I can confidently say that I believe I have learned about each of the "Student Learning Outcomes" on the first page of the syllables. I think my blog is truly evidence that I have learned each of the outcomes. In Entry #11 I just proved how much I learned about each genre and in previous posts I reflected on the genres after the student led workshops. In addition, I cannot tell you how many times I have used the short but sweet phrase "form follows function." I have used it when writing in my blog and when talking with people in my other classes. I really believe that phrase now and I do not think I will ever forget it because that is how I want to teach my students to write.
I have definitely learned about the traditional and digital writer's workshop through our integrated conversations of our two texts and through making connections in my blog posts. In Entry #10 I talk about how digital writing assignments are important, yet we cannot forget about traditional writing skills. It is not one or the other, but always a combination of the two. Teaching one workshop over the other would be doing a disservice to our students. They need traditional skills to be able to write, even simply handwriting. However, students also need to be trained to use, read and write in digital modes in order to thrive in our technological world.
My blog reflects my understanding of the parallel processes of reading and writing and my own personal journey of becoming more metacognitively aware of these processes in Entry #5. I detail how these two processes are deeply connected. I think that many people underestimate the connections between reading and writing because they are taught as separate entities rather than parallel processes. I plan on teaching them together in my future classroom and teaching my students strategies that will benefit them in both reading and writing.
I am definitely aware of reading and writing assignments that are appropriate for learners. We read a couple of articles on teaching the writing process to struggling writers. A few things that I took away from those articles are the idea of teaching expository writing first and the writing wheel and card sorting strategies. Expository writing is a good place to start for students who have difficulty writing because it is much more organized and structured. It allows students to do some research and organize their facts into subtopics to write about one general topic rather than attempting to write a complex narrative right away. Students who struggle often need this type of structure. In addition, I remember the writing wheel being helpful because students could mark where they were in the writing process and see where they were going. The card sorting strategy like we did in class is great because it enables students to brainstorm starting at the word level and then provides cards for them to manipulate to guide them on their writing journey. Sentences can also be cut out in order to be manipulated during revision. These are all excellent approaches to make the writing process more manageable for all students.
Many digital technologies can enhance the writing process as well. Students should always be expected to produce a piece in written form first, but in the last few stages of the writing process the piece has the potential to be transformed into a digital means of communication. This may include a podcast, a wiki, or a digital story, just to name a few. This then takes the focus away from the mechanical aspects of writing, which students might struggle with, and puts a greater emphasis on the ideas, word choice and organization of the digital piece. These digital modes have greater potential to reach more distant and elaborate audiences than traditional written pieces.
Lastly, we have talked extensively about assessment and evaluation of writing. I would say that the most important thing that I have learned in terms of assessment is to assess the writer not the writing. Often that means focusing on ideas and not mechanics. The emphasis should be on the the writer's process not on each individual project. Although final products are important and should be graded sometimes I think that we have to think of writing as a long term process and not get caught up on minor errors. I'm thinking of writing as a piece of music and each final project is one note in the large scheme of things. We do not expect students to get every note right when they are first learning how to play an instrument or read music so why should we expect students to compose perfect written pieces when they are still learning to write? We should never grade students just to get a grade in the grade book. Grades should always has a purpose, just like writing should always have a purpose.
With all that being said, I am thrilled by the knowledge that I have gained in this course! It has been my favorite course this semester and I have learned so much that I will carry with me in the future. I am actually amazed by how much that I learned! My new knowledge will influence me and mold me into the teacher that I want to be.
Thanks Dr. Jones!! :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Entry #11
I have learned SO much about the reading and writing genres that we have studied! I really believe that each genre is unique and I think each of our presentations really emphasized that. Each genre serves a specific purpose and children need to know this so they can choose a genre that best matches their own purpose for writing. I think we all experienced this when we had to decide which form we wanted to compose each of our pieces in for our Genre Pieces Project. Although we all wanted to decide on this first we really had to take a step back and think, "Will that genre be the best match for my purpose and audience?" We had to remind ourselves that form follows function and that is how we must teach our students to approach writing each and every time.
I'd like to outline why I think each genre is unique.
*Journal writing has a flow to it unlike any other genre. When reading journal writing we must focus on the ideas not the mechanics. Journaling shows progress overtime and is a great way to get children writing everyday. It can be used in any content area for a variety of reasons because there are many different types.
*Biographical writing focuses on one person's life or details a particular event. It especially works well with history, but is not limited to this content area alone. Students can benefit from this type of reading and writing because it exposes them to research and allows them to make connections between another person's life and their own. In personal narratives the person of study is the writer, which offers him or her an opportunity to write about a certain experience. By studying ourselves and other people students make connections that are essential to forming generalizations.
*Expository writing is the way we connect and communicate with others. Students need to know the different structures of this genre so they can comprehend any complex nonfiction text that they come across. This is especially important for reading in this genre. As students move through their schooling they will be expected to read, comprehend and write an increasing amount of expository material. It is imperative that students be able to interpret expository text so they can become life long learners through reading and so they can communicate with the world through writing.
*Narrative writing is the classic genre and everybody's favorite. There is something comforting about listening to a story rather than an expository text, which is much more formal and straightforward. Narratives open our eyes to enduring characters, unique settings and situations. This is where we let our imaginations run free. This is true whether it's through reading or writing narratives. A well-developed character can make a story what it is because the character is so connected with the plot. Although many people love reading narratives, when it comes to writing them it is a very complex process. Narratives are so intricate because the writer must include all of the story elements. This requires a lot of planning so it is important that students are able to identify and write using story structure.
*Descriptive writing is kind of the exception to the genres. It's more of a trait than a genre, but that does not lessen its role in writing. If anything it makes it more important because it is part of all of the other genres. Descriptive writing is what makes you not what to put a book down. It means the author has captured an experience so vividly that you feel as though you are there. This is the driving force that motivates us to keep reading and even to keep writing. Composing quality descriptive writing means selecting specific words and phrases that describe what cannot be seen. With that being said, it does not mean that every word must be descriptive because that would be overusing descriptive language. Instead, we must teach students to select strong and vivid words to articulate their vision instead of overusing descriptive language.
*Poetry writing is the genre of fear for most people. I consider poetry to be an art form that uses descriptive language to create a vision in readers minds. Poetry can be funny or serious and there are numerous types. What many students don't realize is that poetry is not confining, but very open ended. People seem to think that all poetry has to rhyme or has to fit a certain structure. Some types of poetry do require this, but other types are very freeing. Students need to be taught that poetry is not intimidating because the writer makes it what it is. I think that poetry is short, but sweet and can be extremely powerful in producing an aesthetic reaction.
*Persuasive writing is the genre of convincing. Persuasion may be evident in all the genres because no matter what the writer is always trying to establish his/her point. The writer wants the audience to believe what he or she wrote. It is essential that students understand how to write persuasively so that they can convey the points that they want to make in their writing. In addition, students absolutely need to know how to identify and read persuasive writing because it surrounds us and impacts the way we think, even when we don't realize it. Students must become critical thinkers of the messages that advertisements and the media put out there in order to weed out the truth from the fabricated.
In my last entry I explained how I thought I knew quite a bit about descriptive writing at the beginning, but now I feel that it is such a foundational skill that leads to detailed writing that comes to life. I had never really thought of descriptive writing as a genre, but I had to work through that understanding because it was kind of outlined in the course as a genre. Or at least it appeared to be a genre. I am happy to say that I cannot wait to teach descriptive writing in my own classroom and inspire kids to get excited about words!
At the beginning of the course I thought I knew a lot about biographical writing. However, I did not know that personal narratives were considered part of biographical writing. Now it makes perfect sense to me, but I do not think I would have included personal narratives in biographical writing without learning about the genre in detail. This is helpful because if I do end up teaching a primary grade I will be able to teach this genre through personal narratives and "Me" projects with the little ones.
Also, my thoughts on expository writing have evolved because I now see the importance of including expository text in the primary grades. In the past the focus as always been on narratives with young kids, but now research says we must expose children to expository texts as early as possible. This will help them to learn how nonfiction is structured, just like how they learn story structure at a young age. This will benefit children in the future when they will be expected to make meaning out of expository texts all the time.
I think I had a pretty solid understanding of narratives because that is what was stressed when I was growing up. However, I have not written a narrative in so long that my attempt to do so now in writer's workshop has reminded me how difficult it actually is to compose a narrative. I am determined to push through it because I do not believe in asking my future students to write narratives if I cannot. I want to be an expert in all of the genres so I can assist my students in any way possible.
I think that I am still a little intimidated by poetry. I wrote two poems for one of my genre pieces and I am really liking how they are turning out. As I have been writing them it almost feels like a therapeutic experience. I am an artsy person in general and writing my poems as reminded me of creating a piece of artwork. This is a very useful realization in my opinion because I can encourage students who may struggle with writing, but excel in art to try writing poetry. I think this could be really helpful for some students if they are not restricted by certain guidelines for creating poetry.
As for journal writing and persuasive writing, I felt that I understood them pretty well before this class, but now I truly see their importance. Journaling is so important so students can grow as writers and just feel the flow of writing without worrying about anything else. I will definitely use journaling in my classroom. I would like to use dialogue journals in particular. Persuasive writing is also important because children have to understand how to choose a point and to consistently prove it or focus on it in all pieces that they write. In addition, persuasive writing really emphasizes that critical literacy piece that is oh so necessary for all students to be aware of in today's mass media filled world.
I'd like to outline why I think each genre is unique.
*Journal writing has a flow to it unlike any other genre. When reading journal writing we must focus on the ideas not the mechanics. Journaling shows progress overtime and is a great way to get children writing everyday. It can be used in any content area for a variety of reasons because there are many different types.
*Biographical writing focuses on one person's life or details a particular event. It especially works well with history, but is not limited to this content area alone. Students can benefit from this type of reading and writing because it exposes them to research and allows them to make connections between another person's life and their own. In personal narratives the person of study is the writer, which offers him or her an opportunity to write about a certain experience. By studying ourselves and other people students make connections that are essential to forming generalizations.
*Expository writing is the way we connect and communicate with others. Students need to know the different structures of this genre so they can comprehend any complex nonfiction text that they come across. This is especially important for reading in this genre. As students move through their schooling they will be expected to read, comprehend and write an increasing amount of expository material. It is imperative that students be able to interpret expository text so they can become life long learners through reading and so they can communicate with the world through writing.
*Narrative writing is the classic genre and everybody's favorite. There is something comforting about listening to a story rather than an expository text, which is much more formal and straightforward. Narratives open our eyes to enduring characters, unique settings and situations. This is where we let our imaginations run free. This is true whether it's through reading or writing narratives. A well-developed character can make a story what it is because the character is so connected with the plot. Although many people love reading narratives, when it comes to writing them it is a very complex process. Narratives are so intricate because the writer must include all of the story elements. This requires a lot of planning so it is important that students are able to identify and write using story structure.
