Crafting Writers Chapters 10-12

"Success builds emotional support, confidence, and the willingness to try" (Pinnell and Scharer 2003, 58).  

This quote was said in the beginning of Chapter 10 and it is one that has hit me the most as a future educator.  I think it is so important to build confidence in students so that they challenge themselves to try more difficult tasks.  As their teacher and role model, I hope to be a source of emotional support for them and a source of constant encouragement.  One of the characteristics about my favorite elementary teacher is that she was so encouraging.  She absolutely never made me feel stupid if I incorrectly stated the answer in front of the whole class, or did poorly on a graded assignment.  She was always there with a loving, warm smile and encouraging words for next time.  This is so important so that students do not become discouraged, therefore prohibiting them to excel.  As stated in Chapter 10, "the emotion aspect of teaching can either impede learning or cause it to flourish.  

Since these chapters were focused on mini-lessons and improving craft through conferences, it was nice to pay attention to specific detail in the examples so that I could start to make a mental routine of how one should sound.  I thought it was really important when Hale pointed out that if someone is too bust noticing the gap between what students are doing and where they are "supposed" to be, it will be harder to see strengths.  I have realized that there are going to be rarely few times when my whole classroom is around the level where they should be.  Therefore, I need to take into consideration the fact that they are all their own individuals with different capabilities.  While my ultimate goal will always be to have every student be on the level they are "supposed" to be one, I know that this goal is a longshot.  More important than this however, my hope is to help each student excel and understand more than what they first did when they entered my classroom.  I know that the speed at which students start to comprehend certain knowledge varies greatly.  Therefore, it is important to give each student as much individual attention as possible to be able to gather information vital to their ultimate achievement.  

In the examples of what a teaching voice sounds like in a writing conference, I really liked the idea of complimenting student of what they are doing very well that other students in the class may not have caught on to yet.  I think that these are words of encouragement that really make the student feel special, maybe even elite in a way, which will give them an emotional high to keep challenging themselves.   I also thought it was important that in there conferences, teachers do not talk out their students next sentences, but rather get their thinking ready.  I also thought the accountability factor at the end of any conference is vital to make sure that the conference was beneficial.  I never want any of my students to walk away from a conference without picking up something from it.  Therefore, the "say it back to me" aspect of the conference may be the most crucial.  When students start to understand the routine of these conferences, they will know that the question, "Can you say back to me what you are doing well in your writing?" question is coming, so they will be attentive throughout the conference to pick up on these things.  

One very helpful classroom management tip that was explained in these chapters was the idea of group conferencing.  I understand that it is most beneficial to work with students one on one, but group conferencing is a way to get the most out of a small amount of time if there are several students who need extra attention in a particular subject.  At first, I questioned this method, but realized that it is a great resource if there is lack of time.  I also found that the "mean what you say" method is extremely important to point out to future teachers.  I feel that there is definite lack of respect towards teachers to do not mean what they say.  I had those teachers growing up who would always threaten certain things upon us, but would never follow through.  Since as a class we started to pick up on this, we became oblivious to these threats.  

There was so much information in these chapters that it is hard to talk about everything that stuck out to me.  These are the most important aspects that I thought would make the largest difference in my classroom, and therefore will implement them in my future classroom.  

Chapters 7-9: Conferences for Improving Craft

Many important aspects of teaching craft were addressed in these chapters that I found interesting and helpful.  For example, the format structure of using mini-lessons to teach reading and writing followed by a try-it exercise, independent writing, and sharing session seem to be very efficient in a short time span for a given lesson to teach.  I also found it very helpful when comparing concepts and which lessons to teach to consider the what and why.  Thinking about what exactly I am teaching and why I am teaching it to my students will help me focus on the outcomes of the particular lesson.  It is also important when deciding which lesson to teach to not focus on something I have already covered, but an extension or a new topic.  

Live writing was something I found very interesting in the chapter.  I can't decide how beneficial it would be in a classroom setting because I feel like this is one of the first times I have been introduced to the idea.  I know that my elementary teachers did not use this method, and maybe that is why it seems hard for me to envision.  I thought it was an interesting concept because it pointed out that this is one of the only ways students get the chance to see firsthand how a person can verbalize their thoughts into words.  If I only plan to instruct my literacy lessons with published materials my students will not get the opportunity to observe how one transfers thoughts into words.  By having my students watch me go through the thinking process out loud and have them participate with me, it will hopefully help them when they start the writing process individually.  

