CI: 5461 Weekly Readings Post #5

This week’s readings certainly gave me a lot to think about. I really like the idea of using technology in the classroom to enhance student learning by providing them with more authentic forms of writing, creating online relationships and communities with others, and placing a greater responsibility in the hands of the students to perform to the best of their abilities. But, let’s break it down even more…

Blogs. I think that blogs can be a great way for students to write down their thoughts and receive feedback from both peers and educators. The blog is informal, yet, has a more authentic and wide range in audience. Today, blogs are easy to create and control; with a handful of keystrokes and a few clicks of the mouse, you are good to go.

Wikis/Nings. The wiki/ning idea is great in that it provides a user-friendly arena in which a teacher can post unit materials and create online communities for students and their families. I love the idea of creating a wiki/ning with students from across the ocean and around the globe. The ability of technology to so easily cross distance and combine cultures can be a great way to expose students to different perspectives, provide them with communication skills, and connect them with new people and ideas. It is also through these sites that one can easily facilitate and/or participate in online role-play.

Online role-play. While I have never participated in online role-play, I can see the benefits. I think that it can provide students with the time to carefully prepare for a debate while also providing them with the safety of a role from which to take their stand. For me, debates are frightening. I would much rather take on the persona of another individual and present a researched argument from their point of view than to ambivalently take on a position that I might personally be indifferent or undecided to. The ability to create or research an opinion and to communicate through online communication provides a more genuine basis for the debate. Online role-play also creates the opportunity to monitor and analyze different arguments, connect points to related online material, etc., as suggested in the Beach and Doerr-Stevens article.

Of course there are many other ways to get students writing through the use of technology, whether it be through photo-essays, iMovies, digital storytelling, etc. With the ever-expanding arena of technology accessible to students and schools, it is important that we as teachers utilize these emerging tools for the benefit of our students. It is important that students find support and instruction in how to use these technologies to express their ideas in the same way that teachers provide instruction on how to write a five-paragraph-theme essay. Each and every writing experience in a student’s life is important and should be valued; it is up to us as teachers to help students broaden their definition of “writing” and to help them explore their talents for creating new types of texts.

Link:

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html

This is a neat link that provides some examples of digital storytelling, an overview of the tools necessary, lesson ideas, how to get started and evaluate projects, and even handy links where students can find free sounds and images. It could be a great way to get things going and learn to incorporate digital storytelling into the classroom.

CI: 5461 Weekly Readings Post #4

Finally! This week’s readings addressed something that has been on my mind ever since I first got it into my head that I wanted to be a teaching and has been plaguing me ever since—What do we do about grading different levels of writing in the same classroom?!?!?!?!?

I have been tormented by the debate in my head about subjective and objective grading. How is it that we can give a student who has improved in their writing so much but still is not near the same level as their peers a “C” for an awesome paper and then turn around and give another student an “A” for a paper that you know they could have worked much harder on! The fact of the matter is that, as teachers, we need to be both subjective and objective to some degree.

The Newkirk and Kent chapter posed the exact question that has been on my mind for so long and they surmised that “It might seem logical and fair to base grades solely on writing quality—but then a good writer who makes no progress would be evaluated more highly than a less proficient writer who makes great progress” (65). Exactly my dilemma! They conclude that the best way to go about grading writing assignments is to “reward students for diligence and for the quality of writing they produce” (N &K 65). To me, this seems like a great way to ensure that students are being evaluated on the amount of effort they put into a piece of writing as much as for the skills they possess as writers. The idea of formatting a grading system that allows for this is great, but then one has to worry about the repercussions, a.k.a. the students who will not be alright if they receive a paper that is less then “A” quality. I can remember those students from my own high school days and they are not the type of kids you want to mess with--their parents will often hunt you down. Hmmm…

