Student created Writing Handbook

Nancie Atwell and the TC Reading and Writing Project folks advocate student creation of a writing handbook, which documents mini-lessons in a condensed, readable reference. As I considered moving away from chart paper to smart notebook, I began thinking of the electronic possibilities for students to keep their writing handbook. Then I vacillated ... maybe I should keep one handwritten remnant in writing workshop. These kids won't necessarily have access to laptops in class in high school. They do NEED to know how to take notes, and take notes onto paper. Also, I think having it written out to be referred to as they peck away at the computer keys would be helpful.

So, I brought the problem to part of my MS team that seemed willing to brainstorm with me for a few minutes. They presented lots of great insights and ideas, especially regardng the portability of the handbook between home and school. We've gone to great lengths to reduce the number of workbooks, notebooks, and textbooks our kids carry around with their 8 lb computer. Then Joy says, all innocently after being quiet for much of the conversation, "Why not just use a wiki?"

Why NOT just use a wiki? It's portable. It's condensed and instantly indexed. It provides space for true collaborative work.

I think two students will be the scribes for the day, and will need to take notes from the mini lesson. They will post their notes on the class wiki (probably through wetpaint.com) so that the writing handbook is always available online and editable by any of my students. It can work towards being a collaborative handbook with examples and guidelines.

Life is happy.

Am I going to do away with chart paper for mini-lessons?

Excerpt from a conversation with a tech-savvy 1st grade teacher:

Me: I'm just not sure how I'm going to have a meeting area in my classroom. I was going to try to make a short easel this weekend to have a proper meeting space where the kids can get out of their desks, but with the new big desks and the size of my room I just don't know how that will work. I might just continue taping the chart paper at the front of the room ...

Tech-savvy 1st grade teacher: Or just use the smartboard ... (walks away)

Me: :O

Huh. Do I continue the revolution to include doing away with charts? I could easily use smart notebook for mini lessons. And post the notebook files on my webpage or just email them to the kids to keep in a "Writing Handbook" folder.

Achieving Writing Workshop Goals in a 1-1 Laptop Program

This past week, I attended the always-enlightening and inspiring Teachers College Reading and Writing Project's Summer Writing Institute. As I participated in my small group session with Chris Lehman (who was fabulous) in the student seat, I realized just how different the process looks for writers with 24-hour access to their school computer. As I continue to think and process, I will continue to add to this topic, but I wanted to get started with the obvious differences in how my students achieve the same goals as writers tied to paper.

First, my main concern is the use of writer's notebooks. The writer's notebook is supposed to be the go-to place for observations about writers' worlds. Last year I didn't do a true notebook at all, and this year I will plan on having a Word document that will serve as the writer's notebook. This means it will only come out during writing workshop and during writing homework time; it won't always be accessible (say, in the car on the way home). I will observe this year to see if my students are missing out on unique observations of their world; I might offer sticky notes to keep inside the reading notebook (which I've decided to go paper on for this year) in the event of an idea. This could possibly be held in the reading notebook until it can get transferred over into the digital writing notebook. I will remain open to the possibility of adding writing notebooks to my students' repertoires at either the second or third quarter.

As for organizing the writing notebook, I think I've decided that one entry will equal one page; that is, students will create a page break at the end of an entry, even if it turns out to be only three lines. Students will need to ensure they have a topic or title as well as date on each entry. When they wish to expand upon an entry, they will copy and paste the entry onto a new page (With the new date) then continue their reflections/writing. This means the writing notebook should reflect a steady progression forward by date.

One advantage we have using computers is volume -- at the Institute, it seems the accepted notebook entry is about one page -- which I think may translate to about 1/4 - 1/3 of a typed page. I would bet my students already write about a half a typed page during similar times on topics they're stretching. I believe - this is before conferring with my colleagues, so this may change - but I believe a half a typed page will be the necessary homework and the expected volume per writing session. This of course means I'll have to require notebooks to be in 12 point font, with the MS Word standard 1.15 spacing.

Perhaps I should make a template for the writing notebook, and maybe change the page size to reflect one page/night? That might be easier on the kids.

Next, the other big issue to me is drafting. I would like to do a better job of tracking drafts with the kids. I want them to see the value of drafting, especially the value of a quick and dirty first draft after planning. They still see the computer document as so polished, when in fact it is not! I think I will have to require at least three drafts of any major project - the first quick and dirty draft, the second more polished, the third edited. I will guide them toward more drafts between two and three, of course, but that seems like a good minimum for starters. This will mean I need to have specific ways of naming almost every single document they produce.

So, my to do list must grow to include:

Writing Notebook Rubric must include: Format (date, text size, spacing), Volume (Two 1/2 pages per day of ww), Thoughtfulness, wasn't there one other? (obviously formatting should be worth less but still important to determine volume)

Rubrics for final projects must include: two drafts prior to final draft, properly named (Lastname Project #)