Also discussed within the chapters that I found very important is the concept that students desire to learn is an internal battle.  If a student does not have the desire or motivation to learn, it is very possible that they will appear very shut-off and disengaged during class.  This is why I found the try-it technique of mini-lessons very beneficial.  As the text states, the try-it method not only creates an opportunity for all students to actively process the lesson, but it also supports accountability.  When students know they are going to have to either talk about or try out the skill you are teaching, their internal motivation to listen while you are teaching naturally increases.  Using student writing is also a way to increase their desire to listen.  Using student writing as examples for the rest of the class reinforces how doable a craft technique really is.  

One technique that I didn't like a whole lot growing up, but still see advantages of, is the talk and turn technique.  One reason that I do not like this technique is because when this is used, I feel like students like to get off track and talk about something off subject.  I understand that this is why Hale says to keep these sessions fairly short, only 30 seconds or so, but I feel that using the technique with elementary aged children, it would not run smoothly enough.  I feel that the only way to efficiently use this technique would be if the students are aware of what is expected out of this 30 seconds and I am not so sure that with their energy and attention span such a goal would be accomplished.  I understand that the talk and turn techniques gives all students a chance to reinforce the lesson just covered, but I am not so sure it would run as smoothly as described in the text.  

The chapters that focused on conferences with children and their writing strengths raised a lot of good, helpful points.  The example in which Hale focused on the writing of Jonathan, and his increased passion for writing was very touching.  It definitely portrayed to me how important it is for a teacher to understand and identify what students are doing well and how to relate this information to the student.  In Jonathan's case, he would have continued to hate the subject if it weren't for Mrs. Hale's praise of how well he used names in his writing.  Just this subtle compliment raised Jonathan's confidence in himself to continue writing.  Students can feel so discouraged, so it is important to make sure that we first focus on craft skills that they are using correctly and well and then focus on craft skills that can be used more effectively in their writing to improve it's quality.

I found the in-depth analyzing of students' work to be both helpful and also somewhat difficult.  For me it seemed easier to identify craft skills such as using color, sounds, and proper nouns in writing over other skills.  It was also a little intimidating reading the section "When Strengths Are Hard to Find", it really occurred to me that students are going to be on such wide skill levels for writing that they are going to be developing craft skills at different paces.  So while one student is focusing on the use of color and sound, another may be focusing on starting sentences with words of variety.  It was also interesting to read that students may not necessarily need compliments and praise for skills that have always used correctly in their writing.  If they have always been using color in their writing, it is apparent that they are used to the skill and it is important to then move on to a new craft skill rather than keep focusing on a skill they have always used well in their writing.  

The main things that I took out of these chapters was it is not about noticing what students are doing as writers, but what they could do.  It is important to acknowledge their potential and to help them reach it on their own.  Looking at student's work through two lenses is also important: one that looks for strengths and one that looks for the next steps.  

The Importance of Punctuation and Developing Craft

The specific techniques that are explained in Elizabeth Hale's "Crafting Writers" seem to be great approaches to begin using with elementary students.  All five topics that are involved in teaching the craft of writing are important:  the five senses, show not tell, dialogue, sentence variety, and word choice.  My favorite of these that I believe will be used the most in my own classroom, is the five sense technique.  It is very interesting to even ask myself when reviewing my own papers the question, "Am I using descriptive words that use my five sense?"  It is amazing how much better the content and description is when going back and adding the way I felt, the way an object felt, the way the area around me smelled, and how it caused me to feel inside.  This is a technique that I think students could use themselves when reviewing their own work.  For example, I think it would be very beneficial if I made a list of questions that I could ask each individual student when going over their paper.  For example, if one of my students is writing about an instance where he was playing in his little league baseball game and was the hero of the game, I could ask him questions about how it made him feel when he hit the ball to center field or how the ball sounded when it smacked the bat.  By adding small descriptive words it will make the work a lot better, and will also help the reader feel that he is experiencing the story rather than just being told the story.  This is a great example of the next topic that I think it very important, showing not telling.  I know this may be a hard concept fora lot of elementary students to grasp at first.  By saying this repetitively and by leading them to examples will eventually sink in for most students.  When students finally grasp how to show and not tell, their work will tremendously improve and will most likely encourage them to write more.  

Reading the chapter that focused on punctuation was very interesting to me.  I never realized how perceptive children are.  I myself have never really thought deeply about why writers use punctuation, and how it benefits us as readers.  I understand that question marks and exclamation points provide large benefits in pieces of work, but it was interesting to explore the purpose of the period in most instances.  Using correct punctuation is a skill that will come slowly to students.  This is why I feel it is important to do a lot of group guided writing and reading, so that if necessary, I can pause and ask the group, "Why do we put a period here?"  Hopefully by doing this as a group, it will sink in amongst them and they will interact with each other while working on things separately.   Punctuation, variety, and choice of words all play a huge factor in the caliber of a student's work.  Therefore, I feel that it is mandatory to try to have my students read as much work as possible so that they will be accustomed to using different words outside of their normal vocabulary.