You've had a chance to skim through readings, read parts closely, dig into some portions of articles that tug more specifically at your teaching mind than others and ponder.
Now glom onto some aspect of the reading - an idea, something you did not realize or understand before, something you disagree with, something you would like to know more about, something that resonated with you in one specific reading, or perhaps some theme that crossed readings - and reflect about that in writing.
Remember to refer to key points brought out by at least one of the readings and work to place beginning understandings or reactivated understandings within your beliefs about teaching writing or your way of teaching in the classroom or assignments given to students.
"See" you in the blog.
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52 comments:
Given our first topic for blogging and then reading the articles is a nice complement. Research seems to indicate we need a purpose for writing. Thus, as a teacher, I need to remember to authenicate the work I have designed for my students, to provide agency, as Tom Fox stated in his keynote. If I create conditions for self-investment, students will find their way more readily.
I also liked what Joseph Check had to say about myths. He gave me some language to talk back to reticent writers: "Your standards for writing shouldn't inhibit you from writing. . . , so do you 'lower your standards' to produce an imperfect something or do you maintain them and produce a perfect nothing?"
In addition, Check sparks an inquiry question for me. I have always valued peer response as part of the writing process, but it usually only happens once in the process before the papers are returned for revision. Given the zig-zag pattern Check describes, I'm wondering if before the paper comes to me, the peer pairs shouldn't remeet to discuss changes. Maybe greater investment will occur if I validate the peer response process more, value it more, and utilize it to encourage revision. Something to think about and try out.
A RESPONSE TO DONNA
Your valuing peer response as a wondering for inquiry is one I have recently pondered as well. My change to 7/8 language arts with a 45 minute period to develop a community of writers as well as develop a working relationship throws a kink into the processes I was able to institute across subject areas in the self-contained classroom.
So when it comes to peer response, I wondered about a process that Heather spoke about with me that Mark Medvetz uses at the College of Technology. I need to pick his mind more specifically, but the essence is that he models the conferencing process with students papers with the whole class and then uses that as the segue into his students taking that back to their writing.
Well, my wondering then is can I take Katie Wood Ray's work in Study Driven - the idea of finding the genre specific crafting techniques good authors use as well as the sylistic crafting techniques that we as a class ferret out and after delving into the author's intent of using those and kids write their pieces and so forth - can we make those crafting moves (ways of writing in that genre) and then in addition to using them for assessing the writing but use them as a means to model that process and then have students do that with one another.
It seemed to make sense in that students have the language to use as they created it after noticing how authors write a particular genre. And they know why authors use those means of writing in that genre. So couldn't I model how that looks, maybe even some one on one for some kids that I know would need that, but do the whole class modeling and over time build kids' abilities to use all that stuff to talk intelligently and with depth and meaning about another person's writing?
I know I had some long sentences and rambled, but it makes some sense to me. I may make that my inquiry for the summer institute.
I love the ideals in the NCTE's guidelines as well as in the Process article. Why didn't I see this in college? Being an idealist, these ideas really appeal to me.
One difficulty I see is that many students, parents, and administrators want to see grades. With the time it would take to get through the process in the ideal way, my students would have very few "grades in the book" by the end of the semester. So, I could give many completion grades and improvement grades, but then I may end up with a low level student that has improved, but still doesn't meet standards, getting a very high grade.
I know the best writing process atmosphere can work with grades, I'm just trying to work it out here and see what others think about it.
Comments on the four assigned readings.
I agree with the 11 principles of NCTE's beliefs about the teaching of writing.
I disagree with several of the presumptive statements made by Joseph Check in the "Three Myths That Keep Teachers from Writing", particularly his conclusion that writing can become a natural act for teachers. I recall many years ago when I disproved an artist's comment that "anyone can learn to paint." I feel much the same about writing.
The only thing I remember about the "Things you should remember..." is that there were 11 very generalized bulleted points about the basics of writing and the techniques to be used.
The last anonymous article must have been written by an English teacher as no one else could write four pages explaining that "writing is a process." Just kidding.
