Distractions in Writing Workshop Chapters 7, 8, 19

I thought the advice from Katie Ray Wood, at the beginning of chapter seven,about writing workshop and how to handle distractions was very helpful.
When planning for good writing workshop management the three main things to think about are presence, space, and supplies.
The teacher's presence in the classroom is important because it helps us manage the students' behavior. I agree that having the teacher moving around the classroom is easier and more practical than students coming up to the teacher for help or questions. It also allows students to see the teacher's presence and understand the teacher's interest in their writing. In my field experience I try to walk around the room during writing time to show the students that I am there to help, give advice, or look over their writing.
It is essential for a writing workshop classroom to have space where all students come together, especially for a focus or share session. The classroom I am in this semester, fourth grade, does not have a space like this, but my teacher does not use writing workshop. He gives the students a writing prompt and many times the students are allowed to work in pairs or small groups.
When thinking about supplies, we often think that students only need pen and paper. Katie Ray Wood states that different kinds of writing supplies support the independent work of the writers. "The more tools the better" she states. This can include but is not limited to highlighters, pens, markers, pencils, paper clips, sticky notes, index cards, staples, scratch paper etc.
The students in my field placement have writing journals, which work out well for them. Many times they do their prewriting on separate paper or by using a graphic organizer. I think they would benefit from more supplies as well.

Conferring can be unpredictable...

I think conferring , like Kate Ray states, can help build learning relationships between students and teachers. Students are able to open up and explain how and what they are thinking. Even though we, as teachers, cannot prepare ourselves for what students might say, it can be a raw and honest time with a student. This aspect of writing keeps it interesting and unpredictable.
When I have my own classroom, I plan to implement writing workshop and make it evident to students that I care about their writing and what they have to say.
During traditional writing teacher, students raise their hands for help and the teacher will answer their question. During writing workshop and conferring, most teachers keep a running record of which students they have conferred with. This record allows the teacher to keep control to provide equal opportunities for the students and their conferring  time.
In my current field experience, my mentor teacher does not use writing workshop with the students. I am in a fourth grade classroom and I feel that at this age the students can be very successful with writing workshop. I think when a teacher uses conferring in the classroom, it allows all the students to become more independent with their writing. For example, Katie Ray states, "I always have students who come up to me while I'm conferring with other students . What I say to them is, Is this something you can take care of yourself? Because I really need you to do that." I think this is an excellent strategy to instill confidence and independence in the students and create an environment without disruptions.

Chapters 6 and 11

I know we were not required to post for these chapters, but I was interested in the topics they covered. I thought it was so important in chapter 11 when the reading mentioned how students should be able to choose what they want to write about relating to a general topic. The example in the reading stated that the lesson was about descriptive writing techniques and every student had to use their five senses to describe their kitchen. However, students come from different backgrounds and should have the option to use descriptive writing techniques and their five senses in order to describe any location in the world they feel like.

In chapter 6, it was motivational to read about having faith in students during independent writing time. It is supposed to be the least structured time during the writing workshop because the students work individually on their writing. As teachers we need to teach our students how to direct their own work during a large piece of independent time during writing workshop.