Williams and the Process

Finally, it only took 98 pages, but finally Williams is getting into some ideas in which I can actually agree with him! At first I thought oh no, not again, because it seemed that he was going to tell us all about the process approach and then refute it as he’s done with other ideas in the earlier readings. However, he seems to think this is a worthwhile approach, and I agree.

One of the things I love about this approach is that one of the main ideas is to teach the behaviors of good writers. To me, this is just using good common sense. Anyone who has ever been new at a job can attest that when you are being trained for that job you are (hopefully) taught by someone who already knows how to do the job and do it well. Williams gives a list of 8 stages of composing with the disclaimer that each stage can be different for each individual. Again, I agree with him here. As we’ve noticed in class, not everyone “loves” the idea of freewriting – one of the invention activities Williams talks about. Writers may hate freewriting, but get better results from brainstorming with others instead. What’s important is that they find what helps them in their process.

I also was very interested in his ideas about student centered instruction. I saw some of these ideas put into practice when I did my field observations and it really seems to work well, especially since so many schools are now using block scheduling. The idea of lecturing for an entire 75 minute class would be boring at best for both teacher and student. Allowing the students to take on the role of active-learner will keep them engaged longer and thus learning instead of daydreaming while the teacher lectures. I will be student-teaching next semester and like most first time teachers, I am insanely nervous about it! When I read that Williams believes that “teacher-talk” should not exceed 15 minutes for a 50 minute class, this actually was a relief to me. Allowing the students to take this active role will free up the teacher to spend more time with the students (coaching) as they work and make adjustments to their approach as needed.

The one activity that I wasn’t completely on board with was the talk-write activity, although I will admit that this is just my personal preference and some students may benefit from it. As a student, the idea of giving a presentation is daunting and nerve-wracking, and that’s when you’ve got notes and are completely prepared. I know that I would hate this assignment for myself, so I doubt I’ll use this. I’m also still not a fan of the outline, but I can see its usefulness. Nevertheless, overall I was pretty pleased with this reading. It seems that he was giving us more ideas of what we can actually use when we are in the classroom.