The greatest potential we have as educators is collaborating with one another. As we progress through our course, we need to plan on sharing our thoughts and reflections with one another both in class an through our own writing. Though this is not a platform required for our course, sharing our insights on this blog will help foster that community of collaboration among us.
That said, for each week's reading I will be creating a post that encourages you to share what your are thinking as a result of your reading. This is a space for us to practice our own Writing to Learn (WTL).
Reflect on the reading as you would in your journal... It's your thoughts that will help make meaning of this text.
Page 3: "Today's students are the most writing-ready kids we have ever seen." I love this statement. It makes me think back on my first OP as I reflected on various Facebook posts. Though the same issues in writing have always existed we are now living in an age where our students write more than ever. How now can we use this to our advantage as teachers?
ReplyDeleteIdea: I think I want to explore my use of exit-ticket "Tweets" more. Having students reflect on a class in fewer than 140 characters. It may help tighten the connection between their personal writing and their academic.
First all, Jen I love the idea of exit-ticket "Tweets" and would love to hear more about it. I always give exit tickets where I tell kids to write 2-3 sentences, but I think the idea of 140 characters like a Tweet would be a stronger understanding.
ReplyDeleteOverall Reaction: Content-Area Writing-Every Teacher’s Guide presents itself to be easily accessible, practical, and adaptable in terms of writing for the every-day teacher. I am particularly fond of the tone and structure of the text. The side-notes, that the authors refer to as being like online interactive “jump-around” buttons, can truly keep a reader engaged (their own little model of “show, don’t tell” in how to modernly teach writing in new approaches). The tone is casual, connective, real, even silly to sarcastic at times, making it an easy-read, also a model of professional conversational writing.
Favorite Concepts/Reactions:
“Students are doing more authoring than any young people in the history of the world” (3).
An idea that is so true and I have personally declared by saying kids don ‘t write less, it’s just the form that has changed: text messaging, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites, etc. This is what the authors view as Writing to Learn, emphasizing that this modern form of writing is not addressed enough in the classroom, which I believe is because it is still not yet respected as “real-writing” and has to change. (You know, like the “real-world” we adults live in, verse the “fake one” we claim our students live in separated from ourselves.)
~On page three, I am fascinated by the model conversation proving why all teachers of all contents need to teach writing. Many teachers WOULD respond in a way that it all comes down to a lack of time, and could benefit from reading the surrounding pages that prove writing will save time and increase scores.
“70% of all adult Americans thought writing should be taught across all subjects and grade levels” (NWP 7).
“It is not a curriculum of ideas, just mentioning” (9). This comment intrigued me as the authors were making a metaphorical connection between the amount of curriculum teachers attempt/are forced to cover, to a painter painting a thin layer of paint. I support this theory that information for students will begin to chip, or be forgotten almost instantly after a quiz/test, and this is because as teachers, are covering too much broadly, and little in deep depth. I commend the authors for addressing all the vast pressures and traditions that have led teachers to this strategy of mentioning and moving on, and I support their response that as teachers, we need to choose “selective thinking curriculum with active and engaged learning activities” or what they modified as “teach less…think better” (10).
ReplyDelete~I love the chart breakdowns distinguishing the key differences between Writing to Learn, and Public Writing, which was again another model, showing readers an example of what Writing to Learn could look like.
~Lastly, there were numerous points during this reading where I was thinking excitedly “I do that” or “that’s my philosophy”. In Chapter two there is a visual showing that writing can be formal or informal, but we need to address all forms in our classroom. This is my ongoing motto to my students: There is no such thing as good or bad writing, just levels of formality, and we will learn to distinguish and practice with various forms.
