Strickland and Ray's reading response

Strickland and Ray gives us an understanding of the significance of writing. Although instructors have come along way the traditionalist teacher is one hard habit to get rid of. For this reason Strickland and Ray provide essential characteristics that’ll enhance the way of teaching writing. Writing workshops are stressed throughout the chapters. Students need to be surrounded by an environment that’s open to their emotions and thoughts and that’s exactly what writing workshops are about.
Classrooms of today are strained to prepare students to the yearly TAKS exams. The writing portion is suppose to diagnose whether the student is a good writer using a scale of one to four, four being the highest score. Not only do I believe this is a bogus standard but also think it leads to hesitant writers. According to Ray students should decide what they will be writing about and I couldn’t agree more. Writing workshops do just this by allowing personal topic selection thus creating independence upon the student.
One statement that Strickland mentions is the focus on the “mechanics” of writing and the less preferred focus of the “process.” Although the mechanics of writing are just as important to learn, we must develop these mechanics through meaning and experience after all we tend to carry information that has made an impact. To begin we must first acknowledge that not every writer is the same. Every student has their way of uniquely writing and that’s one thing the standardized exams don’t seem to understand. We’ve all heard the infamous student line, “ I don’t know where to begin.” Free writing is introduced in writing workshops knocking this statement out the door. It begins by allowing the student to write whatever comes to mind about the subject and at the same time developing ideas after another. Later the student can go back and read what he or she has jotted down giving them options of topics and finally choosing one to write about thoroughly.