TEACHING WRITING THROUGH PROCESS
This article made me think of a technique a colleague told me about last year. This method is called “gleaning”. After a student has submitted their piece of writing for publication, the teacher looks over the piece and picks out the one thing that student should look at to improve his/her writing. The result of “gleaning” is that each student has an individualized road map to make the work better. Not every student needs to work on conventions, but some may need to focus on improving word choice, formatting or ideas.
The reason I remembered this idea while reading was that I come across students who think after they turn in an essay, poem, descriptive paragraph, they think they are finished with the work, and will never see it again. As a teacher of ninth through twelfth grade English, I push the writing process: brainstorming, drafting, editing/revising, and then publishing, yet many times students do not want to write, or find putting words on paper difficult. So, the “Teaching Writing through Process” piece struck a cord, challenging both me and my students to never be completely finished with a work, to constantly be thinking of how the piece could be better, how changing this line or this word will impact the reader’s understanding of the written words.
Another reason I believe my students benefit from “gleaning” is, as the article states, “editing has negative connotations” (3). When I glean a student’s paper, I make an effort to point out the positives and the things we have worked on previously which have improved. Then, I simply state what I gleaned the student needs to work on for this specific piece.
The final remarks I would like to make about this article are, first, as teachers we forget to encourage our students to write. Many students have fears about writing and, often, we add to those reservations. Already I am reflecting on what I need to do differently next year to create life-long learners and writers. Secondly, this article reminded me to ask my students questions about their own writing. Sometimes this could be me asking the questions of “Where do you want to go next in this piece?” or “How does that sound?” However, I have come to realize that frequently when a peer asks them those same questions, a student is more willing to take the plunge. I will continue to encourage peer editing, and self-monitoring of every students’ work.
RESPONSE TO BRENNA SUNDBY
This is a difficult question to answer because there isn’t a cut and dry a solution.
Your worry of too few grades is one I have felt also. As my school approaches mid-term of fourth quarter, I have only five grades in some classes, with quite a few students failing. The idea that we (as educators) should look at improvement over finished product is valid, however, like you said, we still may have students who fail to meet state standards. This is an inquiry I hope we can discuss during our summer session, if not to solve, but to come up with a reasonable schema to cope with it.
RESPONSE TO DONNA
Your evaluation of the “Myth” article is interesting, and I also can see the benefits to putting more emphasis on peer evaluation, and perhaps, a second peer critique. However, I am being stymied in class with complacent editors. I have students who look over a peer’s work, and respond, “It’s good”, and nothing else. And, yes, I have taught students how to edit, leaving meaningful responses, and constructive criticism. Yet, I still have students who do not care, and even receiving a poor mark for participation does not break through to those kids. I have circled around the inquiry: You can lead a child to education, but you cannot make him/her learn.
RESPONSE TO DONNA
Your evaluation of the “Myth” article is interesting, and I also can see the benefits to putting more emphasis on peer evaluation, and perhaps, a second peer critique. However, I am being stymied in class with complacent editors. I have students who look over a peer’s work, and respond, “It’s good”, and nothing else. And, yes, I have taught students how to edit, leaving meaningful responses, and constructive criticism. Yet, I still have students who do not care, and even receiving a poor mark for participation does not break through to those kids. I have circled around the inquiry: You can lead a child to education, but you cannot make him/her learn.
RESPONSE TO NORMA GLOCK (is that cheating?)
My statement that "anyone can learn to paint" and comparing that to writing needs more pondering. As I recall in the painting class we were all following the same directions to paint the same picture as to learn the "basics" of painting. I imagine if I had "practiced" more, I might be able to better recognize hue, perspective, balance, etc. but I doubt that this approach would have made me a great artist.
However, I can paint. Without any formal education, I can paint a house inside or out. I am pretty good at painting windowsills without getting much paint on the windows.
The point is that comparing poetry/novel writing to writing minutes for a meeting or an entry in the Congressional Record is like comparing apples to oranges. JC alluded to different types of writing but "his" myths were mostly about "creative" writing. I am not sure "all teachers can..." is applicable to this writing process.
