Entry 2

Whenever I read traditional or digital texts, I can’t say that I consciously recognize elements of craft. However, it is the use of these elements, or lack there of, that draws my interest or deters it when reading such texts. I also find that my dislike of reading in general probably affects the amount of attention I give to such details of the writing of others. I also find that because in my adult years, I mainly read for information, that is my sole and primary focus. I will say however, that if the task was for me to identify the use of writer’s craft I believe I would be able to.

The aspect of author’s craft that are most challenging when I read are organization and voice/word choice. Organization is challenging for me when I read because I don’t think that as a reader I have ever payed attention to the structure of what I was reading. As I mentioned earlier, my primary focus when reading has always been the task at hand (which was normally to find information). I don’t feel that now, even as an adult, I fully understand the importance of the internal structure and would find this to be a difficult concept to teach to my first graders. Voice and word choice are tricky for me because in my mind they are almost one in the same. I always think that your word choice is what conveys your voice in your writing. I imagine that my students might have the same confusions when learning the two.

After the readings assigned from Hicks and Tompkins, I began to understand more the importance of the use of mentor texts in teaching these traits. I feel that often times, myself as well as other teachers feel that just modeling what we want students to do in a mini lesson will suffice. But allowing them to interact with these concepts through the published work of authors, I feel, creates a different level of interest. I think that sometimes students feel like we are teaching them how to do these things because that's just what we do in writing because we are in school. But exposing them to the use of author’s craft through mentor texts sort of takes them out of that “metal box” of writing in and for school. Especially in the primary grades, I think it almost glorifies being a good writer. Children like the idea that they too are and can become authors too.

One thing that I have always heard and that I have learned is that children feed off of our passion and interest in what we are teaching, and that motivates their learning. I think that as a teacher, I should spend some time noticing and digesting author’s craft in my personal reading time. This will help me to better convey their importance and role in their writing and reading practices. I have never been a lover of reading and writing, but I don‘t think it’s ever too late for me to have a new found love. I believe that if I at least take time to appreciate these aspects of writing that when I share my personal experiences with my students, they will find my approach to be sincere and develop their own personal love affairs with their craft as writers as well as readers.

Entry 1 Prompt

One of the key components of the workshop approach that I value and try to foster in my classroom is sharing. One thing that I have always read, heard, as well as experienced, is that giving students time to share is vital to their motivation to write. When students know that they are going to be sharing their work with their peers or a teacher, they will be more invested in the process they go through to produce their piece. They also build confidence in their writing ability because they can receive positive feedback and constructive criticism from classmates, without feeling penalized for having errors (this is because correcting errors is not the focus during this time).



Although this is not a new idea for me, creating that sense of community with writing is something that will definitely enhance the learning of my students. In Gail E. Tompkins' Teaching Writing: Balanced Process and Product, she talks about how both teacher and student alike should work to create a secure classroom community or "A community of Writers" (24). I feel that this might be the most important step or part of the workshop approach because students need to be comfortable and trusting enough to share, expose, and express their thoughts, ideas and opinions with their teacher and peers. The second component to this is getting students to see themselves as writers as well. If they can rid themselves of the idea that authors are  only adults, and realizing that adult authors go through the same processes too, they will begin to internalize that role as an author.