Chapters 7, 8, and 19

                While I have only been in my current field placement for four days now, I have seen the students in my first grade class publish their writing several times.  I actually find this astonishing because right now they are working on persuasive writing pieces, and some of them are at a loss on what to persuade their reader about.  I have to agree with Ray declaring in response to thinking about how many and how often to publish when she states on page 259 that “the first thing to think about in response to both these questions is that students need to publish a lot.”  I agree with her because it gives the students more opportunities to complete the “writing journey” if they publish a lot of their work.  I also think that if students complete this journey more often than not, they will create a sense of pride about themselves as writers.  This will help students create a more positive attitude about writing and make you have writing students!  My teacher also displays these published pieces outside of the classroom for people to read.  Most of the students in our class get very excited about their work when they know that others are going to be reading them.

                In addition to publishing pieces a lot, my mentor teacher also creates some “kind of place where students come together” (page 76).  The students are encouraged to come together and share in smaller groups, typically finding one other student to share their work with.  They can select any space in the room as long as it is away from the students who are still working on their writing.  I have observed students during this time and it is interesting to watch their interactions.  Most of them read each others papers and give positive feedback like “Sarah, you’re writing is so good.  I love what you talked about.”  Allowing students to select their conferencing atmosphere allows them to be more comfortable and more open to a positive experience with writing.

                To end, I have to add that I have been a “strong presence” for my students during writing time.  I walk around the entire classroom and talk to more than half of the class (or so I think :0)! ) everyday about what they are writing about and why.  The students all have different perspectives and writing styles.  It takes some of them 20 minutes to construct a good piece of writing, where it may take another student more than the given amount of writing time to finish his piece.  Some students are also more concise and write five words in their sentences, where others are find the need to write as much as they need to make their piece descriptive.  Consequently, going from desk to desk helps me view and appreciate each and every one of the students as an individual writer.