a teaching story

Today was our seventh day of school.

Yesterday we started "Writer's Workshop". During writer's workshop, students are subject to a minilesson about writing, and then they are allowed time to write. A boy we'll call Bobby was having a difficult time getting started yesterday. So, I had a brief conference with him about writing ideas. He chose to write about watching the Dallas Cowboys play football. As I was circulating through the class, I noticed that Bobby wasn't getting very far, in fact, he had erased most of what he was writing!

Today brought another minilesson, and then they began writing. I called Bobby over to the back table, in a cheerful way...but he sat down and started bawling. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I don't know what to write." I worked with him for a while, and he decided to write about playing a card game with his mom and dad. I didn't "help" him, I just talked him through it. After he had sketched the picture and written several sentences, I sent him back to his seat to finish the details. Moments later it was time for recess. As I was walking them out to recess he turned to me and eagerly said, "Are we gonna have more time to write when we get back inside??" He's hooked, and so am I.