*Descriptive writing is kind of the exception to the genres. It's more of a trait than a genre, but that does not lessen its role in writing. If anything it makes it more important because it is part of all of the other genres. Descriptive writing is what makes you not what to put a book down. It means the author has captured an experience so vividly that you feel as though you are there. This is the driving force that motivates us to keep reading and even to keep writing. Composing quality descriptive writing means selecting specific words and phrases that describe what cannot be seen. With that being said, it does not mean that every word must be descriptive because that would be overusing descriptive language. Instead, we must teach students to select strong and vivid words to articulate their vision instead of overusing descriptive language.
*Poetry writing is the genre of fear for most people. I consider poetry to be an art form that uses descriptive language to create a vision in readers minds. Poetry can be funny or serious and there are numerous types. What many students don't realize is that poetry is not confining, but very open ended. People seem to think that all poetry has to rhyme or has to fit a certain structure. Some types of poetry do require this, but other types are very freeing. Students need to be taught that poetry is not intimidating because the writer makes it what it is. I think that poetry is short, but sweet and can be extremely powerful in producing an aesthetic reaction.
*Persuasive writing is the genre of convincing. Persuasion may be evident in all the genres because no matter what the writer is always trying to establish his/her point. The writer wants the audience to believe what he or she wrote. It is essential that students understand how to write persuasively so that they can convey the points that they want to make in their writing. In addition, students absolutely need to know how to identify and read persuasive writing because it surrounds us and impacts the way we think, even when we don't realize it. Students must become critical thinkers of the messages that advertisements and the media put out there in order to weed out the truth from the fabricated.
In my last entry I explained how I thought I knew quite a bit about descriptive writing at the beginning, but now I feel that it is such a foundational skill that leads to detailed writing that comes to life. I had never really thought of descriptive writing as a genre, but I had to work through that understanding because it was kind of outlined in the course as a genre. Or at least it appeared to be a genre. I am happy to say that I cannot wait to teach descriptive writing in my own classroom and inspire kids to get excited about words!
At the beginning of the course I thought I knew a lot about biographical writing. However, I did not know that personal narratives were considered part of biographical writing. Now it makes perfect sense to me, but I do not think I would have included personal narratives in biographical writing without learning about the genre in detail. This is helpful because if I do end up teaching a primary grade I will be able to teach this genre through personal narratives and "Me" projects with the little ones.
Also, my thoughts on expository writing have evolved because I now see the importance of including expository text in the primary grades. In the past the focus as always been on narratives with young kids, but now research says we must expose children to expository texts as early as possible. This will help them to learn how nonfiction is structured, just like how they learn story structure at a young age. This will benefit children in the future when they will be expected to make meaning out of expository texts all the time.
I think I had a pretty solid understanding of narratives because that is what was stressed when I was growing up. However, I have not written a narrative in so long that my attempt to do so now in writer's workshop has reminded me how difficult it actually is to compose a narrative. I am determined to push through it because I do not believe in asking my future students to write narratives if I cannot. I want to be an expert in all of the genres so I can assist my students in any way possible.
I think that I am still a little intimidated by poetry. I wrote two poems for one of my genre pieces and I am really liking how they are turning out. As I have been writing them it almost feels like a therapeutic experience. I am an artsy person in general and writing my poems as reminded me of creating a piece of artwork. This is a very useful realization in my opinion because I can encourage students who may struggle with writing, but excel in art to try writing poetry. I think this could be really helpful for some students if they are not restricted by certain guidelines for creating poetry.
As for journal writing and persuasive writing, I felt that I understood them pretty well before this class, but now I truly see their importance. Journaling is so important so students can grow as writers and just feel the flow of writing without worrying about anything else. I will definitely use journaling in my classroom. I would like to use dialogue journals in particular. Persuasive writing is also important because children have to understand how to choose a point and to consistently prove it or focus on it in all pieces that they write. In addition, persuasive writing really emphasizes that critical literacy piece that is oh so necessary for all students to be aware of in today's mass media filled world.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Entry #10
I'm blessing and addressing a post from Carrie's Entry #4:
In reference to the digital writing workshop, Carrie says...
"...we must think carefully about how and why we want students to engaged with digital writing" (Hicks, 2009, p.27) is an important mantra to keep in mind when we are expanding the walls of our classrooms into the digital world. There is so much out there, but we have to keep our students focused and remember to always to give them a purpose. The same writing goals pertain to a digital workshop as they do in a standard workshop. Though being on the internet is always more fun than looking at a textbook, we as teachers have to remember to teach the same skills as we would before in our digital writing workshops.
Carrie, I absolutely agree with you that the digital workshop and the traditional workshop must go hand in hand. We were actually talking about this in LTED 612 tonight! Students definitely still need to practice traditional skills (even handwriting!) so that they can later use digital tools. I think that students sometimes think of technology as more fun and cool than the traditional writing workshop. Or maybe they believe it to be "easier" to write using technology. There are certain types of technology that can simply be used one time to create a quick end result. However, we want our students to know that we expect much more from them. We don't want them to just do a podcast or make an iMovie just to get it done. Of course, we want them to fully transact with the reading and writing processes. As teachers, we must always be sure that assignments that we give using technology would also meet the same standards/objectives that a traditional writer's workshop would. I like to view technology as taking the next step to enhance writing that has been composed in a traditional writer's workshop setting. The digital writer's workshop should take written work to the next level by exploring form. It should not be the "easy way out."
For example, digital story telling is quite an extensive process if you think about it. It may actually require more work than the traditional writer's workshop because there are many technical elements that go into it. Students could just slap a digital story together, but would it have the same impact as a digital story that was carefully edited so each image matched the text to a tee and transitioned at an appropriate time? Not only should we teach students skills that are required to succeed in the traditional writer's workshop, but we also need to stress new skills that they need to become literate in the language of technology.
As Carrie says, we must always give our students a purpose to write. In some cases we might not have to "give" it to them, but we should let them come up with their own purpose for writing. What is writing without a purpose? It is meaningless and seems silly. No wonder students grow to deeply dislike writing. As they move through their schooling many of the writing tasks they do lack an authentic purpose, which turns writing into a tool to get something done rather than a creative process in which a student can develop new understanding. This truly saddens me because in the younger years students are excited about writing, for some of them it is their favorite part of the day. However, eventually the switch occurs from learning to read/write to reading and writing to learn. I'm not sure why it has to be this way when in reality we are always evolving as readers and writers. If we are to build a love for writing within our students then our instruction and assessment need to match this philosophy that we are never experts on reading and writing. By remembering form follows function we can maintain consistency in our writer's workshop that revolves around a meaningful purpose. In the real world people write with a purpose in mind (one that probably falls somewhere in Halliday's 7 Functions) and this is how we want our students to think about writing. Why write? Write for a real purpose whenever you feel the need. Thinking of writing in this way makes it a less daunting and more of an expressive task that anyone is capable of. I hope to teach my students to first think purpose and process and then think product.
In reference to the digital writing workshop, Carrie says...
"...we must think carefully about how and why we want students to engaged with digital writing" (Hicks, 2009, p.27) is an important mantra to keep in mind when we are expanding the walls of our classrooms into the digital world. There is so much out there, but we have to keep our students focused and remember to always to give them a purpose. The same writing goals pertain to a digital workshop as they do in a standard workshop. Though being on the internet is always more fun than looking at a textbook, we as teachers have to remember to teach the same skills as we would before in our digital writing workshops.
Carrie, I absolutely agree with you that the digital workshop and the traditional workshop must go hand in hand. We were actually talking about this in LTED 612 tonight! Students definitely still need to practice traditional skills (even handwriting!) so that they can later use digital tools. I think that students sometimes think of technology as more fun and cool than the traditional writing workshop. Or maybe they believe it to be "easier" to write using technology. There are certain types of technology that can simply be used one time to create a quick end result. However, we want our students to know that we expect much more from them. We don't want them to just do a podcast or make an iMovie just to get it done. Of course, we want them to fully transact with the reading and writing processes. As teachers, we must always be sure that assignments that we give using technology would also meet the same standards/objectives that a traditional writer's workshop would. I like to view technology as taking the next step to enhance writing that has been composed in a traditional writer's workshop setting. The digital writer's workshop should take written work to the next level by exploring form. It should not be the "easy way out."
For example, digital story telling is quite an extensive process if you think about it. It may actually require more work than the traditional writer's workshop because there are many technical elements that go into it. Students could just slap a digital story together, but would it have the same impact as a digital story that was carefully edited so each image matched the text to a tee and transitioned at an appropriate time? Not only should we teach students skills that are required to succeed in the traditional writer's workshop, but we also need to stress new skills that they need to become literate in the language of technology.
As Carrie says, we must always give our students a purpose to write. In some cases we might not have to "give" it to them, but we should let them come up with their own purpose for writing. What is writing without a purpose? It is meaningless and seems silly. No wonder students grow to deeply dislike writing. As they move through their schooling many of the writing tasks they do lack an authentic purpose, which turns writing into a tool to get something done rather than a creative process in which a student can develop new understanding. This truly saddens me because in the younger years students are excited about writing, for some of them it is their favorite part of the day. However, eventually the switch occurs from learning to read/write to reading and writing to learn. I'm not sure why it has to be this way when in reality we are always evolving as readers and writers. If we are to build a love for writing within our students then our instruction and assessment need to match this philosophy that we are never experts on reading and writing. By remembering form follows function we can maintain consistency in our writer's workshop that revolves around a meaningful purpose. In the real world people write with a purpose in mind (one that probably falls somewhere in Halliday's 7 Functions) and this is how we want our students to think about writing. Why write? Write for a real purpose whenever you feel the need. Thinking of writing in this way makes it a less daunting and more of an expressive task that anyone is capable of. I hope to teach my students to first think purpose and process and then think product.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Entry #9
This week I'd like to reflect on my presentation on descriptive writing because it really forced me to think about how essential these skills are for all types of writing. It's funny because I felt that I had a solid knowledge base on descriptive writing techniques before I began my presentation, but my research and thought process really developed on a deeper level as I completed my genre presentation. I now find myself thinking about descriptive writing all the time. While, I would consider myself someone who is pretty conscious of text when I read and write I have been noticing more and more how descriptive writing impacts both processes. Even when we were peer conferencing about our genre pieces project I found myself talking about descriptive language. It really does strike a chord with a reader/writer by "painting a picture with words" as Tompkins (2008) describes. I feel that I am now much more aware of descriptive writing and more prepared to teach it in accordance with all the other writing genres we have studied thus far.
