Writing Essentials- Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing

Organization in a classroom isn’t just for a pretty appearance. It is to maintain routines and simplify procedures as much as possible. Students can run programs effectively and efficiently when they know how the routines and procedures work as well as where supplies are taken care of. It doesn’t matter how organized the classroom is if a teacher does not have a true believe or philosophy that writing matters. The true test of organization of the supplies, routines, and procedures is to have a substitute for a day. Can the students continue their writing projects and take up where they left off?



(Photo borrowed from a great classroom site: http://www.cjonesfirstgrade.com/Our%20Classroom.htm)Writing requires daily commitment from teachers and students. Many times the biggest excuse for NOT doing something is because we lack the time. All teachers are given approximately the same amount of school hours, yet some choose their priorities differently to make sure that writing is included. Take a moment to ponder what your priorities are for teaching writing. Simply put, teachers make time for what they value.


Students need to be guided how to select topics to write about. Explicit modeling of how the teacher narrows down their list can help students to hone in on what they could put on their list of topics and which ones would be most interesting to their audience. Students should be shown how planning, pre-writing, and free-writing can help them through the writing process. By modeling different ways of doing each step, students can start to see that everyone has a different style for the steps of writing. We shouldn’t always push the same graphic organizers or paper for students to compose on. Students are very creative in making things work for what they need. Routman says, “don’t expect high-quality writing from your kids unless you’re modeling what high-quality writing looks and sounds like.”


Always take time to celebrate accomplishments in the students’ writings. Don’t ever allow time to run out before this is done. Students need time to shine and feel good about their writing if they are going to continue to give effort to it.


Writing can be such a powerful use of Random Acts of Kindness. This is a big subject for me as I try to make as much positive contact with my parents of students as possible. That way, if there is ever a problem to arise, they know I am looking out for the best interest of their child. I would hand-write notes home about once a week- choosing 1 kid per grade level (so 6 notes) – and these notes had profound effects. When students knew the nice things I was writing about them, they performed better for me. One note went home on a day that the parent had been laid off from their job. The note brought happy tears and could not have come at a better time. The kid was so thankful that they had that to comfort their parent. Many times, I’ve been told about the random acts of kindness that can happen through just a simple, handwritten note.


Some questions to ponder about this chapter:


• How is my classroom organized so that it is conducive to the learning environment? How would I rate my organizational skills?


• What is Writing Workshop and how does it look in your classroom?


• What is my priority for teaching writing?


• Do I have a philosophy or special believe pertaining to teaching writing?

• Are my students aware of the criteria for writing before I turn them loose to write on their own?


• Do my students hold effective peer conferences?

• Have I encouraged my students to use writing to inspire Random Acts of Kindness?

• Am I teaching writing or writers?