Entry #2 Digital Writing Workshop

When dealing with my students, the subject of writing and the spaces that surround the environment in which we write in are all very complex in their own ways.  While I was student teaching in a kindergarten classroom I believed that it was essential to introduce my students to the benefits of writing workshop.  Writing workshops can be developed in many different ways.  I would use mini lessons to develop concepts, ideas, and organization. 

I believe that it is important to model writing and show my students how to write about topics that really matter to us. While reading  Radical Reflections for clinic I discovered that giving students a real audience for writing is essential in developing language.  Fox implies that language develops only when it is used “for real” (1993).  Many times I would need to adjust my lessons and teaching according to the different needs of my students.  From this I learned that when using real topics my students were able to have a more in depth connection with their writing.  My personal favorite part of the writing workshop was having the individual conferences with students.  Although these conferences were much more difficult than I anticipated I gained an emmense amount of knowledge about each student individually.  These conferences were needed in order to help move my students forward with their writing.  I believe that when I first started conferencing with students I was using it as a time to correct errors.  I learned from this that at a kindergarten level conferencing should focus on what parts of the writing the student liked the best and where were they going with it.  I was also able to use this time to note specifics about each student, were they able to blend and segment could they use the word wall or classroom environment to find a word if needed? 

I introduced technology by having students create digital vocabulary books.  The kids used digital cameras to take pictures of things that depicted their vocabulary words. Then they uploaded them to the computers and used Windows Power Point to make slides with sentences using the vocabulary word to describe the picture they took. We printed them, laminated, and then used book binding machine to make a book!  Making these vocabulary books took a long time.  In reflection I think at the kindergarten level it would’ve been easier to begin with using a photo that went along with a single sentence they wrote.  I wasn’t prepared for the amount of time this particular lesson would take.

Looking into my future teaching I would love to use a digital writing workshop and have students create their own topic page.  Students would be able to use the internet as a learning resource.  Students would be able to choose a topic of interest and it would be intended for a real audience.

When it comes to writing whether it be with a pencil and paper or using technology I have learned that students need a foundation.  The most important is giving students a purpose for writing.  I learned that at the kindergarten level that students can only write about what they know.  I learned that I needed to be careful if I wanted to choose to use a prompt with students, this was because not all students were able to relate to particular prompts.

References:

Fox, M. (1993). Radical reflections. (p. 4). San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company.