Murray Ch. 8

Anna Papst

Responding to Murray CH. 8

Conferencing is so important in the classroom setting, especially with the diverse population that one can experience in a class. Students need that one on one attention. It is an opportunity for teachers to understand where each of his/her students is with their writing and their thought processes. The way that a teacher responds to the writing, will help develop the student further in their writing skills, or it won’t. The teacher needs to respond constructively and not just say what was right or wrong with the student’s paper. The teacher should be the guide through the writing process. The teacher should read, the students should read, and then they should both come together and comment on each experience through reading the writing. Each should come together and debrief about the writing. The teacher should guide the student through the writing process, and not come and pass judgment on the writing. The student should be guided to the errors, but not told how or what to fix. The student can understand how to fix a problem through rereading the writing him or herself, but should be guided to the problems that occur.

The biggest issue that I have had is to reread my drafts. It is always a race to get something accomplished and then to submit it because it is done. I want to instill in my students to reread their writing and then go back through and look for errors on their own. I want to train my students how to be learners and to encourage them along the way.

One of my friends told me once that he can find good writing and he is a better writer because he reads so much. I think that is true of reading your own writing. You will be a better writer if you can go through and read your own writing and understand how to recognize what is working and what is not working. “The writer’s first reader is always the writer.” (149) This is the scary fact of writing sometimes, because in order to edit your own writing before editing and revision, you have to go back through and read your own writing, reflect and then respond through rewriting.

The Trialogue: Student, Teacher, and Text. This was genius. There are three entities that are a part of writing, there is the teacher who is instructing, reading, responding and reflecting of the writing. The student does the writing, is the one who is graded, and the one who is learning from the entire writing process. Then there is the text that is the object of the writer’s mind, the information that is transferred from the writer to page. These three things offer up the tri-head of the writing process. They can work together to create something beautiful and worthwhile reading.

“The most effective training for a conference teaches is experience in reading and responding to the teacher’s own text.” ( 151) As much as one doesn’t want to read their own writing, it is so necessary for the learning and reflection that comes out of spending the short amount of time that it takes to read through or skim writing. This may take you from the complacent writer into a great one and may even turn it into a career, because you have decided to accept yourself.

During the writing process, students should always be reflecting with their own writing. This will make them appreciate their own work so much more and will allow for them to be okay with making mistakes and then going back through and correcting their own mistakes. Reflecting on their own work allows them to learn from themselves and from their own experiences with writing.