"Writing is like going Fishing..."

"Writing is like going fishing...when you do it you're just fishing and it's very much a state of being and doing that separates you from any other activity"

I feel as though I all of a sudden have a passion for writing that I never had before. After reading chapter 1-5 of The Writing Workshop: Working through the Hard Parts (And They’re All Hard Parts) by Katie Wood Ray I have a new idea and inspiration for writing.

In the beginning on chapter 1 I initially identified with the Katie when she talked about how teachers “think” they have a class where writing workshops take place, but really they just have their students dance through the writing process. And usually the students don’t really dance, they drag their feet because the writing process is not about discovery or learning to be a writer, it’s just BORING. I connected with Katie because this is how I remember writing to be in Elementary school, very strict and structured. Although in my third grade class I remember having a writing journal wherein on Friday we had “free write” time where we could write whatever we wanted and that was my FAVORITE time to write.

                “As teachers we really do not have the right to make this decision for students.” AMEN SISTA’! One of the things I have enjoyed while being in the Elementary Education Program is that most teachers assign specific topics or pose certain question such as; what is your philosophy of teaching? But I am not give a direct to take that in, or a specific limit on how much I HAVE TO WRITE, it is all very free. I understand that given the specific topic is a little limiting, but it is refreshing to know that I don’t have to STRESS over writing what I think my professor wants me to write. This is how I would love writing in my future classroom to feel and look like.

                I enjoyed Katie’s thoughts on how incorporating writing into other curriculum is not enough it needs its own space. For example she said, “I believe reading and writing, as content areas, are different from other because they are thing you do, not things you know.” I had never thought about this before. Before reading this book I thought that students doing writing throughout day in other content areas was just enough, but now I realize that I was VERY wrong. Writing IS A THING YOU DO, not a thing you know. It really wouldn’t make sense to say “I KNOW WRITING” rather “WRITING IS SOMETHING I DO.” So I wonder how I evoke this message to other teachers who still think the way I USED TO THINK?

                I have never really thought of myself as a “writer” but after reading chapter 3, I am thinking a little differently. I liked Katie’s analogy of asking herself if she considers herself a cook because she spends a lot of time cooking. I, too spend a lot of time cooking and after reading Katie’s analogy I might consider myself a cook, but it is a little more difficult to consider myself a writer. Although after reflecting on all the different types of writing I do, I believe I do consider myself A WRITER. Must all successful teachers think of themselves as writers?

                I like the idea of setting a TONE in the classroom of writing. Have the students view the teacher as a writer because she is just a fluid in the classroom as the students as. In my future classroom I do not envision myself to be separated from my students instead I want to look like one of them, fully engaged in the “activities” of the classroom. Applying this to the writing workshop I like that the teacher should be writing also and that the students should know and be able to describe their teacher as a writer. The she/he has had good days and bad days as a writer too.

                The last two things I enjoyed from Katie was the RITUAL of having writing workshop mirror the routine of lunchtime. I too believe is consistency. Also I LOVED the idea of having a Publishing Party where people outside the classroom are invited and students are able to share their work. This would be a great way to HONOR the student’s hard work that they produced in the writing workshop. It would also show the students how much the teacher VALUES their work.