When Writers Drive the Workshop: Honoring Young Voices and Bold Choices

With increasing school mandates and pressure to perform well on standardized tests, writing instruction has shifted to more accountability, taking the focus away from the writer. In his engaging book, When Writers Drive the Workshop: Honoring Young Voices and Bold Choices, author Brian Kissel asks teachers to go back to the roots of the writing workshop and let the students lead the conference.

What happens when students, not tests, determine what they learned through reflection and self-evaluation? In When Writers Drive the Workshop, you'll find practical ideas, guiding beliefs, FAQs, and Digital Diversions to help visualize digital possibilities in the classroom.

Written in an engaging, teacher-to-teacher style, this book focuses on four key components of writing workshop:

• Student-led conferring sessions where the teachers are the listeners.
• The Author's Chair-, where students set the agenda and gather feedback.
• Structured reflection time for students to set goals and expectations for themselves.
• Mini lessons that allow for detours based on students' needs, not teacher or curricula goals.

All students have the powerful, shared need to be heard; when they choose their writing topics, they can see their lives unfold on the page. Teachers are educated by the bold choices of these young voices.

Brian Kissel, an educator for more than twenty years, is a professor of literacy and elementary education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A former elementary school teacher and literacy coach, Brian teaches courses, conducts research, and provides professional development in writing instruction, digital literacy, and literacy development and instruction. He lives in Davidson, North Carolina.