The report Writing Next published by the Carnegie Corporation is a heavy read, but one that we might consider referring to throughout the course. The "meat' of the material is between page 11 and 34. You can skim the rest. It contains eleven key recommendations that are worth "unpacking" as we move through our discussions. The report is considered one of the most comprehensive reports on writing since the 1990's. It makes a good companion to our text which we will start reviewing in a few weeks. Does this report contain ideas particularly true to your experience, ideas that you find puzzling, or ones that run contrary to your beliefs?
And last but not least, comment on the many hats we must all wear as teachers of writing as described in Raising Writers.
Happy Monday Classmates! I’m looking forward to chatting with all of you throughout the class. I teach K-1 at Susitna. Watching the video and reading through the articles felt a little frustrating. This year I am having trouble finding a block of time long enough to do a mini lesson, writing practice, and author share. In past years I was able to organize my afternoons into a long writing block, but with block scheduling this is more challenging. I think this class will reignite my spark for teaching writing workshop.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the Digital Footprints article I reflected on my success using computer lab as a time to write. Instead of creating activities for computer lab I have started to take whatever type of writing we are working on and turn it into our computer lab activity using Kidpixs. This has been motivating for the students and fun for me to teach. Another idea I have is doing shared writing together on our classroom blog each day or week. Also, using the projector during author’s share is awesome. Students are able to point to parts of each others' work, because it is enlarged on the white board. There are so many possibilities.
Time is an issue we will be discussing. I am glad you brought this up. We will continue to discuss ways to include writing throughout the day. Your example about doing just this with the computer lab is excellent.
DeleteI'm happy we're discussing the use of time. I am feeling the time crunch this year.
DeleteI find my document camera as a great way of sharing my students writing with the class. At then end of each students writing I have multiple different cheers I have taught my kiddos. Each student gets a different cheer and it makes them enthralled to share.
DeleteAs soon as I started reading I 100% agree with you on the issue of time. I never seem to find enough time to do the things I need to do much less the things I would like to do.
DeleteI love Kelsey's way of sharing the kids work. I need to start doing this with my kids. I think it would encourage them to want to write more.
Jennifer Waisanen here (not sure how my info will show up),
DeleteI agree 100% concerning the time issue. Each day, I tell myself, that I must provide at least 45 minutes in my grade 1 workshop. I'm afraid that my author share, seems to take a back seat in our Writers' Workshop. And I know, that the author share is critical for peers to foster their acquisition of language and literacy. Further, I need to make time for more partner shares as well. As I reflect, I often spend time conferring with students and then run out of time for author share time. I enjoyed the Writing Workshop video.
I really cannot relate to elementary teachers, but when it comes to time, I just make Friday "free write Friday." Our free writes are only 10 minutes and they are in Spanish. After watching the video, I had a flood of ideas on how I could do writing workshops in Spanish once a month and then "publish" one work per semester or even one work per year. I may even do a Pulitzer prize type of award. hmmm. I better get started for next year.
DeleteI have also found it difficult but in a different way. I teach 5th graders at Meadow Lakes. We have leveled our reading and writing classes and I teach the low level students. I find that my students are very reluctant to revise and edit. We use detailed checklists, peer editing with individuals, and whole class. However, I have found that the will write, read through it once and make one or two corrections and say it is good. We have plenty of time but the kids don't use the time.
ReplyDeleteAmy Graham
Hi Amy, editing can be hard to get students to do. I know it can be hard for me. Is it just the editing that they don't use the time for or is it motivation in general?
DeleteI think most kids generally write whatever they are supposed to write and then they feel they are done as soon as they feel there are enough words on their page. Most take criticism personally; they are kids and maturity plays a big part. The edit and revising step is something that they want to skip and get on with something new.
DeleteAs a teacher, guiding their revision is complicated and has to be done gingerly. I try to work hard at not "turning them off" to writing and still aiming toward independence and commitment in the fixing stage.
Time is a huge factor in a successful writing workshop. Every year it has to be tweaked to fit that particular class.
I am looking for ways for my first graders to be able to edit and peer review as well! They love reading their writing to eachother, so now I give them specific tasks/skills to look for while editing. I let them use colored pencils and it makes it a little more exciting for them!
