chapter 10 Practicalities

I will echo what Jamie said about keeping the "mini-lesson" to 5 - 15 minutes. I can't seem to do that at all. I have good intentions going in to the lesson to do that but it seems like things that I am teaching as a mini-lesson, that I expect the kids to know, they don't or just don't remember. So the lesson takes longer - because it's like I am teaching a new concept.
I like the idea of setting up the expectations for reading list at the beginning of the year. I think this way the students are involved with the rules/expectations and take ownership in that and they are posted and clear from the get-go.
I also like the rules for reading workshop list. I actually did a list with the kids this year for expectations while they were in "the zone." They actually created the list of expectations themselves - I just scribed for them and then we posted them.
The final thing about the chapter that I like is categorizing the books into three types for the kids. Letting them know from the beginning about the "holiday," "just right," and "challenge" books. This can help them to be aware of what their book is considered. I am still struggling with some of my students to pick those "just right" books. Several of my students like the "holiday" books.

Practicalities

Chapter 10 provided us with a basic Workshop model for an eighty-five minute block: daily poem (5-10 min.), mini-lesson (5-15 min.), independent writing and conferencing (30 min.), book-talks and read-alouds (10 min.), independent reading and conferencing (20 min.). The most problematic element I have with this model is keeping the mini-lesson at 5-15 minutes; this is an area I have improved in throughout the year. However, hopefully I will be even better next year.

High School

I have mixed feelings towards Atwell's chapter 9 "High School." In it, she states that secondary teachers have "become enmeshed in a pedagogical paradigm that, in combination with a national standards movement, conspires to deny our secondary students easy, pleasurable access to books." Unfortunately, this "national standards movement" is simply beyond our control and can cause us to simply reduce the amount of time our students spend reading for pleasure. Atwell goes on to explain that many high school students stop reading for pleasure "due to the demands" of a rigid English curriculum. As I've stated so often before in our blogs and department discussions, I believe there needs to be a balance. Secondary teachers must follow their curriculum and novel units in order to effectively prepare students for college, while also balancing some time to give students the opportunity to choose their own texts and read for pleasure.

high school

I agree with Tammy - I found very little that was beneficial to me from this chapter. I think writers workshop is an elementary concept, we are trying to tweak it to the middle school level, but I hope the high school does not buy into and start doing this. I want my son prepared for college...prepared for what college english professors are going to want out of him quite honestly! It hit me while I was reading this chapter for some reason - I think at the middle school and high school levels our focus needs to be on getting students engaged through technology - that's what is going to peak their interest and even help them as they go in to college and beyond. I can see more benefit from that than there being such this overwhelming push of writer's workshop! Kelly - you engaged students last year to reading through the use of MP3 players...bet that was a great tool! How cool would it be for there to be a real push in the English depts for some new and innovative technology to get our kids engaged, become better readers, writers, etc... On a scale of 1 - 10... I would guess students would rank being able to use technology as a 10 in learning. Wonder where they would rank writer's workshop?

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 is on high school methods. Quite honestly, it offered little in new ideas (that are practically applicable to middle school). It's quite a challenge in itself to apply concepts to the middle school setting.

Chapter 6-Booktalking

Booktalks are something that I definitely need to improve on in my classroom. I have modeled a booktalk for my kids with a book I was reading at that time. After that, the students were very excited to share the books that they were reading. Booktalks are a great tool in the classroom because they grab the attention of the other readers in the room. The genre of the book might be something that at first they thought they would never be interested in, but after hearing the booktalk they realize that it might be a book for them. I do agree with Atwell when she says the booktalks should stay positive.

chapter 8 response..."Boys"

Yes...boys will be boys - they don't like to read as much as girls do!! It's harder to find the perfect read for them than it is for the girls in our classrooms. Of course, I am sure that it is because the majority of the books out there for middle-school aged students are pretty "girly."
I struggle, myself, with helping the boys in my classes find those just right books - but I will continue to work on it!