Helpful Advice

I really found this chapter by Atwell to be very helpful. I am often concerned about how to approach students' writing. This may stem from my personal occasional writer's block or revising issues. Nevertheless, I think Atwell presents some practical pointers for addressing students and their writing.

For one, I think she brings up the emotional/psychological side of writing that is important to consider. For many students, writing makes them vulnerable which can hinder them from sharing or even getting started in the first place. For others, their lack of confidence might keep them from trying. Creating a safe and encouraging community of writers (as we've talked about in the past) would probably help those apprehensive writers.

I have also wondered how writing conferences should be structured. They were often only an option in my high school English classes, so most students didn't go through the trouble--unless they were really stuck. Moving around the classroom shows that the teacher is more engaged in what the students are working on then having them come to him or her, I think. Atwell's suggested questions and thirteen content conference guidelines would be both helpful and practical. I am definitely going to be using some of her ideas for my own writing conferences. She also stresses the importance of students conferencing with one another. This would most likely help them to improve upon their writing independently by reading/revising other students' work.