Promoting Writing in Primary Grades LIT102

  When you have finished reading, you will have first hand knowledge of how to conduct a writing workshop. You may be wondering, writing workshop? What is that? Continue reading to find the answers to these questions. I have posted videos about the writing workshop in a previous blog to help you gain a better understand of what I am about to write. Writing workshop is a structure used for teaching students the writing process (drafting, editing, publishing just to name a few). This workshop consist of three parts ( the mini lesson which should last 10 minutes, work time 20-35  and share time 5 minutes) however the stipulated time can be readjusted depends on the level of the students and writing conferences plays a big role in keeping the workshop interesting and where students are given the choice in selecting their own topic and work at their own pace. However, teachers can give students the category their writing should falls under for example teachers can explain to students that t

 Teaching composition is and has always been a very daunting and dreaded tasks for most of us teachers to undertake. From getting the students to generate ideas about a given topic, right down to marking/grading what they actually wrote, can be somewhat described as "pulling teeth" to some of us. On the other hand, it is a "toothache" for our poor students, who, within a short period and with very little motivation and resources, are expected to produce a well written, grammatically and structurally correct paragraph or story. However, the major problem for both parties lie in the manner the writing is taught. We as teachers often fail to correctly and effectively teach students how to write. As expressed in the previous blog discussions, this could be because we ourselves do not know how to write. Conducting a writing workshop within our classrooms is a recommended solution to the problems teachers and students are facing in the writing classes. This workshop is a

 Writing workshops are essential for helping students with developing their writing skills. These workshops are used to take students through each step of the writing process. It is important to note that students are not just writing for writing’s sake. However, they are taken through this process with the intent of learning to write.  The Conference has three main parts sharing, mini lesson, and worktime. These are important for a successful conference. Sharing refers to the time that students are given to listen, read and speak about their classmates’ ideas. The mini lesson involves the teacher divulging in a concept that maybe useful for taking them to the next step. The worktime is where students are given an opportunity to complete a step in the process. Going through each step of the writing process allow students to really grasp what it means to write good pieces. Although, teachers may get confused and assume that these workshops can be used as time for teaching spelling,

 

Teaching writing is important for any classroom. For students to be successful, I think it is important that the teacher is a skilled writer him/herself. Sometimes as teachers we get caught up with creating assignments and grading assignments. However, I now realize how important it is for teachers to be involved in the writing process as well. The article mentioned some key reasons for teachers to be involved in the writing process. First, the more we practice the better we get. This is accurate as we practice any skill, we are bound to develop our skills in this field. Also, the better we get become as writers; we can be a positive example for students. I think this is very essential for a student writer. With any new writer a good example provides techniques, approaches, and methods to develop a well written piece. In addition, when the teacher is involved in the writing process, they develop empathy for their students. This gives the teacher a better scope of the student’s expe

Tim Gillespie's  newsletter article,  "Becoming Your Own Expert - Teachers as Writers," was very insightful and informative and served not only as an eye opener for me but also cemented some truths that I have realized about my skills as a writer and teacher of writing. One of the eye openers for me was the point mentioned that we should write with our students. What I gleaned from this point which was further reinforced later on in the article is that, by doing so we teachers provide a model for our students writing. I gather that this not only mean, jotting down statements on the chalkboard, given by our students as we  question them to  develop ideas for a topic we wish for them to write on , but to write along with them throughout the entire writing process. To let them see how we do our brainstorming, our drafting, our editing etc., sharing along in the same experiences we are putting them through to write good pieces. As he says, "becoming partners in a communi

After reading the article titled ' Becoming Your Own Expert- Teachers as Writers' made me reevaluate my preconceived notions about teaching writing in the classrooms. This article highlighted many important points that we as teachers need to be aware of, like writing with students is important because it helps with the classroom interactions between teacher and students and also give students the confidence needed to tackle their writing tasks, especially after witnessing teachers producing sloppy work or struggled themselves to produce written work. Tom Gillespie stated that " writing makes us experts in teaching writing" I like this particular saying because we as teachers often  rely on outside help whether it is a friend, workshops and co-worker to give us pointers in teaching writing when all we needed were ourselves. As I reflect on this quote I realize that on many occasions I am guilty of this because I sometimes lack the confidence I need to teach writing in

As I reflect on the Network Newsletter dated November, 1985, "Becoming your own expert Teachers as Writers", it become personal to me. As a Writing Teacher, one must display a positive model for their students. This  include writing with your students. When teachers write, we give ourselves a chance to test our own writing assignments and we get a clearer and easier understanding of writing. In addition we learn empathy for our students and we become partners in a writing community. I know writing takes time, thus, daily writing help to build momentum and help us to become an expert writing teacher. My aim in helping my students are allowing them to think about what they are going to write during their early drafts, provide tools and resources for proofreading and share appropriate written comments that will encourage and stimulate their writing development. 😀 💖😀

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