Growing up, my writing classes were mostly about grammar and less about actually writing down my thoughts and my ideas. I was never incentivized to write and to express myself through writing. The majority of my classes consisted of the typical writing class where the teacher taught all of the students for a week or two a certain aspect of writing, and then after a certain amount of lessons I would get a test. I only started to see my teachers use the writer’s workshop approach in writing classes when I started high school here in the United States. I believe that writer workshops are what really got me interested in writing as a way of expressing myself and developing my ideas on certain topics. It is funny that only now reading the excerpt from the book “Welcome to Writer’s Workshop” I realize what exactly are the techniques that my teachers used in my high school writing classes that helped me develop my skills as a writer.
Something that Steve Peha mentions in his book is that writing workshops differ from regular writing classes in the sense that there isn’t really a need for constant testing in a writing workshop. This particular aspect is relevant to me because I struggle greatly with testing, and this difference between both methods of teaching is one of the main reasons why my perception of writing changed during my time in high school. The inclusion of mini lessons and then letting the students apply their learning during the designated writing time during the class is beneficial not just for the student, but also the teacher. Peha mentions in his book, “in order to
learn something well, students have to use it for a while on their own without the fear of
being negatively criticized. That’s why we teach “mini” lessons, so students have the
majority of their class time available for applying what they’ve learned to their own work.” (3-4) As a teacher, I can use writing workshops not only to teach my students and to make them practice their writing, but also take advantage of this time and evaluate their learning of the things that have been taught during these mini lessons. And because i’m evaluating what they have written in class, I can be sure that it is 100% original material from the students.
I agree that mini lessons and writer's workshops are very helpful ways of getting students engaged with writing. Once I realized that my sophomore ELA teacher wasn't giving out as many tests, I began to put significantly more thought into my writing! My papers were still graded, but I the freedom to write about what interested me brought a level of intrigue to the assignment that distracted from the grade.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like this would've been an inviting format for you as a learner. That's great to keep in mind as you design learning experiences for your own students!
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