June 3

We started with a writing into the day about our experiences with workshopping in the past.  Then, we shared our writing with small groups.

We covered the following red tape:

• About the handout you were supposed to bring today:
• Workshop reflection: Complete these questions on your blog after the workshop.  (It will be tomorrow night’s homework.)
• Self assessment reflection: Complete these questions on your blog when you turn in your second draft.
• The page minimum of three pages for the assignment means a FULL three pages.  Two and a half pages does not count.  You need to be at the bottom of the third page.  You can write more than three pages, if you want.

Next, we got into groups of 3-4 and made a list of the Do’s and Do Not’s of effective worshopping.  We created a class list on the board:

DO

• Give short, informative and direct feedback
• Be specific
• Be respectful
• Have an open mind
• Be positive
• Be honest
• Use constructive criticism (criticism to help them)
• Make it fun
• Challenge them
• Ask questions about writer’s choices
• Where were you going with this?
• Make suggestions
• Talk it out
• Share ideas
• Give feedback based on the person (cater to the writer’s needs)
• Look for areas of improvement
• Agree to disagree
• Monitor your tone

DON’T

• Don’t be destructive
• Don’t rewrite their paper
• Don’t be too judgmental
• Don’t destroy them
• Don’t look for errors
• Don’t be nitpicky
• Don’t be teachers (don’t grade it, don’t make marks)
• Don’t give answers
• Don’t tell writer he/she is wrong
• Don’t be arrogant
• Don’t argue

We talked about the purposes and value of workshoppoing.  See the handout you were supposed to bring to class and slide 45 on the PowerPoint.

We read a newspaper article about Charlie Boyd (see slide 48 on the PowerPoint).  We had to pick a point of view in the story (Charlie, the man driving behind him, the police officer, ect.) and rewrite the article.

We read Megan’s story and followed the steps on slide 47 on the PowerPoint to workshop it. 

Megan's concerns:

1. How can I help the reader see that the narrator is a stuffed rabbit?
2. Should I keep this as a story told to other stuffed animals or should I change it to some other form of story telling?

The class said:

• You can say, “Interested in Backyardigans and eating my carrots.”
• “Come around and hear this story.”
• You could say that he was running around and looking for the keys.  It transitions too fast.
• You could be more descriptive about what Charlie was complaining about.
• You could say what kind of car it was.
• You could keep the jingle but you were being dragged around the house while Charlie tried to find something.
• Long, floppy ears.  Be more descriptive about the ears.
• His little cotton tail got caught in the door or got dirty while being dragged around the house.
• The perspective works for what you are doing.  It’s a different perspective.
• Does it matter that it’s a stuffed animal?

How was this a good example of effective workshop?

• We were positive.
• We were respectful.
• We looked for areas of improvement.
• Kept open mind when you responded to us.
• Gave suggestions.
• You weren’t passive as a writer.
• We tried to challenge you by talking about the keys.
• We catered to the author’s feelings.  We tried to focus on your concerns.

What did I do as the writer in this workshop?

• Ask questions
• Gave feedback
• Genuinely wanted to know our opinion about your writing

Then we talked about the grading for tomorrow (see slide 49 on the PowerPoint).

Homework:

• Post your first draft of the Definition Essay on your blog.
• Bring enough hardcopies for your whole workshop group (including yourself).  The list of workshop groups is on Moodle.