Lessons learned

Out of all the three chapters of Williams that we read, I think that I have enjoyed this one the most. That is not to say that I read it and absorb it right away. Williams seems to want to put so much information into this book that every chapter is stuff with statistics, lessons of right and wrong ways to teach, as well as Williams own opinions.
There are a few things that stood out right away to me and that is he thinks that “A person has to understand a topic to explain it to others” (111). I think that this is a good focus for teachers to look at when giving their students writing assignments or any assignment for that fact. How well can you relate the information if you are hazy on the details? This can go right along with the fact that the content is more important too. An assignment will have better content from the beginning if the student understands the question as well as the answer to the question.
The section on outlines I agree with. I was never a person that revealed in writing the outline and in many cases I wrote the paper and then made up the outline from what I had already written. I can see some purpose for this approach, but also agree that for the most part it is a waste of time
The talk-write section is something that I would like to do as a student, but that is because I enjoy speaking in front of others and don’t find it fearful. I think though this approach should be used gently because students that are not has outspoken and are more quiet and shy could suffer greatly from a process like this. The most valuable of information from this chapter is that of peer editing and writing workshops. I have been doing peer editing in class since High School and have come to truly appreciate the opinions of my peers reading my papers. I feel that the quality of my work has been better when put through this type of process. This is something for sure that I would love to try and implement in my classroom someday.