Author Ralph Fletcher wrote the book on Writing Workshop, literately. Heinemann published Writing Workshop, the Essential Guide, from Ralph Fletcher and Co-author JoAnn Portalupi in 2001. In it they wrote:

“Students who learn to write well truly have one of the most powerful tools imaginable."


We talked with Ralph about the early weeks of Writing Workshop. Ralph stressed the importance of a teacher showing interest in their student’s writing. He says when this happens, students become more open and it invites better teaching. He also talks about how important fostering student identity is and the student’s need to feel comfortable in their classroom, as if it were their home. We also got a preview of Ralph's newest book with Heinemann due out in the Spring of 2017. 

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Below is a transcript of the podcast, scroll down to play the audio:

We started our conversation by asking Ralph what teachers should consider in the first few weeks of Writing Workshop?

Our goals I think change during the year. What we want to do at the beginning of the year is different than the middle, and probably different from the end. I think in the beginning of the year, you want to establish a sense of the right tone in the classroom. I always the quote by Peter Elbow who said that, "A good writing teacher is both a good host, and a good bouncer." In other words, a host is very inviting, and the bouncer has the high standards. I think that a writer teacher has to have both those aspects, but I think early in the year you really want to be a good host. You want to let those kids feel like they can write for you, and that you're receptive. How do you do that? Well the way you do that I think is that you really show interest in what they're writing. You have to let their writing affect you. To really be there as a human being before we're there as a teacher with skills we want to teach. If the student writes something that's funny, laugh.

Yeah, and if it's a sad thing, look that student in the eye and say, "I'm really sorry that this happened." Because I think that … One of the quotes that I always remember is that, "If you want to affect somebody, you've got to let them affect you first." At the beginning of the year when I'm moving around the classroom, talking to young writers, I really want to let them know that their writing's affecting me. The content of it, what it's about. I think that once you do that, those students will open up themselves, and then you've kind of created a space where you kind of earn the right to teach them some stuff.

How important is the classroom space, and how does that space enable a teacher to confer?

I think the space is very important in different ways. First of all, I think that the space has to reflect you. Well, you and the students, but its got to feel comfortable for you. I think that having, I mean in a very practical level, having the desks grouped in clumps allows you to confer more easily with students. I think that if you have a long row of let's say, 8 desks sort of stuck together, it's very hard to get between student number 2 and student number 3, there's no room for you in there. I think that you want it so that you can confer, and I think conferring at student's desks is important. Sometimes it's tempting to just want to pull them up to your desk, but then there's a kind of secondary conferring that takes place when...