I admire Atwell’s commitment to her students’ learning and her dedication to researching sources that aid her in being the best teacher she can be. In this chapter, she really emphasized “starting over” in terms of continuous findings of the best ideas, theories, or methods of teaching and replacing her current pedagogical ways with these new findings. Because the chapter is very specific and clear, it is difficult to come up with even a few instances that had me questioning in my mind.

I became confused at the section where Atwell discussed her “favorite rationalization” that her students’ struggle in writing was due to their previous teachers’ poor pedagogy. In general, I’ve assumed that when students enter a grade level in which they immediately show that they are not prepared well enough to take on their tasks, their previous teacher is to blame. I may be wrong but the more I thought about it, I’ve concluded that Susan Sowers’ observations opposed this idea. According to Susan’s study, all grade levels present students with the opportunity to write about almost anything and everything through exercises.

At this point, I wondered if this means that Atwell’s rationalization is always wrong, that obvious poorly qualified teachers are not the fault of students’ lack of preparation at the next grade level. I strongly doubt that is true but I’d like to learn from another’s opinion if it differs from mine. That’s all!

Inquiry 1: Learning with Students

Atwell speaks about her experiences with students’ writing. She began her career as a teacher by assigning what she thought a teacher should. She soon learned that she could not teach students this way. Students must be given options
I have questions that I gathered from the readings, such as in the case of Jeff. For example, if Jeff began learning so well with her creative attempts, why not teach the rest of the class the same way? I guess that she had to stick to a certain curriculum with the rest of the class who were reading and writing at a higher level while trying her best to catch Jeff up as much as possible. She used things that interested Jeff to make him want to read and write, which is a great idea. If a student can be interested in what he or she is doing, then it will always bring out the best in them.
How do students such as Jeff slip through the cracks? I think Atwell says it best when blaming teachers of grades K-6. Teachers will let students continue from grade to grade not knowing how to read or write at grade level. This happens because many teachers may not take out the time to fix the problem before they just pass or fail a student. If teachers took time out like Atwell to learn alongside their students things would be different.
Students must have an identity with their writing. When the topics are broad and students can write freely the writing experience becomes more enjoyable, sometimes therapeutic. The teacher is best when she can lead the students as a teacher, help the students with their writing and show the students his or her writing as well. Interest the students in your writing in order to help make better student writers.
I enjoy Atwell’s outlook, before I read this I felt that open ended writing was great in classrooms, but now I can hopefully use her tactics one day to guide my students.

Inquiry #1: The Writing Workshop

Okay, I hope I'm doing this right! This is officially my first blog. :)

First of all, I just want to say that I love the way this book is written; I prefer this memoir-style writing as opposed to a traditional textbook format. Plus, I find it pretty interesting.

I appreciate Atwell's honesty about her first attempts at teaching the process of writing. I think that is the best way to learn: trial and error. Of course, I appreciate the fact that she has done some of the erroring for us so that perhaps we can skip that part and use the techniques that she has in place in her classroom presently.

I do have questions about the in-class writing workshop which I'm certain will be addressed later in the book (I've only read the 1st chapter). For instance, how often is a writing workshop held? Is it part of a daily routine, or weekly? I wonder if her class was solely devoted to writing, or was this a basic English class that also included reading literature, grammar, vocabulary, etc. With class time being so limited (usually 50 minutes in high school), how is it possible for one teacher to address 25+ students in an individual conference?

Something that Atwell said really hit me: "...writing well is not a gift" (p. 14). I'm not sure why this never occured to me before the moment I read it and I'm a little ashamed to admit that. I guess since I've never really had a problem expressing myself through words, I thought it was just a natural talent (I've never considered myself "gifted") :). Of course, I do think that some people are more naturally inclined to writing simply because they enjoy it (like myself). I started thinking about it this way: I hate math and don't really care for science; yet, even on the college level I made an A in each of those classes. I don't enjoy it, it's not something I ever wanted to pursue, but I was able to be "good" at it when needed. I think the same goes for writing. Even those who don't like it or don't have any desire to be writers can still write well when needed. And since writing is heavily required in academics, it's definitely something that should be taught heavily, in my opinion.

In theory, I love the ideas presented in the first chapter. I love to write and I know that as a teacher, I will expect much from my students in this area; therefore, I am looking forward to learning strategies and methods which I can implement into my classroom to help them grow as writers (and perhaps myself, too).

Welcome! Fall 2009

Welcome to our class blog. I can't wait to read and discuss with you here. Although I'm sure you don't need it, here's a reminder about norms:


-Keep it professional.

Remember that the world is your audience, and that you're representing not only yourself and LSU, but the teaching profession. What we may know is intended as a joke could appear to be utterly serious to somebody who's never met you.



-Keep it topical.


This is a forum for discussing articles and issues raised by them related to language development and diversity. Make sure your postings and comments are relevant.



-Protect your anonymity, as well as that of others. 


Use either first or last names in posts, but not both.



-Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. 


Voicing disagreement is productive. In order to keep it that way, make sure you understand the point with which you disagree before offering your alternative. It's always a good idea to ask for clarification.




-Hold each other to high standards.


Push each other's thinking. Don't let assumptions go unquestioned. Ask tough and interesting questions. Make connections to other ideas we've talked about. Challenge yourself to think deeply about these issues, rather than simply getting the grade.