On Monday I attended an All-Write meeting with literacy coaches across Indiana & Michigan. One line from the meeting has been glued to my mind. Kristen Horrell and Karla Hayden commented about Workshop teaching: “It’s so simple!” they said.
Sometimes we spend our time making things more complicated than they need to be. If we stop ourselves and ask, What are the basic needs for my students as readers and writers? I think we’ll find quite a simple list. Here is a start (only a start), because I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about the most critical needs for our students as readers and writers.
- A personal purpose for writing.
- An interesting book with accessible text.
- Time to read and write.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 
Confidence in themselves that they can do it, and confidence that others will want to read it.
LikeLike
I wholeheartedly agree with what Karren wrote! I just wrote something about that same subject over at the Stenhouse Blog, http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2010/03/18/are-you-ready-to-become-a-teacher-writer/.
LikeLike
A group of supportive peers to write with!
Someone to bounce ideas off of, someone to encourage, someone to praise, someone to rant to, someone to take a break with…
LikeLike
When you put it that way, it does sound so simple. I would add that every student needs a teacher who is also a writer and can appreciate and understand being in their “writing” shoes.
LikeLike
I totally agree. Simple and not!
Bonnie
LikeLike