Question:
The authors made note that as teachers of writing, we should not grade/correct all writing because “it doesn’t make for better writing.” I heard this concept a few months ago at the National Educators of New England Conference, and agreed with it then, but I have a hard time making it work. Instead of grading every paper, I keep journals and grade on completion. Instead of collecting every formal writing, I have students keep portfolios where they are graded on completion, and then re-write of one to two selected pieces. The problem or hurdle with grading is with essays/reports. I find myself writing numerous corrections, side comments, and almost an overall report back. I don’t know if it’s a sickness as an English teacher to not leave any error untouched, the drive to help students succeed at every aspect of writing, or a combination of both, but I know it is time consuming and researched as not successful. I have heard and applied the idea that teachers should touch on one concept (like an aspect of grammar or structure) and ONLY grade that, but sometimes isn’t it important to have students write papers that challenge them to incorporate all knowledge learned about writing, and if so, how can I cut back on that grading and/or give more successful feedback?
You are absolutely correct when you say to your students that: "There is no such thing as good or bad writing, just levels of formality, and we will learn to distinguish and practice with various forms." It as a challenging concept for both students and teachers to grasp. If we approach all writing as formal, then writing will never be perceived as enjoyable when it really is. The reading indicated that writing keeps people from going crazy. Writing does a great deal to help us clear and organize our minds.
ReplyDeleteIf I might offer a suggestion regarding the innate desire of teachers to mark all inaccuracies in student writing... I have read "final drafts" and simply placed check marks at the end of each line that contained errors and had the students collaborate on one another's writing to determine the errors. This gives the opportunity for them to seek answers, and it gives the teacher an opportunity to provide mini-one-on-one lessons to students that can not identify errors. Students are then asking for the knowledge. It works though time consuming--the lessons last.
Thanks Jen! I think the idea of the checkmarks is an excellent idea for an engaging and new approach to grading larger essays!
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the book so far - very engaging and easy to relate to. I like the positive spin the authors share on page 8 saying that rather than say that we're in a 'writing crisis', they look upon it as a time for opportunity. As an optimistic idealist - I appreciate this 'shift in thought' from limiting to expansive.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for this class and focusing on writing. I've already gotten some great ideas in a short time so I can only imagine what I will discover about writing and making it accessible for all students.
Two of the Wiggins / McTighe questions (universal design) that resonated for me were:
"3. Does the topic have applications and connections to real life outside of school?
4. Is the topic potentially engaging for students?" (p. 11)
Since I teach 'life skills' and since I also must connect what I teach to content standards, these are very relevant questions - in my practice, I have no choice but to narrow down what I teach to the 'meat and potatoes' of learning - it takes a while for students to grasp concepts and ideas, so the concepts I teach must be functional and engaging. Quite a challenge - but a worthwhile one.
I used Wordle.net this week to review everything we had learned about 'weather' in science class. I was so excited that we went around and around and the students were at no loss to offer ideas and concepts related to weather. Then my brain started working from there - now that we have a 'class' wordle, they can then take ideas and words from them and begin to build a wordle themselves and demonstrate more of their learning more independently.
And so now I will post on the blog, without re-reading and editing my writing at least 5 times. Here it is - for all to read. A little scary for me but I'm going to take the leap of faith and start hurdling myself into the 21st century!!!!
Great hear you are exploring the potentials of Wordle. We all should keep in mind the two primary questions asked in this chapter. I am sure we will continue to revisit them. Thank you for sharing your insights.
ReplyDeleteOkay - at the risk of sounding 'not so smart'.... I've tried to figure out what 2 primary questions you're referring to? Could you please enlighten me since we'll be revisiting them? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi guys,
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the processing you're all doing with the text and, Natalie, you most articulately expressed the book's key delights--practicality, "conversationality" (new word?), wisdom, and especially affirmation that we are already doing and thinking like our authors. Phew. . .! I was afraid after all these years I didn't know anything.
About the dis-ease of English teachers who can't leave an error untouched--hears a cure: maek a fue yourselve. This may mean not proofreading before striking "send." Or this may mean learning the kids' shorthand and actually slipping it into a formal essay. Or this may mean typing faster than you think (or is it thinking faster than you type?). Anyway, I love the notion of there being levels of formality of writing rather than good and bad writing; it seems a reasonable bridge to cross to our students. I think I shall put the quote up in the hallway.
Now, about this week's reading--can we get a copy of the chapter since our books are still on the way? I'd be glad to run them off if someone can lend the book.
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