She Just Wanted Her Writers Workshop Back
- DocHolbrook
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
I was summoned to an elementary school the other day.
Teachers had concerns about the new program. Some were warranted. Some were not. That’s the reality of any curriculum shift. There is no perfect program.
We worked through the questions. We talked through the logistics. We unpacked what was working and what still felt messy.
And then, at the very end, one teacher paused, took a breath, and said:
“Can we please talk about the writing again?”
She went on to explain that she didn’t feel like she was meeting her students’ needs. That she was up at night worried they wouldn’t be prepared for second grade. That she would follow the writing in the knowledge unit, but she just wanted her Writers Workshop block back.
I started to open my mouth.
To respond. To explain. To point out all the ways she was preparing her students.
But this wasn’t the first time we had this conversation. And it wasn’t the first time she brought up Writers Workshop.
So instead of arguing, I listened.
And when I left, I felt defeated.
Why couldn’t she let it go? What was so good about Writers Workshop?
Because here’s what I know to be true: I have high school teachers telling me that AP students don’t know where to put periods. I have 9th grade English teachers spending an entire month on paragraph writing.
So why, almost a year later, are we still having this conversation?
And then it hit me.
She’s not just protecting Writers Workshop.
She doesn’t feel effective yet. And she doesn’t feel safe.
That changes everything.
Because if that’s true, then my job as a leader is not to defend the program. It’s to reduce those two things.
The Real Problem Isn’t the Program
One of the reasons this happens is because teachers work in isolation.
Especially when they’re learning something new.
They’re not thinking about what came before them. They’re not thinking about what comes next.
They’re thinking about tomorrow.
What am I teaching? Are my students getting it? Am I doing this right?
And when those questions don’t have clear answers, people revert.
Not because they don’t care. But because they care so much.
We all do it.
When things get hard, we go back to what we know. What feels comfortable. What once made us feel successful.
Why This Keeps Coming Up
Buying the program is the easy part.
Implementing it with fidelity, consistency, and belief is the work.
And that work is uncomfortable.
It requires teachers to:
let go of practices they felt confident in
try something new without immediate mastery
trust that outcomes will come later
That’s a big ask.
And without support, people don’t push through that discomfort. They retreat from it.
What We’re Really Asking Teachers to Change
For years, writing instruction has often meant giving students long blocks of time to write.
To create stories.
To make books.
To fill pages.
And on the surface, it looks productive.
Students are engaged. They’re writing a lot. They’re expressing themselves.
But writing more is not the same as learning how to write.
Because without explicit instruction, many students are:
practicing errors
avoiding complexity
staying within what they already know how to do
They’re producing writing without actually improving their ability to construct sentences.
And that’s what we’re seeing later.
Students who can generate ideas, but can’t write a clear sentence .Students who can fill pages, but don’t know where to put a period.
So when we shift away from long, unstructured writing blocks and toward:
sentence-level instruction
modeling
guided practice
writing tied to knowledge
It can feel like we’re taking something away.
But we’re not.
We’re changing the focus from volume to precision.
From creating books to building sentences.
From independence to competence.
And that shift can feel uncomfortable.
Especially for teachers who equated student writing time with student growth.
So What Do We Do Instead?
If teachers don’t feel effective or safe, we don’t fix that by arguing.
We fix it by building systems that make effectiveness visible.
Maybe they need to see it.
Maybe we need to create space for teachers to look beyond their own classroom.
Cross-grade level PLCs.
Time for teachers to come together and answer:
Where are students coming in?
What are they able to do now?
Where are they going next?
Because when a first-grade teacher can see what second grade expects, and what kindergarten built, the work starts to make sense.
The purpose becomes clearer.
And the fear starts to fade.
The Leadership Shift
This is the shift I’m still learning myself.
It’s not about winning the argument.
It’s about understanding the resistance.
It’s about recognizing that when teachers push back, it’s often not defiance.
It’s vulnerability.
And if we want real change, we have to respond to that.
Not with more explanations but with more support.
Because Here’s the Reality
We can’t go back.
We know too much about how students learn to read and write.
We know that if we don’t get this right early, it shows up later. In missing punctuation. In weak sentences. In students who struggle to express their thinking in writing.
So we stay the course.
But we don’t do it alone.
We build the conditions where teachers feel supported enough to stay in the work.
Because that’s the hard part.
And that’s the part that matters most.
Looking to strengthen literacy systems in your school or district?
I offer consultations focused on aligning instruction, building teacher knowledge, and supporting sustainable implementation. Reach out to learn more.
When we know better, we teach better.
See you next Sunday!
References
Fullan, Michael, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Graham, Steve, S., & Harris, K. R. (2019). Evidence-based writing practices: A meta-analysis of existing meta-analyses. Reading and Writing, 32(2), 459–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9844-1
Hochman, Judith C., J. C., & Wexler, N. (2017). The writing revolution: A guide to advancing thinking through writing in all subjects and grades. Jossey-Bass.
Moats, Louisa, L. C. (2020). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers (3rd ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Sedita, Joan, J. (2019). The writing rope: A framework for explicit writing instruction in all subjects. Keys to Literacy.
Shanahan, Timothy, T. (2020). The science of reading: Evidence for a new era of reading instruction. Literacy Today, 38(3), 16–