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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You picked out some of the key ideas in Chapter 1 - Atwell was assigning what she thought she should (probably according to a comprehensive curriculum) which was completely dull for her students. And, you also hit the nail on the head when you said that students are more apt to write about something they are interested in. I think as a teacher it has got to be difficult to find a balance between these two ideas. It seems that Atwell continues to struggle between these two as she moves into the chapter on reading.
ReplyDeleteShe pretty much had the same problem: what she thought was appropriate to assign her students to read ended up being completely uninteresting and therefore not conducive to learning in the classroom. Again, Atwell settles on this idea of a workshop. Only this time, instead of writing freely, students are able to choose the books they want to read during class. I love this idea; it seems as though it would open up reading to many young people who may have never enjoyed it before or were overwhelmed by its complexity(probably due to the dreaded assigned readings given in school). I would have loved to have the opportunity to participate in this type of workshop when I was in middle/high school.
Just as you discussed Jeff falling through the cracks with his writing, I think the same is true for many students with their reading skills. While it seems easiest to blame previous teachers, I don't know that that is the answer. I guess as secondary educators all we can hope to do is meet our students where they're at - no matter the level. With that said, I think these workshops would work great for that type of differential learning. Students who are advanced can read and write on that level and receive personalized feedback from the instructor, while those who may be on a lower level can be a part of a class filled with their peers and enjoy the same freedom and personalized instruction. I know Atwell mentions writing letters with each of her students, but I do still wonder how she teaches to such a range of students - especially considering the different forms and genres in which they write and now, the countless different books they are reading.