In the Company of Children

I found this book by Joanne Hindley to be very insightful. She describes several experiences working in the public school system in New York City. I particularly found her experiences, teaching tips, and ideas to be very helpful because I would also like to work with inner city elementary school children.
I found the discussion between Joanne Hindley and her nine year old student Billy very compelling. He uses a metaphor when describing his feelings on writing in a notebook. "Well, writing just stories and then having a writer's notebook is kind of like the difference between driving on the highway and taking the scenic route. You see when you drive on the highway you kind of go by everything so fast you don't really have time to think about it-it's a blur because you're really thinking about getting to the final destination. When you take the scenic route, you slow down and pay attention and probably notice things that you have never noticed before." (12)
The boy describes writing in his notebook like taking the scenic route. It is an outlet for him to write what he truly cares about and is passionate about. Having his own writer's notebook is a positive experience for him which has helped him develop his writing. This boy gave Joanne his insight into why keeping a writer's notebook is greatly different than just writing separate pieces. The notebook is personal and a chance for writers to get out their thoughts in any form that they like. Joanne was inspired by this student in her class and she herself began keeping a writers notebook. She also encouraged her fellow colleagues to keep a writer's notebook and discussed the benefits they could provide for teachers as well. The entire chapter incorporates methods, ideas, and reasons for using these notebooks in her personal life along with in her classroom. I thought it was interesting how she shared her writing in her notebook to her students. Before making them write their own notebooks she read several passages from hers. This provided them with examples of situations where they could express their ideas in writing and it would be appropriate. She also shared these stories with them because she wanted them to know she thought it was meaningful and she herself would be doing it to. I enjoyed the different teaching tips she shared at the end of the chapter. She even went as far as providing a list of ways to incorporating notebooks into your classroom. I found her stories as well as tips to be very helpful as I myself have to start thinking of creative ways of writing in my own classroom.

Evaluation Question: Do you think the stories, experiences, tips and examples provided in Hindley's text are helpful to future teachers?
Yes, after reading her book I had different feeling about writing in the classroom. I thought it was helpful that she provided examples of the children's writing with the explanations of her reason for doing the activities. She expands on everything and goes into great detail in providing tools for teachers to become effective writing instructors in their own classrooms.

Analysis Question: Compare and contrast Hindley's book to other books we have read for this class or your other education classes about the approach to teaching writing. What parts did you find helpful and useful?
I personally enjoyed Hindley's book and found it to be the most insightful piece of writing we have read for this course thus far. I believe I found it to be most helpful because it dealt with all of the specific questions I had about writing in an elementary public school setting. A lot of the other pieces we have read for class deal with high school level and college level writing. I find those pieces to be interesting however, this book helped me expand my knowledge at the level I am most interested in teaching at.

Application Question: How will you begin to use Hindley's ideas in your own classroom? Offer examples from the text you would like to apply to your own classroom to develop your students writing.
I found the process of having each individual child keep a writers notebook to be a positive idea I would like to use in my classroom. I agree that having free time to write your own thoughts and ideas gives you an outlet to become a mover developed creative writer. I always write best when it is something I care about and I believe that will still hold true for my students. I also liked her idea of having the students bring in their notebooks and decorate them and make them special. I think the author does a great job in making the writing experiences fun for the children and I hope to do the same.