Writer's Notebook: Part 2 - Organization, Grading, and other Teacher-ish Questions

Cover of a student's notebook - it captures her personality.

     When writing is mentioned to any Language Arts teacher (well, and other content teachers, for that matter), one of the first things that come to mind is "Writing means soooooooooooo much grading!"  My first few years of teaching, I associated writing with Peppermint Patties because for every 5 essays I got through, I rewarded myself with a Peppermint Patty.  It was kind of like my own school economy.
     Anyway, during Writing Project, I'm pretty sure I loved the thought of a Writer's Notebook, but the thought of grading it made me want to curl into a ball and cry.  Then, what would happen when inevitably kids wouldn't set it up to my specifications?  What would happen when I couldn't find a single assignment in there because they didn't label it, or put it on the right page, or one of the other 583 ways that this could go wrong?
     I'm only in my second year of a Writer's Notebook, but here are some of the things I've learned:
Organization
     So, if you've ever met me, in about 10 seconds you can tell I'm a Type A personality.  I have a weekly to-do list paperclipped into my planner that has both a weekly and monthly calendars, long-term project pages, and note pages.  This is carried in conjunction with with clipboard that has a ridiculous amount of note pages so that I can reference anything at any time.  My first year of my Writer's Notebooks, I asked kids to set up their notebooks with tabs - Title Page, Dedication Page, Table of Contents, Writing Lesson, Writing Notes, and Writing Goals.  Then, I did the unthinkable - I asked middle school students to keep up with that.  Because they didn't, I gave up on the notebooks about halfway through the year.
   

Table of Contents in a student's Writer's Notebook

 At the end of the year, I thought about what I liked and didn't like about the notebooks and why I gave up on them.  I realized I made it INSANELY too difficult.  My kiddos are a very transient popular, like I've had 8 new kiddos in 6 weeks and that's not anything new.  I need something that can be explained to new kiddos quickly, and a routine that can be picked up on after just a few days.
    So here's what I did this school year and I already really like it:  Every student had to have a composition notebook by day 3.  On day 3, we spent about 20 minutes numbering every page, front and back in the notebook.  Kids grumbled, but it has saved some headaches, for sure.  Page 1 is a Title Page, that includes first and last names, and a picture.  Pages 2 and 3 are a Table of Contents.  That's it.  No tabs.  No ten different sections.  Plain and simple.  Kids know we add the title of the assignment to the Table of Contents, flip to the next blank page, and that's where we start the assignment.

Grading

Mailing label grading - Ah-maz-ing!

    Remember when I said that the thought of grading writing makes me cringe.  Well...it still does.  I wish I had the ultimate solution to that, but I don't.  I have found a couple of ways to make it easier, though.
     First, I never collect all 75 Writer's Notebooks at one time.  I will do it by class period, or by tables.  Once I get those finished (2-3 days), I move on to the next group.  It usually takes me a little over a week to every notebook graded, and I don't feel so overwhelmed looking at the mountain of notebooks!
     Second,  I started following Sarah Koves at Kovescence of the Mind after participating in a Twitter chat with her.  She had this amazing tip for grading and it truly is a timesaver.  She grades using...wait for it...mailing labels (See her full blog here).  It is great.  You type whatever you want on the label (which can be a rubric you use on formal writing pieces or prompts even), and then stick it in the notebook.  It cut my grading time down by half.  I simply put whatever items should be in their notebooks and then grade it out of 4.
     Third, the most important part of grading is conferencing.  When I distribute graded notebooks, I do it through conferencing.  We conference quite a bit during the actual writing, and grading shouldn't be any different.  I pull students up and ask them which piece was their favorite and which piece was difficult to start.  Then, from there I may ask more questions, or ask them to elaborate more on something they said.  This gives me so much insight to how a student attacks a writing task and I can provide feedback for more challenging assignments.  Conferencing with my students about writing is the absolute best part of my job.  Any day with conferencing involved will always be listed as one of my favorite days (and Fro-yo Fridays.  Fro-yo Fridays are pretty amazing, too!).

I hope this gives you enough inspiration and answers enough basic questions about Writer's Notebooks.  Check back soon for my third and final installment, Writer's Notebook: Part 3 - Ideas, Student Examples, and What I Would Do Differently.

Love and Sparkle,