Time

      Ideas

            I think an appropriate length of time should and would be determined when you are in your classroom.  For younger children, it is going to have to be a lot shorter, even just one week’s worth of writing workshop time; each session would be about twenty minutes a piece.  If you are dealing with an older class, third through sixth, they are going to need much more time to write.  These kids have more complex thoughts and it would depend on the topic; I would give them up to two weeks, if they are working daily.  Each day, I would also give them about thirty to thirty-five minutes of solid work time.

            The benefits for leaving this much time for younger kids is to give them time to actually write out the letters of the words.  It takes them longer to do that, so the pieces of their writing also should be shorter.  With older kids, they benefit from a good chunk of time because they have more complex thoughts and ideas to write about.

            The obstacle of the younger kids having twenty minutes is that some kids cannot handle twenty minutes of straight writing.  Their attention spans are very short, and may need a lot of guidelines and individual assistance to stay on task.  For the older kids, having a lot of time may make it harder for them to develop one solid topic.  They may want to keep writing with different ideas and thoughts.  Also, when I was younger, I remember having trouble stopping.  I had so many thoughts going that I would get off topic during my writing and go off on tangents.  This is something that teachers should be aware of with older kids.

Connections

            In the classroom I have been observing in, they do writing workshop in the morning.  It is a first grade class, and they use about twenty minutes to a half hour of writing time.  They do all ELA in the morning, but I think this amount of writing time works well for them.  It gives them time for their thoughts and time to get started and make progress on their writing piece.  This is a reasonable amount of time to give the students.  I do notice that some students cannot handle the long period of time for writing, but they are kids that have behavioral issues.  As long as these children are looked after and helped during this time, they get their writing done.

      Extensions

            Time is a crucial issue in writer’s workshop because if children do not get the appropriate amount of time to write, they will not effectively finish rich writing pieces.  Kids also need time for revision and additions to their pieces.  Time is something teachers must be aware of in the planning of lessons and activities throughout the day. 

            The same goes for other content areas, such as mathematics, social studies, or science.  I think sometimes some math lessons need less time and some social studies or science lessons need more time.  Science is a special subject because there are many observation lessons that kids have to watch over a long period of time.  Above all, literature and writing workshop can be worked and integrated with any content area, and that is what is so great about it.  Writing workshop can be used in accordance with whatever topic a teacher chooses, for example, if I was teaching a lesson on family (for social studies), I could ask my students to write a piece about their own family.  This could be a piece that they could work on over the course of the week.  Integration is a marvelous teaching tool and should be used in any classroom; writing workshop is a great time to integrate multiple content areas.

Choice

      Ideas

            I believe that the key to a successful writer’s workshop is through choice.  Students should be able to choose their own topics.  Having choice allows not only the students to show a teacher parts of their personal life and their personalities, but it lets the teacher get to know their students even more than they already may have. 

            The benefit of having choice is that students can write about topics they love or have a passion about.  It may also trigger topics they have wanted to share with people, such as their friends or their teacher.  It would make something such as an author’s chair much more fun and interesting.

            There are also some drawbacks or obstacles in having students choose what they write about.  One of the drawbacks is that some students may or may not be comfortable choosing a topic or just may not be able to think of a good topic.  I may need to step in here and help out which I will explain in the following paragraph.

      Connections

            As I was saying above, the challenge of students picking a topic for writer’s workshop may deviate from the purpose of the workshop.  As we were talking in class, I noticed that Dr. Barnhill mentioned a tool; she said having a bucket filled with strips of paper that have topics written on them.  Students can pick a topic out of the bucket if they cannot think of one.  I really love this idea which I will talk about further in the following paragraph.

            It is absolutely practical to apply choice time into the classroom.  The classroom I am going to be student teaching in and have been observing in for the past three months uses choice time everyday.  My SBTE is constantly giving the kids choice time, mostly during mathematics.  When they are doing a math lesson, they finish it, and then they get choice time.  Choice time is where the kids can go anywhere in the classroom and play all the math games that they have learned over the year.  The kids love this; they have a lot of fun and continue learning!