I found that it was kind of challenging to find research on descriptive writing. It's hard because sometimes it may be associated with vocabulary, even though they are different in a sense. I wonder do they have to be different? Essentially, both descriptive writing and vocabulary deal with words. Wouldn't it be best for these two sub categories to be taught in an integrated fashion, possibly with spelling too?
For this week's readings in LTED 609 we read Baumann et al. (2007), which was titled "'Bumping Into Spicy, Tasty Words That Catch Your Tongue': A Formative Experiment on Vocabulary Instruction." Although I did not come across this article in time for my genre presentation, I almost liked it better that way. After just finishing examining descriptive writing I read this article and walked away feeling such a strong sense of understanding and excitement that made me feel anxious to put some of these methods into my own teaching as soon as possible. Baumann et al. (2007) offers ways to incorporate vocabulary/descriptive writing in such a practical sense that I can see myself implementing them tomorrow. It really made me think that the foundation for reading and writing has to be words. One of the goals of instruction should be "Word consciousness [which] involves 'an awareness of and interest in words and their meanings'" (Baumann et al., 2007, p. 116). Words of all types should be emphasized as we connect them with the world around us. There are so many quick activities that can be done at the word level that will make students more aware of words. Most importantly, it is essential to stress that word play can be fun! I think spelling and vocabulary have this reputation of being boring, drill, test-based activities, but I do not want children to think of words this way in my classroom. I want them to bring in words that they encounter to trigger discussion and to develop structural and context analysis strategies. I truly feel that I have adopted a new philosophy about word choice that will be reflected through the way that I implement instruction in vocabulary, spelling, reading and writing. It amazes me to think that you can change an entire classroom environment by having fun with words!! :)
Something that I did not fully mention in my presentation was this connection between descriptive writing and poetry. Sophia outlined all of the various types of poetry out there and as we learned there are many unique forms of poetry. Poems are often associated with descriptive writing because they typically are shorter so they require the use of more descriptive language to spark imagery within the reader. I think that some people even confuse descriptive writing and poetry as one in the same. Although we determined that descriptive writing is more of a trait than a genre it still plays an essential role in poetry as well as in all genres of writing, whether it is in the form a word, sentence, paragraph or a whole written piece. This is what makes descriptive writing unique compared to the other genres, but I must admit that poetry and descriptive writing do make a compatible pair. I think that descriptive writing should be taught as an entity in itself, but it should also be emphasized in all writing. Maybe pairing descriptive writing and poetry instruction would provide an ideal opportunity to re-emphasize these particular techniques.
Lastly, I just want to thank Sophia for asking us to write a two voices poem in class. I did not really know much about this type of poetry and it was an interesting task to attempt a short version of this type of poem. It really illustrated how powerful a poem with two voices can be because it inspires an aesthetic reaction to what is read. Personally, I do not consider myself much of a poet and I do not dabble in writing poetry often, probably due to my own fears of it. I feel myself wanting to try it more after Sophia's presentation, which is why I will attempting to write a poem for my genre pieces project. Wish me luck! ;)
I found that it was kind of challenging to find research on descriptive writing. It's hard because sometimes it may be associated with vocabulary, even though they are different in a sense. I wonder do they have to be different? Essentially, both descriptive writing and vocabulary deal with words. Wouldn't it be best for these two sub categories to be taught in an integrated fashion, possibly with spelling too?
For this week's readings in LTED 609 we read Baumann et al. (2007), which was titled "'Bumping Into Spicy, Tasty Words That Catch Your Tongue': A Formative Experiment on Vocabulary Instruction." Although I did not come across this article in time for my genre presentation, I almost liked it better that way. After just finishing examining descriptive writing I read this article and walked away feeling such a strong sense of understanding and excitement that made me feel anxious to put some of these methods into my own teaching as soon as possible. Baumann et al. (2007) offers ways to incorporate vocabulary/descriptive writing in such a practical sense that I can see myself implementing them tomorrow. It really made me think that the foundation for reading and writing has to be words. One of the goals of instruction should be "Word consciousness [which] involves 'an awareness of and interest in words and their meanings'" (Baumann et al., 2007, p. 116). Words of all types should be emphasized as we connect them with the world around us. There are so many quick activities that can be done at the word level that will make students more aware of words. Most importantly, it is essential to stress that word play can be fun! I think spelling and vocabulary have this reputation of being boring, drill, test-based activities, but I do not want children to think of words this way in my classroom. I want them to bring in words that they encounter to trigger discussion and to develop structural and context analysis strategies. I truly feel that I have adopted a new philosophy about word choice that will be reflected through the way that I implement instruction in vocabulary, spelling, reading and writing. It amazes me to think that you can change an entire classroom environment by having fun with words!! :)
Something that I did not fully mention in my presentation was this connection between descriptive writing and poetry. Sophia outlined all of the various types of poetry out there and as we learned there are many unique forms of poetry. Poems are often associated with descriptive writing because they typically are shorter so they require the use of more descriptive language to spark imagery within the reader. I think that some people even confuse descriptive writing and poetry as one in the same. Although we determined that descriptive writing is more of a trait than a genre it still plays an essential role in poetry as well as in all genres of writing, whether it is in the form a word, sentence, paragraph or a whole written piece. This is what makes descriptive writing unique compared to the other genres, but I must admit that poetry and descriptive writing do make a compatible pair. I think that descriptive writing should be taught as an entity in itself, but it should also be emphasized in all writing. Maybe pairing descriptive writing and poetry instruction would provide an ideal opportunity to re-emphasize these particular techniques.
Lastly, I just want to thank Sophia for asking us to write a two voices poem in class. I did not really know much about this type of poetry and it was an interesting task to attempt a short version of this type of poem. It really illustrated how powerful a poem with two voices can be because it inspires an aesthetic reaction to what is read. Personally, I do not consider myself much of a poet and I do not dabble in writing poetry often, probably due to my own fears of it. I feel myself wanting to try it more after Sophia's presentation, which is why I will attempting to write a poem for my genre pieces project. Wish me luck! ;)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Entry #8
I would like to bless and address a passage that Jenna wrote in Entry #6:
"In these elementary classrooms I very rarely see students being exposed to different writing genres, especially during "Daily 5" time which is a popular reading instruction program used in the districts I work in. Each day, I see students drawing pictures about something that happened over the weekend or in their life recently, then adding a few sentences about that picture. Before this class, I had not thought of the possibility of introducing different genres to students. I am sure the thought was somewhere in the back of my mind, but it has really become a focus of mine now. I hope to read texts of different genres to my students, explore the texts and how they can write in that genre. Eventually moving to independent practice or the application stage where they can write in different genres during any available writing time. I have developed a stong belief that students need to be shown a variety of genres. If we allow students, or even force them, to write consistently in one genre throughout their schooling, they are undoubtedly going to become bored with it, even as adults we have the same tendency."
I could not agree with Jenna more! I too have had similar thoughts while taking this class and seeing what actually goes on in today's classrooms. I think that writing instruction has improved some by being included in the students daily routine with the "Daily 5," but there is still a lot that is missing. I do not think that it is enough to just have kids write everyday and call it "finished." I definitely see what Jenna is saying about most students just composing a picture and a brief personal narrative about their weekend. I have seen the same thing and I wonder do these students actually understand what they are doing? It's hard because as a sub you only see bits and pieces of what they are doing throughout the year so its difficult not to judge the entire classroom on just one day. However, at the same time I think that one day can also be very telling because if the students are really independent and understand the writing process and various genres then it should/ would be very apparent.
Generally speaking, it seems that some teachers might think that writing during the daily five and then continuing to develop one of their short pieces during writer's workshop is basically what students need to know about the writing process. They may or may not add minilessons, but is this enough? I think that this sounds very boring, especially if students are doing this all year. After this class, I cannot possibly agree with this practice. I cannot really say that I know the full curriculum of any teacher's writing workshop, but I do sense that something is lacking. I feel that with the knowledge that I have learned from this class I am dedicated to serving as a representative and advocate for instruction in multiple genres. I want my students (even little ones) to be well aware that there are different genres, what they are and how to read/write them. I agree with Jenna that it should be a gradual process that is carried out throughout the school year until they are comfortable and confident enough to independently compose written pieces in a genre or genres of their choice. I fully support the concept of multigenre projects and I think that this is what all teachers need to strive for in our classrooms. I think a multigenre project should be the culmination of writing workshop, which should include elements of the digital writing workshop as well.
I understand what Jenna says when she explains that she did not really think about teaching genres when teaching writing. I believe this happens to a lot of teachers because in undergrad we were taught how to teach the writing process specifically, not the writing genres. Without this class I feel like I would have been missing out on imperative information that is necessary to become an outstanding teacher. I was lucky enough to have worked with a fifth grade teacher who really stressed all of the genres, but without this experience I don't know if I would have even known to specifically teach each genre. I wonder why the reading/writing genres are not emphasized during undergrad? This class has changed my whole philosophy when it comes to teaching writing and I believe every future educator should have the opportunity for this same experience.
I also like Jenna's point about not only teaching students to write in a variety of genres, but exposing them to many genres through reading, with the goal always being to gain a deeper understanding of each genre. As we know, "Tom Romano (2000) explains that each genre offers ways of learning and understanding that the others do not" (Tompkins, p. 182). Although I have already referred to this quote in a previous post I keep coming back to it because I think it really speaks to the reason why we must teach students about many genres. I have found myself learning new key components of each genre as we continue to dissect them and as a result, I have a better understanding of each genre. I believe exposure to reading and writing in various genres would work in the same beneficial fashion with our own students.
Sometimes I question some of the instructional decisions that current teachers are making in language arts because I see them doing certain things that could easily be transformed into more meaningful activities. Although this frustrates me, I try to remind myself that right now I am really just an observer on the outside. Classroom teachers are under so much pressure and it is coming from all different directions. I have begun to realize that many instructional practices that I am seeing are not always the teacher's first choice. So many instructional programs "force" teachers to teach in a certain way whether they agree with it or not. I find this utterly saddening because it seems that teaching as lost a certain aspect of creativity that is truly what I thrive on. However, I do not think it is completely lost. I think we just have to work hard to incorporate our own creative practices, while still abiding to the pressures/instructional guidelines that are expected. I refuse to accept the reality of teaching in today's world as an excuse to just follow the rules. Yet, I will admit it still bothers me that there is such a mismatch between a lot of what we learn in higher education and what is actually happening in schools today.
With that being said, I hope to continue to expand my knowledge of the digital writing process and genres in order to construct a writer's workshop in my own classroom that truly mirrors the research that we have read and discussed throughout this semester. I think that writer's workshop is one of the few subjects that still allows for a great deal of teacher creativity and I plan on taking full advantage of it in my future classroom.
Jenna, thank you for allowing me to address your entry and for aiding in my reflection on making connections between my personal teaching experiences and what we are learning about in class!!
