Intermediate/Middle School Trainer
During a recent week of training with our intermediate and middle school
literacy coaches, we revisited writing drafts that had been created from seeds
planted in writers’ notebooks. Through the process of exploring various aspects
of writers’ craft through minilessons and conferring, the coaches had worked on
revising their pieces, and were now coming together in small groups to share
their work. As I moved among the coaches, my heart swelled with pride as I
observed the transformation they had made from teachers to writers. One shared
a compelling poem about the last day he had spent with his brother before his
passing. Another stirred my emotions with images of her grandmother’s cooking
and the cherished times they spent together in her childhood kitchen. As
writers, it was obvious they were less tentative about sharing their work. They
had learned from wonderful mentors how to consider aspects of craft, trying
them out, and producing pieces of themselves to share with others.
Jane Hansen (1996) wrote about the importance of evaluation
at the center of writing instruction. This use of the word “evaluation” is in
reference to the root: value. As we consider the value within our own writing,
we are forced to think about our audience and their reactions. Working with
students is no different. They have stories to share too! As we enter into that
sacred act of conferring with a young writer, always keeping in mind how
fragile writers are, it seems sometimes he holds his breath as he waits to find
out what value we find in his writing. When we do, it may come as a surprise
because what we value may be different from what the writer valued, or what his
peer valued. As a transaction (Rosenblatt, 1994) between the reader and the
text, multiple meanings are possible. “The “meaning” does not reside ready-made
‘in’ the text or ‘in’ the reader but happens or comes into being during the transaction
between reader and text” (p. 929). 
Consider the context of Interactive Read-Aloud and the
collective construction of meaning that develops as we look at a published
piece of writing together. As we confer with young writers, or as they respond
to one another, think about the growth that could occur when “evaluation” takes
place on that level (Hansen, 1996). To optimize growth in our writers, we can
help them identify what they do well and to set goals for what they plan to do
to become better. As our students make choices about their goals, their topics,
and the genre that best fits their topics and goals, they learn to use
self-evaluation to continue a sense of forward momentum.
References
Hansen, J. (1996). Evaluation: The Center of Writing Instruction. In Padak,
et al. (Eds.) Distinguished educators on reading: Contributions that have shaped effective literacy instruction, 5 (3),
545-553. Newark, DE:
International Reading Association.
Rosenblatt, L.M. (1994). The Transactional Theory of Reading and
Writing. In Rudell, R.B., Rudell,
M.R., & Singer, H. Theoretical models and processes of reading (4th ed., pp. 1057-1092).
Newark,
DE: International
Reading Association.
