jaimie k's reflection to writer's workshop...
I personally like the idea of having a writer’s workshop. I think it’s great because it allows student’s to practice their writing frequently. The fact that students also come to love the activity is even better. I love when I see student’s disappointed that they didn’t get to a certain subject that day, or they didn’t have time to complete something. Not because their disappointed, but because that shows that they’re really enjoying it.
I know in the booklet it suggests that writer’s workshop be held everyday; but I just can’t see that happening. I don’t think there is enough time to implement a workshop in the daily curriculum. Each school has their own curriculum they need to follow, and the school days seem to be getting shorter and shorter. At the school I’m at, Mililani Waena Elementary, they do a daily writing every morning, which I think is the closest they come to a writer’s workshop. They call it their daily language practice (DLP) because they also correct grammar as well. They don’t spend very much time on it.
The first thing they do when they come in the classroom is grab their writing composition books and start working on their DLP. The assignment is already on the board on an overhead. They look at two sentences and correct them in their books. Next there’s a question they have to answer, which tends to pertain to real life. For example, “Your parents signed you up for day camp, but all of your friends are going to night camp. Write down some suggestions you could use to convince your parent’s to let you go to night camp.” They each write a response in their composition books. Then the teacher asks what some of them wrote. They share, and then are given about five more minutes to finish up; maybe using some ideas that were just shared. It’s like a writer’s workshop with less time, no teacher demonstration, no one-on-one time, and no student-to-student discussion.
The suggestions for mini lessons are a great help. There are some really good ideas in there for teachers to use. I also really like all the worksheets in chapter 3, the activity time. Those would be awesome to give to all of the students to make sure they’re doing a good job, or improving their work. And there are also good examples they could use as references when they’re doing their work. There’s even a helpful guide in chapter 4 for student sharing. I think the resources for the teacher’s in chapter 5 would help the workshop a lot. Even a teacher needs to make sure they are doing everything they need to, so the checklist helps. And the other worksheets are good for organization of the workshop.
If I had the means, I would do a writer’s workshop everyday. It seems like a great way to keep the students’ attention and interest in writing. The students are given the opportunity to express themselves freely. This booklet was awesome in illustrating not only the concept of a writer’s workshop, but in great detail how to actually carry one out. It went through each of the three steps of a writer’s workshop; and in each step, what the student and teacher should accomplish in that step, how to perform the lessons, and great examples. I truly have a better understanding from the reading of what a writer’s workshop is supposed to entail, then from what we discussed in class.
I know in the booklet it suggests that writer’s workshop be held everyday; but I just can’t see that happening. I don’t think there is enough time to implement a workshop in the daily curriculum. Each school has their own curriculum they need to follow, and the school days seem to be getting shorter and shorter. At the school I’m at, Mililani Waena Elementary, they do a daily writing every morning, which I think is the closest they come to a writer’s workshop. They call it their daily language practice (DLP) because they also correct grammar as well. They don’t spend very much time on it.
The first thing they do when they come in the classroom is grab their writing composition books and start working on their DLP. The assignment is already on the board on an overhead. They look at two sentences and correct them in their books. Next there’s a question they have to answer, which tends to pertain to real life. For example, “Your parents signed you up for day camp, but all of your friends are going to night camp. Write down some suggestions you could use to convince your parent’s to let you go to night camp.” They each write a response in their composition books. Then the teacher asks what some of them wrote. They share, and then are given about five more minutes to finish up; maybe using some ideas that were just shared. It’s like a writer’s workshop with less time, no teacher demonstration, no one-on-one time, and no student-to-student discussion.
The suggestions for mini lessons are a great help. There are some really good ideas in there for teachers to use. I also really like all the worksheets in chapter 3, the activity time. Those would be awesome to give to all of the students to make sure they’re doing a good job, or improving their work. And there are also good examples they could use as references when they’re doing their work. There’s even a helpful guide in chapter 4 for student sharing. I think the resources for the teacher’s in chapter 5 would help the workshop a lot. Even a teacher needs to make sure they are doing everything they need to, so the checklist helps. And the other worksheets are good for organization of the workshop.
If I had the means, I would do a writer’s workshop everyday. It seems like a great way to keep the students’ attention and interest in writing. The students are given the opportunity to express themselves freely. This booklet was awesome in illustrating not only the concept of a writer’s workshop, but in great detail how to actually carry one out. It went through each of the three steps of a writer’s workshop; and in each step, what the student and teacher should accomplish in that step, how to perform the lessons, and great examples. I truly have a better understanding from the reading of what a writer’s workshop is supposed to entail, then from what we discussed in class.
posted by jaimie k | 12:35 PM
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