"In these elementary classrooms I very rarely see students being exposed to different writing genres, especially during "Daily 5" time which is a popular reading instruction program used in the districts I work in. Each day, I see students drawing pictures about something that happened over the weekend or in their life recently, then adding a few sentences about that picture. Before this class, I had not thought of the possibility of introducing different genres to students. I am sure the thought was somewhere in the back of my mind, but it has really become a focus of mine now. I hope to read texts of different genres to my students, explore the texts and how they can write in that genre. Eventually moving to independent practice or the application stage where they can write in different genres during any available writing time. I have developed a stong belief that students need to be shown a variety of genres. If we allow students, or even force them, to write consistently in one genre throughout their schooling, they are undoubtedly going to become bored with it, even as adults we have the same tendency."
I could not agree with Jenna more! I too have had similar thoughts while taking this class and seeing what actually goes on in today's classrooms. I think that writing instruction has improved some by being included in the students daily routine with the "Daily 5," but there is still a lot that is missing. I do not think that it is enough to just have kids write everyday and call it "finished." I definitely see what Jenna is saying about most students just composing a picture and a brief personal narrative about their weekend. I have seen the same thing and I wonder do these students actually understand what they are doing? It's hard because as a sub you only see bits and pieces of what they are doing throughout the year so its difficult not to judge the entire classroom on just one day. However, at the same time I think that one day can also be very telling because if the students are really independent and understand the writing process and various genres then it should/ would be very apparent.
Generally speaking, it seems that some teachers might think that writing during the daily five and then continuing to develop one of their short pieces during writer's workshop is basically what students need to know about the writing process. They may or may not add minilessons, but is this enough? I think that this sounds very boring, especially if students are doing this all year. After this class, I cannot possibly agree with this practice. I cannot really say that I know the full curriculum of any teacher's writing workshop, but I do sense that something is lacking. I feel that with the knowledge that I have learned from this class I am dedicated to serving as a representative and advocate for instruction in multiple genres. I want my students (even little ones) to be well aware that there are different genres, what they are and how to read/write them. I agree with Jenna that it should be a gradual process that is carried out throughout the school year until they are comfortable and confident enough to independently compose written pieces in a genre or genres of their choice. I fully support the concept of multigenre projects and I think that this is what all teachers need to strive for in our classrooms. I think a multigenre project should be the culmination of writing workshop, which should include elements of the digital writing workshop as well.
I understand what Jenna says when she explains that she did not really think about teaching genres when teaching writing. I believe this happens to a lot of teachers because in undergrad we were taught how to teach the writing process specifically, not the writing genres. Without this class I feel like I would have been missing out on imperative information that is necessary to become an outstanding teacher. I was lucky enough to have worked with a fifth grade teacher who really stressed all of the genres, but without this experience I don't know if I would have even known to specifically teach each genre. I wonder why the reading/writing genres are not emphasized during undergrad? This class has changed my whole philosophy when it comes to teaching writing and I believe every future educator should have the opportunity for this same experience.
I also like Jenna's point about not only teaching students to write in a variety of genres, but exposing them to many genres through reading, with the goal always being to gain a deeper understanding of each genre. As we know, "Tom Romano (2000) explains that each genre offers ways of learning and understanding that the others do not" (Tompkins, p. 182). Although I have already referred to this quote in a previous post I keep coming back to it because I think it really speaks to the reason why we must teach students about many genres. I have found myself learning new key components of each genre as we continue to dissect them and as a result, I have a better understanding of each genre. I believe exposure to reading and writing in various genres would work in the same beneficial fashion with our own students.
Sometimes I question some of the instructional decisions that current teachers are making in language arts because I see them doing certain things that could easily be transformed into more meaningful activities. Although this frustrates me, I try to remind myself that right now I am really just an observer on the outside. Classroom teachers are under so much pressure and it is coming from all different directions. I have begun to realize that many instructional practices that I am seeing are not always the teacher's first choice. So many instructional programs "force" teachers to teach in a certain way whether they agree with it or not. I find this utterly saddening because it seems that teaching as lost a certain aspect of creativity that is truly what I thrive on. However, I do not think it is completely lost. I think we just have to work hard to incorporate our own creative practices, while still abiding to the pressures/instructional guidelines that are expected. I refuse to accept the reality of teaching in today's world as an excuse to just follow the rules. Yet, I will admit it still bothers me that there is such a mismatch between a lot of what we learn in higher education and what is actually happening in schools today.
With that being said, I hope to continue to expand my knowledge of the digital writing process and genres in order to construct a writer's workshop in my own classroom that truly mirrors the research that we have read and discussed throughout this semester. I think that writer's workshop is one of the few subjects that still allows for a great deal of teacher creativity and I plan on taking full advantage of it in my future classroom.
Jenna, thank you for allowing me to address your entry and for aiding in my reflection on making connections between my personal teaching experiences and what we are learning about in class!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Entry #7
After reading and participating in Carrie & Emily's workshops on biographical and expository writing I feel that I better understand the genres and their benefits. Carrie did an excellent job of articulating the difference between a personal narrative and a auto/biography when we were having difficulty identifying some of the books in our little collection. She said that a personal narrative usually focuses on one particular event in a person's life and then that person develops it into a narrative using literary elements. However, a biography typically outlines multiple events in a person's life. Of course, we agreed that sometimes the lines between these definitions get blurred, but for the most part this is a good rule of thumb. I also thought it was interesting how Dr. Jones said biographical writing has often had ghost writers, which makes it difficult to truly know which type of biography we are reading. For the purposes of teaching the genre I think that Carrie's explanation would be a clear approach and a great starting point for getting students to expand upon personal narratives that they have already started.
While I was reading Tompkins (2008) I was interested in the section on personal narratives because I had never really thought to categorize this sub-genre into my biographical schema. I have always just thought of a personal narrative as being part of the narrative genre, but it does seem to make more sense in the biographical section. I think other times I may have categorized personal narrative as realistic fiction, but that is not necessarily what it is. Now I have a better definition and understanding of what a personal narrative actually is. One quote that helped me to rethink viewing personal narratives as part of the narrative genre is when Tompkins (2008) says personal narratives "focus on real-life experiences, whereas stories are imaginative" (p. 149). This really made me realize that personal narratives are different because they are based on all factual information and narratives all include some aspect of imaginative writing, even realistic fiction. The idea that some teachers refer to all types of writing as "stories" (or narratives, which are imaginative) to younger children is a little bit frustrating to me. I had not really thought about this because it just sounds like teachers are trying to be cute and kid-friendly when they say that, yet in reality they are really doing their students a disservice by not emphasizing that there different reading/writing genres that serve different purposes.
That takes me to my next point about multigenre projects. I noticed that Dr. Jones added this same quote to our class blog, but I too found it to be very profound. We really must encourage students to use multiple genres on the same topic because "Tom Romano (2000) explains that each genre offers ways of learning and understanding that others do not" (as cited by Tompkins, 2008, p. 182). I absolutely love the idea of multigenre projects because I think it takes learning to a new level. It really adds multiple dimensions to a topic of study and enables students and viewers to really "know" the topic in a deeper way. This type of assignment would also be a powerful way for students to include technological formats, like the ones that Hicks (2009) describes. I think that multigenre projects support differentiation by offering choice and multimodal experiences that promote student engagement and achievement. I believe in teaching more about less and I think multigenre projects allow students to study a certain subtopic in more depth rather than trying to cover every fact and detail of the overarching topic. This type of project would also allow them to really see that each genre serves a different purpose and to make connections between them that they might not have if they were asked to produce only one genre.
One last lingering thought that I am still wondering about is this idea of using expository text more frequently with struggling readers/writers and younger children. Recently, I have seen a few articles supporting the use of expository text in early childhood programs. I have to say that I agree with this statement because I feel that expository text is often well organized, which makes connecting reading and writing of this genre easier. I think that this is why expository text is frequently appealing to struggling readers because they do not have to rely on text only to gain meaning from a book. Expository usually includes pictures, charts, diagrams and bolded titles and subtitles, which makes for a more pleasant and clear cut reading experience. It only makes sense that this would be an easier way to organize information for writing as well. In addition, expository text typically involves one topic, in which students may be interested. This can prompt motivation for students who are lacking in this area because if they have the slightest bit of interest in a topic there is probably an expository text that can elaborate on their interest. In my opinion, it makes sense to start teaching young children about expository text because it sets the framework of organizing reading and writing at a young age and prepares them for using these types of text for research purposes in the future.
While I was reading Tompkins (2008) I was interested in the section on personal narratives because I had never really thought to categorize this sub-genre into my biographical schema. I have always just thought of a personal narrative as being part of the narrative genre, but it does seem to make more sense in the biographical section. I think other times I may have categorized personal narrative as realistic fiction, but that is not necessarily what it is. Now I have a better definition and understanding of what a personal narrative actually is. One quote that helped me to rethink viewing personal narratives as part of the narrative genre is when Tompkins (2008) says personal narratives "focus on real-life experiences, whereas stories are imaginative" (p. 149). This really made me realize that personal narratives are different because they are based on all factual information and narratives all include some aspect of imaginative writing, even realistic fiction. The idea that some teachers refer to all types of writing as "stories" (or narratives, which are imaginative) to younger children is a little bit frustrating to me. I had not really thought about this because it just sounds like teachers are trying to be cute and kid-friendly when they say that, yet in reality they are really doing their students a disservice by not emphasizing that there different reading/writing genres that serve different purposes.
That takes me to my next point about multigenre projects. I noticed that Dr. Jones added this same quote to our class blog, but I too found it to be very profound. We really must encourage students to use multiple genres on the same topic because "Tom Romano (2000) explains that each genre offers ways of learning and understanding that others do not" (as cited by Tompkins, 2008, p. 182). I absolutely love the idea of multigenre projects because I think it takes learning to a new level. It really adds multiple dimensions to a topic of study and enables students and viewers to really "know" the topic in a deeper way. This type of assignment would also be a powerful way for students to include technological formats, like the ones that Hicks (2009) describes. I think that multigenre projects support differentiation by offering choice and multimodal experiences that promote student engagement and achievement. I believe in teaching more about less and I think multigenre projects allow students to study a certain subtopic in more depth rather than trying to cover every fact and detail of the overarching topic. This type of project would also allow them to really see that each genre serves a different purpose and to make connections between them that they might not have if they were asked to produce only one genre.