      Extensions

            I love the idea above of having a bucket or bin where students can pick topics from.  If I was to do this, I would integrate all the topics in the bin with whatever we are doing at that time in class; for example, if the topic of the week for science was flowers, I would have the topic say: write about your favorite flower- what color is it, how big is it, what does it smell like, why is that your favorite flower.  I just feel that if you integrate subjects, you will achieve more goals and objectives than you could ever imagine! 

            My final thought about choice with other subjects is that you cannot really let students choose for other content areas, unless it involves writing.  Teachers really need to choose main areas of focus due to the state standards, but I would certainly go within those standards and have center choices for students to decide upon.  Even if students feel as though they have a choice, they are much more at ease in what they are attempting to accomplish.

Conferencing

      Ideas

            Conferencing may occur at many different times during writing workshop.  It may occur during the brainstorming period where a teacher and a student may talk about the topic the student has chosen and talk about what direction they are going to take their piece of writing.  It can also occur during the first draft stage really at any time.  Not only can teachers have conferences with the students, but the students can peer-conference numerous times. 

            The benefits of this are various.  Peer conferencing is wonderful; it gives students the chance to share their work one-on-one without being judged by the whole entire class.  They can receive suggestions and compliments; this goes for teacher-student conferencing alike.  Here, I can make sure my students are on track and headed in the right direction with their writing workshop piece.

            The possible obstacles in peer conferencing are that you might find students not doing what they are supposed to be doing.  It is also important to pair students up that will help each other.  I would pair them up heterogeneously, where I would have higher level writers with lower level writers so they can help the lower students.  Although, sometimes, I would have two higher students working together so they can push each other.  The major draw back is that if you have a student with behavioral problems in your class, they may not be able to work with anyone.  As for teacher-student conferencing, I would meet with every child at some point in that writing workshop period of time.  This may be difficult if you are doing a short writing piece because you would have to find the time to meet with every child.

      Connections

            My SBTE does her writing workshop in the morning, and luckily, I am there in the mornings (soon to be the whole day!).   This enables her to work with more students because I am working with students one-on-one as well.  Most of the time, her and I are walking around the classroom helping a lot of different kids during their writing time.  She usually has me start with a lower level writer just to get that child going in the right direction.

            I find this is a very tough part of teaching.  Being able to reach every student during every lesson is almost impractical.  I suppose you just have to be very well managed and really know your kids.  My SBTE has a lot of outside help; she has a reading person come in during the guided reading times; sometimes, I am there to help her; and other times, she has certain teachers take students out of the room.  This definitely makes it easier to get to every child, but in every district, they are not going to have all that assistance.  As a teacher, I just have to manage my time and be confident that I can do it.  As we talked about in class, I just have to get to know my students, and I will be able to tell what they truly need.

      Extensions

            Conferencing is extremely important in writing workshop.  By conferencing, the writer can read aloud their writing or hear someone else reading it aloud and notice that certain things do not sound the way they intended.  Another great thing about conferencing is that it is always fabulous to hear another’s opinion about your writing and about your story.  It can only help writers become better writers and become more critical of their writing pieces.  It is also important so students can publish their pieces professionally.

            I think it is not only important to conference during writing workshop, but to conference with all other parts of the curriculum.  Oral interviews, for example, are conferences, which can be used for assessment or just to check for understanding.  Conferencing about topics that may be challenging can make a student feel more at ease with that topic.  Using conferences with other subjects is equally as important and appropriate for the classroom.  It is a great assessment as well as an ideal way to get to know your students as individuals rather than as a class.

Sharing/Celebrating Writing

      Ideas

            Writer’s workshop can be celebrated in many ways.  It can be celebrated by having an author’s chair and allowing students to read their piece allowed; it can be shared by publishing the class’s writing pieces; it could also be celebrated by passing around the pieces of writing for the rest of the class to read.  There are many creative ideas to share writing amongst a class, those are just to name a few.

            Some benefits of having your students share their writing is to build their self-esteem, develop speaking skills, and to allow them to share their feelings with the class.  I also think student’s benefit from celebrating because it makes them feel good, feel accomplished, and know that they did something wonderful!

            Some drawbacks from doing an author’s chair or having students share their writing pieces aloud is that some students may not feel comfortable sharing their writing with the class.  As a teacher, you may even encounter students who do not want anyone, but you, to read their writing.  If that is the case, then you would have to adjust your classroom and perhaps only read that child’s piece without including it in the celebration directly.

