Week+4

__**Week 4**__ This week we looked at a process approach to teaching writing as well as using writing workshops in our own classrooms, and we used a Jigsaw approach to discuss this week's readings (Atwell, Soven, and Zemelman & Daniels). We also continued our discussion of feedback, and students had the opportunity to try out some of the approaches to giving feedback when conferencing with a peer, drawing on the suggestions given by Elbow and Sommers from last week's articles.

__What we liked about Atwell's approach__: //As teachers, how can we make the classroom welcoming if school and personal resources are lacking? What can cart teachers do to make their space welcoming when they do not have a classroom they can call their own?//
 * __Atwell -- Writing Workshop__**
 * Atwell stresses the importance of the teacher taking on the role of a writer and sharing his/her own writing process and writing samples with his/her students.
 * The writing territories activity described in Chapter 5 is a great activity that could be used in the classroom.
 * Atwell stresses the importance of creating a welcoming space for students that encourages writing and allows for writing to occur during class.

__What concerned us about Atwell's approach__: //As teachers, how can we manage the workshop when students are working at all different paces?// //What aspects of Atwell's approach can we bring into our own classrooms when we are working with a more defined curriculum? What learning and teaching theory supports a workshop approach to teaching?//
 * Atwell relies on several different folders for students to stay organized, but perhaps the number of folders becomes confusing to students. It also seems like teachers would need to determine a system that would work best for them otherwise it could become an organizational nightmare.
 * Atwell's school environment may differ from most schools in that the curriculum is workshop based and is atypical when compared to other schools. To learn more about Atwell's school, click on the following link: http://www.c-t-l.org/

__What we liked about Soven's and Zemelman's & Daniels' approaches__:
 * __Soven & Zemelman & Daniels -- Process Approach to Teaching Writing__**
 * The prewriting techniques described in the chapter by Soven could be easily implemented into the classroom. Ideas such as freewriting on an index card and the interview activity seem like they would be helpful to student writers. We also liked the idea of collaborative prewriting.
 * Making publishing opportunities available to students (in the form of a class project or local and national writing contests for student writers) seems like an important step in the process of writing.

__What concerned us about Soven's and Zemelman's & Daniel's approaches__: //How can we teach students how to revise their writing? How can we increase student buy-in to the importance of revising their work? If giving feedback on peer's writing were an anonymous enterprise, would students give more honest feedback?//
 * Soven highlights the importance of revising. However, several students felt that teachers need training in how to teach students how to revise their work.
 * Several students voiced a concern about the Whole Language approach to teaching reading and writing and felt like this approach may no longer be the best approach for reading instruction.

__**Writing Workshop -- Peer Conferencing**__ __What concerned us about using peer conferencing in our own classrooms__:
 * Are students mature enough to handle peer conferencing? Will they take the task of giving feedback seriously?
 * How can we prepare students for peer conferencing so that our students feel comfortable about sharing their writing, are on task, provide effective/helpful/substantive feedback, and benefit from the process of peer conferencing?
 * How can all students receive effective feedback when some students may be more skilled at giving feedback than others?
 * How can students be honest and offer constructive criticism to a peer without fearing that they will insult their peer's writing?
 * Logistically, how to your organize a classroom during peer conferencing, especially when students will be finishing their peer conferences at all different times?