April 10th Extra Credit 401

Routman chapter 7

In this chapter, it talks about how you need to focus on teaching the writing part instead of focusing on the test part. The writing as a whole needs to happen first and then after that, you can go back and talk with the student about their individual needs. One of Regie Routman’s comparisons to this writing is like giving a child a puzzle to complete without looking at the picture. Through this, it allows the student to write everything down and then go back and tear things apart. Routman basically says to let the students write first before organizing. After they get all of their thoughts down on paper, they can then organize. Students tend to write more in something they’re interested in and when they’re given a choice in what they write, it might be more beneficial to them and the teacher. It is also stated that as teachers, we need to explain the importance of the tasks we make our students do. What we teach needs to be important and it can show the students that it is important to their lives. Just like anything else, when we are interested in doing something, we put more time and effort into it. In Routman’s list of what good writers do, they use descriptive words and make the beginning and the ending exciting and memorable. After writing a great piece of work, the next step is editing. Routman says that you should teach the editing process after the students learn how to write good work. To have them edit later allows them to write what they want and it won’t discourage them as they write. Lastly, as a shock, Routman says that you should limit how much the students use the thesaurus and dictionary. When these tools are used in the writing process, it slows things down and interrupts the writing, according to Regie.

Routman chapter 9

When students write, it is important to have conferences. When the teacher conferences with the students, it can be about many different things; positive or negative, about writing or about other things pertaining to writing. Routman suggests that one-one one scheduled conferences can be made with students who really need help or who are absolutely ready for it.  Regie’s suggestions are as follows, “Do everything good writers do, make it your best, reread several times for clarity/organization, follow directions, and complete all requirements.” When writing, having a conference about editing should be the last step. The students need to do their writing, work on it to their best ability, and then when they’re done, have it edited. When edited right away, it might take away from the flow of the student’s writing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9zwCVMT-wE This video ties into the chapter about teacher conferences. I really like this video because it allows us to see a conference in action and see what the teacher is doing and what the student is doing. We get both sides of this writing conference.  

Veronica, Lauren, and Brittany