Moving on, let’s talk about another gray area in the world of teaching: to use a rubric or not to use a rubric, that is the question! I can see where using a rubric can benefit students and teachers by presenting clear, outlined reasoning behind grades. Students can observe the different areas under examination by the teacher, see specific areas that need improvement, and find some kind of justification in their grade—unless, heaven forbid, they don’t understand the grading scale of the rubric either. The trick with a rubric can be found in the argument of, “Well, what’s the difference between a “4” in Presentation and a ‘3’? If I write it again will it boost my grade?” all in that whiny high school teenager voice—the one we have all employed at some point in our lives. When it comes down to it, rubrics are just a way of trying to justify a given grade and are just as subjective as not using a rubric. Will I use a rubric in my own classes? Probably. Will I struggle to create rubrics that are clear, concise, and valid? Yeah. Do I expect to be able to “cocreate” a rubric with my students successfully (Andrade)? No.

In the end, all I can hope for is that I can find a way to balance subjective and objective grading whether it is with a rubric, checklist, or some hybrid that allows me to monitor the progress of my students and reward them for improvement, innovation, and skill when it comes to manipulating the written English language. I would rather provide my students with positive feedback, constructive criticism, and opportunities to grow than to bury them in rubrics and grades. I’ll end with these final thoughts that mirror my own feelings on the matter:

Teachers who rely too much on grades to convey their evaluation of students’ writing are not communicating much that’s of value to a developing writer. Grades may be a required part of teaching, but…successful teachers of writing keep them to a minimum. (Dornan et. al.184)



Link:

dailywritingtips.com

This website has a lot of great information on grammar and vocabulary, writing basics, and pages on all sorts of different writing genres. It also hosts fun articles and cautionary advice about all things writing. (Very Englishy!)

CI: 5461 Weekly Readings Post #3

At this very moment I am watching Howl’s Moving Castle in my living room and trying to figure out how to start this response to our readings for this week. The main character in the movie—and book—is Sophie, a young girl who is cast aside by others and doesn’t recognize her own worth. In the course of the film she learns to find her strength and cast off the curse that has plagued her. This is one of my favorite movies and I love that the moral of the story corresponds, perhaps in a roundabout way, to what so much of our reading this week focused on—the need for teachers to foster in students the ability to value their own insights and skills as writers.

As teachers, it is our duty to ensure that students can find importance in their own writing. I noticed that there were many similarities in the readings this week and, thus, I decided to make a list of the most valuable insights that arose from the texts. These steps can help teachers create a writing pedagogy that meets the needs of students everywhere and will foster within them an appreciation for writing.

Teachers should be sure to…

1. Create a safe environment that encourages experimentation, risk, personality, and reflection in conjunction with the writing process.

2. Help students to discover for themselves that writing is an individual process and that there are many different types and forms of writing. This will help them learn to take risks and take pride in their writing. This may often include the need for them to understand that writing is not something that a teacher tells you to do, but “something real” (Dornan et. al. 172). Risk is something that writers need to get through and teachers can help them accomplish this by providing a safe and comfortable environment for experimentation and sharing.

3. Help students to appreciate and value their thoughts and insights in order to help them find their personal voice. This can be done by providing students with opportunities to explore their personal voices in a variety of writing genres and prompts. “When we nurture and praise voice in our students’ writing we imply that writing is much more than the basic ability to communicate in various social forms effectively; it is a way of expressing who we are” (Lane 164). This was something that my teachers never emphasized in their classrooms. I think this is important in helping students develop their writing style by helping them transmit their personality into their writing.

4. Help students identify the correct tone and level of formality that is expected with different genres of writing by exploring audience and purpose. This can be done by providing them with plenty of exposure to other authors and genres.

5. Provide time in class for revision. This can be in the form of conferences with teachers and/or peers and should be focused around providing questions that help students extrapolate/clarify the content of their writing. (Don’t worry, grammar, mechanics, and punctuation will come later!) Conferences should be about building the student-teacher relationship and not telling students how they should write; “the teacher should not look at the text for the student, not even with the student. The teacher looks at—and listens to—the student watching the text evolve” (Murray 28). Teachers should “encourage students to pursue ideas, feelings, or merely a sense of things which they may not yet have thought out or been able to express, but which may emerge into language between” student and teacher (32).