RESPONSE TO DAVE:
I've been playing around for years with different kinds of reader feedback for writers in my classroom. This year, I've had luck with a Readaround like Linda Christensen describes in Reading, Writing and Rising Up. When the students reached the point of being giving actual feedback to each other (which takes the establishment of a fairly trusting community first), I guided the feedback by putting sentence starters for responders on the board: things like "
What if you tried…Have you thought of…Maybe you could…Might you try…
I’m wondering…What might be...
How might you..."
It was cute cause the kids were sitting in a circle, but they'd position themselves to read from the board as they framed their responses. :)
When reading "Three Myths That Keep Teachers from Writing," I copied the following quote, "When teachers begin writing,they frequently enter an intense period of personal and professional examination, growth and renewal. They also embark on a path that leads neaturally towards larger issues of our profession..." In my experience, this is true, and this is a great reason to promote lifelong writing--especially among teachers--every bit as much as lifelong readers. We as teachers have things to say--things that policy makers need to hear. Writing gives you the power to share your ideas with a wide audience. And yes, I think all people can learn to share their ideas in writing.
RESPONSE TO WENDY - 2ND FOLLOW-UP
I highlighted the same statement that Wendy quoted as one of the positive statements in the myth article. Her quote ended at the colon and I would say the examples JC gave after Wendy's quote are the ones that resonated with me. "...larger issues of the profession: the purpose of curriculum, power relationships within schools, the professional status of teachers, the place of education in our society." I think the article "hit the nail on the head" as a debate of these four larger issues is needed in order to enhance the teaching of writing in public schools.
My thoughts, after reading Joseph Check then following up that reading with everything here on the board, are a mish-mash of power politics, but I'm inching toward a wondering/inquiry question to spend some time with.
First, in Norma's observations "that writing can become a natural act for teachers" is on par with her painting experiences, I think we first need to acknowledge as a profession that writing can be difficult and yet rewarding. I wonder how much begrudgery amongst my students I created in my teaching past with length requirements, formatting requirements, etc., etc., etc.
I combine this now with noticings from Brenna and Jamie's responses--peer response and grading. This is where the whole power complexity comes in. I've spent a lot of time pulling my hair out at responses that amount to "It's good." I want to say to them "So What?", and not in a jerk-type way either, but really "So What?"--What does that mean? What is Good? What should "good" indicate to the person receiving it? I wonder about the power dynamic of all this because I'm the teacher, I"m supposed to be in power. I'm in power and I've told my students to respond to their peers, so as the person in power, I'd then be required to check that each of them has responded in a meaningful way to parameters that I've expertly crafted and shared prior to the order to commence peer-responding. And yet, then I'm the one judging whether or not the response was helpful to that peer rather than the peer deciding that for themselves. How would one go about putting the individual students in charge of making sure they get meaningful feedback from their peers? How can one possibly assign a grade to that?
These and many other questions to follow.
Dave:
I've heard you speak of that Study Driven book before. I'm going to have to write that down to include in my "must get" selections for myself during summer institute. It seems like it may provide some avenues for me to follow in refining and/or revamping my curriculum.
I think that one of the myths that Joe Check tries to debunk is the one that writers are born and not made. I always make my swimming comparison. Swimmers become so by getting in the water... sure they have to have some help and instruction and guidance and support... so do writers. We don't become writers until we write. We learn to be better writers with help, instruction, guidance, and support. We also need to think that what we might have to say holds value. That seems to be a stopping block, "Who cares what I think?" Well, I have to start with writing about things that matter to me. I have to care what I think. That in itself makes all the difference.
I think that goes as well for our students in school. If they only see their acts of writing as fodder for the grade books, the achievement record, then it seems likely that they might not care much what they think or might not tell us what they think. Who wants to get a C- on what they think??? The generation of self-interest, writing that matters to us, is our biggest challenge in school. We have to think about ways to create communities in which we value what each other thinks and are invested in how we proceed together as learners.
