I need more celebrations in my classroom! And I need more short personal stories. Routman's suggestion of using stories was a good one because everyone has a story. As a matter of fact, I often tell my students that we're creating our own personal stories with every choice and action we make. So why not write about those choices and actions? I've been missing this personal link, and should have realized it long ago. It's a natural fit with what we talk about in our classroom. And, like I said . . . everyone has a story, and I can't think of a student in my room who wouldn't LOVE to share one.
I also liked Routman's suggestion to "think aloud" while writing in front of students. I've shared my revisions with students, but it would be more powerful to share my thinking during the time I'm writing.
Amen to Routman's statement that she's seen more students who dislike writing during this time of high-stakes testing. However, testing is a fact of life, and somehow we must keep our students motivated. Perhaps celebrations of writing are just what we need to keep our students excited about writing!
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2 comments:
I love what you said about celebrating more to create a more relaxed testing atmosphere (hopefully that is what you were saying). I am struggling with the idea of creating writing enjoyment within the confines of the state assessment.
I believe the more experiences students have the more stories they have to tell in their writing. Some of my students do lack the experiences that we traditionally write about in class. Maybe it's time to brainstorm some not so traditional writing topics or look at them in a new way.
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