There are several points that stood out to me in Best Practices Ch13.  I felt like in this chapter the authors were more understanding of what the life of a teacher is like.  I appreciated that factors such as lack of time and state testing were not ignored. For example, p. 266 states, “standards have to be met, content has to be covered, and the textbook has to be finished.”  One thing I related to was the point that “no one seems to be teaching writing–kids are already expected to know how. ”  I think I was guilty of thinking that way before actually teaching…I soon came to realize that my students knew very little about writing, and the only way they would learn is through my explicit teaching of it as a subject in and of itself.   The chapter also talked about how writing should be focused on significant matters (authentic) and should be published for a specific audience.  My kids have loved writing their penpal letters, because they think of it as a tool of communication, rather than an exercise.   They have also enjoyed publishing an “ABC” book and are working on biographies to be published in a book from lulu.com.  I also plan on cramming in a few digital assignments between now and the end of the year that can go on our class blog.  It has really been rewarding for me to learn what works.  Straying away from standard prompts has not just been more enjoyable for the kids, but it is more pleasurable for the teacher, too!  I also thought it was important that the chapter distinguished content from process.  It is so easy only to focus on one or the other when assessing.  Before I started teaching, I spent so much time stressing over the students’ mechanical mistakes–practically driving myself insane!  I quickly realized this year that I could only do so much convention-wise to catch-up my kids (who are drastically behind).  I knew I needed to focus more on the content/communication aspect.  Since I have started focusing more on content and less on mechancis, I have enjoyed teaching writing so much more and feel like a more effective, less stressed teacher.  Also, I liked this quote on p. 279, “Seldom does a professional work on a problem (or write about it) with a closed book.”  I definitely think that makes a good case for using text-based prompts.  Finally, even though I am working on many digital ways to publish students’ work, I’m trying to find an area in the classroom to hang more work samples.  I also want to work on a word wall.  So many ideas, so little wall space!