The class I am teaching this semester is an excellent example of investment. I find that my students, albeit adults and really smart ones at that, have found their own ground, their own voice. All I did was say, "It's really up to you." They rolled the ball from there.
My response to those who struggle with the grade book issues... how can we find smart ways around limiting what we do with students to what we can grade them on? Are there reasonable subversive alternatives that allow us to do what we get the paycheck for while doing at the same time what we think is best for our students? A wondering...
After finishing up the reading this week, I think that one concept that really struck a chord for me was Joseph Check's myths that keep teachers from writing. In particular, the second myth "I could do better than that" and the third "I have something to say, but I don't know how to say it" really hit home for me.
I love writing, and once I'm forced to do it I always enjoy it. However, when it comes time to write for myself--to really try to articulate something that I believe or care about or am trying to figure out--I frequently chicken out. I think that I'm so afraid of failing (what might that even mean in this context?) that I'll start a poem or story and then trash it. Check's explanation of how this myth affects writers made me feel that perhaps I'm not alone in this feeling. In particular, the idea of lowering standards (which sounds funny) so that they match output was valuable to me. I also like Heather's analogy of the swimming pool--perhaps this summer will be a good chance to try out the water...
Best,
Elliot
RESPONSE TO NORMA
Hey Norma,
I was interested in your discussion of the writing/painting dichotomy. As a non-painter, my initial instinct is that I couldn't really learn to paint. I don't know what makes painting good, how they put the colors together, etc. However, I think that if someone took the time to teach me, and if I had the motivation to mess around, I think that I could do some creative painting. Similarly, I believe that anyone can write, even creatively. Like the quote from William Stafford in the Check piece, its just a matter of lowering standards to match the writing. This sounds disheartening when written out, but, like painting, I don't expect that my first drawings would look particularly polished or pretty.
I also enjoyed the house painting comment, because it seems to relate the analogy to all of the day-to-day uses that we have for writing--lesson plans, notes, memo's and shopping lists. You thought that this analogy was apples--oranges, but I'm not so sure.
Thanks for giving me something to think about!
Freely,
Elliot
It always seems a comfort for me to hear others question and speculate on the same topics I do.
Some other thoughts: TEACHING WRITING THROUGH PROCESS- liked the idea of the re-read. I haven't encountered many students who will read over what they write, although the younger they are the more they want to share. For some, like me, the writing/revision process is like me playing chess---there are so many moves to choose from, I can't seem to get started. I've already edited what I've written so far about 10 times.
A common thread I found in both PROCESS and the NCTE GUIDLINES was a growing sense of dismay from within as I became intimidated by all the "Teachers need to understand..." bullets. Overachiever that I am, I feel woefully inadequate for the task at hand.
I was disappointed to find I only have one page of the THREE MYTHS article. Maybe I could pick one up in Columbus, or you could email me, Casey?
Guess I'm not getting my name in there right--It's Pam.
By George I think I've got it!
I only got a couple of postings into this week's responses before I had to stop to comment:
Brenna, you have raised what I think is a pressing issue. We all want our young writers to write authentically, but schools are run in a way that necessitates grading products on a very regular basis. I will be very interested to hear how others have resolved this contradiction in their classrooms.
Norma, I agree with you very much that writing may not be a natural act after all for every single teacher. I know many people who run and derive great enjoyment from it, even claiming to feel "off" when they haven't had their daily run. Well, I am able to run, but that
I'm back! I guess my kids coming in and talking to me distracted me to the point where I sent off an unfinished entry. I was going to finish by saying that I am able to run, but I am certain I will never, ever find running a necessary and affirming part of my day. I can write, sometimes even well, but I do not think there will come a day when I feel I NEED to write. I used to journal all the time when I was younger, but threw out years' worth of sketch books when I reread them and found them to be A Tale of Stewing in My Own Juices, Parts I, II, III, and IV. I should have kept them and displayed them on a shelf, with some of Norma's paintings hung nearby!
