Entry #12 - Student Learning Outcomes

This blog served as a direct learning opportunity for me over the past few months. Looking back at the Student Learning Outcomes given to us on the first day of class, many jumped out at me…

Students will gain knowledge and competency with regards to:

1. the variety of genres that readers and writers use to communicate

2. the role of purpose and audience in writing and reading and the rhetorical voices used to address the desired purpose(s) and audience(s).

3. the historical and contemporary theoretical models of reading and writing, including new literacy theories of reading and writing.

4. the relationship between the writing and reading process.

5. the role of metacognition in writing proficiency and reading comprehension

This blog served as a learning experience with a very specific audience and purpose. Most writing tasks I have participated in are formal, with only my professor as my audience. This writing task allowed me to take on my own role as a learner and speak informally while reflecting within that role. My audience was also my peers, which was directed by the bless, address, and press posts we did as well as commenting on others’ blogs. This is my most natural voice and purpose, and although at the surface level these posts seemed like easy tasks, I put more thoughts, effort, and reflection into them than I have most essays, reflections, papers, etc. it was a way for me to take surface level responses and reflect on many modes of reading and writing as well as make connections between others, my classroom, texts we were reading, presentations we were part of, etc. this blog served as a well rounded approach for me to make connections beyond this course itself as well as my current teaching position. The metacognition I used while creating this blog was not necessarily a new task, but connecting those thoughts to produce writing was. I often spend time reflecting on what I have learned and how I can relate it to other aspects of my life, however, this if the first time I was forced to make those connections and then go the extra step and publish them with a personal, natural voice.

I was also able to meet the student learning outcomes by experimenting with my knowledge of genres that are used to communicate through writing. Almost every week, I engaged in the reading process to keep up on reading assignments, and then used the writing process to make connections between concepts understood while reading. If I was not writing to make those connections and form new relationships between genres the information would not be as concrete and relatable as it is right now. I honestly feel I am able to take every piece of information we have engaged in during this course and relate it to my 5 and 6 year old students! Never before have I been able to use everything, or tailor everything, to meet the needs of myself, my classroom, and my students.

Although when I first started writing this post (as noted above) I felt that the first 5 objectives really stood out to me and I have made gains in my understanding of them. However, rereading the last 2, I realize that this blog has also helped me to better understand how to assess reading and writing assignments that are ‘less traditional’ or that incorporate more technology than I am used to. I learned that assessment can be student or peer driven, such as the post I am completing right now. I am assessing my own understandings by rereading posts, going back to student outcomes, and reading and reflecting on student comments. This post probably serves Dr. Jones as STRONG indicator in determining student writing proficiency. I have been able to assess my own reflection, as well as peers have been able to read and press my writing, all with a natural, personable voice. This blog has opened my eyes to a whole new world of writing, and has allowed me to make connections and reflect on things I would have never even noticed otherwise.

 

Entry #10 - Bless, Address of Press

When reviewing the blogs of peers, I found a sentence in Post #9 by J.Kerouac that stopped me in my tracks. The quote read...

"The use of this expository reading and writing provides limitless possibilities for the ways students can access new information and learn content. In my current classroom, we’ve combined our science and writing unit"

The first sentence in the above quote is something I am recently becoming familiar with. During my undergrad and graduate work I have learned the benefits of expository text and how to use it appropriately, but I have never been given specific examples of how to provide opportunities for student growth through expository text. It is limiting to think that I have settled in my own room using mainly fictional text simply because it is what I am most comfortable with AS WELL AS what my students are most comfortable with. But isn't my job to balance those students on the edge of their very own comfort zone?

Kerouac proved she is doing just that by going on to state that she has combined science and writing units in her own classroom. Five years ago I would've looked at her like she had 3 heads. Although my eyes widened initially, after thinking about this concept, I realized all of the benefits that come from it.

Right now I am struggling with science in general, specifically, with how to add it into my classroom across other subject matter rather than in isolation. Pairing it with writing, or making writing a large part of science, would cause for a smoother transition as well as help to make connections across the curriculum. I also love the idea that using expository text to introduce topics in science give students specific, concrete examples of what certain types of expository text look like.  “Through instruction and reading and writing experiences, children grow in their ability to differentiate among genres” (Tompkins, 2012, p. 202). Using writing in science curriculum is the perfect opportunity to help students grow in their ability to identify specific genres.

