UNIT FIVE- READING AND WRITING CONNECTION

Before participating in the writer's workshop, I held the same misconception as one of the speakers in the video. I believed  that the reading and writing connection was merely students responding to what they have read. I never internalised it as the two processes working in unison to help students understand and appreciate what they are reading. While participating  in the workshop there are a few ideas which stimulated my interest. Students should be encouraged to write with an audience in mind. As I read this I began to reflect on my years as a student. I recall only be asked to write with an audience in mind when preparing letters or arguments. However, the workshop highlighted the importance of having students write with an audience in mind. Writing with one's audience in mind directs the words we use or guides one's writing. This takes me to another point which captivated my interest. Writers are decision makers. Thus, writers decide what happens in the story. I have never thought of writing from this perspective. This may drastically change how I react to writing in that, when I am driven to tears out of sympathy for a character, I will no longer cry. However, I may become furious at the writer for allowing the character to endure such agony.

Furthermore, I was amazed that  a teacher could revisit books that students have read without hearing disgruntled sounds from students. The use of the same books for different purposes was a brilliant idea, one of which I will seek to employ in my classroom. For instance, after reading a book, a teacher may choose to revisit that book to aid with teaching literary devices or new vocabulary words.
Additionally, the use of students in the planning stages. The teachers monitored students and used what they suggested to direct their teaching. One teacher stated that when she began listening to her students, she no longer had sleepless nights preparing lesson plans. Likewise, I was fascinated with the use of students work to carry out mini lessons especially because the students were so receptive and particpative in the exercise. While I also enjoyed the idea of conferencing, I did not agree with the idea of dual conferencing because every student is not the same and may respond differently. Thus I would not employ dual conferencing if the students did not work in pairs.

Although the ideas presented all appeared to be realistic and well- organised, I can still foresee some obstacles which may hinder its success in a classroom of thirty- six adolescents. I observed that many if not all of the strategies were implemented in small classes and with students in the primary levels. Therefore, it is my belief that it will be a bit difficult to implement these strategies as smoothly into a larger classroom with older students. In addition, it will be even more demanding on teachers to conference with each child individually on a regular basis as was seen in the video. There was also the issue of using students work to teach mini lessons. While I applauded the idea, I thought of my students and how difficult it was to get some of them to share their work. Hence, I feel like it is almost impossible to use their work as an instructional tool.



After partcipating in the workshop, I will no longer view reading and writing as independent processes. However, one is dependent on the other for it to be carried out effectively. For instance, reading helps to

•      generate ideas for writing
• learn new vcabulary
• learn how to use the mechanics of the language effectively

Moreso, writing tools help to understand what has been read. Additionally, writing is reinforced by speech, through listening and reading. Therefore, as teachers we should use the two processes simultaneously when teaching our students.