Writing Workshop

During my schooling I can only really remember using the writing process when writing papers. We would always begin with pre-writing, which would be brainstorming and creating a web of our thoughts. We continued each step in the writing process until our paper was complete. I always looked at writing in school as a long, tedious process which not many people enjoyed. Many of my teachers gave us a topic or a general idea of what we needed to be writing about in our papers, but it always seemed more interesting and engaging when we were able to choose what we wanted to write about.

I like the idea how the writing workshop focuses on the writers and not so much the process that writing goes through. I agree with the fact that, "In a writing workshop, one of the main goals teachers have is to help students find good reasons to write. These teachers feel that nothing else matters if students aren't finding writing projects in which they can become deeply involved." Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, when I was a high school student, I felt more interested and motivated to write about a topic that interested me. Students will have an easier time producing the content for a paper when they are honestly interested in their writing.

I know in many classrooms today, many students are interested in the final outcome rather than the process and learning along the way. The reason for this stems from students only caring about the grade that make on the assignment or being completely bored with the assignment. When students understand the purpose of the assignment and they are not bored with it, they usually tend to focus more on the process of the assignment.
I like the idea of the writing workshop being a tool for students to continue being successful with their writing in the future. The students gain skills and knowledge about writing along the way which will be helpful in their futures.

One idea that stuck out to me while reading that I never really though through before was the idea of giving the students options on the environment the choose to write in. I completely agree that inspiration to write does not only come from a classroom with four walls and students staring into space. I know personally that when I write, I need time and outside inspiration to be creative. Sometimes researching or even discussing ideas with other classmates is helpful with writing.

The writing workshop so far sounds like an excellent approach to writing, especially in an elementary classroom. However, I still feel unclear on how to introduce it to students and begin discussing the main points without being overwhelming.