Book Report 2:  After THE END

In this book, Barry Lane encourages us to shed our teacher skin, cut ourselves and our students slack, and have fun with revision.  Revision, he reminds us, is as natural as writing, and is the source of the whole process.  In fact, writing is revision.  This book is full of practical techniques to help our students discover this.

Each chapter incorporates suggestions for classroom practice with professional and student writing samples. Also included are several gems--good writing advice boiled down to a vivid metaphor. 

The following are some of Barry Lane's advice I most appreciated: 

The chapters in this book cover everything from leads to details and dialogue to poetry - all done with great humor and wisdom.  The chapter on conferencing is wittingly titled, "Don't Fix My Story, Just Listen to Me: A Guide to Conferencing and Codependency."  This chapter again encourages teachers to share responsibility and encouraging more independence and collaboration.

Kelley Edwards

July 2002