6. Encourage students to make decisions for themselves; providing helpful questions or insight into their own interests can be a way in engaging students with writing. In doing this, students can find value in putting their ideas down on paper—to organize their thoughts and help them expand upon questions that might arise; making sense out of seemingly arbitrary assignments.

7. Identify the difference between revision—editing content—and proofreading/copyediting—editing for grammar, mechanics, and punctuation.

8. Remember that “errors” in student writing should be assessed based on the student’s dialect and the tone/genre of the piece of writing in question.

9. Present grammar, mechanics, and punctuation in the classroom in a way that puts responsibility more in the hands of the students themselves in conjunction with the teacher and other students. Mini-lessons and self/peer revision can be the best way to help students learn to take responsibility for their own revising needs and writing in general.

10. Model, model, and model! An important rule writing teachers need to remember is that “students need to be immersed in a writing and reading environment in which language study has a direct application to their own composing, where the usage skills they are taught are immediately applied to the papers they are writing, and where the grammatical structures they study help them become responsive readers and flexible writers” (Dornan et. al. 82).

If these steps are met, teachers can turn the tide of poor writing that plagues American schools. I myself will keep this list handy and be sure to utilize it the best that I can in the classroom. Some of these things I have observed or experienced myself, but there are aspects of them that are new and exciting to me as a future educator. I can only wish that my former teachers had taught me to value my own writing style and voice, put grammar instruction into my own hands (for the record, sentence diagramming doesn’t count), and found ways to successfully utilize both teacher and peer conferences in the classroom. Nevertheless, here’s to the future of writing instruction!

Link:

http://www.songsforteaching.com/grammarspelling.htm

Okay, this is kind of a silly link, but I know that I remember the words to songs, or vocalized little ditties a lot more than I remember grammar rules. If your class is getting stuck on a grammar, spelling, or punctuation rule, this might be a good way to bring it all together in a rhythmic manner!

On a more serious note...

http://www.eslgold.com/

This link would be a great tool for both ESL teachers and students. The site provides materials that can be used by the teacher in helping ESL students master their speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary as well as providing ideas for teaching appropriate speech in the business realm. Some of the provided material looks more helpful than others, but it might still be a good starting point or back-up plan in our future endeavors.

CI: 5461 Weekly Readings Post #2

What I loved about the readings for this week was their ability to create a sense of just freedom in the processes of writing. Instead of providing one “correct” way in which students, as writers, should write the authors provided a plethora of ways in which students could write. The chapters and articles illustrate how personal the writing process truly is.

The first chapter in Within and Beyond the Writing Process details different assumptions that the authors make about teaching writing. They assume first of all that writing is thinking—an assumption I readily agree with. The reason in which we speak and write is to use language to communicate with one another. This communication can come in many different forms and be used with a variety of purposes. Because of this, I think it is important that as teachers we try to position the value of writing as part of the essential process of communication. In doing this, we need to present students with a reason or purpose to write; this can be to tell a story, communicate a dream, present a resume, or critically analyze a piece of literature. In a similar vein, the text quotes Frank Smith who says that, “words are the map of the way we think” (4). I myself feel much more eloquent and comfortable with written language than in spoken language—especially when it comes to presenting fuel for arguments. For me, writing gives me the ability to take my time and sift through the words entering my head, pulling the best out of the melee, and creating something that is worth communicating. An example would be the failed debate in our last class. My ideas were written on paper, but in the heat of the moment—and after Josh’s Karate Kid references—I am horrendously ill-equipped as a communicator to think on my feet. Writing gives me the right pace at which to process my thoughts and reread them as they are composed on the page.

