Writing workshop time has started, and I have a few kids who have decided they’d like to work at my table. It’s my favorite, actually, this choice small group time. It feels like a luxury, as my student teacher is doing the heavy lifting of the mini lesson and the management.

“Ms. Gabriel, her coach’s name is Mr. Pickles,” One writer tells me. She’s writing about Lucy, who daydreams about swimming lessons, but she isn’t allowed to take them.

“Oh my goodness,” I say. “I hope you labeled that somewhere so you remember. It’s perfect!”

In front of me another writer, often reluctant, is writing up a storm. She pauses and says to me, “I’m writing some words big, but you won’t know why until the end.” Then she keeps writing. She wants me to start a timer to see how much she can write in ten minutes. Another student lets me know that sometimes timers distract her. We put the timer facing just the student who needs it.

“Is the Ms. Gabriel table open?” Someone asks

One of the writers already at the table answers for me, “Yes. And it isn’t any dollars today.”

Another writer walks up to the table and asks, “Ms. Gabriel, how do you spell screaming?”

“Screaming?” I ask. “Is this going to be a very very scary story? Too scary for me to read?”

She laughs and tells me, “No. She is going to open a present and scream because she’s so excited.”

I ask her to try writing the word on a sticky note and then I will check it. She gets it almost right, and we talk about the r sound in there, and also how the vowel team is an ea.

“Ms. Gabriel, can I have a sticky note?” a writer asks me. I tell her the sticky notes are in our student teacher’s hands. He’s standing right by and hands her a sticky note.

We talk for a minute, my student teacher and I, about what we should do next. How much time do the kids need for finishing this part of building their stories? He’s wondering about the kids who aren’t done with the part we did yesterday. I tell him that this is the amount of difference that I would expect in our workshop.

“As long as you think that the amount of people who are still working is okay —-“ he says.

“Absolutely.” I say, and we plan to keep working on Friday and next week, adding in dialogue details on Tuesday.

The writer’s timer goes off, and she looks down at how much she has written.

“You’ve written so much!” I say. “And class isn’t even over yet. You still have more time.”

Somehow, a few more students have joined the table and we have to do a little problem solving to fit everyone in.

My student teacher gives a heads up about the time we have left. I give a compliment to all the writers in the room. It’s my favorite kind of mid workshop teaching point. “I see so many writers labeling, adding details, using all kinds of sticky notes. . . What an amazing writing time! You should be feeling very proud.” Not only have I complimented some specific things, but I’ve also sneaky-style given some ideas for those writers who have forgotten the goals of the day.

My para, from her table across the room says, “We agree over at this table!” Students start writing again.

One of the writers who recently sat at my table, gives me some advice about my own story about a clumsy rock skipper. “If he gets a prize for doing the rock skipping, he’s going to drop that too!”

I’m so excited about his idea, the whole table is.

So now I have another teaching point.

“Now as a writer, what should I do? I am not at the end yet” I say, pointing to my sticky note story building. “How can I remember this?”

It’s unanimous. The writers at my table tell me I’m going to need to write that down — on a sticky note.