1 THE RIGHT TO BE REFLECTIVE...
Muriel and I talked today about focusing our blog on ideas and books that have worked for us in the classroom...ideas based on our philosophy of writing across the curriculum.
One of the books I used extensively in teaching a graduate class in writing to cross-curricular teachers was, The 9 Rights of Every Writer by Vicki Spandel. This book lays an excellent foundation for all types of writing assignments as well as assessments. The following 9 rights are carefully addressed and elaborated on in the book.
1. The Right to be Reflective
2. The Right to Choose a Personally Important Topic
3. The Right to Go "Off Topic"
4. The Right to Personalize the Writing Process
5. The Right to Write Badly
6. The Right to See Others Write
7. The Right to be Assessed Well
8. The Right to go Beyond Formula
9.The Right to Find Your Own Voice
Taking a look at #1, The Right to Be Reflective, seems almost like a given, but in reality, how much time do we give students to quietly reflect on a topic before they write about it? Spandel suggests giving students some quiet time and "expressing and modeling" our own need for quiet time to write. This definitely means that when students are writing, we're writing as well. Try it for a short time, at first...maybe 10 minutes, maybe a little less. You know your students. Keep the class silent, and set a timer. I've found that not everyone writes the first time, but once this quiet time becomes part of classroom routine, everyone eventually joins in.
What to write about?
It helps if you've had a provocative reading or discussion ahead of the writing. Or perhaps you've brought in something to examine. (This works across the curriculum - ELA, Science, Social Studies, Art, etc.) In any case, there is a jumping-off point for students to think about and put their thoughts on paper. Students are also very interested in what you write about, so at the end of the time, give students a chance to share what they've written with a partner and perhaps a few with the whole class - including your own.
By giving our students quiet time to reflect and write on what we are studying, we are validating their thinking, and thinking leads to success in writing.
Next time: The Right to Choose a Personally Important Topic.
Many of us in the Minnesota Writing Project kept (or keep) journals. When I was actively teaching students, I always had them keep journals – some of the entries were meant to be completely private (and I always respected their wishes). I found the journal to be a great resource for ideas for future writing assignments. It also worked as a great way to focus the daily classroom activity. Students knew that the first five/ten minutes of class were a time to write in their journals. I usually had a quotation on the board that could be used to respond to, but they were free to use the time for their own reflections. As computers/laptops became more prevalent in the classroom, the students could use those as a place for writing. Every so often, students were asked to identify entries that they were willing to share with me.
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