DeleteI don't think I have any suggestions about motivating elementary students to revise. Heck, I can barely get my high school students to revise. I just finished teaching a college writing class, and many of those students did not want to put forth the effort to revise. Editing a little went somewhere, but helping the students to understand that they needed to revise in order to expand, explain, and clarify was like pulling teeth, and my "kids" are adults.
DeleteI think that part of this really does have to do with intrinsic motivation. Most of my students are not intrinsically motivated. So, I have decided to conduct an experiment with motivation. I'm going to try extrinsic motivation. Words of praise have only gone so far with my high school students, so I have made the decision to bribe with candy. Seriously! That is my plan for the next few weeks. I am really curious to see if they will write an outline or proofread if I give them candy. There are some really good reason to support why this is a terrible idea, but I have got to try something, and this is the end of my ideas. I'm hopeful, and I'll let you all know how it goes.
I see high school students not using their time well either. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that they don't know what to do in the time they are given.
DeleteAs I was reading Will Richardson’s article, “Footprints in the Digital Age,” the following line caught my eye: “It's a consequence of the new Web 2.0 world that these digital footprints—the online portfolios of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know—are becoming increasingly woven into the fabric of almost every aspect of our lives.” I belong to the generation born before 1970, and so I am not a digital native. I am aware of being on the cusp of a great revolution in human history—the dawn of the Electronic Age.
ReplyDeleteTrue confession: I do not belong to Facebook. My wife signed up a couple of weeks ago, and immediately wanted to unsubscribe, but could not figure out how to put the genie back in the bottle. Literally minutes after she joined, she was dunned by requests to “friend” people she had never heard of. She said that she felt invaded.
Another true confession: I have a deep fear that human society is in the process of evolving into the Borg--or at least into some kind of social organism like a beehive. As individuals, we are pouring our souls, our identities—who we are—into servers. There is always a price for such dramatic change. In our case, it’s our individuality, our privacy, and even much of our freedom. We are being eroded as individuals by a torrent of electronic media that reduce all experience to soundbites and clichés and all reactions to “likes” and “dislikes.” All responses are reduced to LOL, WTF, and OMG.
Okay, enough dark musings. How can we help our students—who are indeed digital natives—to think and write better? I think I will have to accept the fact that technology isn’t going away anytime soon. Help me embrace it.
Glenn Wright
Maybe this is where my husband, Howard, learned to be anti-text and anti-facebook. Just kidding. He was in your class a long time ago.
DeleteI have mixed feelings on the way society has become so crazed in the digital world. On one hand, I love being able to keep in contact with my very large family. They are all on the east coast and I feel like I'm still a part of them and don't feel isolated up here. I feel like we can communicate and remain the close family that we are.
On the other hand, it does make me think of how it will effect people in the future. I like and agree with what Brittany said:
"Learning how and when it is the best way to interact is something we can teach our students."
So, I choose to jump on the digital boat and help it stay afloat.
Glenn -
DeleteI feel the same way about Facebook. I had an account for a while, and when my 9th grade boyfriend tried to friend me, I disgustedly threw my hands up and closed the account. Why would I allow someone I hadn't spoken to in 20 years to see personal family pictures and hear about every aspect of my life? I could have said no, but it was just a reminder of how uncomfortable I felt, as a teacher, about the web presence that Facebook expressed for me.
I reopened Facebook when my family declared that they could not possibly share photos with me without the open Facebook account. I tried it again for a while, but frankly I was just disgusted yet again by the highly narcissistic frenzy that Facebook seems to prompt. My younger cousins were posting pictures of their college drinking exploits. Frankly, why do we feel it necessary to tell the WORLD that we are eating french fries at Burger King? Who cares!
Despite its claims to connect the world, Facebook causes me to wonder if our society is moving from connectedness to individualistic declarations in an effort to ensure that everyone remembers how important our Burger King food choices are.
Facebook aside, there are some technology sites and programs that have great educational value (MyAccess, community blogs, Achieve 3000). The biggest value is the ability to deliver and receive information electronically saving mounds of paper (and my brain from having to read really bad hand-writing).
