Writing, Routman 4 &5

It's not hard to agree with Routman about low expectations for minority students as writers. Somewhere along the way, these students must have had a less-than-stellar testing day, which opened the door for indefinite tracking. I have already seen students in my dyad school who are coasting along in low-level groups and tuning out half of the time, because they've already mastered what is expected of them and there's no need to do more.

Routman makes great points about how students need more occasions to write, to express the interesting moments of their lives, in order to become confident and perhaps interested in writing more. I certainly find myself feeling lazy and uncomfortable about writing when I have had too many breaks from it.

I was particularly moved by her "Respond to the Writer" section. Writing is unlike the other disciplines and shouldn't always be handled through check lists and formulas. I think teachers who don't see themselves as writers take comfort in having writing curriculum the gives them formulas to follow. I see Routman's point about letting go of the check lists and getting to the heart of what the student is trying to do - in an effort to guide the student to more distinctive and expressive writing.