Chapter+1

= Creating a Climate for Writing = //"When a butterfly egg is hatched in a proper environment,// //It has everything needed to thrive.// //When a child enters the writing world,// //He has everything he needs to be come an effective author."//


 * **Overview:** **﻿**//In the differentiated writing classroom, teachers create environments that motivate and challenge the student writer while also providing a safe and positive environment that instills self-efficacy. Assessing the classroom climate for writing includes finding the right spot for each student's Write Spot.//


 * **Create an Environment that Motivates the Writer**
 * This chapter is really all about helping young writers see the value in writing that expresses their emotions and thoughts in their own unique styles. Chapman and King explain how the right recommendations for improvement can entirely cultivate and instill a writer’s self-efficacy, or a belief the he/she is a successful author. The writer's self-efficacy is cultivated and instilled when positive comments provide recommendations for improvement. I found comparisons to this in Angela Pascopella and Will Richardson's article "The New Writing Pedagogy," when they noted the positive feedback a student received and the self-confidence that resulted. I also found comparisons to this in relation to Shayghnessy’s and Sommer's articles dealing with revision and the correct way to efficiently correct said error. Unfortunately, Chapman and King only seem to focus on the comments that are motivational to students, whereas Shayghnessy and Sommers go into much greater detail about how to effectively revise students' papers. I found this to be a downfall in this chapter. An example Chapman and King offered as a way to accomplish instilling self-efficacy into students, is to instruct your students to sign their papers as if they were an actual author. For example, the writer signs, “Authors, Susan Jones.”


 * **Instill Self-Efficacy and Develop Self-Regulated Learners**
 * While I found the expressivist view to be heavily favored throughout the contents of each chapter, I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon some aspects of a cognitive approach, much like that of Sommers, and Flower and Hayes. Chapman and King discuss the learning experiences of self-regulated learners through the monitoring of one’s thoughts, referred to as metacognition. Zimmerman, Bonner, and Kovach (1996) presented the following model that may be used to plan self-regulated learning experienes for writers: (1) self-evaluation and monitoring, (2) goal setting and strategic planning, (3) putting a plan into action and monitoring it, and (4) monitoring outcomes and refining strategies. Students need to know how to think about their thinking as self-regulated learners. They also take account of strategies that allow time for not only independent work, but group and partner writing activities as well. Here there is a clear comparison to works by Rebecca Moore Howard, Yancey and Spooner, and Troy Hicks in regards to the topic of collaboration. In Angela Pascopella and Will Richardson's article "The New Writing Pedagogy," Hicks is quoted saying "[Teaching with social media] can help [students] develop into critical and creative readers and writers as they learn how to communicate with other students, teachers, experts and outside audiences" (Pascopella and Richardson, 5).


 * **Create and Exciting Writing Environment and Find the Right Spot!**
 * Chapman and King believe creating a safe and positive writing atmosphere is key to the production of good writing on behalf of students. Teachers should make an effort to create an environment that is nonthreatening and encouraging, so students feel free to task risks. A lot of ideas found here, engage those of Donald Murray significantly, in regards to dealing with "Writer's block" and overcoming it. Chapman and King discuss experiences of “writers block” and the necessity to allow students to simply change position, seating, or area when trying to write. Sometimes a simple change of scenery does the trick, and the use of special designated areas of the room utilized as writing nooks, centers, or stations, can provide the inspiration needed. Chapman and King also discuss that when a student is allowed to choose their own goal, they are more likely to be motivated to work and accomplish it. I found this to greatly parallel Peter Elbow's message in his article "A Method for Teaching Writing." By letting students take charge, it promotes independent thinking and hopefully provides motivation and ultimately, better pieces of writing. When such choices are offered and available to students, teachers need to make sure the product fits the goal and the desired means of assessment. I found this to relate to the "mindlessness" Fulkerson refers to and hopes to prevent in teachers with the use of his four-part paradigm. I enjoyed the ideas contained within this chapter and feel they can all help a teacher do his/her best to promote a writers development.


 * Suggestions for Designing the "Write" Spot