Routman and writing conferences

One of the things I have struggled with the most in my main placement is how to help students write. I must admit that I focus mainly on editing content. I write on the student’s writing. I do not have them read their stories to me. I collect them, read them, offer suggestion on their writing, return them, and then ask them to begin revising. Often times I get the same story, but the errors I marked were corrected.

In this chapter I was focused on the idea of front-loading.
This is one of the things that has been lacking in my instruction of the students at my main placement. I need to do more, as Routman suggests, before the students begin to write. Just picking the topic to write on is not enough. I have not modeled for the students what my expectations are. I have focused on correct spelling, punctuation, and whether or not the students are writing coherent thoughts. I have not focused on the writer, the process, nor have I had them take responsibility for their own writing. I realized I am missing a lot of pieces to my writing instruction.

I am hoping to go back to my main placement and use the ideas in this chapter. I want to start with demonstrating with the students and giving them time in their table groups to discuss their ideas. I want to give the students a chance to talk openly about what they are thinking about before they put pencil to paper. I want the quality of their writing to improve. I also want the students to be able to freely share their writing with me and with the entire class. We have yet to try the whole class approach, but I do believe it could work in our classroom.

Brown and Lamott

“A moral position is not a slogan, or wishful thinking. It doesn’t come from outside or above. It begins inside the heart of a character and grows from there.” Bird by Bird page 109
I really appreciated this when I read it. When I think of characters in books that I have loved, the main characters struggle with a moral decision throughout the novel. It begins in their hearts and, just as Lamott states here, it “grows from there.” Watching this growth endears the character to the reader. It helps the reader connect with the character.
Brown Article
In this article each of the students presented with a different challenge for the teachers. Each teacher was able to identify the student’s need, modify the curriculum to fit the need of the student, taught the student a skill that was necessary for them to find success in reading, and then the student experienced success. Of the three students in the article I was most interested in Patrick’s story. In my main placement, most of the students have already been taught to “break the code,” but there are some students who struggle with fluency. Not only that, but just like Patrick they do not really want to read. One student in particular when she picks up a book she would begin to just stare at the wall on the far side of the room. When I would walk behind her at the beginning of our reading time she would be on a certain page and when I would walk past her five minutes later she was still on the same page. I finally decided to ask her to read to me. Student M read to me just fine. She could read every word on the page and was not monotone, but you could tell she was not interested in the text. I have been back briefly since I read with her, but she came to my mind first when I began the section on Patrick’s experience. So this article made me wonder what she was choosing to read and why she chooses the books she does for her reading time. The day she read to me it Charlotte’s Web, but she did not actually seem to enjoy it. Student M is a little advanced for the easy readers in fifth grade, so how can I help choose a book for her. I want student M to want to read and to enjoy it. I do like the idea of book clubs that was mentioned, but for a fifth grade student what can I do? We do a lot of read aloud time in the classroom every week. We do independent reading with the students, but when library time comes I am not really helping them choose texts.