One last lingering thought that I am still wondering about is this idea of using expository text more frequently with struggling readers/writers and younger children. Recently, I have seen a few articles supporting the use of expository text in early childhood programs. I have to say that I agree with this statement because I feel that expository text is often well organized, which makes connecting reading and writing of this genre easier. I think that this is why expository text is frequently appealing to struggling readers because they do not have to rely on text only to gain meaning from a book. Expository usually includes pictures, charts, diagrams and bolded titles and subtitles, which makes for a more pleasant and clear cut reading experience. It only makes sense that this would be an easier way to organize information for writing as well. In addition, expository text typically involves one topic, in which students may be interested. This can prompt motivation for students who are lacking in this area because if they have the slightest bit of interest in a topic there is probably an expository text that can elaborate on their interest. In my opinion, it makes sense to start teaching young children about expository text because it sets the framework of organizing reading and writing at a young age and prepares them for using these types of text for research purposes in the future.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Entry #6
When thinking of assessing writing I would like to adopt Tompkins' (2008) motto that "teachers should focus on the writers themselves" (p. 76). As we have discussed in class, the main focus should first be on the writer and then on the writing. Assessing writing is not always about the quality of the end result, but the path that students take to arrive at their end result. In Tompkins (2008) words, "Process assessment is designed to probe how children write, the decisions they make as writers, and the strategies they use rather than the quality of their finished products" (p. 81). By focusing on the writer we can ensure that we are scaffolding the writing process for students and gradually releasing them to take on more responsibility of their own when they write.
I think that anytime students can be involved in assessment it is beneficial for them. The teacher should not be the one who holds back information from her students, but rather shares their progress with them throughout the process. Checklists help to ease this process by providing a simplistic reminder to students and teachers that this is what needs to be included for that assignment. Teachers should not create assessments in isolation, but should incorporate student input whenever possible. If students are true writers then they should be able to articulate what work needs to go into a well-done written piece. Creating a rubric together is an excellent review for students. By talking through the process and what is expected of them then they are more likely to retain the information and be more conscious writers during writer's workshop.
I also have to agree with Tompkins (2008) when she claims that "self-evaluation is a natural part of writing" (p. 84). When we us assessments like checklists and rubrics we are creating guidelines for our students to help them self-monitor their own writing process. However, we do not want them to finish writing and then just abandon the whole assignment. Self-evaluation is a critical and natural component of the writing process and one that in my opinion is often forgotten. I loved Tompkins (2008) ideas about having students write a brief reflection after completing or deciding to finish a written piece. These can then be attached to the piece and placed in the student's writing portfolio. This is another helpful tool to look at overall growth and the students thinking about their writing at that point in the year.
Conferencing is another aspect of assessment that I think is extremely beneficial. It can be done in many ways as Tompkins (2008) outlines, but each conference should have a specific purpose and the student should walk away with a new plan of attack for their written piece. Tompkins (2008) says "the teacher's role is to be a listener and a guide" during conferences (p. 77). It does not say that teachers should be a forceful figure who pressures students to write the way they want them to write. We must remember that everyone's writing process is different. Sometimes it is difficult for teachers to hold back, but part of the writing process is prompting students to figure things out on their own or with a peer. Sommers (1982) makes a valid point that "teachers' comments can take students' attention away from their own purposes in writing a particular text and focus that attention on the teachers' purpose in commenting" (p. 149). I had never really thought about teachers' feedback like this before, but reading this article provided me with a moment of clarity. Reflecting on my own education, I can recall falling into this trap of losing my sense of purpose to fulfill the teacher's wishes. It happens without us even realizing because at a young age we are taught to respect our teachers and to obey them.
When thinking of effective conferencing we need to be very clear and purposeful in the comments with which we provide students. We must act as a listener and a guide who assists students in their process. We must also stay true to the purpose of the conference. If it is for revising then that is what we should focus on, not mechanical errors. Sommers (1982) discusses how it can be awfully confusing for students to receive a paper with the teacher's comments about organization and development as well as comments about how to change mechanical errors. As teachers we need to stay true to the process if we expect our students to and marking up their paper with every possible correction is not the best way to provide meaningful assessment.
Lastly, sometimes the burden of grading numerous papers at a time is tiresome and frustrating for teachers, especially at the secondary level. I really think that if we set up a writing workshop like the one that we are doing in LTED 618 right now and the way that Tompkins (2008) recommends we can avoid the massive amount of grading that comes along with teaching. Well, maybe avoid is not the right word, but rather break up the grading into smaller chunks. If students are free to work on the writing process at their own pace then it is less likely that the whole class will finish at the same time. This allows the teacher to really focus their attention on providing meaningful feedback to one small group at a time. Conferencing becomes less overwhelming because not all students need to conference at the same time. I ran into this problem yesterday when I was subbing in a fourth grade classroom. During writing workshop, the students were all working on editing their final drafts of a persuasive essay they have been working on. I found it very difficult to have individual conferences with students because the demand was too high. The whole time I kept thinking how doing a status of the class would be so beneficial for this class because some students were mostly done and others were still struggling with the assignment. This made me realize how I truly believe that students should be given freedom to move between the stages in the writing process when they have been given the okay and are ready to do so. I cannot wait to use these techniques during writers workshop in my own classroom someday.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Entry #5
February 20, 2011
Dear Dr. Jones,
I am really enjoying class so far and I am finding that everything I am learning about the parallels between reading and writing applies in all of my classes. Sometimes I even get confused which class I learned something in because there is so much overlap. I find myself making connections on a daily basis and I think I am developing a whole different philosophy on reading/writing and becoming digital writers. I truly hope that I can carry my new philosophy with me beyond this class and into my own classroom someday.
I think that it was a little bit difficult to really buy into the idea that reading and writing are parallel processes because they were taught to me as separate entities when I was in school. However, the more I read about the processes, the more similarities I see and I get excited about how I can someday teach a strategy that can be used during both reading and writing. By understanding that reading and writing are recursive and creative processes it enables me to eventually teach reading and writing in this way. I think I will become a more explicit teacher because I can more clearly articulate what a good reader and writer looks like. I want this to be a common consideration in my future classroom and I want to be an example of a good reader and writer for my students.
I am also quite intrigued about the digital literacies that we have been reading about in Hicks (2009). I often find my brain trying to sort this idea that these are not new literacies, but just alternative ways of reading and writing. In other words, I am continually curious about how technologies present traditional reading and writing skills in new ways. I have never thought about it like this until this semester and I think I will always view technology in this way from now on. Hopefully, this will prove to be beneficial for my future students because I am more willing to experiment with digital literacies.
Currently, I engage in reading and writing acts on a daily basis and usually multiple times in a day. I am definitely someone who is constantly thinking while I read or write. Sometimes it takes me a really long time to complete a reading/writing assignment because I become so engaged in it and find myself inquiring further about the piece. I get a little frustrated with myself sometimes because I can devote so much time to reading and writing tasks. However, I know it is time well spent because it helps me to fully understand or express whatever I am reading and writing. My metacognition comes into play while I am partaking in a literacy event because I have become more aware when I go back and revise in reading and writing, which occurs pretty often. When I forget what I read or wrote I will go back and reread, which I am frequently unconscious of, although I have recently become more conscious of this. I can definitely see how I read and write in a similar fashion as I work through understanding a piece. Sometimes I have too many thoughts in my head and I cannot get them all out fast enough when I am writing. Usually, I don't lose what I am thinking, but I have a period of time where I am in engaging in "flow." Once my flow ends I immediately go back and begin to revise and edit as I go, however there are also times when I leave my writing for days and come back to revise and edit.
With all of this being said I would say that I am constantly transacting with what I am reading and writing. Typically, after reading or writing I leave the literacy event with clarity or a new discovery. It is very common for me to synthesize what I am reading whether it is just in my own mind or through writing. When this happens, which is frequently (unless I really do not understand something that I read), I leave the literacy event with a sense of calm and accomplishment. I feel refreshed because I learned something new, thought about something further or discovered something that I had not thought of before. This is how I know I really love reading and writing.
When I consider how often I think when engaging in reading and writing I would say that majority of the time I am thinking before, during and after a literacy event. I refer to myself as "in the zone" and when I set my mind to it I can engage in reading and writing acts for hours. Then, I usually have to transition to another mindset if I have to go somewhere or engage in a different kind of activity. It is not often that I read or write without thinking. I am a person who has a hard time "turning my mind off." The only times I can think of are when I am reading a book or a magazine just to relax. I cannot say that I really write without thinking because even when I am writing to a friend or journaling for personal reasons I am still thinking. I may experiencing flow more than thinking, but I still think I am always thinking whether I am aware of it or not.
Maybe what I just mentioned above is a reading/writing habit that I could strive to change sometimes. I could attempt to turn off my revising and editing mind more often and just write to get the meaning out. This reminds me of the day in class when you had us turn off our computer monitors. This made me feel uncomfortable because I am a very visual person and it is so ingrained in me to revise/edit as I go. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing that I do this because it does not impede the message that I am trying to express since I am so used to it. I guess it does not have to be classified as either, but rather it intends on my purpose behind the writing that I am composing.
Another aspect of the writing process that I find myself struggling with a little is prewriting. I do not usually do a lot of prewriting before I begin writing a piece. Sometimes I will create a brief outline or notes and I have some kind of a plan worked out in my head, but it often changes as I begin writing. I have trouble getting started with writing once in a while, but once I start I can usually go on for a while (as you can probably tell :). I really liked the Card Strategy that you did with us in class and I felt that that helped me to organize my thoughts about my genre pieces project. This past week I was having a lot of ideas about what directions my pieces could take, but I left class that day with a clearer understanding of what I wanted each of my pieces to be like. I now feel like I have more of a clear direction to take with my first piece and it is becoming more manageable in my mind.
I feel like the Card and Puzzle Strategies that were discussed in the Kucer & Rhodes (1986) article were strategies that I would use in my future classroom. I like them because they turn prewriting into a more manipulative process, which is really helpful to many learners. I also think I could adapt the Writing Wheel from the Scott & Vitale (2003) article to make the writing process more manageable for not just struggling writers, but all writers. However, I would want to just use the wheel as a template and have the class develop definitions for each section of the writing process. I think this would be a helpful tool to reference when teaching the writing process. I also liked how the Furr (2003) article talked about using expository text to motivate and get struggling readers/writers to write. I have noticed that students with disabilities often turn to expository text because it is much more straightforward and clear cut. I will definitely keep this in mind. However, I would never want to restrict students to writing in one genre so I believe this would be a good genre to start the year off with. I will also utilize Tompkins (2008) when teaching literacy because she outlines how to teach each genre really nicely and I love how she has a list of books to use for each genre. Although there are many other strategies I could discuss, I will end with Tompkins (2008) rubric that involves self and teacher assessment based on one through three and then the final grade is the average (p. 33). I thought this was a unique, yet fair way to construct assessment for elementary age students and I would love to incorporate it into my own assessment practices.
Finally, I do not feel like I am really struggling too much. The only thing I can think of is that I need to find out more information about my topic, which is now more specifically Trier, Germany. I have not been able to find any books about this city so it looks like I will have to rely on websites. I am also planning on interviewing my dad in the near future so that should provide me with more information and enable me to get started with my first piece. Other than that I am really learning a lot and I appreciate the valuable information, resources and insight that you have been providing us with.
