Organizing A Classroom: Writer's Workshop

I have been considering my future classroom and how I might possibly set it up for the best possible outcome with students.  As we have been learning, differentiation, integration and diverse teaching skills are a must in today's 21st Century classroom.  In any classroom for that matter.  It is important as well, as a teacher, to develop, learn and create an environment for these teaching practices to hold up and be successful.  We are, after all, teaching students for their benefit.  However, I think for a teacher it is important (very) to love what you do.  When you make it your own and teach students to "own" their learning, I believe you will see great success and reward for your efforts.


In a recent article on Edutopia,the idea of Writer's Workshop caught my attention.  I really enjoy ELA and Writing, so this is certainly something I was interested in.  I have gathered from recent Clinical experiences that ELA takes up a huge portion of the day by itself as well as being integrated into other subjects.  In fact, my CE (Clinical Educator) explained to me that in order to get quality Social Studies, Science and Math into the day, it really has to be that way.  But it makes since because reading and writing are one of the most integral parts of our lives.  We read labels, stop signs, magazines, articles, emails, etc..... and if we are not efficient in that skill it will make life kind of difficult at times.  Even with the technology that we have today, we will still need to have a basic understanding.  I know students probably don't see ELA as very important at times and probably boring, but there are ways to get them "hooked" and interested for the most part. 


The article talked about one teacher's ideas on how she sets her class up physically and practically.  She gave examples and a diagram of her room that helped illustrate how she does it:


   http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopia-scoffield-writersworkshopsecondaryclassrm.png

As you can see there are many different opportunities for students to work and learn throughout the centers.  She states:

 

"When I conduct writers' workshops in my own classroom, I adapt the station rotation model of blended learning. I set up five or six stations around my classroom. Students walk into the room and look at the assignments listed on the whiteboard. They then pick the skill that they need to develop and go to the designated station" edutopia

I like the idea of using this model because you are not "forcing" the students into an assignment, but allowing them to choose a specific area they need to work on, or that they thrive in to get them interested.  Another idea was helping students develop their Citation skills for writing research based papers:

 "Using Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) as a main source, instruct students to complete various activities that will help them build a works cited page for their own papers." edutopia

I know personally that knowing how to do this at an early age will help tremendously in College or any other situation where you are required to identify sources.  The article goes on to explain the rest of the diagram/work stations in detail: a station for working on essays, analyzing topics and other portions of what they are reading.  Also working in peer groups to better create a good amount of differentiated learning offering opportunity for each student to learn from one another.  All of these seem like a great plan to me and I can't wait to possibly try some of this out.  I think they would work well with a variety of students from Challenged learners to more advanced learners.  It offers peer grouping as well as flexibility.

This article would certainly connect with our Teaching standards (from Learn NC here is a more in-depth breakdown:) http://www.learnnc.org/?pstandards=Teachers

IVa •

Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students.

IVb •

Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.

IId •

Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.

IIa •

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults.

Works Cited:

http://www.learnnc.org/?pstandards=Teachers

  http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopia-scoffield-writersworkshopsecondaryclassrm.png

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-writers-workshop-secondary-classroom-shelby-scoffield