My Experience as a writer using the Writing Workshop

Being exposed to the writing workshop has provided much enlightenment on the writing process and how writing can be developed as it gives students the guidance and support needed to develop their writing skills. As I have little experience with teaching English, it never occurred to me how difficult writing can be for students. Selecting topics to write on can be very strenuous for students especially if the topics to be written on is chosen by the teacher. During this course, I was guided in composing a text using the writing workshop and I must say it was very helpful. Writing with the writing workshop was less tedious as the lecturer allowed us to note topics based on personal experience or interest that we would like to write about. In the classroom, giving students the option to choose what is of interest or topics based on their personal experience will stir motivation and encourage students to write. Additionally, it gives students a wide pool of options to pull from.

The writing workshop can benefit students tremendously as it fosters differentiation in the classroom and allows for flexibility. Every student is unique with different levels of abilities. The writing workshop enables students to work at their own pace, allows for peer discussion and sharing which allows classmates to give their peers feedback on what they wrote. Additionally, the writing workshop enables teachers to have conferencing time with students. By doing this, time is scheduled to have one on one sessions with students on the progress of the work and give effective feedback that will help students to improve their writing skills.

 My experience with the writing workshop has revealed to me that writing takes time. As teachers, it is important that we give the students time to write. Moreover, we must be adequately prepared when implementing the writing workshop in our classroom. The writing process takes time and cannot be achieved in one day. Necessary structures must be put in place in order to achieve success and students’ opportunity to keep track of their progress should be clearly seen by both teachers and students. For instance, I was able to track my progress by placing all my writing pieces in a folder that the teacher gave me at the beginning of the term. Whenever something new was done in class that can be used to enhance my piece, I used the opportunity to make adjustments, for example, exploding a moment. After this strategy was done, I reviewed my writing piece and exploded a moment to make my writing rich and come alive. This is one technique I can adapt to my classroom when implementing the writing workshop. Moreover, it is important to give students a rubric or checklist to review their work. This will enable them to keep on track with what the teacher expects in their writing and also ensuring they produce good quality pieces.

Most of all, as teachers, we should always remember that writing is a process and not a product. Perfection in writing will not be achieved in one day but it is a skill that will be developed over time. Teachers should know their students and observe their reaction as they can become easily irritated. This will let the teacher know that students need some time off from writing and should be directed at doing something else. The aim is to develop students’ writing skills and not create an environment that would lead to frustration in students.

Where writing hides

Finally passing my driving exam

I tossed and turned in my bed. I stretched lazily for my phone and peeked at the time. It was only four o’clock yet I felt as if I had been asleep for an eternity. My eyes were still droopy and sleep was calling my name but I couldn’t answer. It haunted me like a bad dream. My heart was hammering so loudly against my chest that I was afraid my brother would hear it from across the hall. Though the fan was spinning, sweat droplets still formed on my forehead and I could also feel it running down my back. I got up and sat on the bed. Then I began to pace my room, trying to find anything that would keep my mind off this day.

            Which way do I have to turn the wheel? Should I take all the lock to the left or to the right? What would happen if I rushed the sticks again? That was my third time trying. Should I give up or should I try again next week instead?

These thoughts ran uncontrollably through my mind as I tried to recall the steps I learned during practice. I panicked, even more, when I realized that I couldn’t remember what to do. What should I do?

Morning was approaching. I could tell by the rays of sunlight peeking through my windows. I put on my slipper and stepped outside. The air was still cool and fresh. I looked towards the horizon and there was the sun, slowly rising. It was as red as a ball of fire. I lifted my face towards it and I could feel the warm sunshine falling upon my face. The peace and quiet of the morning were soon interrupted when my neighbor’s dog saw me and started barking. Their barks echoed through the village.

            After I showered, I dressed quickly and was about to leave the house when my phone beeped and a message came through. It was my instructor. The message read “good morning everyone. Please remember to walk with all your necessary documents. It is ok to be nervous but I believe all of you can be successful today. Eat a healthy breakfast and walk with a bottle of water. Today is going to be a long, hot day. Good luck.”

I smiled after reading the message and grabbed my bag. I sauntered down the street feeling even more confident than before. I stopped to smell the flowers along the way. I said good morning to everyone that crossed my path that morning. The sun burned my face and soon my mouth felt dry.  I took a quick sip from my water bottle then looked at the time. It was almost eight o’clock. I hastened my footsteps as I didn’t want to be late.

            The busy chattering of the persons who were already there could be heard from across the street. Though it was still a bit early, few persons had already braced the entrance of the door to the registration room. The pale grey walls that lined the veranda was filled with onlookers and other persons who were also there for the exam so I stood steadily next to a concrete pillar. My feet trembled and I felt weak from the long walk.

