Using Simple Tools to Support Writers and Assess the Complexity of Writing
Teaching writers goes beyond implementing the workshop model
In my first year as a classroom teacher, I noticed that a colleague’s approach to writing instruction differed from mine.
I was not happy with my approach. I was using a commercially-produced program/resource as the curriculum.
Students had few options for what to write about.
The outcome - a research paper, a personal narrative - was predetermined.
The writing process was linear and moved only one way: forward.
The results, as you can imagine, were lackluster writing and disengaged writers.
So that’s why what my colleague was doing in his classroom piqued my interest.
In his class:
Students were engaged in actual writing for sustained periods of time. They didn’t require regular reminders from their teacher to “get back on task”.
Topics varied.
Where students where at in the writing process determined what they needed, for example a conference with the teacher or a lesson on revision.
Most importantly, the teacher appeared to enjoy teaching writers as much as his students enjoyed writing.
I later learned he was using writers workshop. After that, I previewed resources that explained this approach. It made sense: students were empowered, and the teacher was positioned to meet writers where they were at.
And yet I didn’t implement writers workshop in my instruction. Why?
Because I didn’t know how to organize my instruction to facilitate this approach.
Since then, I’ve become more self-aware of my own struggles with attention. One core strategy I have learned for successfully engaging in complex work, including teaching writers, is implementing structures and systems.
This is a reason why I posed this discussion thread to all readers.
What scaffolds and processes do teachers use to organize their writing instruction toolbox, whether within a workshop model or another approach?
If I were in the classroom again, how would I structure my writing instruction? What scaffolds/resources would I employ regularly?
I expect I would lean heavily on two primary tools as a teacher of writers:
A print notebook and pen
A digital note taking app, such as Evernote
These simple tools can support complex practices.
A print notebook would allow me to recreate any of the templates in the book we are reading together. I would use the app to capture images of my handwritten notes, along with images of student work with my smartphone.
For example, on page 71 in How to Become a Better Writing Teacher, the authors recommend that teachers “Value and Teach Into Illustration” (Action 3.7). This is a smart move; it gives a unique entry point for students who are current disengaged as writers. Picture books and graphic novels could be ideal final products.
How would basic note taking tools help me assess and support my writers?
I could set up dedicated pages in my print notebook for each writer.
I would capture their strengths, interests, challenges, and goals on the first page. The remaining pages would be for my notes, which would serve as data to document their growth over time.
In a digital note taking app like Evernote, each student would also have a dedicated notebook/folder. With my smartphone, I could take pictures of their drafts and illustrations at each stage of the writing process, along with my notes that captured the essence of our conversation, within one digital note.
During the unit of study, if a student was losing motivation or feeling unsuccessful, we could go back into my notes - print and/or digital - to show them how they had grown over time as an illustrator and a writer.
This repository of evidence would eventually become a process/progress portfolio. It is something I could make available to students’ families at conferences, and any time I wanted to celebrate a students’ efforts and improvement. A simple email with a link to my corresponding digital notes would showcase their successes.
Having simple tools to engage in complex work goes beyond implementing a writers workshop; they allow me to be responsive during instruction. The tools I choose need to be flexible, easy to use, and support my ability to help students see themselves as writers and illustrators through clear evidence of change over time.
What tools do you find essential in your work in assessing and supporting your students?
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