Reflection on Writing Workshops

I've never considered myself a very good writer. I found it time-consuming and exhausting but that's probably because I am a bit of a perfectionist and would spend hours revising just one simple little sentence. In high school, I used to take pride in editing my brother's papers for grammar and spelling mistakes. Keep in mind that I was the little sister pointing out my big brother's mistakes. You can assume that I took great pleasure in this experience. To this day, my brother's grammar is god-awful; however, who is the one writing 3-4 papers PER WEEK in his PhD program and reading 30 novels in one semester? - my brother! So, even though I was the one fixing his mistakes, he was the one utilizing his creativity and putting his ideas onto paper. You see, I never liked to take that risk because I enjoyed the role of "editor" more so than the role of "writer." So, while my brother is cranking out paper after paper like it's second-nature to him, I am sweating at just the thought of having to write a MGRP this semester. If only I would have taken that risk and tried expressing my ideas onto paper more often as a child, then maybe I would feel comfortable and confident enough to call myself a "writer" as an adult.

So, the point of this whole little summary about my writing history is that now I am yet again assuming my role as "editor" in my field experience. Even though we've only had two days in our field placements, I have already done two writing conferences. For my very first writing conference, the classroom teacher  just kinda threw me into it. I had barely enough time to even read my "instructions" on how to edit the students' papers. So, there I was---feeling very unprepared and about to make or break a child's confidence as a young writer. It wasn't easy trying to keep my perfectionistic "Mr. Hyde-type" personality locked deep inside my head. I kept thinking to myself, "For a second grader, shouldn't he know the difference between 'Jim' and 'Gym?" I mean, it's logical that a young boy would like 'Jim' class and for all things considered, the spelling does make sense. So, how was I supposed to explain that the word starts with a "g" and has a magic "y" in the middle that sometimes makes the short /i/ sound???? I can only imagine how confusing the sound of "y" might be for a child. Sometimes you slap "y" on the end of a word to make the long /e/ sound but then...oh wait...now we can use it in the middle of a word for the short /i/ sound? How confusing! So, I tried focusing on content rather than grammar. It's hard giving recommendations to a stubborn 2nd grader who is absolutely, 100% positive that he wants to have the word "And" at the beginning of every sentence! Obviously, I know that as I continue having writing conferences, I will become more comfortable and confident giving young writers praise and suggestions for improvement.

Crafting Writers: Chapters 10 - 12

Conferences are a good way to assess the students' writing development and progress; however, sometimes it is tricky trying to find time during the school day in order to have those conferences. Now, if you have a teacher assistant or a parent volunteer, then yeah, of course you will be able to do independent conferences with each student. But, sometimes, you have to adapt and deal with the situation at hand - hence, why group conferences are an effective compromise.

Now, as the teacher, it's better to start with praising the student for what they did well in their writing. Let's say for instance that the student utilized one of the crafts we've been studying in their paper. We could praise the student for having a strong voice or descriptive, specific examples to support their story. Once you have told the student what is good about the writing, then you can address what they need to work on. By providing constructive criticism, the teacher is guiding the student during the entire writing process. After the initial draft, the student focuses on specific craft techniques to include or improve in their writing. It is important for the teacher to approach the revision as something that CAN be accomplished. The student should never feel like the teacher is criticizing their writing with no room to improve. There is always room for improvement and as the teacher, we need to pave the way.