The area of technology that I find so difficult is monitoring EVERY tiny little thing that my students post. Far too often the students are posting inappropriate pictures or comments that have to be removed. It is a nightmare in terms of time consumption. I would much rather we have a classroom discussion on a novel than use a computer program to engage in a verbal discussion. If there is something great out there that I don't know about, please...someone...let me know.
I am one of those people who absolutely love technology. I love how I can take classes while sitting at home, stay connected with family and friends who I otherwise would probably not, and be able to search something quickly. I do feel I stay more connected that I otherwise would be.
DeleteI am also considered a person to ask at our building if you have a technology question, although I don't know nearly as much as I would like. I think when it comes to technology we need to embrace it as much as our students do and not be scared (me included). Our students are surrounded on a daily basis with technology, from phones to computers and video games. I do feel though students need a technology break often and we need to show them how to engage and stimulate their brains in other ways.
One way I have encouraged my students to do more writing is we use google docs for writing assignments. The students still have to write a rough draft but then they are able to write their second drafts online and share with a friend to help edit it. My students love that they can use this program at home and their friends can help them edit without having to be at the same computer. I love it because I seem to have more students who were not confident writers wanting to write to me.
I think I'm in the minority here, but I love Facebook. I think Facebook allows me to be more connected to others, rather than isolated. While I do think Facebook can perpetuate a narcissistic attitude, I think it can also be used to maintain contact with others.
DeleteFor me, Facebook is completely personal. I will never accept a friend invitation from a student and don't have any co workers as friends either. I also make a point to never post anything that would be embarassing if it ended up in a news story.
I love Facebook as well. I keep up with so many people I had nearly lost in my life. Sure I worry about privacy especially since I do have former students and co workers as friends, but I follow Heidi in never posting embarrassing photos or material. I constantly remind myself this is a public place and I conduct myself as such.
DeleteSarah and Heidi – I, too, very much enjoy connecting with friends on Facebook with whom I would have otherwise lost contact or never connected with at all. I do follow certain rules - like you two, I don't connect my students with my personal life and I am very, very careful about who and what is posted on line. I am not "friends" with people who post inappropriate images or comments - in fact I've even "hidden" some of own family members because of their need to display themselves in unseemly ways. I think what we need to model for our students is how to behave in a digital world in order to leave a footprint they can be proud of. I wonder if we should - well, I copyright it right now - we should start calling it a “digital fossil”© since what we post online is there forever.
DeleteSarah- I really liked your idea of the editing step being done in Google Docs – brilliant. I’ve used Google docs in class before in a number of ways, but I like the idea of getting that first draft down and then using Google docs to edit online. I’ve started a notebook or two for this class. One for the weekly journal writings, and one for ‘good ideas’ – this is my first entry in the good ideas. Thanks!
Hi Glenn, thanks for sharing your "dark musings." I read an article that compared the current technologies to the telephone, car, and other once new inventions. It is easy to get ramped up in what may go wrong. Change can be challenging.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't want my identity to be everywhere on the net. In many ways you can choose what you share about yourself and who you connect with by using privacy settings etc.
I think it is easier for me to embrace facebook and texting, because I've been using these types of technology since high school. All is well! I think these new technologies can really help student's by opening their life experience to more than the community they live in. This is wonderful. With any form of communication one must learn how to interact. Online communication is just another way to connect with people. Learning how and when it is the best way to interact is something we can teach our students. I hope these ideas help you embrace these new technologies!
After reading the articles and watching the movie, I found how my teaching related closely to some aspects, and how I could improve some of my practices. My students write with prompts, pictures, and open writes. Each day, they thrive for writing time and often choose to write in their journal during free choice.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Raising Writers: The Teacher’s Role, I plan on creating a writers workshop station, that is always available for students to dive into writing. I also plan on having students do more revising and editing on their own. And dive into more mini-lessons that explicitly does while writing.
After creating an engaged classroom my students are now more willing to take risks and are excited to fulfill full pages of writing. As my students become more engaged to what they are doing it makes it easier for me as the teacher, to guide my instruction. I often have students use colored pencils to circle, square, or highlight target skill in writing depending on the task or instruction given. As the target skill is taught, the highlighted parks gives a pertinent way to assess students writing and provides me with information for further instruction, and goals for future writings.
