Is There Such a Thing as too Much Writing?

The question is: how much writing should students be doing in school?  I think the simple answer is: a lot.  Based on my own beliefs and the beliefs of Linda Rief, teacher and author of Inside the Writer's-Reader's Notebook: A Workshop Essential, writing teaches students about themselves and enlightens them about the world around them.  So if writing is a portal for such knowledge, then why should it be limited?  

I questioned this week if it's a good idea for students to keep a W-RN notebook in all subject areas.  At first, I thought students may be overwhelmed by all the writing they would have to do in all content areas and begin to hate writing, if they didn't already in the first place.  After some contemplation, I realized that it really wouldn't be overwhelming for students, because how each content area teacher uses the W-RN would be different.  Rief suggests that the notebook can be used for "recording data, collecting facts and questions, making predictions, sketching observations, planning labs for experiments and solving problems, conducting interviews, researching issues for an inquiry project, working out cause and effect, and gathering evidence and researching conclusions" (26).  As you can see, how the W-RN can be used is universal; and what's great is that the suggestions Rief provides are just her own ideas for how other content area teachers can use a W-RN.  I would be really curious to see how each department and each grade level within each department would utilize such a notebook in their classroom.  Based on the evidence Rief provides, students begin to notice the world, make connections, ask questions, and participate by thinking as a result of using the W-RN (35).  Isn't that at least part of the goal for each class a student takes in school?  

After I determined that writing should be done as often as possible, and in every class, I then thought about how that would impact teachers.  I know for a fact that some teachers do not assign much writing in their class for the simple fact that they cannot grade it all.  While teachers want to put their students needs first by assigning a lot of writing, if a teacher cannot turn those writing assignments around quickly and hand them back to students for them to self-assess and grow as readers, writers, thinkers, then that is really not putting students first.  If anyone has taught before, they will know that there are simply not enough hours in a day to accomplish what a teacher needs to accomplish.  Grading writing assignments frequently is next to impossible.  Or so teachers may think.  Rief thinks otherwise, though she does admit that she is only human and can grade only so much in a day.  As a result, Rief created a solution to grading over 100 W-RNs.  Since the writing done in W-RN is first-draft thinking, a teacher should not spend time correcting every single error they notice in their students' writing.  That is a task that takes up a lot of time and is unnecessary for the kind of writing done in a W-RN.  Instead, Rief suggests nudging students' thinking through comments, suggestions, and questions.  In fact, in reviewing samples of her students' W-RNs, Rief uses a mix of symbols and written comments.  She uses checks and pluses to show students when their thinking is especially profound or interesting.  Sometimes a simple symbol is all students need in order to know how to progress, and using symbols certainly does make reading and grading student writing go much faster.    Another strategy Rief uses when grading her students' W-RN is not grading them every day or even every week.  Rief collects her students' W-RN every two weeks.  She assesses each student's notebook based on quantity (did they submit an entry every day and add to their vocabulary bank) and quality (thoughtfulness and thoroughness of an entry.  However, Rief asks her students to pick one entry that they want her to grade for quality work.  Rief maintains that in asking students to read over their own work and select the entry they are most proud of, she is taking them how to self-evaluate.  I love this idea!  Students should be able to assess their own work and determine what is strong and what isn't and why.  Plus, it slightly removes the subjectivity of quality grading because (a) students are selecting it and (b) they are selecting it because it's something they did really well.  Now, I do have one problem or question with that method.  Since students know that only one entry of their W-RN is graded for quality every two weeks, what about those students who don't put much effort into the other entries because they know they only have to select one to be graded?  Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the notebook?  I feel that is a kink I will need to work out when I implement the notebook in my classroom.  

Ultimately, I love the purpose of a W-RN.  Rief notes that W-RN "give students a place to be personal, individual, and real as they take notice of their world...it [also] allows them choice, time, and practice with regard to writing and reading" (3).  I really appreciate how the W-RN is differentiated and individualized.  Each student of ours is different-different experiences, likes/dislikes, views, etc., and each student can capitalize on their own interests.  Choice is powerful for students.  As a result, all areas of discipline in a school should find a way to utilize a W-RN in their classroom.  The first step is collaboration!