Flipping and Blending: Using Online Forums in the Workshop-Based Composition Classroom

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Robbie Pock

Welcome to the Workshop!

When we take a look at how successful writers work, we see that one thing most of them have in common is that they follow a writing process to create their stories, plays, novels, essays, and articles. An important stage of that process involves sharing work in progress with a trusted reader or readers to receive feedback. Writers then go back to revise the work based on that feedback. This practice is sometimes called a writing workshop.

What comes to mind when you think about a workshop? Maybe you imagine a space with miscellaneous tools, a workbench, probably several projects in progress. The metaphor of a workshop is appropriate for the kind of writing work you will do on your own and with your workshop teams--an informal, sometimes messy space bustling with creative and collaborative energy. For us, this space will be an online forum.

How It Works

The workshop model operates pretty simply: Writers work through the writing process to generate a draft they feel is promising. Then they share that draft with the members of their Workshop Team. The Workshop Team members read and offer feedback to the drafts of their team members. Each writer takes that feedback and revises the draft. The writer repeats this process until the essay is polished and as perfect as the writer can make it.

Our course will follow this same basic process, but with a little help from technology. Instead of handing your Workshop Team a paper print out of your draft, you will post your draft to an online forum. Your Team members will read your draft and leave an Initial Response online before the face-to-face workshop in class (and you will do the same for their drafts). You might want to preview their responses before the in-class workshop. In the face-to-face workshop you will read your draft (or part of it, depending on how long it is) aloud to your team. Then you and the Team will discuss strengths, interesting things about your ideas, any confusing parts, etc. of your draft. You should take good notes during the discussion so you can refer to them later. Workshop Teams will repeat the process until each draft has been thoroughly reviewed.

The final step in the workshop process is for each writer to compose a brief Revision Plan. Based on feedback from your Workshop Team and your own insights after the workshop, how would you revise your draft? You will post your Revision Plan as a reply to your original draft post.

Why It Works

Doing some of the critical steps of the Writing Workshop in an online forum is beneficial in several ways.

First, the mid-week deadline means you are less likely to procrastinate until the night before the in-class workshop. (Procrastinating never yields the best writing.)

Second, reading your team members' drafts online gives you the chance to read at your own pace and to reread as you need to. It also gives you the chance to think a bit more about your Initial Response. Writing it out in the forum reply helps you articulate your thoughts in words, with the benefit of re-reading and revising before you post so you are sure your words express your ideas accurately and clearly, (which is not always how it happens when we speak). When you come to the face-to-face workshop, you will already have something to say about your teammates' drafts and can build on your initial comments from there.

A third benefit of the online forum is that a record of the writing process from draft to feedback to revision plan will be preserved online. You can refer back to drafts, peer comments, and your plans for improving the essay whenever you need to as you work to perfect your writing.

Workshop Forum Responsibilities

In order for the Workshop Forum to work, you will need to wear two hats. You will have to be both a writer and a member of a workshop team. Each of these roles has specific responsibilities in each Workshop Forum cycle. See a breakdown of Writing Workshop responsibilities below. *Note: words in bold/italics are written items you will produce and/or complete.

Writer’s Responsibility:

Submit a Draft to the Workshop Forum by midweek
Read draft aloud in face-to-face workshop
Post Revision Plan (min 100 wds) to Team Forum as soon as possible after the face-to-face workshop (so you don't forget the details!)

Workshop Team Member Responsibility:

Read Drafts posted by Team Members and post Initial Response (min 150 wds) to each draft before the face-to-face workshop
Discuss each member’s draft in face-to-face workshop
Complete a Rubric for each draft at the end of the face-to-face workshop (or immediately after)

Initial Response Guidelines

Initial Response/Forum Feedback Guidelines

A crucial component of the Workshop Model is peer feedback. However, it can be tricky to know what exactly to say about a peer's draft or how exactly to give feedback to a peer. Here are some guidelines for the essays you will be workshopping in this class:

1) First try to list several specific things you like and/or that you think are effective. This gets you focused on what’s working, rather than what isn’t. Also, a writer will naturally do more of what gets positive response and less of what gets no response or negative response.

