“Writing is about having something to say, and it is the writer’s right to decide what this will be, to decide what he or she wants to say…Caring about the topic has a lot to do with how good the writing about it will be” (Ray, 7).
This quote is one that describes my feelings of what should occur in a classroom, especially when it comes to writing during writing workshops. I have, unfortunately, witnessed teachers that tell their students what to write about, how long the writing needs to be, and the type of writing that the students need to use to write during writing workshop. I have seen that when students are faced with this assignment, the students do not put in much effort and they seem to gain very little from completing the task. Fortunately, this experience has shown me that this is not the type of teaching that I want to use when interacting with writing workshops. I want to be the teacher that inspires the students to write how they are feeling and to learn to love to express themselves. If the teacher tells the students how to express themselves, the teacher is taking away the students’ individual personalities and is not allowing the students to grow within themselves. I believe that every student has their own identity, and this identity can be shown through writing as well as many other venues. By having a writer’s workshop, students can have time everyday in order to gain experience and for students to learn that not everything has to be perfect!
While wanting to use writing workshops sounds like the first step, some teachers are not willing to take that step, or do not know how to take that step. I believe that there are many reasons why teachers do not participate in writing workshops. One reason why some teachers may not want to have a writer’s workshop is due to the “lack of structure” that accompanies writer’s workshops. This, however, is not that the teachers need more structure; it means that the teacher wants to have complete control of the situation. Having a writer’s workshop actually has tons of structure. In my observations, I have seen both sides of the spectrum. One teacher that I have noticed gave tons of “structure” to the writer’s workshop, which in turn, took away all freedom for the students to engage in meaningful writing. The students were not engaged, and typically, the students just copied what their neighbor was writing. When it came time to share, the students were not listening to others, and were not interested in what they wrote, or what others had written. On the other hand, I have seen teachers that give students the writer’s workshop time to fully engage in their writing and there are no interruptions, just writing and expressing. Having a time where students can utilize writer’s workshop, including sharing their writing with others, helps students learn the essentials to working with others in the real world. In these classrooms that have these examples, the students are fully engaged and are extremely interested to hear what the other students wrote about. Most of our education program addresses how to develop our students into meaningful, active community members. Having a writer’s workshop allows this to occur because students are listening to others, supporting others, and asking meaningful questions about others’ work.
Observing in a classroom full of young students, my first thought was that students at this age would not want to be writing for a certain amount of time every day. I believed that students would get tired and would not stay focused. However, this classroom has students that love to write, because the teacher has set a tone for the classroom that everyone respects and values; the students enjoy writer’s workshop because it is predictable in its time and the students are able to express themselves however they want. During share time, the students are very respectful of each other, and I believe that satisfies one of the main goals as a teacher. Teachers want their students to respect each other.
Ray, K. (2001). The writing workshop: working through the hard parts (and they’re all hard parts). Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.
You make many good connections in this post - I like that you are drawing from a range of experiences that acknowledges what seems to make students interested and invested in the process. Your points about encouraging social engagement are especially smart. Certainly, many of the pieces we write in the workshop are meant for a wider audience.Doing something in the world with our writing is our big picture goal.
ReplyDeleteBeth