Calkins+Ch.+9

Developing Learning Communities in the Upper Elementary Grades
//Anna, Jamye, & Scott-// //highlights from the chapter//

//In chapter nine, Calkins discusses the importance of developing learning communities in the upper elementary grades. In these grades, students go through drastic changes, both personally and as writers, and the teacher has a role as the provider of a socially safe environment. In order to truly develop as writers, students need to take an active role as learners, and to do so, they need to be able to feel as though they can take risks. But, this can be a difficult thing to overcome in the classroom. Oftentimes, curriculum and instruction are not the only things involved in how a class is learning to write. The peer subculture occurring with this age group is powerful, and it must be overcome if students are to feel free to express themselves. When students are bullied outside of the classroom, they are more likely to produce superficial writings than to delve deeply and really express themselves. Instead of focusing on new techniques, teachers need to initially work on forming a new trust. One way teachers can form this trust is by being vulnerable in front of their students. Sharing their own personal stories or writings can show the students that this is an environment where those things can be shared safely.// //Calkins suggests that students at this particular age have the potential to "be wonderful" or to destroy one another. She goes on to reflect upon how many teachers feel helpless when it comes to the myriad of issues stemming from this upper elementary peer subculture. Teachers tend to stick their heads in the sand when this subculture rears its ugly head. It's difficult to address the children when four girls decide they don't want to be friends with the fifth girl anymore, or a boy gets bullied in gym class. It is easier to turn a blind eye, justified by the idea that these occurrences don't have anything to do with what goes on in your own classroom. However, when the goal is to try to create an environment for true sharing of thoughts and feelings, those are the very occurrences that seep into the classroom and prevent students from stepping out from behind their shells and really exposing themselves. In order to be that vulnerable in front of peers, a student has to know that they will not be ridiculed. The only way to promise that is to honestly address what is going on outside of the classroom, and make it clear that this is a safe place where that behavior will not be tolerated.//

//In addition to creating a safe space, the vulnerability shared by teachers and students also creates a sense of communication and collaboration. When students are share their writing in an open community with one another, they learn to get along with and appreciate each other. Mutual respect is formed for each other, personal connections are made, and students can begin to form relationships that might not have formed unless these writings had been shared. This also adds to helping students become self-initiated learners. When the students have a community of other students behind them to support them, they are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning, which is the goal.//

//When students are comfortable enough to open themselves up in their writing, they begin to produce pieces that are real. A student mentioned in the chapter stopped writing about the silliness of his friends, and wrote instead about the loneliness and heartbreak of moving away. This transformation not only made his teacher happy, but it showed David that he was capable of great writing, inspiring him to recreate that moment. This led to him working to understand his own writing habits and inspirations, skills that will enable him to continue to develop his writing in the future. What a great gift a teacher can offer his or her students: the desire to produce great writing, as well as to be an active learner in the writing process.//

//The final point is clear enough, however. "We cannot write well if we are afraid to put ourselves on the page. We cannot write well if we are afraid to let our individual voice stand out from other voices." It is not just a responsibility, but an honor to be the individuals that can create that type of freedom for our students. Calkins goes on to list the various ways in which current teachers and prospective teachers can do just that. They must be peacekeepers in one moment and literary models in the next. They must realize that even the best activities and strategem cannot replace caring dialogue with the students who look up to them. Each of our students wants to be entrusted, empowered, and taught. They are watching the example of our writings; they are searching for ways to be more important and noteworthy; and their writing is a place where validation can occur.//

//Discussion Questions/Transition to Chapter 10: Teaching Adolescents: Improvisation and Commitment://
 * //At the secondary level, students have either developed a personal love or severe hatred for writing. What do we do with that? How do we foster the community we had at the elementary level, and "reel them back in" so that they can begin to share again? (If they did in the first place)//
 * //How do these issues carry over to the secondary level? Do you think that it is also appropriate to deal with these peer subcultures at the secondary level? At this point, digging into what goes on outside of the classroom can lead to uncovering activities that we're required to report, breaking the trust we're creating. Is that a risk worth taking?//