Kelsey I think these are all great ideas to get the kids to dive into writing. I love the idea of the writers workshop station and feel like i need to incorporate this into my classroom as well.
DeleteAs an intermediate teacher I feel the biggest area I would like to work on is the editing and revising their own work. Many of my students write a piece and say ok I'm done. Then they get all upset when I tell them ok now it's time to revise and edit. My goal is to try and find a way where they are excited to edit their own work.
Hello everyone, This is Lydia, I'm new to this group, moved over from the other group to be in conversation with others from my school,Chugiak Elem. (I introduced myself over there, in week one of group 2.)
DeleteKelsey, You got me to thinking about the why's of what I do in workshop. When the students are creating their own momentum in the (3rd grade) writing workshop, I let them have the lead. That is I don’t need to show them my work if theirs is doing the job of propelling the writing into new and exciting territory. If we need to stop and regroup, then I can usually use one of their pieces to model from. My modeling is usually most helpful at the very beginning of the workshop, or if I need to show a skill that they don’t have a springboard for. I have had groups that take a long time to trust each other, or are more hesitant to share. Then I will be the model until they “catch the bug.”
Another thing that I’m leaving more to the students (after some training) is the peer editing. When they are able I let them know that the partners will be looking for certain things, i.e. correct dates, greetings and closings on their pen pal letters, or a story beginning that will “hook” the reader. Then they only come to me for the final edit. It saves a ton of my time and requires them do the work they have been trained to do.
Watching "A Day in the Life of a Writing Workshop" was sweet. As a high school teacher, I often long for the excitement and willingness that most elementary students express. They still want to try and please and explore. Elementary teachers-exploit their innocent curiosity while you can.
ReplyDeleteAt my level, students are moody, hesitant, and down-right negative about trying ANYTHING, let alone writing. Sounds like a teenager...right? On top of dealing with naturally-negative adolescents, we have one-hour, or hopefully, 1.5 hour block scheduling to deal with. Does anyone have any suggestions about creating a writing workshop with such a short time frame?
"Digital Footprints" was an interesting read. I have to admit that I immediately "googled" myself to see what my own digital footprint was. One of my students googled herself last week, and the result caused her to be suspended for 3 days. She is not, and will not be, the first. I struggle with technology. I love and it, and it works fantastically to help me deliver my content to students and parents, but the interactive element is so difficult. I talk to my students constantly about remaining appropriate on the web, but they just don't seem to get it. They feel entitled to write and post anything they want, with an explanation that "it's a free country." The sense of entitlement that they possess about using their cell phones in class and posting what they want, when they want to on the web, it just perplexing for me. So few students seem to understand the long-term repercussions of their electronic choices. I truly struggle with helping them to "get it," and I am hesitant to set up an environment that allows them free reign because they have proven that the majority make very poor choices. Granted, I work in a VERY different community than the average high school teacher, but has anyone had great success with a ning, or the like that allowed the students to post whatever they were thinking?
I really enjoyed reading "Writing Next." I love reading research-based instructional practices. I have to admit that I keep the average student retention rate pyramid as my background just to remind me that students only remember 5% of what I lecture. What most sticks out in my mind is the horrifying statistics listed in the report. The worst..."students who enter ninth grade in the lowest 25% of their class are 20 times more likely to drop out than are the highest-performing students" (p. 15). Yikes!! Those lowest 25% are almost 100% the students that I get at Benny Benson. This explains my overwhelming need to get them to pass the HSGQE despite all the education that they have missed over the years. I really loved the 11 areas that they categorized as a need in improving writing achievement. The biggest area that I struggle is writing summaries. Of course, it is strongly focused on reading comprehension, but what I didn't like about the report was that there was no language of how to help student understand how to summarize an articles or story. How do I teach that? I have muddled my way through it, but I wish there was a much more explicit way to teach summarizing.
