Proposes that when teachers structure the classroom around the student, differentiation starts to happen. Outlines the following suggestions in order to do so: make it meaningful; make it authentic; differentiate content; make it interdisciplinary; and practice what you preach. Concludes that if educators are willing to eliminate ineffective…

Presents a case study focusing on a gifted student writer whose shyness and strong personal commitment to her writing is not well suited to the atmosphere of peer writing workshops. (MG)

Addresses three questions: (1) what individual paths lead selected nonmainstream writers from the "Tenderloin" inner-city area of San Francisco to their craft; (2) how the contexts and relationships with the community support the growth of written expression; and (3) how this support affects individual and community growth. (MG)

Continues an exchange begun with the authors' April 1991 article in the same journal about a writers' workshop in one author's elementary school classroom. Describes her continuing process of questioning and strengthening a workshop approach to writing instruction. (SR)

Discusses three problem areas that frequently develop when process writing is implemented in the classroom. Discusses problematic practices and suggests positive alternatives. (SR)

Describes how an elementary teacher developed a daily writer's workshop. Suggestions for finding time to write include reducing use of workbooks and skillsheets, looking for redundancy in curriculum programs, concentrating on writing for a shortened period of the school year, and creating time-saving instructional strategies. (SM)

Describes a cultural exchange program that brought high school writing students to Russia in the spring of 1991 for a writing workshop. Discusses how the writing workshop led to the exchange of folklore, games, social conventions, and ideas between Russian and U.S. students. (PRA)

Describes a conferenced writing program in a suburban St. Louis high school. Asserts that this kind of instruction is not merely the utopian ideal of writing teachers but a method that can and should be implemented in all schools. (PRA)

Describes how students can help evaluate each other in discussion groups and how this improves their writing. Asserts that students appreciate the scrutiny of the conferences and take their own writing much more seriously as a result. Describes this technique in the context of a high school writing workshop. (PRA)

Describes the goals of the New Standards Project, and the first Writing Calibration Workshop at the Sagamore on Lake George in New York. Asserts that the workshop experiment shows that there is enough agreement among English teachers to consider developing a system of common standards that does not depend upon a single examination. (PRA)

Describes how a teacher used teaching techniques employed in a writer's workshop classroom to build self-esteem in students with learning disabilities, without changing assignments, requirements, or expectations for these students. Shows that growth in self-esteem was a by-product of growth in writing skills. (SR)

Presents an interview with Niki and Alan McCurry, who discuss the uses and features of the "Alaska Writing Program," a computer software product that can be used in writing classrooms. Explains its origins, shows how it centers on the writing process, and discusses ways of using the program in the classroom. (HB)

Finds differences in writing practices (among employees participating in writing workshops) based on educational level. Finds that a large percentage of workers with graduate training write long reports, write to other experts in their field, and spend time revising. (SR)

Describes how elementary teachers can set up meaningful guidelines to enhance the productivity of writing workshops. Writing workshops accommodate the idiosyncratic nature of individual writing and learning processes. They provide a highly structured environment with clear rules and procedures. The article explains how to establish classroom…

Considers the importance of writing workshops, especially those carried on outside of traditional academic environments. Argues for the value and widespread nature of these workshops. Claims that scholars have neglected the "extracurriculum" of composition as carried out in contexts other than the academy. (HB)