Chapter 3

Share your writing life. I fully understand where the author is coming from, but this isn't something that excites me. Like I said earlier I don't really like to write and I don't feel comfortable doing it. Luckily I teach 2nd grade so my writings are geared more towards younger students. Many times I know what I want to say, but then when I try to express that in writing it just doesn't come out right.
I feel like a big part of my dislike of writing is that I don't remember ever really being taught how to teach writing. I remember having reading classes, math classes, science classes, etc. but I don't remember a college class that instructed us on how to teach writing. This year I have been using Write 4 Today and it has given me some structure. I am sure it isn't the best way, but for now it is better than what I had been doing. I am very curious to see what ideas and strategies this book has to offer.

Chapter 2

I was able to identify a little more with this chapter. My students love to share their writing with each other. I try to at least once a week set aside time for all of the students to read what they have written in their journal aloud to the class. We make a big production out of it. The students have to come up to the front of the room and are allowed to answer a few questions after they are done reading. Most of the time this takes about 30-45 minutes to get through everyone. The students are really interested in what the others have written and it is something they really enjoy.
This chapter mentioned that as teachers we shouldn't make many corrections or pick apart a student's writing. I am not sure what is a realistic expectation for 2nd grade writing. I know what others have done in the past and I know what the standards say, but do I sometimes let this go and not point out the mistakes or do I need to point them out so that the students will learn the correct way? I don't want to squelsh their creativity or ideas, but at the same time I want them to think about capital letters and end marks.
As I read this chapter I realized that I don't write as many positve comments on the students' writing as I probably should. When I do it is very generic. I need to be more specific about things that I liked. I am going to make a conscious effort to include more positive comments from now on.

Chapter 1

The author states that her purpose of writing this book is to make teaching writing more fun, easier, and manageable. This made me sit up and take notice. I really need some ideas to make these things happen. I don't really care for writing myself, but I try very hard not to let that show with my students. The majority of them at the 2nd grade level are still excited and enjoy writing. I find it hard to balance trying to teach them the correct way to write-capital letters, end marks, etc- and letting them just write and get their thoughts down.
The 12 Writing Essentials also caught my eye. I think I am going to make at least some of them into a poster to place in my room. My students and I have the discussion quite frequently about how "good" is not an answer to every question. One of the essentials is to embrace language and to fool with words. Maybe if my students see this coming from somewhere else they won't think it is just their teacher trying to make things hard for them. : )  It would be great if all students found writing to be fun and exciting and we as teachers could simplify how we teach it. It is my hope that this book will be the tool that helps me to make all of these wonderful things happen in my classroom.