(1) Yesterday afternoon one of my students lingered a little bit after dismissal. She said, “You know, I thought this research essay would be mad hard.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean, I thought it would be mad hard to do all this research! But it’s not.”
“How come?” I asked.
“‘Cuz it just feels easy. We’re doing it a little bit by a little bit. And,” she paused, “I’m listening more than I usually do.”
“Well, that’s good!” I said.
(2) Fast-forward to today. Same student. Math was over and I asked the kids to come to the rug with their supply pouch and a clipboard.
“Is it time for Writing Workshop?” she asked when she arrived at the rug third (out of all the kids in my class).
“No, it’s Wednesday,” I replied. (We don’t have W.W. on Wednesdays.)
“Dang it!” she said.
My eyes met hers with a warning look. (I’m not fond of “Dang it!” since it often turns into more as the year wears on.)
“Sorry,” she said knowing why I was half-glaring at her. “It’s just that I really wanted to have Writing Workshop today!”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “You’ll have Writing Workshop tomorrow, and the next day, and…”
She smiled.
THE BOTTOM LINE: This student was part of my Writing Circle earlier this year. She stopped writing for awhile. Today was her notebook checking today. She’s writing again. 🙂 Quite frankly, as a teacher, things feel good with her (as a writer) right now.
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It was for students I identified as “reluctant writers.”
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How exciting! It is always nice to have student interactions like this.
With your writer’s circle, did you invite students who needed further reading support? Before when I saw your writer’s circle mentioned I was thinking that it was a voluntary writing group, but with this post I was thinking it was extra support. Thanks for clarification.
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This is great, Stacey. Sounds as though she is becoming (letting herself become?) so much more engaged in the class, letting herself enjoy it. Really wonderful.
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