Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle Chapter 7: Responding to Writers and Writing was extremely helpful to myself as a future teacher. I have always been nervous to grade students’ writing because I do not want to offend them or crush their creative ideas. Writing is a personal thing, much like Atwell addressed in the beginning of the chapter. I want students to feel comfortable writing about whatever they want, how they want to, without feeling like I (as the teacher) am there to tear apart their writing.
Atwell gave a lot of different ideas on how to respond to writing. Her quote on page 224 reads, “I invite a writer to talk; she talks; I listen, paraphrase, ask clarifying questions, nudge toward or suggest options if the writer needs them, and ask the writer to articulate what he or she plans to do next.” This quote reminds me of what I learned in our Teaching High School Journalism course here at KSU. My professor was adamant about using the coaching method when we go over students’ articles. Using conferences like Atwell has suggested, is very similar to coaching. It allows the student to question their own work rather than relying on the teacher for all the information. The teacher acts as a guide, rather than a critic. I found Chapter 7 a great resource to myself on how to use conferences with students to help them with their writing.
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You're so right! It is a lot like the "coaching" method! I have been nervous about grading, also. This chapter was beneficial for me, especially since I have been grading! Another thing that may help is doing the cookie rubric activity with students and having them help with the rubric. I thought that would be fun and would give students an opportunity to have control and responsibility over their work.
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