"Cultivating a classroom that encourages and sustains writing takes far more work than methods because it forces us to look first at ourselves and our own writing." The author of these two chapters stressed the fact that it is important for students to see their teachers doing the same thing they are learning about. I think that this idea is very important in creating a classroom environment that the students are comfortable in and that fosters their learning.
This is especially important in writing. Because it is about more than just the words on the page, but the meaning behind those words. It is important for students to understand that writing is a learning process that never stops. It is important for them to know that even as a teacher you are still learning about your own writing.
The author gave several examples on how to best teach writing in the classroom. One that stood out to me was the writing conferences and how they are set up. The most important idea I got from this was that during the conference the children are talking 80 percent of the time and the teacher only talks for 20. I think this is important because during this conference the student should be talking about their writing and why they wrote it and the meaning behind it. That doesn't leave much room for the teacher to say what they think about it, or critique it in depth, which I think is a good time. There is a certain time and place for the teacher to critique the writing and the conference isn't that time.
I think these two chapters expressed the importance of writing and why it is so important. The ideas put forth in these chapters are really something to think about and hold high importance in effective teaching.
Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say how important it is for teacher to stress that learning to write is an ongoing process. Learning in general is an ongoing process, it never stops no matter how old you are. I think this is why it's important for our future students to see us writing with them so they can see that even grown ups have to work on their writing. It helps ensure that it's okay if their writing isn't perfect. We can even let our students edit our writing so they can be more confident in their own writing.
I also found the most important idea to be that the teacher talks for 20 percent of the time and the student talks for 80 percent during the conference. This is such an important concept that many don't think about. I definitely would not have thought about it without it being brought to my attention throughout this reading. I like that you said theres a time and place for this, but the conference is not that time.
ReplyDeleteI also like that you mentioned that the students need to understand that the writing process is a process that never stops. I have learned that throughout this semester, especially, with the writing notebooks that we are required to keep and with all the writing that goes into assignments and blogs like these! It is important that students know this because they will know that learning how to write is not something that can be pushed aside and forgotten like some things can.