Writing summaries is a skill that teaches both reading and writing. I know that the old-fashioned Roman numeral outline is rarely used these days, but it does have some advantages for teaching summarizing. For one thing, it requires the student to visually show the distinction between main ideas and details. It also gives a visual representation of the structure of the piece of writing. I used to use outlining when I taught seventh grade, and I occasionally assign an outline in my AP Lit class if students are reading a really complex essay, like Milton's "Areopagitica."
DeleteGlenn Wright
After I read the article Raising Writers: The Teacher's Role, I couldn't help but think how true. We as educators have many different roles and I think that sometimes we even have more than the ones that are listed.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I really took away from this article was the teacher as teachers as models. Lately I have been reading many things about modeling, modeling, modeling. It's amazing how true it is. If I model the behavior and expectations I have more students I feel it will only improve all around. I really like Shirl's classroom target idea with the bulls eye and arrow. I think it would be a great visual for my students.
I do feel as though I incorporate a fair amount of technology into my classroom. But I would love to incorporate it into a way that truly counts every time we use it. I try and allow my kids to have as much time as they need to write but I still feel like there is a gap missing.
I teach 5th grade, and the biggest problem I am coming across is students not wanting to revise and edit their work. They write one piece and they say "I'm done, now what?" I want to find a way to where they say "how can I make this better"
I must admit I am a digital junky. I love anything new with technology and I love learning how to use these new tools they are continually coming up with. I want my students to also learn about the cool tools out there while being safe. I have incorporated google docs into my writing lesson plans and I must say I get much more student participation that I used to. I also get many students writing at home!
I am hoping from this class that I can get many more useful tools to place in my writing and technology toolbelt.
It is amazing how important modeling is in the classroom, in just about every aspect. We model a new lesson and our students watch, learn and hopefully are able to do it on their own. It surprised me how many teachers don’t realize that they are watching us even we aren’t giving direct instruction. So how we model our own behavior they watch, learn and will mimic whether it be good or bad.
DeleteThese articles got me thinking about my role in helping low performing students improve their writing skills. While watching the elementary school writing workshop video, I felt a little like I was watching a travel video on a strange land I'd only heard about but never really seen. I tried to imagine my high school students cozied up on the floor, illustrating their work and chatting with the student next to them about their favorite part of the writing selection.
ReplyDeleteI'm already starting to think about how I can use some of the concepts in the readings and videos. I have already set up a moodle with a sample prompt from the HSGQE. I'll be able to see where my students are starting. From there, I see using two of the teacher roles- coach and assessor to help improve their skills.
Most of our students are already skilled in using moodle based classes and I think it will allow for a good line of communication between myself and the students. I can post mini lessons, we can use forums and students can easily write and upload for me to look at.
I'm very excited to see if this will help some of our struggling students and allow them to improve their writing skills.
Kim Girard, here... I'm not sure if my name will come up when I post this. We'll get it figured out! I don't trust the technology, because I'm not a "digital native;" that is, I didn't grow up with this technology, as our children and students are. In my library program, we talked often about the impact of our "digital native" children being taught by "digital immigrants." I think Marc Prensky has an article about this, and he was cited in the "Footprints in the Digital Age" article as well. The article talks about all of the technology-related things kids do outside of school, then when they get to school, the "turn off the lights" or power down. We aren't teaching kids in a way that is relevant to their world, and as teachers, we don't really look at how to bridge this gap. I know for me, it's just easier not to think about it so much, as I'm busy with so many other things. Students are connected to the world at a young age, and I know that for myself, I haven't done a good job including that as part of our classroom community and curriculum.
ReplyDeleteBut when you see an elementary classroom firmly planted in the digital, information-rich age, you can't help but stop and be amazed for a moment, and then you suddenly realize what your own classroom is lacking. My dear friend received a grant and got an i-pad for every student in her 2-3 classroom. For grant documentation, she has to show how she's using the i-pads to improve reading fluency. So, she and the students created a student rubric about reading fluency for self-evaluation, and she has her teacher rubric. That's powerful in itself, but those i-pads are being used throughout the day for learning. The kiddos are discovering new things, then teaching the rest of the class and teaching their teacher! In November, one of the 3rd graders asked, "We get to take these to 4th grade, don't we?" No, they don't. Think about the ramifications of that!
