Thursday, September 9, 2010
Building a community of writers!
I think that being able to share and help classmates with their writing is an amazing exercise in trust. No one wants to be considered a weirdo or "bad writer." After all of the time we spend writing our masterpieces, the next step seems to be one of sharing! One of the things I strongly believe is from my experiences teaching elementary kids. Kids, like adults, want an audience--it gives their writing more meaning and purpose. You are right that there has to be a high level of communication and trust between writers. When kids feel a part of a writing community, so many things can happen. I love reading kids' creative writing, either by themselves or in groups. You can really start to see the wheels turning and confidence building in their chest as they successfully create meaning together.
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For me, sharing the writing was always the best part... provided the audience was kind. Often it can be terrifying to reveal writing, but ideally our classrooms of the future will allow for a safe space where every kid can reveal his or her words
ReplyDelete-Alex Rummelhart
I can remember when I worked in a 3rd grade classroom how much fun the kids have when they shared their stories. It's so important for them to feel the freedom to write! I also love the book suggestions you gave!
ReplyDeleteWhat I find very peculiar about writing communities, especially in reference to what you said about younger students, is that as kids get older they become less and less willing to share their writing with peers. What causes this? How can we combat it both at an elementary and secondary level?
ReplyDeleteThe writing young students can produce constantly amazes me. I think you're correct about building supportive writing communities--they are absolutely essential if we want students to share their work. What do you think works best for the elementary level? Although I want to teach secondary students, I think most good teaching strategies easily translate across grade levels!
ReplyDeleteI had a deep love for writing at a young age and when I have come across past writings of mine from elementary school, it’s exciting. I see the work I put forward and it is a great feeling. I cannot wait to read my future students' works and hope to provide them with good advice that will improve their writing and inspire them. My freshman and sophomore English teachers did that for me and I hope to do the same!
ReplyDeleteI used to be a reading and writing tutor at Horace Mann and Grantwood Elementary, and I loved seeing their creative writing and filling in blanks to poems. I especially loved doing I Am poems. It gave me a chance to really know the children and find out their interests to individualize their lesson plans. Though I know being a teacher would be slightly different, because instead of three students, I would have at least 15 or more, but being able to work with students in college gives me great ideas for the future.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this, especially in light of the shared one-pagers. Listening to the fantastic papers we've had so far, I'm having mini-coronaries every time I think about doing my own!
ReplyDelete