In response to the Teaching Writing Through Process piece, I felt interest from the beginning, because I loved the very first line: "Writing is rarely taught; rather, it is assigned and then corrected." I bet I am not alone in having a work situation where it feels like I'm running down a checklist of writing products: "Descriptive essay, check; memoir, check; compare and contrast, check"... I try to ask kids, "How will you know when you've been successful?" to establish grading criteria together, but they are nonetheless relegated to working off a checklist, too. I am looking forward to becoming much more process-oriented in my instruction, and likewise helping kids evaluate their successes in terms of writing behaviors, not products. I see very few of my young writers doing the rereading that Sondra Perl claims will help them discover new ideas and possibly even cause them to change the direction of their writing. (Oh, man, I see so much wrong in my classroom these days!)I liked the list of questions -- useful in conference or on one's own -- and will probably use them immediately.
There were many ideas in the readings that sparked my interest. Joseph Check illustrated my fears to a perfect T. I lack comfort in my own writing, which makes it very difficult to be comfortable teaching the writing process effectively to my fourth graders.
Most of my experience with writing has been by myself (solitary) and I have truly never enjoyed it. It has always been a requirement and sometimes I think that this is exactly how my students feel when they are doing a writing assignment.
The process of writing is difficult, because I don't believe I have given my students the skills for being successful writers. I need to make my students feel comfortable to make many mistakes (taking chances) during the drafting stage. I also liked the part about the need to watch how students write in order to help them develop good strategies for writing. I need to find out what works for them and help them build on those skills.
There was so many good points in these readings that have truly made me think about how I go about writing myself and how i teach writing in the classroom. I found that being comfortable with writing and making mistakes is a very valuable lesson to teach to my students.
RESPONSE TO JONI
Hey Joni,
I also kind of latched onto that idea of letting ourselves (and our students) make mistakes during the drafting phase of writing. I think that this is also one of my biggest challenges in teaching writing. My students sometimes take a risk that I want to validate, while still finding a way to show how it wasn't as effective as another choice that they might have made. I think that students (and us!) are so used to the idea that there is one "right" way that it feels like criticism in the drafting phase, when its really more like an audience!
Finding ways to both validate and honestly reflect on our writing (and to teach this skill) is something that I'm very excited about this summer. Also, on a personal note, it was snowing when I started writing this, and now its sunny. This spring is going to make my head explode.
Best,
Elliot
I am thinking how adept most of our students are at technology: pcs, cell phones, ipods. They have grown up with it and have no fear of it. Many adults we know are afraid of much of the same technology (and painting:)). Now, writing has become a major focus in education standards. Students have been writing since before they knew people were afraid to write. My students don't fear writing anymore. However, they still don't have the appreciation for excellent writing enough to try to improve any writing that doesn't have major grading consequences. Sophomores in high school just are not worried about writing. Next week I am having a cell phone grammar class for my sophomores. Wish me luck. I'll let you know if I make any new connections between clear writing and technology.
Okay, this goes out to a few people at once: Norma, Elliot, Wendy, etc. . . .
I keep having these thoughts, and maybe because I'm an English teacher I'm more focused on this type of thing, but why do we break down genres into creative and non-creative outlets? In other words, why is a short story or poem considered creative when a job application or a grant proposal are not?
Isn't all writing creative in some way? Isn't there some manipulation of language to achieve our purpose no matter what we write?
And yet I'm guilty of it too. Heck, even the University of Montana breaks their departments up with a specific "Creative Writing" department. But is this accurate?
It also makes me wonder what we do to ourselves and our students when we break writing up into divisions. These divisions would suggest then that we could master a particular division and then not be the least bit connected to the other division.
But doesn't writing have some core spirit--a universal truth of writing that inspires us and crosses boundaries between these human-imposed divisions? Can a non-fiction narrative piece become a free-verse poem? Can a fictional short story become a play?
I guess I just notice these places where we put boundaries on ourselves that really only serve a purpose of making us feel "no good" at this division or that one. What would the world look like where we didn't feel we had to "master" these divisions (or forever be "no good" at them), but instead an interesting place for us to explore. How would that look in my classroom? How could I pull that off? How do I get my students to turn off their internal judgements and censors that keep them from trying new things despite our perceived shortcomings?