As elementary teachers, I think it's easier to build upon students' enthusiasm and curiosity, as was mentioned in another posting. But older kids are a harder crowd to please, and one solution to some of the educational dilemmas we face as a society might be to align school with what's going on in the world around them. That's a huge leap for public education to make, but a necessary one. I understand that kindergartners at a private school in Anchorage are required to bring an i-pad as part of their school supplies. Gee! I always worry about parents not having enough money for glue sticks.
I don't know that this post is going to the right place, but I can't find my own "reply" to the original post. I think this will show up as a reply to Kim G's.
DeleteI was stunned the other day during our Scholastic Book Fair! I think most of us are familiar with Scholastic Publishers, but I didn’t know until this year when I had to host one that they also help elementary schools put on book fairs. Many of the elementary schools in Anchorage host their book fair during parent conferences. I was setting up the book fair when I noticed the cutest picture book – “Little Prickles”. It’s a children's story about valuing what is unique and special about ourselves. I wanted to share this book with you all because it is part of the Scholastic “Kids are Authors” contest they’ve hosted since I think 2002. I thought to myself as I was reading the book, instead of setting up the display, that this is something I could do. Why not self publish this kind of work on a writer’s blog for my class? And- I really like what one of the students in this class said about wanting to make the library a center of writing. My head was just spinning with the ideas of digital publishing. Then I spun the other way when I remembered what I read in Will Richardson’s “Footprints in the Digital Age”. What an incredible way to provide authentic learning/assessment, and making our students “googleable”. Not only does this provide a curriculum vitae of sorts for our students, but ourselves as teachers and brings a bit of notoriety to our school as well. I was really struck by what he said – it is a googleable age whether we like it or not and we do want to teach our students and lead them in mature ways. Richardson also talked about how young people are very skilled in the use of technology, but maybe not so much in the “how to/why to/be careful to...”. They don’t necessarily have the maturity to know what to post or how to post and how to contribute carefully and responsibly, and I believe this a key role of every educator in today’s “googleable age”. It’s so true – I think employers do “google” applicants. I even “google” myself, and all I can find are a few references to a contract I signed for a job share on the play I was directing at a high school and a reference to my being on the state’s school library association board. There should be so much more, and imagine sending our student’s off to college or the world of work with an impressive, authentic, skills evident digital footprint!
As a writing teacher I was also intrigued by the ideas in “Raising Writers: The Teacher's Role” by Rickards and Hawes. Their concept of “target skills” and "did it dots" is something I could easily and quickly implement in my own class. I often used editing shorthand to help students edit their writing, but after reading the Rickards and Hawes article I feel that my old way of editing papers was negative. Rarely did I focus on what they were doing well or showing how they were making progress toward the target skills, rather it was more of putting focus on what was lacking.
Oh – and this last sentence in the grammar section of Graham and Perin’s “Writing Next” was highly gratifying: “Overall, the findings on grammar instruction suggest that, although teaching grammar is important, alternative procedures, such as sentence combining, are more effective than traditional approaches for improving the quality of students’ writing.” Just putting that out there!
It is exciting to think about structuring the writing process so students can publish digitally, and there are so many possibilities for doing that now. One tool that I have started to learn about is voicethread. It's an online website where students can post pictures of the work they have created or illustrated, and they can record themselves reading their poem, story or whatever. It's awesome because parents, grandparents or whoever they want to share with can access the finished product and see their child sharing it. Check it out at voicethread.com.
DeleteElliott Sparkman
ReplyDeleteUpon reading the Richardson article, I was struck by the section titled ‘What Students Need to Know’. Teachers and students engaging in online cooperative learning and collaboration will become, has become the model. Our professional careers are being redefined and reinvented by the growth and expansion of information technology. I think we take much of it for granted now, but I am amazed on a daily basis by the depth and breadth of information available for consumption by any and every one.
My own children have a much greater understanding of the world than I did at their ages. I see my eldest son as part of the vanguard of this new model of learning. He has been tuned in to this source of information since early childhood. Most recently, he taught himself how to think mathematically in a way that works for him. He has struggled with math instruction from second grade on, and decided in his sophomore year that he would change that. He sought out information and instruction online, and has developed new confidence in his mathematical abilities that has him considering a degree in engineering.