      Connections

            I have had many personal connections with the sharing of writer’s workshop.  Two semesters ago, the classroom I was in did an author’s chair to celebrate their writing.  They also did a classroom museum, which I loved.  This museum was a section of the classroom with shelves.  The students were supposed to put their finished writing pieces in to a binder on one of the shelves.  If they wrote about something, such as a stuffed animal, and they brought that stuffed animal in, they could put it over there next to the binder of writing pieces.  The students were able to go over and explore the museum during their free time.  The classroom I am in now also celebrates writing workshop through an author’s chair, but it is less formal.  The students who have completed their writing read it to the class; the class then talks about if that student has a beginning, middle, and end to their writing piece.  This a first grade class, so they are working on the basics; I love how they use each other as a resource for revision.  It is very crucial to share students’ writing with the rest of the class because that student truly benefits from it.  It is very easy to incorporate this into class time as long as you have a practical daily schedule; there may be days where you cannot fit in author’s chair, but it should definitely be incorporated at least three times throughout one week of writing workshop.

      Extensions

            As a teacher, you would be accomplishing many goals just by sharing writing: ELA standards of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and possibly covering other content areas depending on what the student is writing about.  By developing these skills (in ELA), students will move on to carry them into other subjects.  If they have adequate listening and communicating skills, then during their science lessons, for instance, they will work better in cooperative groups.        Social studies is another content area where they use a lot of ELA standards, such as speaking and listening.  The students need to share their cooperative group work.  For example, if the students create a mural about families in small groups, they are going to want to share that mural with the whole class.  I think it is a great thing to celebrate the hard work and effort students have put into their work.

Teacher Modeling of Writing

      Ideas

            Teacher modeling will usually occur throughout writer’s workshop.  It could possibly happen in the beginning, but it would have to extend all the way through.  A teacher could model a think-aloud with their brainstorming, so the students understand how brainstorming works.  A teacher would then model the beginning of their writing.  They would continue through the process as it goes.  For the older grades, I think it would be neat if the teacher conferences with the student asking the student for suggestions and revisions.  I think this would help to make students aware that not every teacher is perfect and not every teacher writes perfectly.

            The benefit of doing a model of writer’s workshop and of writing in general is so your students can take some of your strategies as an experienced writer and use them in their own writing.  Strategies do not just come into students’ minds, they have to develop them, and modeling is something that can further their writing strategies.  Students grow to understand that you, too, may struggle with writing and with choosing a topic to write about.  It makes it clear that it is okay to use resources and to ask friends for help when you are writing.

            A negative factor about modeling writer’s workshop is that maybe you are not a good writer so it is hard for you to model your writing.  It really takes time to sit and think about your writing strategies: how you come up with good topics, the structure of your writing, the diverse ways of writing, etc.  It can also get time consuming and extremely boring unless you are involving your kids in the discussion by asking them questions about your writing.  If you just stood up there and talked about how to revise, how you think when you are brainstorming, they may not catch on to what you are talking about or may zone out and miss the point of the model.

      Connections

            I have seen a lot of modeling in the classrooms I have been in, especially in the younger grades.  My SBTE writes daily letters on the easel for the kids to read in the morning, and they talk about the structure of the letter and how my SBTE wrote it.  I have never really seen revision being modeled before, which I would like to observe.  I will be sure to discuss that with my SBTE while I am teaching there next semester.  As we talked about in class, modeling really shows kids exactly what you are looking for as a student and puts them more at ease in doing a writing assignment.  They will build stronger thinking strategies as well as writing strategies by watching you write.  It is something that again has to be scheduled into especially into the beginning of a writer’s workshop, but it can be worked into your writing time.

      Extensions

            Younger kids definitely follow in all your footsteps as a teacher; they truly look up to you, which is why modeling is so important.  Modeling for other content areas is just as important.  I taught a science lesson a couple weeks ago on bulbs, and my SBTE told me the one thing I needed to do more of was model.  I did not model exactly how to plant the bulb, so it was unclear to the students.  Younger students, especially, need to be shown how to do things.  Mathematics lessons also need to be modeled; if you are using a manipulative, you have to model how to use it or the students will have no idea what they are doing.  Teacher modeling is very crucial in all content areas.