When in doubt, ask the experts: your students

Posted on Mar 17 2010 at 2:07 PM

 


By Mollie Dickson
 
Last night I had the opportunity to represent first-year teachers on a panel at Lewis and Clark College. I told stories to capture my year of challenges and celebrations; I spoke to what inspires and sustains us in doing this meaningful work; and I shared with them my greatest piece of advice: listen to your students.

7th period yesterday, I told my kids I was going to be talking with a group of aspiring teachers, and because I valued their input, I asked them to jot down two things: one piece of advice they would like to share with a new Language Arts teacher and what they feel is the best thing about our Writer's Workshop. I collected their words of wisdom, quickly typed them out (not changing a word!), and distributed these to the very grateful MAT students.

Now, I am passing their words on to a wider audience... because it's not just for a new teacher; we can all learn from their insights. So enjoy! And remember: If you ever need a bit of guidance, turn to the experts: your students.
 
 

Advice for a new teacher (from the ones who know best):

· Let kids share their writing a lot; it can make sparks fly! (Tom)

· Have fun. Don’t take things too seriously. Be yourself. Share your writing in the class and we will want to follow in your footsteps and become a great writer. Lastly, pace yourself. Baby steps guys, baby steps. (Jill)

· When giving writing assignments or big projects, write your own. The kid being taught will be able to write their own with less confusion. Plus, they get to learn more about you and they’ll be closer to you. (Charlie

· Allow kids to write whatever comes to their mind. Let them feel safe to write personal stories. If they are comfortable, chances are they may open up to the class. Make sure nobody judges each other. Try to create an environment of complete security. (Samantha)

· Go slow when you teach! Give students enough time to do a good writing piece without pressure to finish. Don’t rush through things. (Nick)

· Let students share! Lots of feedback! (Melanie)
 
 · A tip for being a teacher is that if you share with your students, your students will share with you. (Dane)

· Don’t worry about what the kids think; they’re probably just as nervous as you. Laugh and smile. It will fix any problem and can calm any nerves. (Jessica)

· Don’t give us boundaries for our writing. Tell us a topic and let us write what we think. (Jared)

· Brace Yourself. There are going to be things you haven’t prepared for, things you never would’ve imagined to prepare for, and things you won’t understand. The only cure is laughter. Learn to laugh at yourself and soon enough the days are less and less scary. Also, be creative! (Kayla)

· If you are passionate about writing, your students will be too. (Anne)

 · Be yourself and don’t be too hard on the kids. Also, learn to laugh at yourself. (Sarah)

· Don’t give students a specific topic to write about; give them a topic where they can go anywhere with their writing. (Julie)

· Have fun. Be energetic. Also, create a great bond with your class. (Kate)

· Make sure all of your students are comfortable sharing their writing in front of the class. Have lots of lined paper because kids are going to need it. And a lot of pencils (just in case). (Renee)

· Include humor. It sticks in your memory. (Matt)

· Let your students express themselves. (Sam)
 
 · Have fun with your students. Add variety to what you teach, then their writing will improve by trying different writing styles. (Abbie)

· Spice up the day. Tell your students to write something they actually want to write about. (Kyle)

· Make sure to have plenty of patience, because we students can be rowdy sometimes. J (Christy)

To me, the best thing about Writer’s Workshop is…

· You can create close relationships with people. (Tom)

· I am able to express myself. I was never really good with words—the words you had to say out loud. My voice was hidden. And so was my writing. Now that I’ve done Writer’s Workshop, my writing is greater than it has ever been. My writing is read and heard, and that’s just the way I like it! (Jill)

· Try This writing. I think that they help get your ideas flowing, and it is a good match with the mini-lessons. The “try this’s” usually develop into a good story. (Charlie)

· It’s not about textbooks, and we learn more because we’re having fun! (Samantha)

 · You can share whatever you want and not get made fun of. (Nick)

· Getting to show your true self. You get to share ALL your thoughts AND feelings without getting judged. I think sharing has helped me become less stressed and much more confident. (Melanie)

· No one will make fun of you for expressing your feelings. (Dane)

· Writing… because I can express myself easier than telling someone. I won’t get embarrassed when I read it if it’s personal because I can make it imaginative. (Jessica)

· We get the freedom to write what we want. (Jared)
 
· Writing Try-This prompts that I would never have thought of/written about before. Some of my Try-This pieces turn out really well! Sometimes Try-This’s spark ideas for other pieces. (Kayla)

· We get to show our true feelings; we don’t have to be shy about what we write about. (Anne) 

· The new things I learned about my writing and how it makes me think and truly look at how I am feeling. (Sarah)

· Writing what you want to write and not what the teacher tells you to. (Julie)

· It’s fun to try all different types of writing. (Kate)

· Sharing our writing… hearing all of those writing pieces is very inspiring to me! (Renee)

· Freedom that we are given to write about what we want and what we tell. It helps me vent my anger or other emotions into an important paper. (Matt)

· You don’t have to worry about what you write about because people don’t put you down. (Sam)

· You get to be yourself when you write. (Natalie)

· My writing has improved. I feel like my stories have been more creative and fun to read. Also, to share my writing is fun. J (Abbie)

· Try This: because it gets you started on writing a lot easier. You’re given a topic you can expand dramatically on. (Kyle)

· We can write from our soul and write our true voice. (Christy)

So there you have it. Direct from the source. And all I can say is—wow, what a blessing—I am honored and humbled to be writing and learning alongside these experts every day.

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