As the Ede and Lunsford piece suggests, writers are writing as much for themselves as for their audience and it is important that they acknowledge that in order to take pride and responsibility for their writing. Of course, they also need to be aware of the other audiences of their writing--as many of the readings suggest, providing a real audience to readers can be extremely beneficial in helping them focus their writing. The duality between readers and writers in which "writers create readers and readers create writers" matches the ideas from Within and Beyond the Writing Process about writing and learning.

I loved the idea that humans learn to write and write to learn. As with the other assumption, this one draws upon the ability of writing to help organize one’s thoughts and facilitate both critical thinking and artistic expression. I think many students fear writing because of the “red-ink” effect, but with a variety of writing genres and tools in their pockets, students can use writing to help them explore their knowledge, solve problems, “reason, remember, understand, and imagine” (Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson 7). I especially like the idea of using writing to help students “imagine.” Writing in the classroom should be about imagining an audience and writing with a purpose intended for that audience. Students can use writing to help them create new thoughts and organize the new; writing has no bounds.

When it comes to teaching writing, I think daily writing and the retirement of the red pen can help students become comfortable with all aspects of the writing process. During Intercession at Crosswinds, we used an informal bell-ringer to help get the creative juices flowing and to get our students writing without fear. They were able to use this writing later on and craft something much more polished. I loved the Dornan chapter that detailed the different ways in which the authors write—from pre-writing ideas to the dreaded revision process. I think it is clear that people have different writing methods—everyone is different so why should anyone assume that one prescribed writing process will fit all. Personally, I use different process of pre-writing depending on the assignment and my comfortability with the subject matter. The revision process is the same, sometimes I have someone look over it for content issues, other times I read it out loud to myself to listen for structural and content issues, and on occasion, the revision process does include rewriting the piece from scratch. What is comes down to though, for me, is the reality that writing is a recursive process—what goes around comes around. Writers are constantly pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, etc.

I also think it is best to present as many different methods to students in an effort to help them find the techniques that work best for them—after all, they are the writers. An effective way to do this is by assigning a variety of writing assignments that utilize a variety of techniques, provide opportunities for a variety of genres, have meaningful agendas to the writer, and adhere to student interests. A writing portfolio—as used in the Kent chapter of Teaching the Neglected “R”—is one way to provide students with the chance to engage in different writing activities and acquire writing skills along the way. In order to ensure that these skills are taught in the best capacity, teachers should remember to create positive working environments that encourage communication and critique among all its members. Positive experiences foster learning and the retention of that learning and we need to get students to believe and find the positive side of writing.

Resource Link:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

This website provides a variety of handouts and information about grammar and writing from the basic sentence level on up to research paper guidelines. There are even powerpoints on different forms of punctuation and clauses. It also provides answers to some of the English languages more difficult conundrums. Overall, great resource for teachers who might need some help with their grammar and writing coaching!

CI 5461: Weekly Readings Post #1

Let’s start our journey at the beginning or at least at the beginning of the twentieth century…as a new decade dawning educators and researchers noticed that the pedagogy driving our nation’s efforts to instill in students the ability to write was ineffective and guess what, it still is to this day. Thomas Newkirk’s research reveals articles about the struggles faced by English teachers as they endeavored to teach writing to the nation’s youth. Newkirk notes that F.A. Barbour claimed that “Young people do not learn to write well by trying to apply rules of any text-book to their writing, but unconsciously rather” (2). Instead of being force-fed the different rules and regulations of the written word, Barbour noted that students needed to experience writing as modeled through their reading and personal experiences. He claimed that only through modeling, continued practice in areas of interest, and the constructive criticism of teachers could skillful writing be achieved. You would think that after one hundred years someone would have finally listened to these accounts and done something about it.

