Chapters 1-5

For me, one of the most intimidating tasks involved in teaching is planning and implementing exciting, meaningful lesson plans that students will not only benefit from but also enjoy. While reading about Writers Workshop, I came to the realization that Writers Workshop is a dream for both the students and the teacher.  Now before you call me lazy...I want you to understand exactly what I mean. Students benefit from Writers Workshop because it provides them with an enjoyable, personal time to explore their own thoughts and feelings and write about them however they may please. Teachers benefit from Writers Workshop because their students are given a time in the day that exemplifies the enjoyment and fun of writing. Through Writers Workshop, teachers are able to show their students that writing can be very pleasant...especially when writing about something personally interesting. It's kind of like killing two birds with one stone: the students are practicing important writing techniques (sometimes without even knowing it) and teachers are providing their students with creative, unrestricted time that benefits the students. And it doesn't hurt that there isn't too much planning involved....kidding, kidding.

Once the students get a feel for Writers Workshop, they can begin molding some of the activities to better fit their own interests. As I've recently learned, Writers Workshop is all about the students and their interests and thoughts. So why not allow the students to plan some of the centers or activities in Writers Workshop? It seems to me that this democratic style of teaching would greatly appeal to the students. I imagine that they would all enjoy picking the different activities and would treat Writers Workshop time with the utmost respect being as they were the ones to plan it.

In this reading, I really connected with Ray's description of why writing and should not be integrated with other subjects in the classroom. Obviously, there will be many times when students will need to read and write purely about a certain subject or subjects. But, Ray makes a fabulous point when she lists her many reasons why writing and reading should be taught independently and away from the other subjects. When I think about my writing career as a person, the first thing I think of is the millions of essays and papers I've written throughout my educational career. Like Ray says, when we are writing for other subjects, yes, we are writing, but we are writing to serve something else. There are so few times that I can remember in school when I was given an opportunity to just write...write with no ulterior motives....write just to write....no topic involved. I hope my future students never feel that same way.