Merry Christmas Institute Teachers

Just wanted to take a moment and say Merry Christmas to all of you! While you have been working hard in the trenches of candy and christmas ornaments I have been at my desk planning for another powerful Writer's Workshop Institute session! I will see you in January- 2010!

I'm Having So Much Fun

Hello girls! I have had WW every day this week, and it is going really well! It's so much fun! The kids are just bananas over it. They get so excited that they can hardly wait until after recess, when we do it. If I'm a minute late getting started, they call me on it. It's so cool! We have made anchor charts and dedicated an entire bulletin board to writing. I bought some pocket-sized spiral notebooks for them to use as their "Traveling Writer's Notebook." You'd have thought I'd given them gold or something. Every morning they come in and show me their ideas for writing. One girl was in the middle of telling me something that had happened to her the night before, and in mid-sentence she said, "I should be writing this in my Writer's Notebook!" It was awesome! I just couldn't help but share with all of you. Thank everyone for their support and great ideas! Wow!

I Finally Figured it out!

I have had the hardest time logging on. I just got my GMail account back on today (after many emails back and forth with goggle). I am not gifted with the skills for working online. I was very excited to read through the blog, I just wish I could have got it together a little sooner.
I am off to a promising start. We have established some good procedures, and started with the writing process. Some things are going great. Time is productive, lesson format (mini lesson, writing time, share time)is working, and seeing children trying new things. Some things are a struggle. Managing papers with 38 students(2classes), time to visit with everybody and meeting all students writing needs. I love the workshop and can not wait for tomorrow! I need someideas for time management:)

Getting My Feet Wet

Well, I've made the plung and my Kindergarten class has started to create their own ideas on sequels to the Curious George books we have been enjoying. Just getting them thinking as writers was my goal and we have many exciting ideas developing. We decided as a class to have George at a Carnival. We are making Half books with lines at the bottom and space to draw at the top and folding them in half with a title on the outside; because authors are sometimes the illustrator of their book. Next step I will let each student decide and write on what will happen to George at the Carnival when he gets curious. We hope to have each student read their version of what happens to George.

About posting on the blog

Does everybody know that you have to click on the little orange B in the top left corner in order to start a post? (Just fyi--it took me a while to figure that out.) Of course, there may be some other way that everyone else has discovered that I have yet to figure out. :-)

I cannot respond to posts. Can anybody help me with that? Obviously, I'm signed in because I can start new posts, I just can't respond.

I find Ning and Yahoo groups much easier to use than Blogger. (just whining...)

Response to Becky

One thing I learned last year is that writing workshop is hard! It's the epitome of differentiation and so rewarding--but tough. I say that, and I didn't even have to use CSCOPE or any mandated method, package, etc. (I am glad CSCOPE is moving in the right direction in case I ever have to use it.)

I needed a lot of guidance and support. I found some through books and online groups. I would say that (unless you read a book on WW by Katie Wood Ray, Lucy Calkins, Ralph Fletcher, etc.) it will be very difficult to have a good grasp on it until we finish all five sessions of the workshop.

Last year when I started, I decided to be satisfied with starting slow, getting my feet wet, seeing a little bit of its power, and being resolved to do better next year. :-)

I'm not finding the blog very user-friendly. I can't respond to posts. This is the second time I've tried to respond to someone and was unable to do it. I decided to just put it in a new entry.

Frustrated and a bit Discouraged

Well, since I don't see a lot of posts, and I am "stuck", I thought I'd see if anyone else is in the same boat. My heart wants to stop everything else I'm doing in my classroom and write! But alas, CScope is dictating much of what I do! I haven't learned the art of doing it all, even after 35 years of teaching!! So my question is, how do I facilitate writing for any length of time, when I am required to do so many other things instead, and at the same time? I am trying, but I just don't feel as if I'm doing a good job! Being a perfectionist of sorts, this is difficult for me. If we're gonna do it, let's do it right! I may be alone in this, and that's okay, but if I'm alone, that means there are bunches of you who have it all together! So...Help!!! I loved our workshop, and I learned so much. I am just having great difficulty getting started. Any ideas would be more than welcome! I can hardly wait to meet in November!

