I am adding this post coincidentally on the day before our Lucy Calkins training. I am wondering how the training tomorrow will coincide with what I just read in Chapter 4 and thinking it will probably mesh very well. As I have each chapter, I enjoyed chapter 4. Writing instruction was a challenge for me as a teacher and huge emphasis was not placed on portfolio type writing in 5th grade. That being said, I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the various writing classrooms and the writing workshop structure makes sense to me. I was drawn to the last few pages of the chapter. I like the chart titled Recommendations on Teaching Writing on page 155 and again wondered if this is something to share with all teachers at this point. Strangely, one of my favorite parts of this chapter were the parts about grading/marking student work. It is nice to read that it is not best practice to try to grade/mark each student's paper each time they write and that this can actually hinder their writing. As a teacher, I think this would encourage me to allow students to write more and not get so caught up in feeling I need to grade/mark each paragraph in each piece.
What did you like most about this chapter?
Courtney, Jodi, and Britt,
How can you take a step in the right direction toward being an even better writing teacher this year? Did this chapter prompt you to want to work on something specific?
Heather & Jim, what is our role in supporting teachers as they weed through all that is "writing instruction" and make it the most effective for students and the most manageable for teachers?
I loved this chapter! I've never felt confident as a writing teacher, especially in first grade where they are just beginning to write. This chapter, as well as the training yesterday, makes me feel so much more confident that I can be an effective writing teacher for all of my students. I think I can take a step in the right direction toward being an even better writing teacher this year by allowing my students to be more independent in their writing. As a first grade teacher, sometimes it's really hard to allow my students to be independent and work on their own. I want to really work hard this year to allow my students to choose what they're writing about and take ownership of their writing. So many times I am telling them step-by-step what to do and I want them to take ownership and become more independent. By giving students more ownership and responsibility for their writing, I think I'll really help them build their confidence as writers.
ReplyDeleteI read this chapter a few weeks ago, so I had to take a look at it to refresh my mind, especially with yesterday's writing PD (which I LOVED)! I know that I definitely need to do a better job at teaching, modeling, and encouraging the writing process with my students. It is so easy to get caught up in the writing piece and then rushing them to finish it rather than taking the time for them to go through each of the processes. I also want to incorporate more small groups in writing. I guess I felt like I could only conference one-on-one or that I couldn't conference with students until their rough draft was finished, but now I know of better ways to do this and that I can do it with small groups. I also want to write across the curriculum and have thought of some ways I'd like to see more writing happen in my social studies classes.
ReplyDeleteI have always felt that writing was my weakest area as a teacher and with reading this chapter and the PD from yesterday, I feel more than energized and confident that this year will be a better year. I also really liked how this chapter encouraged students to write notes to each other. Obviously, not during class, but giving specific time for students to do this. I thought it sounded fun!
I also read this chapter several weeks ago and had to browse back through it so I didn't get it confused with the writing training! :) However, I thought that this chapter and the Calkins training complemented each other very well. I now understand that allowing students multiple opportunities to take their pieces through the writing process is an important facet of writing instruction that needs to be in place. I also love the idea of "write alouds", which goes very well with the minilesson structure from Calkins.
ReplyDeleteI think that support from me needs to come in the form of helping teachers plan their writing instruction until they feel comfortable with our more deliberate way of teaching. It is so easy to lose focus when planning, because there are so many "parts" to our instruction such as standards, structure, materials, and best practice. I think that maybe deciding what our most important goals are this year for writing can help our teachers stay focused on what they will implement with their students.