One lady dressed in a knee-high blue and black dress talked endlessly. Her face was as hard as steel and as sharp as a razor yet her smile was warm and soft. Her hands flew in all directions as she relayed stories to her friends.

Another young lady, dressed in short white pants ambled across the veranda towards a group of girls sitting on the wall. She wreaked of cheap perfume and her make up was so loud that she resembled one of the creatures from the movie, Avatar. The thought of that made me laugh silently. I closed my eyes for a little while as I tried to block off all the loud chattering that was happening nearby. I needed to remain focused.

I registered and waited patiently for my turn. The sun was really high now and I squinted my eyes. Many people were failing while few were passing. Knots formed in my stomach. Everyone applauded loudly whenever someone passed the exam. However, the comments made by others when someone failed was impolite.

It was my turn. I sat in the car and listened to the kind words of my instructor.

“good luck girl,” two girls shouted. I smiled politely. I started the car and drove slowly towards the sticks. And in the blink of an eye, it was over. Everyone was yelling congratulations at me. I smiled and thanked them politely. What just happened? My mind floated away and I felt as if I was sky walking. I needed to get back to reality. I couldn’t stop smiling. I did it.

“we will call you when your license is ready,” the officer said.

“Thank you,” I replied.

I hugged and thanked my instructor and left for home. I grinned sheepishly to myself. I couldn’t wait to get home to share the good news with my family. I felt so proud of myself. This is one of the moments that I will cherish.

Digital Media Text

With the new era and advancement in technology, it is no doubt that everyone has to jump on the bandwagon to keep up with all these new changes. As teachers, we must also realize that finding creative ways to incorporate technology into our lessons is important not only to spark students’ interest but as a way of catering to the different learning styles in our classroom. Creating this digital media text on descriptive writing has given me quite an experience. It has exposed me to a new way of bringing information and diversity to the students in my classroom. This will be useful tool to grab and maintain students’ attention while creating the environment that will foster learning.

This experience has posed a few challenges for me as there is still a lot I need to learn about technology but I must confess that I learned quite a lot. At first, I did not know what a digital media text was and how to go about composing one. This had prompted me to do some research to find out what it entails.

Getting the information was quite easy but the challenge came when I had to compose the video to include pictures, songs, and a recording. I am quite aware that there are many apps such as movie maker, that can be used to achieve the desired results but a matter of how to go about using these apps was my weakest point. One thing I have learned during this experience that I will take with me throughout life is to ask for help. This is one of the easiest ways to overcome challenges and with this being said I was very fortunate to have a friend who knows a lot about technology and was willing to assist me in completing this task. As teachers, we may be faced with challenges in our classroom that may affect the quality of the lesson we hope to achieve, however, asking for help or using someone that is more knowledgeable is an added benefit. Moreover, this gives room for team teaching and the use of outside resources personnel to make a valuable impact on the students’ learning.

Writing in the Electronic Environment vs the Traditional Method

Writing plays a major part in my everyday life as I tweet, take notes, send messages and keep in contact with friends. With the advancement with technology digital writing has become more popular. Writing for me in the electronic environment is fun and is done at ease as I focused less on the act and more on the end result; making the process less tedious and less frustrating.

Using technology has made the writing process a lot easier for me as I developed an understanding of the need to tailor my work. I corrected and changed my work with ease which encouraged me to see writing as a recursive process. I was able to read and edit my own work. Additionally, I was not burdened with the thought of having to rewrite an entire paragraph or story whenever I made a mistake or when reorganizing my written piece. Instead, with technology and software such as Microsoft, this is done in a matter of seconds with the click of a button. I am able to make changes as I go along and make necessary adjustments as my thoughts continued to flow.

Though there are many benefits to the use of technology to enhance my writing experience, there are a few challenges that I also faced. I paid little attention to the cohesion and coherence of my writing. This is because a lot of the grammatical errors I made was automatically corrected as I typed using Microsoft.  It had helped me to produce grammatically correct work however, the real underlying problem I had wasn’t given much attention. Furthermore, I was quite easily distracted from my writing as I would log onto other sites or use social media.

Using the traditional pen and paper method of writing has helped me in the internalization of information and also aided in the remembering process as I was able to paraphrase and summarize my notes, thus enhancing my note taking skills. My brain was more actively involved as I produced more ideas and got a better flow when writing. This is because I was able to slow down and think about what I was going to write as I was less distracted. Even though this process was time consuming, I took the time off to plan effectively before writing which helped with the organization of my writing. I had to ensure that my sentences were grammatically correct with proper use of punctuation marks and no spelling errors.

 Nevertheless, both methods have proven to be effective in developing my writing experience. There is no doubt that the digital era is taking over and everyone is progressing towards its uses but I still revert to using my pen, pencil and paper to construct a plan or outline for my writing.