Ah, the wonder of inquiry....
RESPONSE TO NORMA AND ELLIOT
I am a horrible painter, but I'm quite sure it is because I never took an art class. I know that I'm not an artist, but I do believe that with practice and guidance, I could create some creative pieces.
I think about writing the same way. Writing has always been hard for me, but I wonder if it is because I was always so concerned about my piece being compared to everyone elses. I had way too high of expectations for myself. If it wasn't going to be perfect, I felt a sense of failure. I held back and never worked on it because I felt as if I just wasn't a writer, and some were just "born writers".
These articles gave me much to think about. This will help me with my students in the classroom. Making them feel comfortable to make mistakes and not be perfect. Improvement, and making them feel good about what they have written, that should be my goal.
I want my students to feel as if writing is natural. How do I do this?
Response to Pam:
Pam I helped write the NCTE Beliefs when I served in the Executive Committee for NCTE. It can certainly be daunting to see all of that, but truly the bolded headings are the key talking points for discussion. The teacher understanding bullets are amazingly depthfilled; however, those are the kinds of understandings that we develop out in ourselves as we seek answers to become better teachers of writing.
This summer in the institute we will all be working through many of those pieces directly and indirectly. Just like writing, we too are those pieces in progress. I be that when you reread this at the end of the institute you will be amazed at how much resonates with you and how much more you know about all of those understandings.
Response to Joni and Elliot:
Gosh that risk taking is so tough for some kids. I taught 5th the last 9 years and at the beginning of the year I struggled with getting them to feel comfortable with making mistakes - trying things on an seeing if it works. They do want it to be right the first time. Truly, if they come from classrooms that value being right upfront and not making mistakes (primarily spelling and grammar and mechanics oriented) the kids just struggle. The easiest ones to work with, I've found, are those who are out-of-the-box thinkers.
I don't have the magic trigger. Now that I am now back in 7th and 8th after 10 years away, I have a really tough time cracking the 7th grade nuts. Overall, they are so much more self-conscious about taking the risks so I have to find the ways to provide and even push the risk-taking through the expectations that come out of the writing we do.
I have experimented with using the writing that real people do as the means to identify how to write in those genres and the crafting techniques these people use become the techniques we have to try on - so that seems to be working so far.
Sometimes I wish there were the easy answers to all of this "writing stuff" but no text, or program like 6 traits or Jane Schaffer or Step up to Writing can truly do the work of knowledgeable teachers mucking around with students and moving them forward as competent writers.
I guess that is why I so much enjoy the collaborative learning of the summer institute. We muck around together and all gain immeasurably.
TO Dave:
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm one of those that can have a classful of successful students and still fret about the one or two that I didn't reach. I'm really gonna try hard to not beat up on myself so much.
To those of you who have the grading dilemma: I have tried a combination of standard fill in the blank for the objective aspect of grading and use rubrics for the subjective end. This works great if you only need a grade for "English." It would be a little more difficult if 'writing' is its own subject, but still doable.
To Jamie: I feel your pain with the 'complacent editor' problem. Why are kids satisfied with mediocre?
I ran with the idea from NCTE Guidelines that "The act of writing generates ideas." I used this on my second-graders who couldn't think of anything to write. I suggested they write that- I can't think of anything..., and maybe they would think of something. Lo and behold after 30 seconds of writing, they had an idea!!
This response is to Dave's, directly above mine: I have just reread all the comments in this blog -- my eyes are crossed! -- and it's hard to know what to think most about, but Dave made a comment that jumped out at me. I like his idea of using the "writing that real people do," especially when I imagine using writing that I really love. I am thinking of two things right now:
1) Sharon Creech's _Love that Dog_, a book that shows how a boy responds to being introduced to poetry through exemplary poems. I think it is a great idea to spark the writing impulse with strong examples, and
2) I was sharing something with my students the other day in social studies, Renaissance art, and a kid said, "You really love this, don't you?" and she was so right. I think if my students saw what I love (Eileen Z is working on this down the hall in her room) and, more importantly, saw how much I love it, they may be led to view writing differently? Something that has bothered me in my 2 yrs in 7th is that I don't think my students know how much I love to read and write...so now I'm back to that topic that many of us have touched on, which is helping kids feel that writing is something you just DO, not a task.
