Who are you writing with? Pt 2

I used to be the kind of teacher who stood at the head of the class and talked through the assignment, made sure my kids were on target, then retreated to my desk.

It wasn't like I didn't have plenty of work to do.  Attendance.  Papers to grade.  Parent letters.  Stuff.

Besides, they were old enough to be independent.  And if they didn't get it by now . . .  Well, I wasn't their mama.

However, now that I'm out of the traditional classroom . . .

Now that I'm older and hopefully wiser . . .

Now that I'm teaching writing as a class everyday. . .

I can see the gross and complete error of my ways.

Now my work goes undone in favor of sitting down with my young writers after I've told them what we're doing for the class session -- which goes by all too quickly.

I conference with every child.  I talk to each individual about his/her work, listening to them read, their Word Bank sitting nearby so I can fill it in as needed (more about WB's later).  We go through their story with a fine tooth comb, with me questioning them as writers.  Never criticizing (although sometimes I have to hold my tongue and search for diplomacy), always treating each eight-year old with the respect they are due.  I don't try to change their work for them -- that's not my job.  I ask questions, trying to get each writer to see his/her story with fresh eyes, and to see how it can be better with a little editing.

Here's an example of how one conversation went:

Alexandra came to me with two pages overflowing with her memory story.  It was entitled Cooking with My Dad.  I had her read it to me, and as she read past the halfway mark of the first side of her paper, the subject changed.  It began to wander to different aspects of family life, talking about how much she loved each and every member of her family and describing them.  At the end, I asked her the title of her paper.  She looked at me, blinked and pointed, repeating the title.  Then I smiled and asked how much of the paper had been about cooking with her dad.  I watched her look it over, and then she pointed to where she had begun wandering off topic.  "I agree with you.  What can you do about the rest of it?"  She looked at me, dread crossing her face as she shyly shrugged.  I laughed and told her I didn't want her to just throw it away.  "You can use those words for another story someday.  But not this one.  However, I want to know more about what it's like to have your dad all to yourself -- how special is that!"  We talked a little more about how she could elaborate on her existing story and how she would rewrite it, and then our conference was over.

I can hear your questions -- I've had them in the past, too.  Questions like:

Can you really get to every kid?
     Yes, but it takes time.
Do you think it's time well spent?
     Oh, yes!  You should see some of the results!
But I've got tons of stuff to do in my day -- I just can't take the time.
     I guess that depends on your priorities as a teacher.  Do you want to produce literate humans?  Young men and women who will be able to portray themselves as intelligent people on paper as much as in person?

I tell you what.  Try it out.  Conference with your kids for one week.  See how they do as writers.

Then see what you think about how your time is spent.

Stay tuned.