Reflection

NIWP
Chapter 11: Establishing a Predictable Workshop Environment
by Lucy Calkins

In my classroom, there are somethings that I do routinely, and others that I think are done by a desire to squeeze something else in, or shake things up a little. But, Lucy Calkins has come to realize that "we (as teachers) need to anticipate how we will initiate, scaffold, and guide the classroom community toward an ever-deepening involvement, and we need to select rituals, arrangements, and classroom structures." Calkins goes on to paraphrase Don Graves, "The best workshop teachers value structure and organization." Important concepts that I need to guide my teaching towards, to frame my classroom planning and function around.

Calkins urges teachers to give their students an hour a day, every day, to write. That would be nice, but there's no way I have that much time available. While I'll have my students for two periods, back to back, I have to split that time between writing, reading and geography - about 33 minutes each if you divide them equally. I'm still debating how to do all of this in such a short time.

On another note, my favorite time of day for this class has become 10:30 - when I know I'll have uninterrupted time to work. I need to be able to give this gift to my kids since it can become such a rewarding work time.

This year I've had posters covering many of my walls, but after our readings, I realize how important it is that I post student writing, advertisig their success for others to see. Maybe I'll make two copies their papers, handback the originals, post one copy and put the other copy in their portfolio collection. I would also like to explore the idea of Publications Celebrations - maybe coffee and donuts before school when parents or relatives are dropping their kids off. Another thought to run by my peers - maybe we could do a multi-grade situation in the cafeteria?