Ok. I need help. I really enjoyed the Writer's Workshop meeting. I'm really excited about it and want to start using it ASAP. Only problem...... I haven't the foggiest idea where to begin. Help anyone????? I only teach 4th grade spelling, writing, and grammar, but am not sure how to incorporate the workshop into all of this. Any ideas????

How is it going?

How is it going out there? What are your triumphs and challenges? I am planning for our next session. What do you need from me? Talk to me ladies. I am worried becuase you are so quiet! I am also cheering you on! Any steps you take to giving your students TIME to write, on a CHOICE of topic and the GRACE to be in the beginning stages of the Writing Club... is a move in the right direction! We are all in this journey together!

Getting Started

On Monday, I will start Writer's Workshop with my Kindergarten class. I have done a Writer's Workshop in the past, but after our first session, I decided to approach it a little differently this time. I won't be running around the room trying to transcribe for the kids. That was exhausting. I had never thought about the fact that I don't fix their pictures so why should I fix their words? I'm going to start with the book "Will You Be My Friend?" by Eric Carle and show the class how to tell a story with pictures. I'll let you know what happens.

Online Resources

I found this entire book online last year (through ERIC): Primary Writer's Workshop: Developing Process Writing Skills.

It has some good management ideas and is a quick read. You can download/save it to read from your computer. (Click on the book title for the link.)

Another book I found online is Vicki Spandel's Seeing With New Eyes. I just stumbled across it yesterday, so I haven't read it yet. It's a long one--over 300 pages. It's about assessing primary writing. (Click on the book title for the link.)

A couple of resources online that I think are very useful.

Jessica Meacham's site (Melissa mentioned this one at the workshop. Lots of minilesson ideas & forms)

Picture book inspired lessons at Writing Fix

Lesson plans and powerpoints for teaching using writing workshop


Diane

OK! This Blog thing is new to me, and I am proud of myself for following through with this. I am glad that I did because now I feel as though I have my own little writing family to share with on this journey. Our first workshop was so very enlightening for me. It completely turned my way of thinking around - as far as teaching writing is concerned. I am so excited about it that I am going to start my 6 year old daughter on it. I think that helping her create a writer's notebook and writing folder will not only help to prepare her to be a life-long writer, but also bond us together by keeping important memories and thoughts etc. in a special place to share. I am also sharing this with our K, 1 and 2 teachers and hope to be able to recruit some of them to the next workshop in November.

Units of Study (Calkins)

I mentioned the Units of Study by Lucy Calkins at the workshop today. It's how I got started with Writers Workshop. They are fabulous, but I still felt like a lone leaf on a tree trying to implement them... ;-) Thanks, Melissa, for leading this institute and creating this blog for sharing.

I have some detailed lessons plans that were written for the first unit in Calkins's set, Launching the Writing Workshop. They are for K-2. If anyone wants a copy, let me know. I'll send them to you.

Blog

I thought today went well, and I am REALLY looking forward to us sharing our ideas, experiences, and needs through the Institute AND blog.

I learned so much information today at the workshop. I am a little nervous about getting started, but I am excited. I had a good idea about how to implement writer's workshop, or at least I thought I did, but after today, I know I can do it. I am going to start on Monday!

Welcome

Welcome to our Writer's Workshop Institute Blog! I wanted to create a way for us to collaborate outside of our Institute time and considering we are practicing our own personal writing skills- a Blog seemed to be the perfect answer. I am curious to see how this Blog will evolve. It can become what we need it to be. It is like having some seeds, without a picture of what may grow on the outside of the package. What do you want this to become? How do you see yourself using it to talk with others in our Institute? Haven't you always wondered what it would be like to have 20+ people to talk to about what you are doing in your classroom while KNOWING they are doing the same thing? I know I have. This Blog can be a place where we ask each other questions and get answers. Perhaps we use this as a place to share our triumphs. We can cry on shoulders or help each other dust off our pants when we've had a bad day of Writer's Workshop. If you are a member of this Institute, you are truly a pioneer in my mind. You are blazing a trail and I am honored to be your "guide" in a sense. This is a journey- welcome to the Writer's Workshop Institute.