Steven L. Layne on Engaging Writers in the Classroom

Professor Layne in action

Steven L. Layne is an American educator and a professor at the Judson University in Illinois. He specialises in curriculum and literacy, and has written nearly 30 books (both fiction and non-fiction). Today I find myself sitting in front of Professor Layne at the AATE/ALEA Cutting Edge Conference in Hobart, Tasmania, as he talks about certain essential truths that get to the heart of how writing exists in the classroom.

He's an engaging presence, which is fitting when you consider that this session is called Engaging Writers in the Primary and Secondary Years, and he starts off his session by getting the room to judge a series of statements/questions on a continuum. The overall consensus from this room of teachers seems to be:

• Writing is one of the most complex subjects to teach.
• Writing is not a subject that most teachers are necessarily equipped to teach well.
• Strong writers have advantages that are significant in society.
• Writing tends to be very personal.
• Sharing writing requires a significant degree of vulnerability.
• Constructive criticism can feel like an attack on the writer (no matter if it's teacher or student).
• Kids don't necessarily see writing in school as an enjoyable activity.

One of the underlying subtexts here is that there's a dearth of methodology, and I guess this is where pedagogues like Professor Layne come in with ideas for explicit instruction of writing. 

He starts with the assertion that building a sense of community is the best way to facilitate efficacy among students. A writing community will assist with breaking down the barriers that prevent students from sharing their work (or even writing in the first place).

Some things that the Professor puts into place to encourage this are (and he gave this information to us teachers at the beginning of his session too, much to our collective relief):

• There will be no collecting of writing.
• He's not going to ask us to share our writing with the person next to us.
• We can trust him.
• We don't need to pull an idea out of thin air, so there is no pressure to come up with original ideas.
• If we have something on our mind to write about, we can do that.
• If we need a stimulus, there will be one available to use.

Professor Layne gave us a stimulus, a song called Ellsworth by a country band called Rascal Flats, which deals with Alzheimer's Disease. The guidelines above applied - we didn't have to follow the stimulus if we didn't want, but there was one interesting addition; the Professor used a document camera to show that he was writing too. 

This helped show us that we had become a writing community. I didn't actually read what he was projecting because I was also busy writing but the point is that it showed us he was writing too. That he was doing the exact same task.

It's a little dark, but that's Professor Layne in the left-hand corner writing while his hand is projected onto the screen.

Furthermore, students can become more comfortable in a classroom-community by being asked to come up the front to share their work (no matter how small). This will eventually become something that they're comfortable with, with the caveat that they never race away after reading (the Professor says this is akin to the student silently apologising for their work). Afterwards, the student/writer stays up the front where they can receive commentary from the class, however, it is important that the other students who give feedback are given time to contemplate directly afterwards before offering any such feedback. This allows for the thinkers to start gathering their thoughts, and means that the student who reads aloud doesn't ever walk away thinking that no one has anything to say (which can be damaging to their self-esteem). The teacher should also use this opportunity to give specific positive feedback, asking for a particular sentence or word or idea to be repeated or explained.

All of these things let the student-writer know that their work matters to this classroom-community. 

Another of Professor Layne's 'Top Tips':

TIP #2: Don't consistently ask students to write a complete piece - target an area and do substantial teaching, thinking, and discussing before assigning any writing. When you do assign something- assign only what is necessary to assess - and what has actually been taught.

For example, get students to focus on Thesis Sentences. Even in writing fiction, there should be a sentence or part that tells the reader what the piece if about. It focuses the text, and it isn't the same as a 'hook' or opener. We can target this skill by giving students a piece of writing, even just a paragraph, and ask them to trace what they were thinking while it was being read to them - what was the story about in their mind when they heard the first part, and then what was it about further into the piece, and at the end? 

From here, what does the student think the thesis sentence is?

Another approach is to give the students a prompt (EG. Identify the best TV show ever and give reasons to support this). Add to this 4-5 possible thesis sentences with various degrees of quality in response to the prompt. It's important to include off-topic thesis sentences and other statements that don't adequately respond to the prompt so that students can see what doesn't work.

Most importantly, this little lesson should be repeated many times with students writing their own statements. This way students have a real chance to learn it.

One of the presenter's books

Anyway, I enjoyed this workshop and got some really great ideas out of it. Thanks Professor Steven L. Layne!

Website: Steven L. Layne, Ed. D