Write Your Own Ending

As the author states, "writing empowers." Writing that is celebrated leads to excitement and promise. "Don't settle for anything less."

CH. 12 Make Every Minute Count

I connected with the author's words on page 283 when she looked into student's eyes seeking to find what they love to do. I believe we have to spend time meeting our student's eyes and giving them reasons to smile. Just as the author, we all want to connect with students and make our time together count. I hope to develop some of my own lists, such as secrets of good writers, with my students to post in the room and help motivate us as we write. Finally, her question to ask ourselves, "How did what we do help students become more competent, confident, and independent as literacy learners?" As with my own children, I want to turn my students into life time learners and writers.

Ch.11 Build on Best Practice and Research

Make sure your instruction is meaningful, relevant, and explicit and explain why, p. 276 and 277. I have a new 1st grade student and I've been explaining sometimes daily why she is in my room. How I am going to turn her into a wonderful reader and writer. She has a strong desire to learn, she just looks at me like she is startled by this information, but gets started with the program. Page 277 spoke to me because for years I have tried with more success lately in getting my low students in the regular room for writing. They think that they are so lucky they get to write in two places, not. I have seen the excitement and ownership when they share in these language activities in the regular room. Page 268, "the more peer interaction was spontaneous and less teacher directed, the better the outcomes in the writing progress." This is a reminder to me to let them talk to develop their writing.

CH 10 Make Assessment Count

Helping students become test wise is always something students need to feel comfortable with and to help them reduce their anxiety. I always remember this for the other state tests and need to do this as well when it comes to writing. Creating a specific audience with the positive spin on p. 247 is something I need to invent. As always, what am I teaching and what do I expect to be valid. Staff always needs reliable and valid data to improve what we are doing, p. 250. With my class, we are always trying to reach their personal goals. Page 252, "Eighty percent of students' writing needn't be graded," is a balance I need to reach, and instead help them learn to become better writers.

Ch 9 Conference with Students

I liked how her whole class share is a conference. I think I was always feeling conferencing had to be individual to attain good results. I also agreed with her purposes which was 1st to celebrate and 2nd to move the writer forward. Teaching my students to peer conference is something I want to try more, believing it will help them improve their own writing. The authors reminds us that the conference should be an "easy, confidence-building process."

Ch. 8 Organize for Daily Writing

As I have read these chapters, I underlined and marked those ideas that really spoke to me. I found I put three stars on p. 176 where it states, I find the time to do what is really important and that, "We make time for what we value. " That speaks volumes for my personal life and I want to portrait it in my teaching. I also need to build in more free writing to build confidence and fluency. I am also going to start limiting my graphic organizers. I have used them to the extreme at times, but with the goal of really trying to improve their writing. With my class, I do have the advantage of finding the time to have in depth conversations about their writing. I have used one of her short writing projects on page 198 and found it valuable to my students. They found real purpose in writing to someone they admired.

Ch. 7 Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills

I liked her reminder on page 149 when a fourth grader says, "I don't have my lead" and can't start. She said, "Your lead and title can come later. Just start." Students do need to get their first thoughts down. I believe this is when they truly have their own voice. The chapter also reinforced that I need to be writing and thinking aloud more in front of my students. I just honestly find it hard when I'm teaching 4 grade levels to find the time. At one conference I had one student who wanted to share his writing paper over his computer projects. It was so up lifting seeing him celebrating his writing with parent and teacher.

Ch. 6 Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection

Last week I took the district reading tests and made individual lists of all the many skills my students needed to work on. But after reading this chapter I need to find time for my poor readers and writers just to be reading their own materials, and have their teacher read to them every day. I loved on page 123 where she tells them to read like a wolf eats.

Ch. 5 Do More Shared Writing

We did pieces in my class on who they admire. This was a new vocabulary word for many of them so we needed many examples. We really shared before writing. On pae 85, I liked how "In shared writing the the teacher does not place expectations for correctness on the students." This speaks volumes to me since I'm always looking for that piece they need to improve and instead I need to be building their confidence. I also liked the idea of using their writing to develop their fluency since I see their great love to share.

Raise Your Expectations

My students are usually seen as disadvantaged but this is far from the truth when you see how creative they are. I do agree with the author on p. 56 when she said they just need more demonstrations, more shared experiences, and more guided practice to become successful. This week we did a writing prompt and we started with conversation before they wrote. They benefited from my model, but I think the conversations we had before they starting writing was even more motivational. They were so excited. They wrote and wrote the entire period. My students come in at different times, but they are asking when do we get to share our stories. I just started working with a 1st grader and I needed the try it and apply it reminders on page 68. I wrote her name in the margin thinking about how I can develop her writing.

Share Your Writing Life

This chapter spoke to me in a number of ways which gave me thought on how I can improve my teaching strategies to benefit my students. When thinking about my individual students I feel I need to make more time for conversation before writing. I have a tendency to want to get started and I think this is a great encourager, the conversation. I also agree with the author as she states, "Demonstrating the writing process does bond the classroom together into a community. " This type of classroom setting then provides a safe haven for writers. When reflecting, every year I need to make my students more successful so they will relax and stop asking, "How long does it have to be?" I did find myself writing guilty in the column of my book when reading and thinking about my teaching style. I don't want to be guilty of draining my writers. I am looking forward to writing with my students next week in a better tone.

Start with Celebration

This chapter titled, Start with Celebration, I've retitled "See Fireworks." I teach struggling students, so when the author wrote about complimenting the student who had only written the title of his paper, "Happy Thanksgiving" I could really relate. We can all relate to encouraging words given us. We've probably all personally seen the effect shared writing has on our class. On page, 20, the author states, "The hardest part is finding and creating a topic and purpose that will get them excited about writing." I usually at some point in the year, have my students make a list of things they would like to write about, but I still find this hard because some students just seem to draw blanks. I think this is why sharing really helps all writers, when they see the enthusiasm of others, it is contagious and helps them.

Simplify the Teaching of Writing

Chapter One, Simply the Teaching of Writing, or in my words, "The Buy In." This author strongly believes and emphasizes we need need to buy into her writing program. That's easy. Who wouldn't want to buy into a teaching style that she promotes as easier and more manageable or as she states streamlining the process. Plus her central thought is that writing should be enjoyable and fun. Anyone who really enjoys writing or whatever they are doing in life would surely automatically increase their talents in that given area. They would attain the goal of becoming a confident skilled person and this would lead to an independent person, the ultimate goal of teaching. I'm ready to take her journey. Of course, it helps that I need to in order to complete this class. But I am intrigued by her ideas.