New Year, New Lens on Writing Workshop: Part 2- Literacy Workshop Crossover

 As our school year progresses, I feel more in the groove with starting Writing Workshop. This is my celebration moment because even though I'm a veteran teacher, I too get nervous about starting new curriculum, programs, methods, etc. I'm finding what lessons work well, what mentor texts I want to use, and, above all, I'm connecting writing to reading. 

Over the summer I listened to a Stenhouse Teacher's Corner Podcast from Season 2: Streamline Your Instruction with The Literacy Workshop.  Of course I listened to this podcast before I began Writing Workshop, but now as I work through it, it makes sense. 

Like every other teacher, I only have certain allotted time to teach both reading and writing, and it's often hard to fit in all aspects of both models. The beauty so far has been in those moments when reading and writing cross over and create a true literacy workshop. 

For example, I've been mindful to select books for read alouds that serve as teaching texts for reading, and mentor texts for writing. I can see the "lightbulb" moment for my students when they discuss a writing technique, or a story element. I also see this in their own practice in both reading and writing. Last year I wrote a wealth of mini-lessons for Reading Workshop. As I compose ones for writing, I'm noticing where lessons cross-connect. I'm making a conscious effort to reference reading strategies in writing, and mention author's craft when discussing reading. I feel this has made teaching workshop more fun for me as a teacher, more meaningful for my students, and actually, slightly easier than I anticipated. My co-teacher and I comment frequently how there's always something to talk about, and a connection to be made. 

The best piece of advice if. you're trying out workshop for the first time this year like me is to find those moments where you can have a literacy workshop, not separate reading from writing. They both compliment each other perfectly, and it helps workshop time to flow naturally for you as the teacher, and your students. 

Final thoughts: Keep researching and reading about workshop; when we know better, we do better. Keep finding ways to teach both reading and writing at the same time in workshop. Keep allowing your students to help you make connections- those small moments turn into larger than life ideas. And finally, keep allowing yourself to pause and reflect on the great work you're doing. You may not be an expert (not many people are) but you are trying, you are doing your best, and you are teaching your students what they need to know, and that's what matters!