Procedures and Expectations

I decided to combine yesterdays and todays focus into one entry since I wrote and introduction yesterday.  The two topics blur together in my mind anyway.  The first was on procedures and the second on expectations.

My writing is set up in a writer's workshop format.  At least that is my goal.  The general structure is for me to read a mentor text, do a mini-lesson on a skill or strategy from that text, and then send students off to work independently.  My goal is to end the workshop with a whole group share but that seems to be the part that usually gets cheated out. I often find I have my students turn to share with someone rather than do a whole group and for that reason I think they lose some of the accountability piece or engagement that sharing brings.  But I will get to that in a moment.

My general procedures is for students to work at their desks or somewhere comfortable around the room.  They are to write in the writing spiral which I have separated from their other spirals with read tape on the spiral.  I expect students to date each day and to fill the pages of the journal from page to page (no skipping pages). At times, I give a writing assignment that I collect and they have to write on a separate piece of paper.  I consider the writing notebook a practice book.  A place to journal and sketch and try out the strategies from our lessons.  My goal is to collect 6 students spirals a day to review their work and plan for instruction.

My non-negotiables  are that students write every day, that they self select topics, and that they try new things with their writing. I am planning on having my students create a list of expectations tomorrow for our lesson.

My greatest concern for my students right now is that they do not write.  I am amazed that they can sit for an entire 20 minutes and merely get two or three sentences down.  I have focused a lot in the beginning of the school year on how to develop topics but I think at this point they do not understand the expectations.  I am hoping that focusing on expectations will help them to put pencil to paper more readily.

Day by Day- Reflective Practice

I've started reading Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice".  I've always been a reflective practitioner.  I love to reflect on my practice and go over all of the possibilities.  My mother always tells me that I think too much and I need to do more.  She is right.  I am the type of person that enjoys the process more than the product.  When I am nearing the completion of a project, I start to get antsy and looking for the next thing.  Not really a product person which is something I have had to learn that my students actually need more of, even though it is out of my comfort zone.  

I have always been focusing on writing instruction.  I am a huge fan of writing and the importance of thinking and communicating through the written words.  When I was little I dreamed of being an author and wrote stories about my stuffed animals.  In high school, I created sketches of characters and retold soap operas to my friends, recreating the story lines.   In college, I graduated with a English Major with a writing concentration.  My first job after college was freelance writing for the local paper.  While my masters degree was in teaching, my paper was on the concepts of first graders writing.  I loved learning about Lucy Calkins and Donald Graves.  When I started teaching I followed Katie Wood Ray like a super fan (even took an online course by her through Heinemann). I loved having my kids create books and felt like I really knew writing. But I slowly started focusing on other things, math, reading, science, and technology.  

When I worked on National Boards, I didn't put as much effort into the Writing Entry because I thought I had that one down.  Turns out that was the entry that I scored lowest on.  I continued to work on other curriculum focuses and slowly the thing I loved the most became on the back burner. 

So, that brings me to today.  I am now facilitator for our school's writing committee and on a new focus on writing.  I love writing with my kids and want to spend more time focusing on becoming better at the area that was my original love.  I am looking forward to using the Day by Day to reinvent and rekindle the writing environment in my classroom.  I hope you join me.