Chapter Three of B&B

I liked this chapter of B&B because it was very practical; if you wanted to set up a writing workshop in your classroom, this is pretty much a step-by-step approach. One thing I seemed to do, however, while reading, was imagine how a writer's workshop would take place in my field. And I am not sure that's possible. I suppose teachers who are going to use workshops have to set their rooms up this way from the beginning of the year - and set up their behavior management accordingly too. My field students can barely stay on-task enough to type papers in the Media Center, much less critique each other's work. But this is a little off-topic...these are thoughts for my field journal.

I feel like students probably need a LOT of direction for something like writing or peer conferences. In high school, I think when we had to share work, most pairs ended up with really vague "praise" (Wow, that was good. You are a good writer.) or really unhelpful criticism. I would like to see a writer's workshop in action. In our TDP class, when we use elements of workshops, they work well, but everyone in our class - or most people, anyway - are self-possessed enough to really work, and to do quality work, not just keep busy. However, can most high school students do this? I assume writer's workshops are to be used with any class, not only upper-level or honors classes, but at the same time, I seem to see really struggling writers getting lost in a writer's workshop. Students in my field who have trouble writing a complete sentence with a subject and a verb seem like they would be a little lost in the hubub of such a workshop.

I really like the list of "Modes and Genres in Writing Workshops." Some of them are really interesting and creative: the billboard, bumper sticker, and letters to past and future people would be really fun to work on. This would hold my attention a lot better than simply being assigned a research paper or report.