Entry #6: Dear Dr. Jones

Dear Dr. Jones,

      So far, I think this course is going fairly well for me. I am enjoying engaging in Writing Workshop as it allows me to envision how I could structure Writing Workshop for my future students. When I first enrolled in this class, I did not predict that we would be doing Writing Workshop ourselves. Like many college classes, I assumed we would do more reading about Writing Workshop than actually putting it into practice. The application of this model has certainly made the learning process more powerful.

      While engaging in Writing Workshop, I have learned some instructional strategies that I am excited to try with students in the future. I hope to utilize the structure of Writing Workshop, including a "Status of the Class" organizational system (Tompkins, 2012, p. 29). I really love how this provides an opportunity for teachers to observe students' progress while also allowing students to take charge of their own writing process. 

       Overall, I am LOVING reading Tompkins' (2012) text. She provides so many practical instructional activities and strategies. I particularly like the "Step By Step" boxes that outline the main points of a mini-lesson or strategy. Additionally, I appreciate the "How to Solve Struggling Writers' Problems" boxes as she provides both a "quick fix" and a "long term solution." As I read, I am able to visualize how each strategy may be used with students (which makes me really eager to put my learning into practice)!

        I find the most useful tool that Tompkins (2012) provides is her mentor text suggestion boxes. Thinking of our annotated bibliography, these suggestions are useful, but they are also helpful as a future teacher who may need to quickly find a mentor text for a lesson. I find that as I read through the mentor text suggestions, sometimes I end up researching the texts because I am so curious! 

       In relation to improving my own reading and writing strategies, freewriting has helped me improve my ability to get ideas down on a page. Sometimes I get so caught up in planning and outlining that I cannot seem to decide on my topic and/or organization, and then I end up procrastinating. Freewriting is a low stakes way for me to explore ideas and structures without being tied to anything. It has given me the push to simply get SOMETHING down on the page. Not every piece will be published, and certainly not every piece has to be final copy worthy! Writing for personal thinking and learning is just as important as writing for other purposes.

        With regard to struggles, I am having a hard time with the open-ended nature of the Genre Pieces and Genre Expert project. I appreciate the choice in topic and in genre, audience, and purpose, but I am struggling to decide what genre/form to use for each piece. My Genre Expert group is also finding it difficult to narrow the broad topic of biographies. In both of these instances, I think continued brainstorming and thinking will help. 

        Finally, the last challenge I am experiencing is the word count with the blog posts. Each of my entries is just at the 600 word limit. How strict is the word limit? I am understanding the readings and making connections to my own life, and blogging helps me express this. However, I sometimes find that I am more worried about the word limit than the content. I hope that thus far, my ideas are expressed fully enough, even within the 600 words. I think your feedback at this blog "checkpoint" will put my mind at ease. 

       I look forward to learning more strategies and continuing to develop my craft throughout the rest of the semester!

Sincerely,

Maddie