2) Try to use language from class discussion and/or the rubric and other instructional material when discussing the specifics of what elements are or aren’t working

3) DO NOT PROOFREAD! It is not the job of the workshop reviewer to proofread. THAT is the WRITER’S job. You can and should, however, point out if you notice recurrent grammar/usage/mechanics errors.

4) Prioritize pointing out places where you get distracted or confused. This helps the writer know where to work on the piece. You don’t have to know what is wrong, you just have to identify that something seems “off” or “bumpy” or “clunky” or confusing about a passage.

5) Remember, you are the first and most important source of feedback for your workshop teammates. They will need your suggestions to get their drafts perfected and polished. Also, by looking closely and critically at peer writing, and by comparing that writing to the standards described in the rubric, you are training yourself to see writing critically and objectively, which will be invaluable as you work to see your own writing from an objective perspective. You also will be graded on how well you engage with the peer review work.

For each Weekly Workshop Forum, and as part of each Friday In-class Workshop, you will be working hard giving critical and essential feedback to your Workshop Teammates and receiving it from them in return. Though you should compose your Initial Response to reflect your own personality, writing and feedback style, and your relationship with the individual you are addressing, here are some good general guidelines:

o Address your feedback directly to the writer (as in a letter or email).

o Focus on being patient and constructive—writing is hard; we’re all here to try to make it a little easier for each other.

o Focus on a few specific, concrete things to discuss. Be sure you can point to the place in the draft where things are really working well or where they are not quite working yet.

Additional Feedback Strategies

Try these if you need more ideas about giving feedback:

Yes, Yes, No

o List and discuss at least two things you can say “yes” to in the piece. You might agree, have a similar experience. You might think something is well written or is effective.

o List and discuss at least 1 thing you say “no” to. You didn’t ever have an experience like that. You aren’t convinced. You are confused.

Address the Questions—(some, but maybe not necessarily all for a given Forum)

o WHO(M)—Is it clear to/for whom the essay is written (audience)? Is it clear who is writing the piece? Is the point of view consistent and appropriate to the topic and the audience? You can write a lot of feedback by thinking about the draft in terms of “who”.

o WHAT—Is the Limited Subject of the essay clear? Is the writer’s Precise Opinion about that Limited Subject clear? Is the essay focused? Again, lots to say by looking at the “what” of an essay.

o WHEN—Think about the time issues of the draft. Is this timely? Is the evidence from an appropriate timeframe to be convincing and accurate? Does the draft move around in time (especially an issue in narratives)? Discuss the ways that “when” is a factor in the draft.

o WHERE—Is the geographic scope of the argument clearly defined? Does the writer use precise language to qualify the parameters of the argument and evidence? How is place relevant to this draft? Has the writer dealt with place in an effective way?

o WHY—Is it clear why this argument is being written? Is it clear (relevant) to you as a reader? What difference does it make in the world? Is that made clear? How can the writer maximize the “why” of the essay?

o HOW—This is a big one. You could write a page easily analyzing the rhetorical strategy, the stylistic choices, the format, and many other elements. And it’s important. A writer must concern herself with how her essay is working, how it will represent her ideas and arguments in her absence, how it will stand up to critique and counterargument. This is an area that is very difficult to self-evaluate, so your feedback is essential to your teammates here.

Revision Plan Guidelines

You will be required to post a DETAILED Revision Plan (minimum 100 words) to the Weekly Workshop Forum after each face-to-face Workshop. These should:

Mention some of the things that were working well in the draft
Mention specific feedback you received from your Workshop Team
Mention specific things you noticed as you reviewed, read aloud, and discussed your draft
Discuss what resources you plan to use to address problems and address the feedback you received (i.e. visit the tutoring center, make an appointment with your teacher/instructor, seek out an online resource, practice a pertinent topic in your handbook)

**Note: please post your Revision Plan as a “reply” to your original Draft posting in the Workshop Forum. This way you and your teacher/instructor can see the entire string of all posts relating to your Draft.