The Workshop Method: What do we NOTICE?

We noticed that these conversational moves outlined in Choice Words (noticing, naming, identifying, and developing student agency) are aligned with the values of the Reading and Writing Workshop. Opening the conversation to the students (attentional following as opposed to attentional switching (p.18)) allows us to support their developing agency. The challenge is that we, as teachers, must be willing to be flexible. We have to let go of the safety of our lesson plan and allow ourselves to respond to their ideas on the fly, connecting back to our Ends-in-View and helping the students see how their own ideas are the brilliant work of Readers, Authors, Mathematicians, and Researchers.