I've been thinking a lot about the latter part of today, especially with Ben's awesome demo on "writing badly" and what that means to each of us. The culture of the room was awesome, because we could all share, laugh and reflect together. I wonder how to cultivate this culture in the classroom so that this activity would be just as successful for students as it was with us.
I've also been thinking a lot about voice. We've talked about voice in writing, but there is something profound about our speaking voice too. I was contemplating what Lisa Delpit notes about the language dynamics of our classrooms--and how the teacher's voice dominates the classroom discussion. I'm not sure how to address that. I know that was the case in my history classroom, but I'm wondering if the skills based approach of the English classroom could transform that.
Thursday has prompted a lot of questions and thinking, but not a lot of writing so I apologize for the brief post.
Hey Erika! I also noticed how awesome the culture was in our group during Nick's session, and am wondering along the same lines as you in how to cultivate this culture in the classroom. Actually, I wrote about it on my blog yesterday...a post that was inspired by your post on formula writing. It seems like it would be impossible to create that sort of climate for writing in an environment focused on evaluation and a set idea of what is good and bad. Since this is the traditional school environment, it makes a tricky task for us--creating these spaces for real writing and real community to happen. Glad you are posting your wondering to let me in on your process. I'm excited to be thinking with you!
ReplyDeleteSteve, the word "flock" and the various uses of the word should be credited to Lacy.
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