Writer’s Notebook- Establishing Student Ownership, Engagement and Agency

 


When writer’s notebooks are introduced into classrooms as part of a writing program it remains vitally important that the integrity of the notebook be preserved. How the notebook is perceived by both teachers and students becomes a critical consideration in establishing how it comes to be seen over time.

It is not the role of the educator to tame the words that enter a young writer’s notebook. The notebook should at all times remain a slightly wild place for a writer to work with words. The young writer needs encouragement to roam the literary terrain in search of words and ideas, discoveries and the inspiration to write in that space. It is important to preserve a view of the notebook as a place to explore possibilities.  We must convince them through our own actions that the notebook they own is hungry to receive their words.

Every effort must be made to avoid the writer’s notebook becoming something a teacher feels a need to claim or control. If young writers are to embrace the notebook, ownership must never be wrested from them. Conscious encouragement to own the space and be responsible for the words that assemble there must drive the work of the teacher. If teachers descend upon the notebooks and the content, it won’t take long for the young notebook owner to see it as just another workbook. Integrity will fade quickly. The unique status of the notebook will evaporate. Risk taking and experimenting will shrink away, replaced by teacher pleasing, and safe writing.

The best way, the only way to influence a child’s view of their notebook is for a teacher to attend to their own notebook . The most powerful declaration a teacher can make regarding the central role a notebook plays in the life of a writer is to regularly share entries with highly impressionable young writers. Such action is the embodiment of the well-known term,-show, don’t tell.



A clear statement of intent is made when a more experienced writer shares notebook entries and mindfully discusses their process for maintaining a writing resource. It is also a statement as to the valued place the notebook holds in the mind of a more proficient writer.

When teachers bring their own writer’s notebooks to the attention of less experienced writers, a unique opportunity to demonstrate how and where ideas and inspiration are found, gathered and utilized presents. This is a precious gift to impart. This harvesting of potential writing ideas provides a first-hand model for the young writer to draw upon. It delivers a full measure of confidence and direction.

An opportunity further arises when teachers share how they use the collected notebook treasure to help launch writing projects. Showing young writers how to lift words from the notebook, into the light, for a wider audience to read is so important. It is powerful teaching without a doubt.

Promoting writing ownership, where choice and voice are central tenets of the teaching approach, helps ground the writer’s notebook as a valuable writing resource. When writer’s notebooks are introduced with these considerations firmly in the forefront of planning, the agency of the writer is tangibly supported. A self-directed, independent writer is more likely to emerge. The notebook is more likely to fulfil its intended purpose. The writer remains engaged, the notebook remains valued and healthy. Teaching brings joy.

Alan j Wright






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