Thank you,
Heather
Dear Dr. Jones,
I am really enjoying class so far and I am finding that everything I am learning about the parallels between reading and writing applies in all of my classes. Sometimes I even get confused which class I learned something in because there is so much overlap. I find myself making connections on a daily basis and I think I am developing a whole different philosophy on reading/writing and becoming digital writers. I truly hope that I can carry my new philosophy with me beyond this class and into my own classroom someday.
I think that it was a little bit difficult to really buy into the idea that reading and writing are parallel processes because they were taught to me as separate entities when I was in school. However, the more I read about the processes, the more similarities I see and I get excited about how I can someday teach a strategy that can be used during both reading and writing. By understanding that reading and writing are recursive and creative processes it enables me to eventually teach reading and writing in this way. I think I will become a more explicit teacher because I can more clearly articulate what a good reader and writer looks like. I want this to be a common consideration in my future classroom and I want to be an example of a good reader and writer for my students.
I am also quite intrigued about the digital literacies that we have been reading about in Hicks (2009). I often find my brain trying to sort this idea that these are not new literacies, but just alternative ways of reading and writing. In other words, I am continually curious about how technologies present traditional reading and writing skills in new ways. I have never thought about it like this until this semester and I think I will always view technology in this way from now on. Hopefully, this will prove to be beneficial for my future students because I am more willing to experiment with digital literacies.
Currently, I engage in reading and writing acts on a daily basis and usually multiple times in a day. I am definitely someone who is constantly thinking while I read or write. Sometimes it takes me a really long time to complete a reading/writing assignment because I become so engaged in it and find myself inquiring further about the piece. I get a little frustrated with myself sometimes because I can devote so much time to reading and writing tasks. However, I know it is time well spent because it helps me to fully understand or express whatever I am reading and writing. My metacognition comes into play while I am partaking in a literacy event because I have become more aware when I go back and revise in reading and writing, which occurs pretty often. When I forget what I read or wrote I will go back and reread, which I am frequently unconscious of, although I have recently become more conscious of this. I can definitely see how I read and write in a similar fashion as I work through understanding a piece. Sometimes I have too many thoughts in my head and I cannot get them all out fast enough when I am writing. Usually, I don't lose what I am thinking, but I have a period of time where I am in engaging in "flow." Once my flow ends I immediately go back and begin to revise and edit as I go, however there are also times when I leave my writing for days and come back to revise and edit.
With all of this being said I would say that I am constantly transacting with what I am reading and writing. Typically, after reading or writing I leave the literacy event with clarity or a new discovery. It is very common for me to synthesize what I am reading whether it is just in my own mind or through writing. When this happens, which is frequently (unless I really do not understand something that I read), I leave the literacy event with a sense of calm and accomplishment. I feel refreshed because I learned something new, thought about something further or discovered something that I had not thought of before. This is how I know I really love reading and writing.
When I consider how often I think when engaging in reading and writing I would say that majority of the time I am thinking before, during and after a literacy event. I refer to myself as "in the zone" and when I set my mind to it I can engage in reading and writing acts for hours. Then, I usually have to transition to another mindset if I have to go somewhere or engage in a different kind of activity. It is not often that I read or write without thinking. I am a person who has a hard time "turning my mind off." The only times I can think of are when I am reading a book or a magazine just to relax. I cannot say that I really write without thinking because even when I am writing to a friend or journaling for personal reasons I am still thinking. I may experiencing flow more than thinking, but I still think I am always thinking whether I am aware of it or not.
Maybe what I just mentioned above is a reading/writing habit that I could strive to change sometimes. I could attempt to turn off my revising and editing mind more often and just write to get the meaning out. This reminds me of the day in class when you had us turn off our computer monitors. This made me feel uncomfortable because I am a very visual person and it is so ingrained in me to revise/edit as I go. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing that I do this because it does not impede the message that I am trying to express since I am so used to it. I guess it does not have to be classified as either, but rather it intends on my purpose behind the writing that I am composing.
Another aspect of the writing process that I find myself struggling with a little is prewriting. I do not usually do a lot of prewriting before I begin writing a piece. Sometimes I will create a brief outline or notes and I have some kind of a plan worked out in my head, but it often changes as I begin writing. I have trouble getting started with writing once in a while, but once I start I can usually go on for a while (as you can probably tell :). I really liked the Card Strategy that you did with us in class and I felt that that helped me to organize my thoughts about my genre pieces project. This past week I was having a lot of ideas about what directions my pieces could take, but I left class that day with a clearer understanding of what I wanted each of my pieces to be like. I now feel like I have more of a clear direction to take with my first piece and it is becoming more manageable in my mind.
I feel like the Card and Puzzle Strategies that were discussed in the Kucer & Rhodes (1986) article were strategies that I would use in my future classroom. I like them because they turn prewriting into a more manipulative process, which is really helpful to many learners. I also think I could adapt the Writing Wheel from the Scott & Vitale (2003) article to make the writing process more manageable for not just struggling writers, but all writers. However, I would want to just use the wheel as a template and have the class develop definitions for each section of the writing process. I think this would be a helpful tool to reference when teaching the writing process. I also liked how the Furr (2003) article talked about using expository text to motivate and get struggling readers/writers to write. I have noticed that students with disabilities often turn to expository text because it is much more straightforward and clear cut. I will definitely keep this in mind. However, I would never want to restrict students to writing in one genre so I believe this would be a good genre to start the year off with. I will also utilize Tompkins (2008) when teaching literacy because she outlines how to teach each genre really nicely and I love how she has a list of books to use for each genre. Although there are many other strategies I could discuss, I will end with Tompkins (2008) rubric that involves self and teacher assessment based on one through three and then the final grade is the average (p. 33). I thought this was a unique, yet fair way to construct assessment for elementary age students and I would love to incorporate it into my own assessment practices.
Finally, I do not feel like I am really struggling too much. The only thing I can think of is that I need to find out more information about my topic, which is now more specifically Trier, Germany. I have not been able to find any books about this city so it looks like I will have to rely on websites. I am also planning on interviewing my dad in the near future so that should provide me with more information and enable me to get started with my first piece. Other than that I am really learning a lot and I appreciate the valuable information, resources and insight that you have been providing us with.
Thank you,
Heather
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Entry #4
After letting the Hicks readings (Chapters 2, 3 and 7 )sink in over the past few days, I have really started to notice connections to RSS and blogging that I never had before. Just through my daily internet browsing I have been noticing links at the bottoms of pages that connect to an RSS. It is always kind of fun to see connections to new things that you learn, especially because I never knew what an RSS was before so I probably would have just ignored it if I saw a site linking me to one. Now that I have one I have been playing around with it a little and I plan on continuing to experiment with how to use it. My observation above made me realize that a lot of times teachers just do not know what technology is available out there. It is not because they are incapable of using it, but that they just are unaware. This really makes me see the importance of keeping myself updated with new technology, especially when I am no longer a student.
Some other features of RSS and social bookmarking that I found interesting and useful are having one "go to" spot where everything is located rather than checking individual sites constantly. I think this would be very helpful for students who are keeping track of multiple sources for a project. I like how teachers can tag articles and websites for students to access immediately at the beginning of class or just because they are interested in them. This really makes us realize how our world is becoming more closed in because of the availability of a vast amount of sources at the drop of a hat. RSS would also be a great tool to use for collaborative projects so students can easily access the sources their peers are viewing and sort through sources more quickly. It is so convenient that these technologies create what Hicks (2009) calls "a digital trail." I wish I had known about some of these tools when I was in high school!
I am more familiar with blogs and wikis, but I see how beneficial they are for the writing process now. I like how they make comments and feedback more permanent so they can be referred to at a later time. This also allows for more thought to be put into follow up comments/feedback, whether it is from the teacher or peers. Hunt also points out that "There's nothing new about making text to text connections, but there's sure something powerful in the representation of those links as semi-tangible things" (as cited in Hicks, 2009, p. 35). Posting a link on a blog makes information way more accessible than before because all we have to do is click a link. On that link there is not only text, but images, videos, audio and sometimes other links. This allows us to become more multimodal than ever before, which helps us to deepen our understanding further. I also think that by leaving public comments, even if it is just public to a class, is similar to sharing time. By leaving a comment you are sharing your views with your classmates and eventually this brings the class closer together and allows everyone to participate equally.
Hicks (2009) makes a valuable point about how technology changes the prewriting and revision processes, which are often the hardest phases to get through. The struggles of prewriting are eased by the availability of information based on students interests. It is now much easier to discover interests and learn more about them through the use of an RSS. Revision is also made much easier by technological features like highlighting and the ease of moving text around. Collaborative word processors (like Google Docs) make it possible to keep records of every revision so you don't have to worry about losing it if you want to refer back to a certain portion of your writing. In addition, files can be viewed using any computer with the internet, which makes writing a lot more convenient.
I found it intriguing that Hicks (2009) mentions using audio recordings instead of written feedback on students' writing. At first, I was not sure how I felt about this. From the teacher's standpoint, I can see how it would save time, but the teacher would have to be very careful not to offend their students. I think it might be a little strange to give or receive an audio comment, but after a couple of times I think we could get used to it, just like we can get used to anything else. As long as the comment is permanent for the student to refer back to, then I say why not use this technology! I have used Audacity before to create a podcast and it is really easy once you do it once or twice.
A theme that I have been noticing in Hicks as well as other texts that we have read is that the idea of new literacies is actually not so new. We have also talked about this in class, but I think I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it. Hicks (2009) says "it is simply using a traditional pedagogy (teacher-led discussion) with a new technology" (p. 16). At first, I thought Hicks was implying that the technology was not new, but I am now beginning to see how he means the technology is what is new, but the instructional practices are the same ones that good teachers have used for years. The technology just presents instruction in a new format, which can be extremely beneficial during the writing process. We saw this when we watched Mrs. Cassidy's classroom video to a teacher in Australia, which was similar to the genre of letter writing just presented in a different way than the traditional pen and paper format. We need to utilize these new technologies if we want our students to become well-equipped to enter today's globalized world.
Some other features of RSS and social bookmarking that I found interesting and useful are having one "go to" spot where everything is located rather than checking individual sites constantly. I think this would be very helpful for students who are keeping track of multiple sources for a project. I like how teachers can tag articles and websites for students to access immediately at the beginning of class or just because they are interested in them. This really makes us realize how our world is becoming more closed in because of the availability of a vast amount of sources at the drop of a hat. RSS would also be a great tool to use for collaborative projects so students can easily access the sources their peers are viewing and sort through sources more quickly. It is so convenient that these technologies create what Hicks (2009) calls "a digital trail." I wish I had known about some of these tools when I was in high school!
