During the last literacy class, I met with my small writing group to share a personal vignette about my experience with reading or writing. I shared my story and then listened to the comments from my group. They were all very kind, but suggested that my other vignette had been a little more of a window. One of my group members shared how writing was very personal to her. I completely identified with how she expressed her feelings. I learned just how personal writing was that week. For the same class, I had a project that involved writing a rather large paper with my teammate. My teammate and I met three separate times and spent a total of 12 hours crafting our paper. It was painstakingly slow at times, but we both felt strongly about different parts of the paper. We also were very gracious to each other and worked well together. However, we both noticed a certain maternal feeling toward our written work and were just a bit miffed at the other whenever a correcting pen touched our work.
The personal aspect of writing came out yet again as my class collectively wrote a thank you note to a teacher who had hosted us in her Kindergarten class. I did not care how we said thank you, but those who did care were very passionate about how that thank you should be expressed. These three experiences have caused me to question the practice of shared writing. I feel that those who are invested or who care, will find it difficult to compromise on the way things are said. Those who are not invested don't care how things are expressed, or who reads their writing. I wonder if it is possible to lose kids, or for them to pass from passionate and invested into passive and uninvested if their ideas are not valued enough to be included in the shared writing.
Oooh....Kristen, I just had to comment because today I met with my group and we had a conversation about what the writing/drafting process was like (how we summed up our collective experience). The ironic part of this is two-fold (I'm hoping I can explain this well). One, I practiced using a new piece of technology--go figure, we're in technology class! I figured Google docs. out all on my own (I feel like I deserve a pat on my shoulder for doing that!). The second part of this is that I drafted the 1 page response that we will submit to Tony on the 9th. Now everyone has access to the way I "summed" it all up, and they may not like all of the things that I said, the way I said them, and guess what? They have the red pen now!
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd also share that one of the things that really jumped out at me after our conversation was that in our vignette groups, we were like editors. We talked about the relationship that Lamott must have had with her editor that enabled her book to go to press. We wondered what her manuscript started out looking like before we all read it. In that case, the editorial relationship is an important one. We talked about how the rapport must be developed before any good writing (honest, sincere, and genuine writing) can take place. It feels risky putting yourself out on the line to be "judged" in a sense, by your peers. But what I value about our cohort is that here are people that I trust. The cohort peers are the people I feel I can rely on to be honest but gentle as they assist me in the process. And writing, we decided, was about the process.
I have been very impressed by the candidness (is it candor?) of these people. Their stories ABSOLUTELY open up a window into their lives. I find it fascinating--about as rich and wonderful as listening to NPR when authors share their anecdotes.
But this is what I think is the meat of what you were getting at, or where you were headed, and this is what I wanted to end with (my response of course):
You said: "I feel that those who are invested or who care, will find it difficult to compromise on the way things are said. Those who are not invested don't care how things are expressed, or who reads their writing. I wonder if it is possible to lose kids, or for them to pass from passionate and invested into passive and uninvested if their ideas are not valued enough to be included in the shared writing.
My thought (and you can agree or disagree) is that it is a skill to be developed to compromise on what is written. Thank goodness for drafts that can be saved, because when we teach or when we do the project alone (if we have a chance to repeat it individually) then we can use our own ideas and craft it the way we like. But a huge skill comes out of collaborative work--and that is cooperation and learning to be flexible. To say yes, even when you aren't sure you agree. For example, a conversation came up where I was contesting a comma that was unnecessary. I finally put it in to appease the other person. I could let that one go. I'm not sure this makes you feel better, but this is how I think about the inherent difficulty in blending writing styles. As for the second part of your question, I think certain kids can become passive if they don't think what they say has value. On the other hand, I think it could also encourage them to develop their skill of writing so that people will want to read and listen. For those that are intrinsically motivated, that fiery edge will be fierce and propell them. For those that don't warm (but turn colder) when their work is underappreciated, I think we'll want to make sure that our pedagogical practices embrace (to the best of our ability) their unique attributes and talents.
Just several thoughts I thought I might share. I loved your post!