Should I be worried?

This might come as a surprise to some, but I am a worrier. Others might say I am a control freak, but I prefer worrier. 

My latest concern/worry/control freak mindset,  comes from the fact that several teachers at my school went to a professional development over writer's notebooks. I know you are asking yourself why is she possibly worried about this? I have several reasons and please do not judge me for them . 

To begin with, my inquiry question for the Summer Institute is Poverty and Writing Instruction in Today's High Stakes Assessment Environment. My inquiry has lead me to read several research articles and books over the best pedagogy for high-risk students. I am only in the beginning of my research, (questions are leading to more questions) but a consistent theme is developing, that high-risk students need real world reading and writing that is connected to the student's socio-cultural identity, along with strategies to teach students how to become better readers and writers.

Reader's and Writer's notebooks are a great place for student's to have choice and voice, but with high risk student's this had to be strategically implemented. A workshop style classroom, is going to look different in classroom where a vast majority of students are high-risk versus a classroom in Highland Park. 

My anxiety started with a comment that was made "this will be easy, students will just be writing what they want." I just want to say yes, but..... it is so much more. 

I want teachers to understand the benefits of a writer's notebook, that is is flexible yet comprehensive in it's instruction. I want them to understand it is more than just a journal. It is a place to store ideas and memories. A place that can lead to great conversations, and topics for more complex papers. It is a place where you can showcase mentor text writing, and that you can even teach grammar within the writer's workshop. That you don't have to grade everything, thinking maps are not the answer to writing instruction and the difference between "pre- writing and quick writes" and  most importantly, I want them to understand modeling the text is a crucial element in the instruction.

There I said it.....

I completely by into the writing workshop approach and I am a complete novice, but I am trying to educate myself in research sound instruction so that it won't be an epic failure in my class. So my fear is that other teacher's won't and the approach will get dropped the pendulum will swing and we will be teaching only test prep again! AHHH! This has kept me up at night since Friday, after receiving the notes from the professional development that I missed.

Donald Graves suggests, “Unlimited choice is no choice at all.”  If students have absolute freedom over what to write, we are often likely to receive poorly conceived and poorly written essays.  

 At the same time, we’re also expected to teach specific content, such as literary analysis essays, informational and persuasive compositions, research reports, and many other discourses.   

How do we balance student choice with curriculum and standards? I don't know, questions are leading to more questions.

Kelly Gallagher advocates that we “…work students into the required discourses slowly by designing writing assignments that allow for partial student choice”

I guess really I want to say to my fellow educators, "This is not an easy approach to instruction. The pedagogy is complex and choice is woven into the instruction. And please, please, please, do not forget the modeling component." 

But as I said, I am a novice and I do not think my voice will be heard, so I will just write about it....