Loving the Book so Far! (Ashley)

Although we have talked much about writer's workshop, I've approached this book = with a different experience now that I'm teaching third grade. From its opening, I could really relate to the author as he told about his lack of conversations that he had with students during his first year of teaching (which was similar to my first year and the beginning of my second). However, as I move throughout the school year, I'm developing these conversations and growing closer to my kids.

As it relates to writer's workshop, I really learned a lot from reading the first two chapters of the book. I realize that students should take the lead of the conference first as oppose to the teacher jumping right into the conversation. "The conference begins with students in the lead role, setting the agenda for the conversation..." (p.20). This gives us as teachers an insight as to what the student is already thinking of, excited about, frustrated over, etc...about their writing. I like the idea of the student taking the lead because it gives us "a way in" to their thinking without us as = jumping to conclusions on what we think they are thinking or what they should be doing with their writing.

It was also very insightful to read that our primary goal should not be to control students' writing but we are teaching them skills to become better writers. "If we take control over a student's writing and make sure that the draft has our perfect lead or our brilliant dialogue, all we've done is given a demonstration of our expertise as writers" (p.9).

Another helpful section was the suggested research questions listed in chapter two. Two main research questions that stuck out for me were Questions About Students' Writing Strategies and Questions About a Student's Decisions. These topic research questions were helpful to read because they are questions that I need to be more mindful of when conferencing with my students and making sure I ask more of these types of questions during our conferencing.

One thing I'm still thinking about is the list of conference types on page 27. How often should we conference with students to make time for all four conferences? Are we constantly revisiting all four conference types or can we start to incorporate some peer to peer conferencing for some of these? (I believe there was a section on this and I will go back and check).

Overall, I'm really pumped about this book! It has really been a helpful refresher for me to continue the discussions about writer's workshop. Last year, I felt that I was exposed to a lot of strategic thinking about writing, but I could only apply very little in my pre-k classroom (even though my young writers told their stories through pictures :). As I begin to restructure my writing block for homeroom, I'm going to use this book to guide my writer's block and conferencing structure with my students. I'm eager to see how it will all play out in my classroom and to see what great writing my students' produce!