I find all of this a bit overwhelming. I am not completely clueless when it comes to online communication and the uses of technology in the classroom. However, compared to many secondary and some elementary students (a current 4th grade student of mine included), I am a neophyte. I am worried about being the effective model of a technologically savvy learner that students should emulate.
I am also concerned about the digital ‘echo chamber’ that Richardson refers to in the article. The online social networks that so many of us take for granted now are changing the way we see ourselves. They encourage us to indulge in narcissistic excess, posting our every thought and action. In a conversation with my high school senior son, I began my usual rant about this very subject and was completely derailed by his line of reasoning. “Dad,” he interrupted calmly, “your generation and mine are probably the last with any expectation of personal privacy.” I find this idea shocking, but entirely believable.
Elliott, I find your son's comment on being the last generations with any real expectation of personal privacy too believable as you stated. I wonder if and when we really gained the idea that we were even entitled to privacy. If you look at historical societies - like those in feudal times - or even more socialist or communistic societies of today - I think we'd find that Europeans and Americans may be the only ones who even have constitutional rights to privacy. I don't know what to do with that thought, but I was struck by your comments here. I think, however, that there really is a digital divide - our generation just doesn't think like our students do. I'm not so very old, in my opinion, but I was raised with black&white televisions the size of a small Buick - our students were raised with HD tvs in their hands. Their brains are literally being wired differently because of the digital influences surrounding them. I say ride the wave!
DeleteThe idea of personal privacy in the digital age is a very interesting one. I think that your comments that younger generations will not know what it means to have personal privacy, is very accurate. Considering the fact that many people post photos of their children online, beginning with sonograms, personal privacy is almost a joke. Everything we do online leaves a footprint and can be tracked, and even things not done online, like buying groceries, can be tracked if you purchased them with anything other than cash. It’s fascinating and scary to think of the fact that everything we do online is tracked and used against us in the future, to “enhance” our Internet experience. It takes marketing to a whole new level. I can only imagine what will happen if and when Google and Amazon every merge.
DeleteThe resource that resonated with me was the video about the writing workshop because I teach third grade. I appreciate being reminded about the enthusiasm that children can have when they write about authentic, personal interests. Watching the video also caused some feelings of guilty because, although we do a fair amount of writing in my classroom, we often are using PART of the process, but not the entire experience from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteI try to be a person that says "What can I do to improve?" or "How can I make things better?" rather than "I can't do it because..." So I am looking for ways to improve my classroom writing program. One step at a time, right? That's why I'm taking this class!
I enjoyed reading "Raising Writers: The Teacher's Role." It sheds some light on the many hats I have to wear in my classroom. Years ago when I first began teaching, I was interviewed by our local newspaper about being a teacher. I was also a well-know coach in our town. I coached three different sports; soccer, basketball and softball.
ReplyDeleteIn my interview I referenced coaching as very similar to my teaching. For a while after that interview I felt a little insecure and naive about my answers.
As years went on, I feel comforted that I was right on. The coaching role in writing is important in making a community of authors in a classroom. The comfort to be one's self, the drive to conquer a goal, the love and respect for each other is really developed with strong coaching.
The practice and time needed in writing is endless. Working together as a team is motivating and the results are priceless.
Of these articles the “Footprints in the Digital Age” was one that really stood out to me, mostly because of the idea of not being “Googled Well.” I find that phrase and concept so intriguing, because it’s something that I see and experience on a daily bases. Facebook has come to dominate the social networking experience, and frankly I’m surprised it’s lasted as long as it has, (based on it’s predecessors life span). One thing that really stands out to me about Facebook is the generational span of its users, it used to be that young teenagers where being told to be careful what you post (its there forever) but now we have grown adults that sometimes need to reminded the same thing. I think that this illustrates the fact that “a tectonic shift in the way we need to think about the world and our place in it” has and is occurring, because it is no longer the young learning from their elders, the internet has dramatically shifted this educational paradigm.
