Chapter 1 from “Notebook Know-How”

While reading Notebook Know-How I saw a brand new approach to writing that I hadn’t ever been exposed to before in school.  I was one the kids who never looked forward to writing.  My mom told me one time that just as I figured out how to spell a few words the teachers were telling me to write sentences.  Well, according to mom the thought of having to put sentences together and just learning the spelling of simple words was quite overwhelming for me, as a first grader, and caused a good bit of frustration.  I wonder that part of my dislike for free writing began at that time in my life and never ended.  (I tend to like some direction when I do things.)  By viewing Writer Notebooks as a list or thoughts, just something to use as a place to jot down words or phrases to use later takes a lot of tension and pressure off of writing freely.  Writing in pieces is so much more relaxing that being told that I have ten minutes to write.

In a year I will no longer be living a role as a student, but taking on the role of a teacher.  I don’t want to be the teacher that takes a child and tells them to just write for ten minutes and then walk away.  I want my students to want to write, to be asking when they get to pull out the notebooks.  I believe that by starting day one just making lists myself or jotting down things at random times during the day when the students are there to see is a possible way to encourage a peaceful style of writing.  I will encourage my students to not compare writing styles or words, but to help each other when one gets stuck and offer ideas.  I want each student to have comfort when writing to know that it’s ok if he/she and his/her best friend aren’t writing about the same thing.

When I get in the classroom I don’t want to overwhelm my students like some teachers do within the first few days.  Therefore, I will probably take the first week to let my students soak in the surroundings and meet new faces.  The second week of school I would introduce the notebook. I would explain that the notebook is each student’s own space, where he/she can write whatever his/her heart desires.  There may be a day or two where I will encourage the students to use a certain style of writing.  The first time the students write in their notebooks I may ask them to just write about the emotions that they experienced the first few days of school.  By doing this it may help students get inside their own heads and it eases them into writing.

I really like the organization of the notebooks that Aimee Buckner.  I like the idea of using the first half of the notebook to write and using the back half to take notes.  By usng this style of organization the kids don’t realize how much they have written and don’t have the stress of looking at how many pages are left to fill up with words.  Also, when students have a question about a writing style or something that they took notes then they are able to quickly glance back and look it up.  By having notes write there the students are able to guide themselves through the time of writing, thus making it their very own time.

2 comments August 28, 2008

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3 comments August 27, 2008