I am more familiar with blogs and wikis, but I see how beneficial they are for the writing process now. I like how they make comments and feedback more permanent so they can be referred to at a later time. This also allows for more thought to be put into follow up comments/feedback, whether it is from the teacher or peers. Hunt also points out that "There's nothing new about making text to text connections, but there's sure something powerful in the representation of those links as semi-tangible things" (as cited in Hicks, 2009, p. 35). Posting a link on a blog makes information way more accessible than before because all we have to do is click a link. On that link there is not only text, but images, videos, audio and sometimes other links. This allows us to become more multimodal than ever before, which helps us to deepen our understanding further. I also think that by leaving public comments, even if it is just public to a class, is similar to sharing time. By leaving a comment you are sharing your views with your classmates and eventually this brings the class closer together and allows everyone to participate equally.
Hicks (2009) makes a valuable point about how technology changes the prewriting and revision processes, which are often the hardest phases to get through. The struggles of prewriting are eased by the availability of information based on students interests. It is now much easier to discover interests and learn more about them through the use of an RSS. Revision is also made much easier by technological features like highlighting and the ease of moving text around. Collaborative word processors (like Google Docs) make it possible to keep records of every revision so you don't have to worry about losing it if you want to refer back to a certain portion of your writing. In addition, files can be viewed using any computer with the internet, which makes writing a lot more convenient.
I found it intriguing that Hicks (2009) mentions using audio recordings instead of written feedback on students' writing. At first, I was not sure how I felt about this. From the teacher's standpoint, I can see how it would save time, but the teacher would have to be very careful not to offend their students. I think it might be a little strange to give or receive an audio comment, but after a couple of times I think we could get used to it, just like we can get used to anything else. As long as the comment is permanent for the student to refer back to, then I say why not use this technology! I have used Audacity before to create a podcast and it is really easy once you do it once or twice.
A theme that I have been noticing in Hicks as well as other texts that we have read is that the idea of new literacies is actually not so new. We have also talked about this in class, but I think I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it. Hicks (2009) says "it is simply using a traditional pedagogy (teacher-led discussion) with a new technology" (p. 16). At first, I thought Hicks was implying that the technology was not new, but I am now beginning to see how he means the technology is what is new, but the instructional practices are the same ones that good teachers have used for years. The technology just presents instruction in a new format, which can be extremely beneficial during the writing process. We saw this when we watched Mrs. Cassidy's classroom video to a teacher in Australia, which was similar to the genre of letter writing just presented in a different way than the traditional pen and paper format. We need to utilize these new technologies if we want our students to become well-equipped to enter today's globalized world.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Entry #3
After reading the chapter about journal writing I have found myself thinking about its importance more and more. I also found it really meaningful when I found my dialogic journal from second grade with comments from my teacher. It was neat to look back at this and realize my teacher did exactly what Tompkins suggests when reading my journal. She left comments once in a while and would give me ideas of things to write about when I wrote "I don't know what to raet." This reminded me of the box about "How to Address Struggling Writers' Problems" in Tompkins (2008). The problem says "I don't know what to write" and mentions a quick fix of creating a list of topics and a long term solution of teaching engaging minilessons on how to select topics (p. 104). I think that this would be an excellent place to integrate the RSS and social bookmarking that Hicks (2009) references. The teacher could model and then assist struggling writers to search for articles, pictures and video clips of things that interest them and then link them to the student's RSS. Once the teacher knows some of the student's interests she can search for other things that might help them to get started with writing and tag it to their RSS. This way the next time the student complained about not knowing what to write they would have a useful resource in which they could turn. Unfortunately, RSS was not an option in my day, but now that it is I think it could be helpful for the whole class or just with struggling writers depending on computer access.
Back to my second grade journal. I think the coolest thing to look back at is the memorable events that happened that year and to see how my writing grew longer and more detailed throughout the year. I only hope that I will have students who will save journals that they do with me so they can look back on them in the future. I hope that I can share my journal with my students someday and that it will motivate them to want to improve their writing throughout the course of our year together. This has really made me think of journal writing differently and see the its value in learning to write.
When I was reading this chapter, I was surprised to discover how many different types of journal writing there are. As I read about each type I realized I have done all of them at some point throughout my education, but I did not realize it at the time. I really like journal writing because it is personal, unique and just for that child. It is a safe space where a child can write and they should have the option for it to be public, private or shared. It is also not really being assessed for a grade like something that is written using the writing process.
At the end of the chapter, one of the questions that is posed is should I correct children's journals? (Tompkins, 2008, p. 125). I found myself wondering the same thing as I browsed through my own second grade journal. My thought was similar to what my teacher had done, she did not correct me when I spelled write as "rite" and "raet." Eventually, when it became a continuous error she wrote the correct spelling above. However, do you think I spelled it correctly then? Nope, I continued to spell it my way and eventually I figured it out! I think that is what is so interesting about inventive spelling. You can decipher what children are trying to write, but they are little off because maybe they do not know a chunking pattern yet or haven't been exposed to that word enough. It seems that being immersed in a print rich environment allows children to figure out spelling on their own. That is not to say we should not teach spelling, but for journal writing form should definitely follow function!
When I think about journal writing I think about reflection. My undergrad program forced us to constantly reflect and reflect and then reflect some more to the point where I was sick of it by the end! However, I still came to value reflection and see its importance in learning. It really does make things more meaningful because it gets you to think for an extended period of time about an experience or something that you read. I think that reading/learning logs are an excellent way to integrate writing into other content areas. Learning logs get students to record and reflect on what they did during a lesson and serve as notes for them to refer back to. In my opinion, journaling is similar to creating a portfolio. Although a journal may not be as professional looking as a portfolio it shows developmental growth and progress over a long period of time. These are some of the best types of assessments, which encourage students to respond to what they are learning in new ways.
I think that double-entry journals are really useful for having students apply a comprehension strategy and demonstrate to them that journal entries to not all have to appear in letter format. Lastly, stimulated journals are an excellent way to integrate history or get students to think in another person's point of view. I think some students might find this type of journal more difficult to write, but it might be easier for other students because it allows them to visualize a person, place and time to write about. I never realized how journal writing can sometimes just be personal and sometimes it can serve as intentional instruction to practice a strategy. Tompkins (2008) really allowed me to see the practicality of journal writing in a variety of ways and I could honestly see myself incorporating all of these types of journal writing into my future classroom.
Back to my second grade journal. I think the coolest thing to look back at is the memorable events that happened that year and to see how my writing grew longer and more detailed throughout the year. I only hope that I will have students who will save journals that they do with me so they can look back on them in the future. I hope that I can share my journal with my students someday and that it will motivate them to want to improve their writing throughout the course of our year together. This has really made me think of journal writing differently and see the its value in learning to write.
When I was reading this chapter, I was surprised to discover how many different types of journal writing there are. As I read about each type I realized I have done all of them at some point throughout my education, but I did not realize it at the time. I really like journal writing because it is personal, unique and just for that child. It is a safe space where a child can write and they should have the option for it to be public, private or shared. It is also not really being assessed for a grade like something that is written using the writing process.
At the end of the chapter, one of the questions that is posed is should I correct children's journals? (Tompkins, 2008, p. 125). I found myself wondering the same thing as I browsed through my own second grade journal. My thought was similar to what my teacher had done, she did not correct me when I spelled write as "rite" and "raet." Eventually, when it became a continuous error she wrote the correct spelling above. However, do you think I spelled it correctly then? Nope, I continued to spell it my way and eventually I figured it out! I think that is what is so interesting about inventive spelling. You can decipher what children are trying to write, but they are little off because maybe they do not know a chunking pattern yet or haven't been exposed to that word enough. It seems that being immersed in a print rich environment allows children to figure out spelling on their own. That is not to say we should not teach spelling, but for journal writing form should definitely follow function!
When I think about journal writing I think about reflection. My undergrad program forced us to constantly reflect and reflect and then reflect some more to the point where I was sick of it by the end! However, I still came to value reflection and see its importance in learning. It really does make things more meaningful because it gets you to think for an extended period of time about an experience or something that you read. I think that reading/learning logs are an excellent way to integrate writing into other content areas. Learning logs get students to record and reflect on what they did during a lesson and serve as notes for them to refer back to. In my opinion, journaling is similar to creating a portfolio. Although a journal may not be as professional looking as a portfolio it shows developmental growth and progress over a long period of time. These are some of the best types of assessments, which encourage students to respond to what they are learning in new ways.
I think that double-entry journals are really useful for having students apply a comprehension strategy and demonstrate to them that journal entries to not all have to appear in letter format. Lastly, stimulated journals are an excellent way to integrate history or get students to think in another person's point of view. I think some students might find this type of journal more difficult to write, but it might be easier for other students because it allows them to visualize a person, place and time to write about. I never realized how journal writing can sometimes just be personal and sometimes it can serve as intentional instruction to practice a strategy. Tompkins (2008) really allowed me to see the practicality of journal writing in a variety of ways and I could honestly see myself incorporating all of these types of journal writing into my future classroom.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Entry #2
According to Hicks (2009), framing a digital writing workshop begins by considering the students, the subject and the space in conjunction with writing. Since I am not currently teaching, my last placement was during student teaching in first grade and second grade. I like how Hicks (2009) encourages students to become "conscientious collaborators" (p. 129) when it comes to writing and technology. To me this means being capable of using technology as a tool to enhance the writing process.
Thinking back to my last placement, which was in an urban district, I think I viewed my students as being technologically naive. There was limited access to technology so I never really saw them interact with it, since there was none. Personally, I would have loved to have incorporated technology with them because they did writer's workshop everyday. If I had had a few computers in the room that they could have used I would have asked students who were ready for publishing to type their final product. I think it is a little bit more difficult to use certain technologies with younger students because they need to have a basic understanding of typing and how to use the internet and programs. I nanny for a second grader who is interested in typing stories on the computer, which helps her to freewrite and just get her ideas out. However, she often becomes frustrated with typing because she uses the hunt and peck method. I have also noticed that she does pretty well with using technology, but she is a little frightened of the computer. She thinks that when I minimize something it means it is lost forever and other things like that. These interactions with her made me realize that young students may be somewhat familiar with technology, but still need to be instructed on how to use it properly in order to use it in connection with their writing. Students know that technology is there and its potential, but just like reading and writing, they need explicit instruction on the basics to be able to utilize the technology.