ReplyDeleteIt is a daunting task to learn something new, like integrating technology, and I don’t enjoy when my students know how to use something more or better than I do, but I have to remind myself, I’m learning as well.Teacher as writer is a role that we play in the writing process, but integrating technology into our curriculums allows for student to see “teacher as student” probably more clearly than ever before. The opportunities for collaborative learning with our colleagues and students is greater than ever before.
Writing Next, brought forth many good points about how and why we teach writing. I think it’s important that we teach our students that writing is a lifelong skill, and something that you can work on and continue to improve, till the day you die, and isn’t something that will be perfect right away. Motivating students to understand the importance of writing well, because most (if not all) jobs require you to do some sort of writing, and your skills should be an asset, not a hindrance to you. I found the following quote to be from the article to be very insightful “flexibility is now perhaps the most prized goal of writing instruction because the fully proficient writer can adapt to different contexts, formats, and purposes for writing.” I never had thought about flexibility in writing and how important it is, but it makes sense, because if you have a good foundation, you can adapt to be successful in any written task set before you.
Kim V.
DeleteOk. I just spent about an hour writing a response; but, I lost it. So, I have learned to write in a word document first.Then, I cut and paste. I am late in responding but I still want to give some information. For "Digital Footprints", I agree that the future is the use of the computer for all subjects, for all teaching and learning. Because I did not learn with a computer, and I rarely use the computer(except for grading and my web page), I do not feel comfortable using it to teach writing. It is too difficult for me to teach with the computer because of the technical difficulties that I, or my students, often encounter. And, we only get one hour of time each week to use the computers in our school. Due to my lack of technical knowledge, my students might suffer. I believe that I could create more interest in writing if I knew more about garage band, keynote, etc.
@ Kim V
DeleteCongrats! You did it. I am certain this will all seem like second nature by the time the class is over.
Kim V.
ReplyDeleteTo respond to Kylee's comment, I agree, as teachers, we must model our ability to write. I love the challenge of creating a piece of writing together, as a whole class. It allows me to use my creativity to write spontaneously. I think out loud, brainstorm out loud, write in both cursive and print (since some do not read cursive yet), and underline in different colors my main idea, my reasons/details, my conclusion. I model with the whole class participating, step-by-step, in a piece, or type, of writing.
Kim V.
ReplyDeleteActually, I agree with some more of the comments listed above regarding the reading selections. What I have read so far, is nothing new to me. Most of this information I have encountered in many other classes that I have had over the past 13 yrs. It is re-assuring that I remember, and I am still using, this information, the skills that I was taught.
What I want to focus on more is the use of the computer with writing assignments. By the end of this class, my first on-line class, I hope to feel more comfortable with computer use, while writing. I want to learn more about writing my own picture book as well.
Are you feeling a little more comfortable? You have been doing well posting!
DeleteSherrilyn Ihde wrote: Historically students were taught to read well before learning to write. Emphasis was on grammar and form “correctness” rather than the process of forming ideas. In current times, we educators are realizing that the thought processes worked through while in the act of writing are just as important, if not more. Writing ought to be messy. Scribbled prewrites and free thoughts should be on the paper at the beginning of an essay rather than attempts at introduction, three detailed paragraphs, and a conclusion. The prewrite can take as long as two or three writing periods. Students can go home to think and dream about their subject before organizing it into sentences. In my class we play with bulleted phrases strewn across the whiteboard. I often make long lists of these and print them out to be included in their writing notebooks. My fourth graders are not fast writers or copiers and the ideas are called out in rapid succession be those participating in the activity.
ReplyDeleteI plan to do more “writing across the curriculum.” We might write about early civilizations, explorers, and Native Americans. Sometimes we have to explain a how we were able to calculate a math problem using a step by step procedure, or algorithm, in math class.
We’ve been preparing for the Standards Based Assessments by coming up with paragraphs that compare and contrast. I noticed that we haven’t done enough writing this year even though it was my intention. We started out okay just doing complete sentences at the beginning of the year. Students were provided with who, what, where, action, and how cards to help them organize their thoughts about a picture they were analyzing. They had to make up character names for the people in the photo. Then they decided where and what was happening. They chose three or four of these WWWWAH concepts to write a complete sentence. I think we will revisit this again before they take the big test.