Any writer knows that the single scariest moment in writing is when you get your paper handed back to you from the teacher. The fear of the red pen leads sweat to figuratively and sometimes literally run down your brow. Atwell hits the nail on the head. “Writers are vulnerable.” The second a student writes their thoughts and personal stories, they are leaving themselves exposed to the comments and critiques of their teachers and sometimes their peers. Instead of just writing comments on a paper, sitting down and having a conference with the students leads to an effective dialogue that takes away some of the fear of writing. Teachers are able to show their students what they can change and how they can do it. Instead of criticizing the writing, help them to improve their writing.
The purpose of the conference is not to rewrite their paper, it is a time for students to share what they wrote, why they wrote, and how they feel about their writing. When you conference with your students, you enable them to share more of themselves and their writing.
Atwell recommends that when working with readers, journal writing is an effective way to have students reflect on what they have read. Students should be reminded that their journals are not a test of their writing skills or their reading skills.
When we think of journal writing, we do not think of responding as well. Atwell describes not only students writing responses, but teachers responding as well. I can understand how this could be an effective learning tool. Students know that they there responses are not just going to be checked and thrown to the side. They are aware that there writing should be thoughtful because the teacher’s writing is thoughtful as well.
Because you have kept your workshop organized, your students should be able to understand and appreciate the journal writing as a way to organize their thoughts as well.
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