Teaching across the curriculum is a concept I learned early on in my education at Nazareth, however it is one that really causes the teacher to stop and think. In order to appropriately teach like this, I must first understand how topics relate, compare, overlap, and how I can think about them in a variety of ways. I must understand this before I ask any child to understand and make those connections as well. Kerouac's post was a great example of how as educators, we can take concepts that to most do not seem to relate on the outside, and make connections between them to deepen our understandings of them both!

Entry #7 - Open Entry

While working with my group on the "Teaching the Genre" project, I have been reflecting about my use of persuasive text in my own classroom. Prior to this project, persuasive writing and persuasive text was the genre I knew the least about, and in turn made me the most intimidated. Prior to research, I felt that persuasive text should be used with older children, and was primarily only a part of middle and high school curriculum. Without the research findings, I felt that the art of persuasion was too advanced of a task for younger students, without realizing that persuasive writing is all around me.

The article I read for our presentation discussed persuasive writing in children, adolescents, and adults, and the changes in writing as students aged. I learned that I was correct when thinking that persuasive writing is a challenging form of communication, and not a natural form of writing or speaking. Students and adults alike must understand the problem, form an opinion based on that understanding, and most importantly understand the opposing argument. Looking back, I think that is why I felt persuasion was used for older students. With maturity comes less egocentrism which helps students understand others' views. However, I learned that there are many ways to incorporate

Nippold, Ward-Lonergan, and Fanning would agree with Tompkins about many things. They agree that persuasion is used everyday regardless of age or where one lives. Even young children use verbal persuasion to prove to their parents they should be able to stay up later. In fact, when asked to generate an example of persuasion for our presentation I was thinking to myself "How in the world am I going to find an example!". I learned quickly that I have a ton! Even last month I created a persuasive PowerPoint presentation to persuade my fiance to wear grey tuxes at our wedding :) Nippold, Ward-Lonergan, and Fanning would also agree with Tompkins that students abilities to use persuasive text develop slower than any other genre. Because young children are egocentric, and have a hard time understanding other points of view, it is hard for them to understand  topic, choose a side, prove the argument, and understand the counter argument. Another agreement would be that a teacher must scaffold the use of persuasive writing in their classrooms. Prior to researching for this project, I had NO idea how I could even attempt to use persuasive writing in my own Kindergarten classroom. I knew my students could not grasp arguments and counter arguments, and understand we need examples to prove what we believe. I was anxious to even introduce it in my room because of this, and I did not want to set my students up for failure. I now understand how naive I was as an educator. My 5 year old students persuade on a daily basis. They persuade me to have more play time, to go outside for 5 more minutes, to be able to play a game with friends, to skip math all together, and many more. This is natural to them. I've learned in the past few weeks that I can use this background knowledge of natural persuasion to introduce the genre in my room.

Persuasive writing is an important skill to master since it is used in everyday text. It helps to empower individuals to make decisions at work and in society on a daily basis.Whether you are writing a cover letter for a resume, talking to a friend or family member, selling a product, or discussing which cake tastes better, persuasion is all around us!

Entry #5 - Letter to Dr. Jones

Dear Dr. Jones,

Class is going well! I enjoy every opportunity we have to meet, and all activities planned during class. The technologies we have learned has taught me a great deal I can use in my classroom, and some I already have! Most of the programs we have been introduced to I honestly had no idea existed and they have such benefits to using them in the classroom. I also have been reflecting on the writing process itself. Even more so than with Hicks (2009), I can take Tompkin's (2012) ideas regarding 6 + 1 traits, writing strategies, and writer's craft and directly relate it to my group of 5 year olds!

I have developed a much stronger understanding of the connection between reading and writing. I have seen this first hand in myself. I have been given the opportunity countless times throughout the semester so far to use writing as a bridge between reading and processing or thinking. Every week, as I complete my blog entries or drafts for the blog, I am using the knowledge I got from the text read prior to construct my own understanding and meaning of something new. I have questioned myself and my tactics, as well as new learnings, more in this course than I have my whole college career. Once I think I am on the right path (in any assignment we have done) I think of a reflection or question which leads my mind back to square one, and I end up with my questions than before!! Although this process seems to lack benefits, I know that the art of questioning itself is cyclical. Through this questioning I am in turn discovering new things which leads to clarification... eventually :).

