Time spent during the second phase on writing seems extremely flexible as to allow for different students' writing time and style and any other reasons. Sharing is something I am familiar with from experience in my own classes, but also after observing first graders last semester. It is crucial for students to have the opportunity for sharing, whether in front of a classroom with a mock-spot light and curtain, or if they simply go through the publishing process, which allows work to be displayed about the room or in the hallways.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)