I tend towards idealism in my mind set, and I know student apathy is more rampant (or at least more visible) at this stage of my 25 years of experience than say, even five years ago, so engagement will be a challenge with "new age youth." However, I won't allow pessimism to prevail. Pessimism is poison. At every turn, I show students the value of writing, the power and access it gives them. Thus, we publish often with portfolios, books, letters, work related writing, contest opportunities, and other formats.
In an effort to meet the needs of all writers, I offer genre studies. For instance, I teach the rhetorical strategies of persuasive writing or satirical writing or technical writing, we read pieces that use these tools and talk about how the authors employ the techniques, and then all students try out those strategies in writing of their own. As much as possible, I provide purpose, empower voice through choice, and make models available. No, I don't get stellar work from all students, but I see learning happening on all the pages. Investment is not something we can "make happen," but we can nurture students to grow. For the most part, I think my students see MY INVESTMENT, and they respond to that.
One key to better writing is demystifying the writing process. When I teach a tool, like one of Harry Noden's brushstroke techniques or an exercise for revising weak/passive voice, students immediately practice the tool with their own writing. Seeing the revision and the powerful imagery or effect in a "before and after" type of scenario, students realize the transformation in their own writing. Seeing success ("Wow, I created that")provides powerful motivation.
The point of inquiry is to develop more promising teaching practices: What works and why does it work? Why isn't a lesson working? or What does research suggest as alternate ways of knowing/doing? are important reflective questions in professional development for teachers. We often don't have the time or don't take the time to do that important phase. Yet when we do, the payoff rewards us with success, and we all perform better when "things work." Writers improve when they start experiencing success. Writers experience success when they learn tools that work.
As an 8th grade English teacher I was often guilty of putting artists up on a pedestal. I love literature and was constantly trying to pass that love on to my students. I now see how I was unintentionally setting up unrealistic expectations for their own writing. When we would move from the reading workshop to the writing workshop students would complain "I am not an author." After reading Check's piece I see how breaking down that myth is so important. Teaching First Year Comp. at the University I noticed that all of them seem to know the story of Jack Kerouac's On the Road (he supposedly did it in one sitting) and few of them have heard about Tolkien and Lewis's writing groups. It seems to me that this myth might be one of the easiest to dispel.
Wendy,
I, too, have a bunch of sketch books tucked in a corner of the house and if I hadn't taken the time to name them in my youth I think the brooding titles would also apply. I did pick them up for a critical review a couple of weeks ago. What I noticed was how much enthusiasm I had at first. I attempted to fictionalize life events. I wrote poems. I played with dialogue. Then somewhere along the way they just became mundane accounts of day to day life. I think it had to do with my expectations. I deemed my journals private and therefore had no need to revise and the work that went into the early unfinished essays seemed unnecessary. I think I had internally been giving myself Cs and Ds on my work and therefore decided to take the easy way out. I wonder what effect actual Cs and Ds have on our students.
I spent a lot of time looking through the tech trek comments on our BLOG from last fall... I wonder if much of the apathy our students experience is in the utter irrelevance of much of what we do in terms of old literacies... ignoring at their peril the new literacies in which our students are saturated. I find it especially difficult because I have a white board and an old overhead in my classroom... no tech support for instructional purposes to speak of. My students learn to teach literature and struggle to find ways to work in new media as a text... That is a question I want to ponder more. We can't keep doing things in old time ways and expect to keep our students engaged.
Gosh, I know I'm late, but I have to get my three main ideas in here: 1)I found myself drawn to put it into practice points that relted to my other 'old' teaching assignments, 2) the past controversies over conventions should never again be an argument in the future, and 3) knowing that assessment "involves complex, informed, human judgment" doesn't seem to help when a parent is mere inches from your nose (NCTE).