My reading and writing habits in general have already changed drastically. Prior to the first day of class, I viewed the writing process as a one direction process where you continually move towards a final product. I now know that it is the process of writing that should be stressed! Whether the process is digital or written, it lends to a variety of higher level thinking skills one does not develop without involving the writing task. As an example, the stressed collaboration process has made such an impact on me and on my classroom. Being able to collaborate and discuss, regardless of the distance or time between the collaborators, has changed the way we write. I have learned more from my group members in the past 5 weeks than I ever would've learned myself in any course. Being able to see things from a new perspective is key in this understanding, and it is a entirely new view on writing. I also love the 6 + 1 idea introduced in Tompkins (2012). Habitually, when thinking about writing specifically, I was not able to separate the goals into traits to be used. As previously stated, the product was in mind versus what was done in the process.

Specifically, I have learned more about many writing strategies I can use in my classroom. When reading, my focus went to the elaborating strategy Tompkins (2012) discusses on page 34 and 36. The reason this stood out is because in the past, I always found myself having a hard time teaching students how to elaborate. Especially working with younger students, it is difficult to ask them to expand their ideas into more complex thoughts and details. When reading, I found that it is easier to think about if students brainstorm and explore the idea they are writing about. During the exploration phase, I thought back to the RSS discussion. If students had a safe environment to explore and get more information, it would not only solidify their motivation but also allow them to elaborate without feeling the need to add 'fluff'. I also focused on the narrowing strategy discussed in Tompkin's (2012) work for the same reason as elaborating. I found it is difficult to 'teach' students how to narrow and specify information when writing, which is why I enjoyed this section of the chapter as much as I did.

I also appreciated Tompkin's (2012) discussed regarding the 6 + 1 traits. Prior to this course, I did not even know I was incorporating many of these themes into my classroom. For example, when reading about the ideas trait, I instantly thought of my classroom. Since I am working with such young students, I need to be creative in how I introduce and use the writing process. I have used wordless picture books in many classrooms to discuss author's craft and the development of ideas in a story. With the use of those, as well as read alouds, I have been able to teach and implement specific aspects of the 6 + 1 trait with even the youngest of students. That is what I love about Tompkin's text. When reading Hick's (2009), I have a hard time thinking of ways to implement the wonderful ideas in my own classroom. Tompkin's (2012) helps me to adapt all of her insight and manipulate it to fit my own room!

In general, this course so far has been an eye opening experience. I honestly look forward to what is to come.

Sincerely,

Shawna Wright

Entry #1 - Introduction

Thinking about prior experiences with teaching writing and reflecting on graduate school principals, what "feels comfortable" for me to teach is not always best practice. 

My writing practices as a student and the writing practices I have seen used through subbing, student teaching, etc, model a writing process with only one direction: forward. The time spent on writing is usually limited, and students find themselves needing more time to finish work. This is normally the most comfortable practice because I often find I need to fit so much into the school day, writing cannot take as much time as the students need. Viewing the writing process as a one-way-road is a more familiar practice for me simply because it is how I was taught, although I know this process is not beneficial for students and not one I want in my own classroom. Allowing students free range throughout the writing process and encouraging them to plan, draft, and revise continually adds complications to the classroom and is not always comfortable for the teacher. Rereading this paragraph, I understand it sounds extremely negative, and that was not the intended view. I have learning through prior experiences that when teaching, easy concepts and comfortable teachings do not always bring about best practices. It often takes me stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things with my students I may not be 100% confident with that leads to them expanding their learning and using higher level thinking skills...

As a graduate level college student, I have had the opportunity to become familiar with a variety of technologies that aid in the writing process. Word processing programs are used on a daily basis in my classroom, whether it is to write a letter to parents or create a graph/chart to track student work. Programs such as Microsoft Publisher and Excel have allowed teachers to easily create documents to be used in the classroom that look innovative and professional. Online writing spaces allow students of all ages to learn, explore, and publish text that otherwise would not be a part of the learning process. I have had many courses at Nazareth that use Wiki's or other means of communication between other course members as well as the professor. These online 'forum' type websites allowed us to communicate fast, easy, and share new findings and knowledge with eachother. They also allowed a 100% online course to take place where I was able to perform assignments, communicate with my professor, and share ideas and notes with peers. These new literacies have given me the opportunity to learn at my own speed, using my own techniques to obtain information.

... TO BE CONTINUED