Sharon's Essential Questions

How can we develop a community of writers in our classrooms?
I think that developin a true community of writers in the classroom depends on being comfortable enough with ourselves and with each other to really get to know eachother through our writing. It may be difficult for some students to share their writing at first, but engaging in friendly prompts and activities that build a sense of trust within the classroom may slowly help students break out of their shells and feel at ease with one another. Workshopping eachother's writing is a good way of doing this, as long as the criticism is constructive and the students are also receiving positive feedback.

What characteristics exist in a classroom that has created a community of writers?
I imagine a writin classroom that embodies true community NOT having the traditional desk arrangement of rows facing the front. I think a circular desk arrangement or finding a way to arrange the desks to face one another is a better way of embodying community. I also picture there being lots of interaction between the students and teacher and between the students themselves- i picture seeing students helping each other in groups and pairs and I also picture lots of downtime for students to spend on their writing. I think that this classroom would also include more than a blackboard or an overhead for instruction; there would be a DVD player and a projector for digital storytelling and other more progressive forms of multimedia that can help students strengthen their writing skills.

What are some specific ideas or techniques we can employ to create a community of writers in our classrooms?
I definately think that workshopping is a very important one. I also feel that giving students an interesting and creative prompt in the beginning of class is a great way to begin. This seems to lighten the mood and get students thinking in writing-mode...often times these prompts are personal reflections of some sort; this is good for building classroom community because it unifies students through their experiences and their writing. I would try to get students to share as much as possible so that they would get to know one another as more than just another random student in their classroom, but as a fellow writer and fellow human being with experiences worth writing about and with things to much about writing, just like everyone else. I would also probably enact some kind of pair and share every day, and make students pair with a different classmate every day, so that everyone has some one-on-one time with everyone else. I think that this would make the relationships between students become more interpersonal and interactive, which is important in building community in a writing classroom. I would also look into taking my class on numerous field trips to places that would inspire both creative and academic writing. I think that leaving the actual classroom setting and venturing out into the world together is a great way to build community amongst students because it gives them a shared experience beyond that of their actual classroom.