When I think about the subject of writing I am reminded that I want to explicitly teach and discuss what a good writer does while using technology. I want to teach minilessons that students can immediately apply to their writing that day. I also want my students to understand that writing can take many forms and the more variety that is appropriately incorporated, then the more meaningful the written piece becomes. If I had the access to technology then I would model this using a SmartBoard or a computer. This may mean including images, videos, audio (podcasts) and hyperlinks. I think technology often comes into play when we are publishing due to access issues, but if I were teaching right now I would encourage students to include a variety of communication tools in their final product. I might even include some requirements in a rubric for each written assignment. I do not feel like I really addressed what writing means today when I was teaching first grade. Thinking back, technology was not really a significant part of the classroom because of lack of access, which made it difficult to incorporate. However, I could have been more conscious of it and I definitely will be from now on. In my other student teaching placement, which was also urban, I didn't have access to technology either. I even tried to bring my computer in to show students a YouTube video, but I could not even get internet access without a teacher ID. I found this to be incredibly frustrating because I would have used technology often if I could have!
The final component of space is discussed in terms of physical and virtual. I would say that when I was teaching I did not even consider space because we did not have the technology that I would have hoped for. In my future classroom, I would like to have some computers or access to a lab that enables collaboration to happen. I envision students working on joint writing projects or individual projects on the computer by offering each other suggestions on finding information and compiling a cohesive project that includes a variety of avenues to gain information. Virtually speaking, I would like to have a central wiki or website for the class that would allow me to post important information and websites that apply to units of study or the writing process. A website is also a great way to communicate with parents and post materials/websites that they can use with their children for extra practice. I think blogging or commenting on a wiki goes well with journaling. I would like to have daily journaling time and select one writing group a week to post on a the wiki instead of in a notebook. I would then comment on their post and possibly allow other students to comment if given student permission. I plan on utilizing the available technology and matching it with the writing process as much as possible when I have my own classroom.
Thinking back to my last placement, which was in an urban district, I think I viewed my students as being technologically naive. There was limited access to technology so I never really saw them interact with it, since there was none. Personally, I would have loved to have incorporated technology with them because they did writer's workshop everyday. If I had had a few computers in the room that they could have used I would have asked students who were ready for publishing to type their final product. I think it is a little bit more difficult to use certain technologies with younger students because they need to have a basic understanding of typing and how to use the internet and programs. I nanny for a second grader who is interested in typing stories on the computer, which helps her to freewrite and just get her ideas out. However, she often becomes frustrated with typing because she uses the hunt and peck method. I have also noticed that she does pretty well with using technology, but she is a little frightened of the computer. She thinks that when I minimize something it means it is lost forever and other things like that. These interactions with her made me realize that young students may be somewhat familiar with technology, but still need to be instructed on how to use it properly in order to use it in connection with their writing. Students know that technology is there and its potential, but just like reading and writing, they need explicit instruction on the basics to be able to utilize the technology.
When I think about the subject of writing I am reminded that I want to explicitly teach and discuss what a good writer does while using technology. I want to teach minilessons that students can immediately apply to their writing that day. I also want my students to understand that writing can take many forms and the more variety that is appropriately incorporated, then the more meaningful the written piece becomes. If I had the access to technology then I would model this using a SmartBoard or a computer. This may mean including images, videos, audio (podcasts) and hyperlinks. I think technology often comes into play when we are publishing due to access issues, but if I were teaching right now I would encourage students to include a variety of communication tools in their final product. I might even include some requirements in a rubric for each written assignment. I do not feel like I really addressed what writing means today when I was teaching first grade. Thinking back, technology was not really a significant part of the classroom because of lack of access, which made it difficult to incorporate. However, I could have been more conscious of it and I definitely will be from now on. In my other student teaching placement, which was also urban, I didn't have access to technology either. I even tried to bring my computer in to show students a YouTube video, but I could not even get internet access without a teacher ID. I found this to be incredibly frustrating because I would have used technology often if I could have!
The final component of space is discussed in terms of physical and virtual. I would say that when I was teaching I did not even consider space because we did not have the technology that I would have hoped for. In my future classroom, I would like to have some computers or access to a lab that enables collaboration to happen. I envision students working on joint writing projects or individual projects on the computer by offering each other suggestions on finding information and compiling a cohesive project that includes a variety of avenues to gain information. Virtually speaking, I would like to have a central wiki or website for the class that would allow me to post important information and websites that apply to units of study or the writing process. A website is also a great way to communicate with parents and post materials/websites that they can use with their children for extra practice. I think blogging or commenting on a wiki goes well with journaling. I would like to have daily journaling time and select one writing group a week to post on a the wiki instead of in a notebook. I would then comment on their post and possibly allow other students to comment if given student permission. I plan on utilizing the available technology and matching it with the writing process as much as possible when I have my own classroom.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Entry #1
Based on my experiences with teaching writing I really believe children need time and space to write everyday. Writing should not be a threatening task for children, but rather an opportunity to express themselves or to reflect. Writing should act as a safe outlet for children to discuss things that are going on in their lives, things they are learning in class and connections they are making between home, school and the world. I feel that there should be time reserved for writing every day, which may include a combination of modeled, shared, interactive, guided or independent writing. I want to incorporate formal and informal writing activities that provide children with choices which will engage them in the writing process. One of my goals is for all children in my class to feel comfortable with writing by personalizing the writing process so it becomes their writing process. I want children to understand what works best for them when they approach a writing task.
At the same time, I also want the children in my classrom to know that I am their to assist them in their writing process, whatever that may be. I would like to establish a trusting relationship with my students with the understanding that if they choose to write while sitting on a bean bag chair with a clipboard or using a marker I will support that as long as they prove to me they are working hard. I want to create a calm writing space that may include soothing or classical music to help writing pieces to flow. I would also like to have writing groups to allow students to collaborate with others on the pieces they are working on. Other times I might call a writing group to meet with me at a round table to do some conferencing or set up individual brainstorming or editing conferences.
I feel that it is important to demonstrate to children that writing is important to me in my everyday life as well. Some ways that I would like to do that is through modeling writing and choosing topics that are relevant to my life, which I feel comfortable sharing with children. Another way would be using something that I wrote to introduce a lesson and get students excited to write on their own. I have done this in the past when I taught a unit on poetry. I feel that this makes writing relevant to my life and shows the students that I am human as well. In one of my undergrad classes we talked a lot about immediacy behaviors during communication. The reason I bring this up is because by using immediacy behaviors as a teacher, children begin to feel closer to the teacher as if they know them better because they have shared something personal with the class. This could be as simple as sharing stories about a pet or something that I read in the newspaper that was interesting. I want to show children that I am curious about the world around me in order to motivate them to be as well. These simple tasks may help children to notice things about their world that might inspire them to compose a piece of writing.
As far as adopting a digital writing workshop goes, I would love to incorporate whatever technology that I am provided with into my classroom. There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom today. For example, I have shown YouTube videos to motivate my students about writing and to get their brainstorming wheels turning. I have often used PowerPoint on a SmartBoard in an interactive fashion by writing a class poem. I have also assisted children in creating their own podcasts by reading their written pieces into the computer. As I get started with my teaching career I hope to continue learning new ways to incorporate technology into our daily practices. I would like to explore creating electronic portfolios with students and outlets that I can use to expand the audiences that students base their writings around. I would also like to have a central class website or wiki, which would allow me to post useful and appropriate information and websites that students can explore. A wiki would also enable students to respond and comment on questions that their peers and I might post (depending on the grade level and abilities of the class of course). Overall, I am all in favor of finding new ways to merge the writing process with the digital outlets that are available.
Some challenges that I anticipate with attempting to blend writing and technology will be making sure that students are using appropriate websites and acting appropriate when using technology. Another issue may be the availability of technology in the school. It seems that many classrooms only have a few computers in them (if that), but in order to do something with the whole class I may have to sign out the computer lab or a laptop cart. Also, the technology that I have access to will be dependent on the district. Many suburban districts all have SmartBoards now, but I am willing to bet that not all urban districts do. It is also important to have a backup plan in case technology fails that particular day. Most of the time we can rely on it, but not always so I want to make sure I am prepared to face all the challenges that come along with incorporating technology in the classroom.
At the same time, I also want the children in my classrom to know that I am their to assist them in their writing process, whatever that may be. I would like to establish a trusting relationship with my students with the understanding that if they choose to write while sitting on a bean bag chair with a clipboard or using a marker I will support that as long as they prove to me they are working hard. I want to create a calm writing space that may include soothing or classical music to help writing pieces to flow. I would also like to have writing groups to allow students to collaborate with others on the pieces they are working on. Other times I might call a writing group to meet with me at a round table to do some conferencing or set up individual brainstorming or editing conferences.
I feel that it is important to demonstrate to children that writing is important to me in my everyday life as well. Some ways that I would like to do that is through modeling writing and choosing topics that are relevant to my life, which I feel comfortable sharing with children. Another way would be using something that I wrote to introduce a lesson and get students excited to write on their own. I have done this in the past when I taught a unit on poetry. I feel that this makes writing relevant to my life and shows the students that I am human as well. In one of my undergrad classes we talked a lot about immediacy behaviors during communication. The reason I bring this up is because by using immediacy behaviors as a teacher, children begin to feel closer to the teacher as if they know them better because they have shared something personal with the class. This could be as simple as sharing stories about a pet or something that I read in the newspaper that was interesting. I want to show children that I am curious about the world around me in order to motivate them to be as well. These simple tasks may help children to notice things about their world that might inspire them to compose a piece of writing.
As far as adopting a digital writing workshop goes, I would love to incorporate whatever technology that I am provided with into my classroom. There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom today. For example, I have shown YouTube videos to motivate my students about writing and to get their brainstorming wheels turning. I have often used PowerPoint on a SmartBoard in an interactive fashion by writing a class poem. I have also assisted children in creating their own podcasts by reading their written pieces into the computer. As I get started with my teaching career I hope to continue learning new ways to incorporate technology into our daily practices. I would like to explore creating electronic portfolios with students and outlets that I can use to expand the audiences that students base their writings around. I would also like to have a central class website or wiki, which would allow me to post useful and appropriate information and websites that students can explore. A wiki would also enable students to respond and comment on questions that their peers and I might post (depending on the grade level and abilities of the class of course). Overall, I am all in favor of finding new ways to merge the writing process with the digital outlets that are available.
Some challenges that I anticipate with attempting to blend writing and technology will be making sure that students are using appropriate websites and acting appropriate when using technology. Another issue may be the availability of technology in the school. It seems that many classrooms only have a few computers in them (if that), but in order to do something with the whole class I may have to sign out the computer lab or a laptop cart. Also, the technology that I have access to will be dependent on the district. Many suburban districts all have SmartBoards now, but I am willing to bet that not all urban districts do. It is also important to have a backup plan in case technology fails that particular day. Most of the time we can rely on it, but not always so I want to make sure I am prepared to face all the challenges that come along with incorporating technology in the classroom.
Welcome to My Reading & Writing Blog! :)
Welcome to my first blog! I will be responding to journal prompts for LTED 618 throughout this semester. I am excited to start writing on a regular basis. Feel free to visit my blog anytime! Thanks :)
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