Greg and I have been busy fixing our backyard fence, installing a cat door in our garage, and repainting a couple rooms so far. Every time we knock one item off the list, we seem to add two more, so despite our completed projects, the list doesn't seem any shorter!
Anywho, this is my feeble attempt to feel less guilty about not posting updates to the blog. I've been busy, folks - which I know, I know, is the lamest excuse ever.
So let's get on with it. My focus as of late is writing workshop. I've been inundated with the merits of the writing workshop instructional approach, and yet, I have to admit I've never implemented it with fidelity. Outcome assessments and PLC demands have hindered me. Yet, as the promise of a new teaching gig lays before me, I'm determined to give workshop a whirl. A dedicated whirl.
I bought Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi to help me review the nuts and bolts of the workshop. I feel as if I've read a bazillion pieces of literature about writing workshop, and yet, when it comes time to explain it and ultimately implement it, I find myself stumbling a bit. I thought a return to the basics would be a valuable refresher course, so here are my take-aways from the first chapter of the aforementioned guide.
Time
- Fletcher and Portalupi address time and space first as crucial components of a successful workshop. It's comforting that a process that seems so complex rests on such simple building blocks. The authors say set aside frequent, predictable time. Since the position I'm hoping to fill involves a reading and writing block of two hours, I don't have to struggle to find time. Check.
- The teacher is responsible for finding the time and structuring it. Predictable structure is important, too. Workshop structure traditionally includes three basic components: minilesson, writing time, and share time. Previously, I have erred with the use of the minilesson. Mine have been too long and I have perseverated on the lesson, and instead, Fletcher and Portalupi state that "it may feel funny to put forth a skill or strategy that your students don't immediately apply in their writing. But you can be sure that such instruction will broaden their visions as writers...." (12). I'm guilty of giving a minilesson and then structuring the next 40 minutes of class time practicing the skill. Instead, I should give the minilesson (which I would like to give through flipped instruction), ask students to record the minilesson in a writer's notebook or some such compilation, perhaps direct students to practice the skill during the minilesson (e.g. "choose a page in your writing and circle the verbs"), and then set them loose to to focus on their writing projects.
Space
- Fletcher and Portalupi advise teachers to let the question of space be answered by the students. They also advise revisiting the question: "Have we created a comfortable place for writing?"
- Some aspects of space should be planned by the teacher. The authors recommend having a plan for writing materials and tools. Personally, I'm a fan of using caddies at each student table because the materials are easily accessible, and this eliminates any unnecessary roaming, which is ultimately a form of task avoidance. Anything to make classroom management easier, people! The authors also emphasize the importance of having an area that I dub the "Coaching Corner," which is a place for whole-class share sessions, group minilessons, or private conferences.
- I've never considered anchor charts as an issue of space, but the authors address the use of anchor charts, and it hits home for me. Anchor charts are "traces of teaching" and an easy reference point for students. When utilized effectively, anchor charts free up a lot of the teacher's time. When teaching three different grade levels, I think it might be clever to assign an anchor chart wall to each grade level so students know where to find relevant information.
Questions
- Fletcher and Portalupi have briefly touched upon workshop structure, but I expect more in-depth guidance in later chapters. I'm still hung up on the same issue that has always caused me strife in the workshop world. How do you effectively provide choice and avoid teacher "assignments" when restricted to assessing Common Core standards? I realize that argument writing can take many different forms, but how do you provide enough support for students to explore different genres without resulting chaos? Call me a control freak, but this is a problem I've always grappled with.
