Reimagining Revision: Fostering a Writer's Mindset in our Students

Do you groan when you hear your writing students utter the words, “I like it the way it is” about their drafts? We all want our students to embrace revision, but perhaps it should be no surprise, this revision resistance. Revision is messy, challenging, and can feel threatening and frustrating for any writer. So how can we help our students – and ourselves – be more open to it? 

In this course, we will explore the idea of revision not as a single stage in the writing process – a step right after “drafting” and just before “editing” – but as a mindset that’s present through every part of our writing. We will actively cultivate our own mindset stances – including metacognition, perspective-taking, flexible thinking, and risk-taking – as we draft and revise different pieces throughout our week. Chris will share practical approaches teachers can use to make revision engaging, meaningful, and fun for their students, at any level. Participants will develop practices they can weave into their classes’ minilessons and pre-writing, drafting, conferring, and sharing structures. Along the way, we’ll make some manageable but powerful shifts that can foster a writer’s mindset in our students and help them move beyond revision resistance. 

Chris Hall is the author of The Writer’s Mindset and learns everyday about writing and revision alongside his language arts students at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, NH. Over the past twenty years, he has taught in urban, suburban, public, independent, and international schools, where he has helped young writers find authentic purpose, build community, and discover the power of their own words. Chris also served as a Heinemann Fellow, researching innovative writing practices within a cohort of dynamic educators from across the country.