Response to Barry Lane: Chaps 6&7

Response to Barry Lane Chapters 6 & 7
July 20, 2010
In chapter six the index card activity allowed me to look at changing the order of the moments in my writing to add interest. It also allowed me to rethink my story and look at it though another lens.
Moment mapping with cave writing on the back of the card helps the writer change the sequence of events.
Another helpful strategy: View Shift. This strategy helps you see the event from different eyes. Even shifting from first to third person can make a significant difference. I tried this technique with my writing about the forest and found it improved the quality of the writing.
All of these strategies would be fairly easy to implement in my classroom and I would find them useful in my own writing as well. I am especially fond of the cave writing for use with my students in the Resource Room. My students like to draw and I think it will engage them in the writing process while helping them think though the events in their writing and help them to manipulate the events.
In Chapter seven the important message to me was that to create an effective writing period the children need to “own it, create it, and agree to it as a group”. If this does not happen I am promoting a top down model that will work against my goals. The class or group needs to brainstorm a list of activities for the writing time. It needs to be edited. Students need to contract each day. If the students get stuck they can refer to the list.
When it comes to the peer conference, a form needs to be created with questions like, I like, I wonder, questions, and plan for action. The teacher will need to model how to use this form and make sure the students know they need to fill out one form for each peer conference. I will need to think on the application of this for my Resource Room students as they may need more preteaching and support.
When it comes to ideas for conferencing I especially like the comment that conferences are not for fixing the student’s work. The student should be in charge of revising their own work.
Journaling and having the student write to the teacher and the teacher writing back is a great idea. I am not sure how this could look in my classroom. I only have my students for thirty minutes per day so I think it will be important me to collaborate with the classroom teachers to find out what they are doing about journaling. I can’t do it all in thirty minutes, but can supplement what they are doing for writing in their classroom.
Displaying student work is important and a way to publish their work. I made a goal to display student work more often next year to increase student pride and build their confidence as writers. The ideas of plays, literacy teas, writers’ lunch, parent evenings, and an author quote corner all are appealing as they encourage reading and writing. I will have to give them more thought and investigate what can be done at the building level.