In English classrooms, it is essential to find various strategies that not only engage students, but also develop their skills. Two strategies that I've encountered so far in my course readings that have stood out to me are writing workshops and temporal landmarks. By combining writing workshops with key moments for reflection, English classrooms can create a supportive environment that fosters confident writers, enhances writing skills, and helps students keep track of their progress. Writing workshops, which Steve Peha spends some time discussing in Welcome to Writer's Workshop, help develop stronger writers. In writing workshops, students have more opportunities to actively engage with their writing rather than completing repetitive class work. Between the mini-lessons, status checks, writing time, and sharing, students have several opportunities to learn new strategies and apply them authentically over time. As Steve Peha puts it, "They spend more time applying what they've learned authentically. They spend time writing and sharing-- two things they enjoy--instead of doing things they find boring and meaningless" (Peha, 1995-2010). When students are constantly pressured to take a test or fill out a worksheet applying their new knowledge, they sometimes forget to actually take in the new knowledge and apply it in their own writing. With writing workshops, that pressure is lifted off of students since they have the opportunity to apply it on their own way, on their own terms.
On the other hand, temporal landmarks, as discussed in Chapter 2 of Troy Hick's, Creating Confident Writers: For High School, College, and Life, highlight the necessity for individual reflection. These temporal landmarks, or "checkpoints," serve as a moment for students to pause and reflect on their progress, assessing any personal writing goals they've set for themselves, and creating any new ones they find fit. Troy Hicks puts it perfectly when he quotes Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Jason Riis, "temporal landmarks interrupt attention to day-to-day minutiae, causing people to take a big picture view of their lives and thus focusing on achieving their goals" (Hicks, 2020). When students are finding themselves rushing to get work done on time, they sometimes forget to pause and reflect on the quality of the work they are doing, and making sure they are achieving their writing goal they set out for themselves in the first place. By implementing time in our classrooms for temporal landmarks, we are giving students a chance to make sure they are writing something they are proud of and reaching their writing goals.
One potential drawback to writing workshops is that some students may struggle with time management within their writing time. With free writing time, students may feel stuck at times, or fail to reflect on their progress. One potential drawback of temporal landmarks is that students may fail to be completely honest with themselves. Students may feel lazy at times, or like they did "enough" when doing the bare minimum during their personal reflection time. This can prevent students from going the extra mile and putting in the work to make their writing stand out. However, both of these drawbacks are easily remedied by implementing writing workshop and temporal landmark techniques together in classrooms. When it comes to potential time management struggles for students with writing workshops, temporal landmarks being implemented can help students manage their time. By setting aside time for these reflections, students can make sure they are achieving their writing goals as their writing is progressing. Writing workshops remedy the potential drawback of temporal landmarks because of the sharing aspect. During these moments, students are asked to share with the teacher and their classmates who can offer feedback. This can help students see a new perspective they may not see on their own during their reflections. In conclusion, blending writing workshops with temporal landmarks creates a supportive classroom environment that fosters confident writers and skill improvement. Would you consider using writing workshop and temporal landmark strategies in your classroom?
Sources:
Hicks, T. (2020). Chapter 2 Setting Goals. In Creating Confident Writers: For High School, College, and Life. essay.
Peha, S. (1995-2010). Welcome to Writer's Workshop. Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. https://ttms.box.net/shared/static/18htc7rcb2.pdf
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