LLED- Chapters 7, 8, and 19

When I am writing, I like to have it relatively quiet with classical music playing in the background. I feel that I write best sitting in a comfortable chair or outside in a lounge chair. I also prefer to have all of my needed materials within arms reach. With that said, I can fully relate to chapter 7 when Ray talks about writing workshops in terms of space, presence, and supplies. Because every writer's needs are different (mine included), I want to give my students as many spaces as possible for writing workshop. I think a way to go about creating writing niches is to simply ask what environments students could do their best work in.   I believe this would be best for older students, but for younger students I would need to create several spaces and see which ones they actually tended to use. Also, I think that Ray's ideas about supplies are great. Having access to a lot of different supplies is key to finding out what works best for each student.

Chapter 8 really made me laugh because I have felt "that slightly out-of-hand feeling" a lot through my student teaching, but it wasn't in a positive way. The way Ray talks about it is that there is kind of a stirring about going on in the classroom during writing workshop that many teachers directly relate to being off-task. This is a positive out-of-hand feeling. However, the out-of-hand feeling that I have felt was the sound of a lesson blowing up in my face. The kids were out of control and definitely off-task. Because I know how this terrible example looks in a classroom, I feel that I can more easily see when talk and moving about in the classroom is constructive. Although I can see when talk is constructive, it doesn't mean that I do not struggle with the fact of letting go of the reins, so to speak. I have always had trouble with the fact that in writer's workshop you cannot be in 20 places at one time to tell who is doing what.

Chapter 19 reminded me of where we are at in our own writing. We are all completing pieces and are preparing to publish one of them. Because this is stressful for even college students, I wonder about the impact on elementary kids? It could be that since kids have time each day to write, they have ample time in class to finish things up and don't feel that a deadline equates to stress. However, it also could be that younger students can feel as stressed as older students when they see a deadline approaching. Another thing about publishing- I love the recommendation of sharing the students' published works with pen pals, other students, and even people in the community. I like how this relates to the possible purposes of writing and writing to a certain audience.