"Good Behavior"???

      What classifies “good behavior”? That seemed to be a reoccurring theme throughout this week’s readings, and one that I have given a lot of thought too. I’m not going to lie, even though I like this idea of a writer’s workshop, it scares me too because it requires the teacher to hand some of her control over to her students. I’m all about student choice, and I think that students should be able to talk and work and socialize at the same time but this writer’s workshop gives a “slightly out-of-hand feeling” as the book described. I think it is super hard for teachers to let go of that control because of the fear of what would ensue. I think if we gave students more control over what went on during their writing times (or any other time) they might actually get used to it, so the “slightly out-of-hand feeling” might go away because the students are used to having the control and they know what they have to do in order to get what they have to get done, done. It’s a hard balance to find I believe, but definitely one worth finding for sure. The book discusses how the nature of writing should not feel super controlled all the time (which is one reason those writing workshop kits do not work). I have never thought about this before, but it is so true. When I was forced to write in elementary/middle/high school and I had to be working on a very specific part of a particular piece (i.e., making a rough draft, or “brainstorming” or revising, etc…) I feel so unmotivated. The point of writing is to enjoy it, write what you feel, be proud of what you write, don’t be proud of what you write, do whatever you want to with your writing (within reason I suppose). Writing is a journey and our student’s should experience the best parts (and the worst parts) of that journey. The point is, is that they are experiencing it, which is more than I can say for my writing experiences in the pasts. Students just can’t experience writing in a positive way if they are being controlled all the time with their writing. They won’t want to write anymore. We want them to write.

      A final and second main point that struck me in with this week’s readings was the difference in the teacher’s role in a writer’s workshop as the book describes and a writer’s workshop that many of us have experienced growing up. The book states it this way, “…we don’t ever want to think of students’ independent work time as a time for us to work on other things that need doing. We need to be out there teaching, for one thing, and for another, if they sense that this is a time when we “let me loose,” we will have problems. Letting them choose their work doesn’t mean letting them loose” (p. 74).  I got too main points out of this statement: (1) “we don’t ever want to think of students’ independent work time as a time for us to work on other things that need doing.” Ok, now, I get it. Teacher’s have a ton to do throughout the day, a lot of which is “behind the scenes” type of stuff. I also get that teacher’s do not want to take their work home with them (honestly, who does????). BUT! I have read on countless occasions that when the students are doing something independently, like independent reading or writing, the teacher should be doing that as well or, at least, helping other students with these specific things during this time. Think about it. When students are working on math problems, I have rarely seen a teacher go up, teach a lesson, then go back down and sit down at their desk without ever interacting with the students. I usually see them answering questions, helping students understand a concept, and making sure students get it. Why should reading and writing be any different? Are these not subjects too that require and deserve a teacher’s respect so students will respect it too?  I have also read that it is hard for students to learn to appreciate things like writing or reading if they never see their teacher’s doing it, which makes sense. If the teacher does not have to do it, why does the student? Makes sense a little bit. Student’s should see their teachers work. They should see that their teacher has written pieces or is currently writing pieces or has struggled with pieces just like the student. I think it would let the students see the more “human” side of the teacher, as well as, appreciate what they are doing more because they see that their teacher has done it and experienced it too. I cannot tell you how many times I had a “writing workshop” in my younger schooling where the teacher has given us a topic and a form to write in, said “Write.”, then went and sat back down to start grading papers or what not. I understand completely that having this independent time cuts down on the work load at home (let’s face it, we have our own, private lives to take care of at home too), but the students need us. They need us to be interactive with them. They need to see that we have experienced what they are experiencing. It will make them appreciate this art a whole lot more.

      The second and final main thing I got out of the above statement was “Letting them choose their work does not mean letting them loose.” A lot of this goes back to my first paragraph, so I’ll cut this one a little short. Basically, I think student choose in writing is a great idea. Growing up, I hated student choice because it was so hard for me to think of something to write about. But, I also rarely got student choice in writing. So, if we give student’s more choices consistently, they might, eventually, have a whole long list of things they would like to write about. And let’s be honest, the reason why we (as students) acted “loose” was because we never got the chance to be responsible for our own writing. We were never allowed the chance to have that responsibility, so when we got ‘free choice’, we probably acted out of hand. If we give students’ more opportunities to write about what they want or feel, “letting them loose” won’t be a ‘problem’. In fact, we may start hating the fact that we might, occasionally, have to give them a topic to write about.