Response to Calkins: Chapter 11

The main implication for my classroom gleaned from this article was that I need to set aside time for writing that is predictable and adequate. It simply needs to happen every day. Calkins believes it is less important how you structure writer’s workshop rather then that we set time for it and structure it into our day. Since I usually only have students for thirty minutes per day for writing it is going to be a challenge for me to figure out how to get all three components of the workshop in during that time. I have given some thought to only sharing on certain days, not every day. If the mini-lesson takes 10-15 minutes that only leaves 20 minutes to write so I will have to try it and adjust it as I respond to my students needs.
This article and Lain’s article covered some of the same material in regard to the writer’s workshop but each approached it a bit differently. Calkins addresses the predictability, structure, and gives a general overview of the components while Lain addressed these in depth and the types of writing. I do appreciate that Calkins does address the interruptions that prevent writing from happening in our schools. She states, “It is only by cleaning out some old things that we can give time and space to new ones”. She urges teachers to set aside an hour each day for writing. I could connect with the “cha-cha-cha” curriculum that she mentions. The hour a day won’t be possible for me as a supplemental program, but I can offer my students part of this hour. The classroom teaching is supposed to be providing the core instruction in writing for all students, but I don’t think this is happening in all classrooms. At times I feel like the teachers don’t want to take the time to differentiate the curriculum to help the struggling students in writing. This puts me in a bind because I don’t have any authority to tell them how to teach. I don’t really have any good ideas how to change this other than sharing the student work done in the Resource Room with the classroom teacher so that they can see what their students are capable of doing and how they are progressing in their writing skills in my classroom. I do see a need for me to work on some way to find out what the classroom teachers are doing with their writing time and to let them know what I am doing. At the moment there is not a lot of communication going either way due mainly to time constraints. We have eighteen classrooms in my building so I have a lot of teachers to try to communicate with. When I meet with other Resource Room teachers they have similar concerns, so if I can come up with a way to foster communication they would be grateful if I would share it.
Lastly,Calkins also talks about the environment for writing in the classroom. She talks of a library corner, tables, and a gathering area. There would also be a place to display student work. I will have to give some thought to how I can accomplish this. I did get some comfort from her statement that the classroom environment is created with relationships and the structures that support them. That I know I can provide.