“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.”
J.K. Rowling
I first encountered writing workshops as a pedagogical practice back in the nineties. I learned at the feet of such greats as Donald Graves and Nancie Atwell.
Over the years, I have experienced writing workshops from all angles: teacher, writer, workshop-facilitator. It has become clear to me that writing workshops aren’t *just* about writing.
The Advantages of Writing Workshops:
- Self-Expression and Choice
Besides the obvious academic benefits of writing, expressing yourself on paper makes you happier. Writing alleviates stress and boosts confidence. It gives each of us an opportunity to explore our own thoughts and to pull the covers off our anxieties, exposing them for what they truly are. It allows us a sense of control no matter how unpredictable our lives are.
- Connecting to Each Other
In the environment of a supportive writing community, one feels less alone. It is also a place where students can see how their ideas are similar and how they are different, and it is a place where we teachers can emphasize this important truth: every one of us has something important to say. This sense of writerly camaraderie and respect ripples out into all aspects of classroom culture.
- Authentic Learning and Student Independence
The very nature of a writing workshop lends itself to fostering student independence and agency. Writing moves from being an assignment one has to suffer through to get a good grade to a worthy endeavor in which students make all the important decisions “real” writers make: topic, audience, style, form. Students are invested because they determine their own topics and purposes.
- Encouraging Students to Dream Wildly
No matter the subject, writing is an exercise in optimism. Giving students the place, permission, and community in which to express themselves however they choose encourages the kind of wild, out loud dreaming that extends itself beyond the reaches of our classrooms. This habit of dreaming has untold power in our students’ lives, and, by extension, in the entire world’s future–anything is possible.
First Steps to Creating a Writing Workshop
- Daily Journal Writing
Students must first get into the habit of writing without editing. They need a safe place for frequent, low-stakes writing. That place is your ordinary composition book, a given topic, and a time limit. At the start of each class, students free-write for five minutes. There are a number of places to find journal-writing topics online. I also supply thought-provoking quotes, first lines of fiction to write from, and picture prompts. I tell them that it’s okay to get off topic. It’s okay to write about whatever you want if you don’t like the topic of the day. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation. Make a list if you want. Just write.
- Selecting, Drafting, Sharing
Through journaling, students collect ideas and rough drafts for creating working drafts. At every stage, I model the process, taking pictures of my messy journal entries to post digitally and talking them through the decisions I’m making as I type out a gem from my journal, putting emphasis on the plasticity of all of it. Students should be encouraged to trust their own instincts when it comes to their work, with plenty of gentle nudging and technique-focused mini-lessons along the way. Students then share a piece of writing on a shared google slides deck.
- Feedback, Revision and Editing
We first watch “Austin’s Butterfly” to illustrate how small, specific pieces of feedback can help a student improve his/her work dramatically. Students are then required to use digital post-it notes to respond to at least three of their peers’ work. Students give their feedback in two-three sentences. They must begin by stating one thing they love about the piece. Ideas include how the writer gets the reader’s attention, a specific detail that brings the piece of writing to life, or the overall idea for the piece of writing. Then, they offer critical feedback, either offering a suggestion, beginning with the prescribed phrase: “I wonder what would happen if…” Or, students point out places where ideas need to be clarified: “I was a little confused when…” This feedback is incredibly important and requires a great deal of modeling. Students are not permitted to comment on grammar usage, punctuation, or spelling–that’s my job as the editor.
I hold mini-conferences with each student, helping them measure their purposes of writing against the feedback they receive. This, in addition to whole-class mini-lessons, gives me a chance to teach specific writing skills.
- Publishing
Publishing work can take many forms. I love to host student readings, either in-person or virtually, and create digital publications, including online literary journals and blogs. One idea I’m currently working on is online journals that are edited by students, wherein students create a literary magazine with a theme, such as Science Fiction or Opinion-Writing and students then “submit” their work for consideration. Students also keep their writing pieces in individual portfolios for record-keeping and ongoing assessment. I keep a record to ensure students reach Common Core standards in the three major forms of writing: explanatory, argumentative, and narrative by the end of the year.
Inspire! Middle Grades ELA and Social Studies 