The music teacher in me loved the teaching point that the first step to writing is rehearsal. Conceptually, I like that analogy and believe it would be viable approach with emergent writers. The Kindergarten teacher in me recalled the joy of listening in during inventive spellers careful "sounding out" of new words. I want to encourage my 6th graders to "sound out" sentences and paragraphs with the same reliance upon their ears and what they have heard/do hear.
I am so weary of the arguing about conventions taking a back burner to every other aspect of writing. Not one bit of what was expected by us (to read or in response) would have validity without correct application of standard English. Communicate the finished product to contemporary readers, period.
I am no guru; I am capable of critiquing a twelve-year-olds writing. Attempting to explain to an indignant parent every aspect of the scaffolding provided their child is one of the single most frustrating negatives of teaching. I've been blessed with several consecutive years without conflict, but it takes only one such incident to quickly remind me of how we, as professionals, are sometimes not afforded the same respect as others with similar education and experience.
I hope that everyone is blessed with a peaceful end-of-the-year.
I didn't mean to be anonymous above. I must have missed something. ~Beth Sandoval
hello all, I am having trouble posting, so this one is a test... more later
A response to Brenna:
I also find myself struggling with the line between grading writing based on a set standard of quality (usually communicated by a categorical rubric) and grading writing based on improvement or progress and sometimes effort. My "on-the-fence" (yet I think viable) solution is to give grades for both skill demonstrations, providing a rationale in the syllabus for why grading SOME work based on progress is a solid teaching/assessment practice. The focus of the rationale could be the main premise of "Teaching Writing through Process," which is that the final written product is too often the sole target of assessment, rather than the process. As in life in general, I think the end result (destination) is often far less important than the process (journey) one takes to arrive. This, of course could be debated by strict "standardists," but I don't think grading partially on progress would have to undercut the idea of striving for "correct" writing according to rubrics and across-the-board standards.
I want to unpack Beth's comment about weariness re: conventions. I, too, find it a tiring argument and one that I still am amazed I have to make when I talk with people who ONLY teach conventions and no other aspect of writing. Teachers who still ask their students to walk aimlessly through comma worksheets, spelling lists, and grammar exercises with little or no attention paid to actual writing (except the Arbor Day essay contest) still need to hear that learning to write and writing is more meaningful than contextless convention drills. It is unfortunate that the argument about teaching "real" writing gets overturned by the claim that conventions can be worked on through writing rather than stand as the all of writing instruction. I never say directly or indirectly that conventions are unimportant. I do say that a primary focus on conventions sends the message that getting a comma in the right place is more important than saying something meaningful and important. I don't want to paralyze my students by hyberfocusing on comma rules or any other convention. I also don't want them to think that a sloppily written message will convey an important point effectively. How did a claim that students need to write something of significance translate into a claim that conventions are unimportant. It's a conspiracy... maybe.
I am afraid that I fall in to the myth of I don't have anything to say. Most of what I think would be a rehashing of what usually has been already said. In context to teachers in his eassy, Check should realize that teachers do not like to make fools of themselves and do not like getting critized for their failure to teach, or to do the job well. This might show in the I don't have anything to say mode of operendi (sp)? I have seen this in my career from fellow teachers and in myself at times.
Conventions are useful to make sure the point you really want to make gets across. I am amazed in my own writing how the meaning can chance by the placement of a comma or a reverse of words in a sentence. I think that should be shown to students as a reason conventions are important.
I agree that writing is an exercise that gets better and easier with practice. Our process as teachers must include clear strategies, meaningful feedback, and modeling of proper techniques. In "Teaching Writing through Process," the writer says that writing should not be seen as "linear," but, rather, a circular/ever evolving process where new meanings are discovered.
Comment to Jamie Feeley
Great point - to include the positive, along with the opportunities for improvment in your comments to the students. Students, as with most writers, are their own worst critics and it's important to keep them moving forward.
Comment to j nix
Conventions not only can change the meaning of what is written, but they can reflect on the writer's credibility. A rough draft can be fraught with errors in conventions, but the final draft should be near perfect.
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