Notebook Know-How pages 1-15

I really enjoyed reading these first few pages.  My eyes were opened to a new idea of using notebooks everyday in the classroom.  Throughout these pages, I was able to think back to when I was in elementary school.  I remember having to write, because I was given a prompt.  There were only a few times that I remember writing for fun.  When I wrote for fun, it was challenging for me to come up with a topic.  It normally was about how I was feeling or what I did the day before.  My experience with writing was very similar to Chance in the book.  He saw writing as a chore rather an enrichment opportunity.  I have never been a strong writer, and I have never cared about writing.

On page three of the reading, it explains how notebooks help students.  It helps students use the world around them, including their own lives and thoughts, as a way of forming writing ideas.  Also, writing helps students to practice what they know with spelling and grammar.  I don’t like spelling and grammar, and I have never been great at it.  I feel like my graduating class missed a lot of the grammar learning, because the standards were changed to different grade levels.  Using a notebook could have been a tool for my teachers to reach out to me.

I really liked the quote on page four, “You won’t know what you have to say until you write. Writing comes from paying attention.”  I write in a personal journey about five times a week.  This journal is used for me to write down prayers to the Lord, or write down things that the Lord has been revealing to me.  By actually writing down things, I am able to think through things and pay attention to my thoughts.  I am a person who has to get my thoughts on paper, or I can’t make sense of them.  This quote stood out to me, because I believe writing things down helps you know what you are trying to say.

Overall, I think doing notebook writing everyday in the classroom is wonderful.  This allows students to grow in their writing and grammar skills.  Also, this allows students to connect to their environment and understand their thoughts.  Even if students have ten to fifteen minutes a day in a class, I believe this will help them with their writing skills.

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