Combine the disdainful reality of the “test-prep” writing classroom of today with the stagnant concept of the “normal” schoolroom and there is no wonder as to why American students lack effective writing skills. The static imaginings of both what writing and schooling “should” look like has left its mark on America’s education system and is best summed up in Newkirk’s assertion that “if an English teacher from 1900 visited a school today, he or she would feel strangely at home” he juxtaposes this image with a comprehensive list of some of the major technological advances that have been made in the course of the century to further add illustrate the anachronism of the American classroom today (5).

In order to correct the situation at present, educators need to move beyond the perennial teaching of the five-paragraph essay and explore both new and creative ways of teaching writing to students. Kimberly Wesley’s article “The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme” presented me with the type of heresy I always imagined would send a teacher to the depths of Dante’s Inferno. She presents a strong argument as to why the five-paragraph essay should not be the end-all-be-all of secondary writing instruction. To put it simply, she argues that the system limits the student’s ideas, critical thinking, and complex analysis while emphasizing organization over content.

Another moment of brilliance can be found in Jeffery Wilhelm’s interview surrounding the current emphasis on testing. Wilhelm pointedly illustrates the unrealistic format and basis of the testing writing skills. I specifically remember—and I am sure others do to— being told by my high school teachers to focus only on my writing skills when taking my state exams. It was, “The content doesn’t matter, make something up that answers the prompt if need be, just be sure to write a nice five paragraph essay with all the important parts and you will pass.” How is that a realistic assessment of a person’s ability to write an essay? How does that demonstrate reality? Wilhelm goes further to explain how such exams teach students to be dishonest and do not teach them the realistic processes of writing as found in the real world. In the real world, writers have time to think about their topics, outline ideas, write drafts, discuss their drafts with others, edit and revise their pieces, and, eventually, come up with something that is worth the time and effort. These tests offer no glimpse into the real world and will only present kids with a false sense of the truth. Wilhelm claims that, “If you get a dumbed-down test, you’ll get a dumbed-downed curriculum, and kids are not going to learn what real people do. They are going to be disenfranchised because they are going to know they are just ‘doing school’” (15).

In order to change the writing pedagogy, we as educators need to think far beyond the five paragraph essay and standardized writing tests and help students by providing them with opportunities to write genuinely, risk-free, and with enough frequency to ensure skills develop through constant practice. Students do need guidance from their teachers and this can be given in three ways outlined by Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson, as the creation of a supportive environment in which the natural processes of writing can mature, the presence of encouragement and coaching in their guidance as an instructor, and the presentation of appropriate instruction on structure, form, audience, purpose, and other aspects of writing. In doing this, teachers can help to create an environment that allows students to explore writing and the many different genres found within its branches. Tom Romano’s Multigenre Research Project illustrate one way in which students can break free of the dominant expository form and experiment with using different genres to present research. In doing this, students gain experience and confidence in their writing as they practice manipulating the English language to fit their needs. As Romano notes, “Writing is a big world mural, not a snapshot” (88).

As teachers, we might forget how monotonous, trying, and difficult it was to write and present our materials to others; the pain of handing over something you spent hours sweating over only to have it returned dripping in that abominable red ink. In order to better understand and sympathize with our students, we need to be sure that we are actively presenting ourselves as writers alongside our students. Reid professes that she forces her graduate students to write difficult assignments and to explore their writing, and to reflect on their writing experiences in order to provide them with a better sense of community and empathy with their future/current students—something she claims to have recognized herself in the process of writing the article. To me this serves to emphasize the importance of providing students with opportunities to write without the fear of red ink and to continually return to the page ourselves in order to maintain that painful, anxiety-ridden, authorial affinity with students.


http://www.users.muohio.edu/romanots/

This resource link ties directly with Tom Romano’s section from Teaching the Neglected “R” and will be very beneficial to anyone who is thinking of utilizing his multigenre research project in their classroom. The site provides more information on the mechanics and development of the project, rubrics, and examples of his students’ work. Many, if not all, of the information can be reworked into a secondary school setting and still see the same successful results.