Going Beyond Word Processing
I really enjoyed reading chapter six. I discovered a lot of new ideas as well as found reinforcement for some ideas that I'd already considered. Kajder begins this chapter with a quotation that I see as a central part of my teaching philosophy for English: "Writing is the heart of the English class. In one form or another, it is constant: we are reading it, doing it, or preparing to do it" (Jim Burke).
Resonating ideas:
1. Prewriting and Reflection: Five minutes of monitors off free-write to help students jumpstart their writing as well as in conjunction with post-writing reflection in a writer's journal.
2. Revision and Editing: Locating topic sentences in paragraphs by highlighting them in green, as well as supporting details in red, and transitions in blue (with standard colors for assignments and collecting these color-coded drafts) as well as using conclusions for introductions.
During the past year, I've helped my mom teach her students about writing. I feel that the ideas presented with solutions in the resonating ideas make up the majority of students' writing mistakes. For many, getting started is a problem as well as feeling too satisfied with a first draft. Most students have editing/revising mistakes on varying levels, and I feel that the other suggestions will make these mistakes more visible to them.
Lingering questions:
1. Calkins (1994) idea that students discuss positive rather than negative aspects of their writings. In the classes I've helped, I encouage for each positive a negative and vice versa. I think that one problem in our schools today is that we as teachers are too concerned with being politically correct and not hurting our students' feelings. While I don't think that teachers should intentionally be mean to their students, I think that we cripple them by allowing them to think that everything that they do is perfect. For instance, if I take my child to the doctor. I want the doctor to do everything he can to cure him, not just pat him on his head and call him a good boy. Therefore, I think it is stronger to discuss both positives and negatives.
2. I am also a little wary of the roaming to different stations technique of pre-writing. I believe in collaboration, but I would want to makes sure that each students writes on what he/she is comfortable with, and not just have Johnnie writing on the topic that Susie suggested because he really has a crush on her and wants her to notice him. I would want to experiment with this task in my actual classroom before implementing it on an important topic.
Resonating ideas:
1. Prewriting and Reflection: Five minutes of monitors off free-write to help students jumpstart their writing as well as in conjunction with post-writing reflection in a writer's journal.
2. Revision and Editing: Locating topic sentences in paragraphs by highlighting them in green, as well as supporting details in red, and transitions in blue (with standard colors for assignments and collecting these color-coded drafts) as well as using conclusions for introductions.
During the past year, I've helped my mom teach her students about writing. I feel that the ideas presented with solutions in the resonating ideas make up the majority of students' writing mistakes. For many, getting started is a problem as well as feeling too satisfied with a first draft. Most students have editing/revising mistakes on varying levels, and I feel that the other suggestions will make these mistakes more visible to them.
Lingering questions:
1. Calkins (1994) idea that students discuss positive rather than negative aspects of their writings. In the classes I've helped, I encouage for each positive a negative and vice versa. I think that one problem in our schools today is that we as teachers are too concerned with being politically correct and not hurting our students' feelings. While I don't think that teachers should intentionally be mean to their students, I think that we cripple them by allowing them to think that everything that they do is perfect. For instance, if I take my child to the doctor. I want the doctor to do everything he can to cure him, not just pat him on his head and call him a good boy. Therefore, I think it is stronger to discuss both positives and negatives.
2. I am also a little wary of the roaming to different stations technique of pre-writing. I believe in collaboration, but I would want to makes sure that each students writes on what he/she is comfortable with, and not just have Johnnie writing on the topic that Susie suggested because he really has a crush on her and wants her to notice him. I would want to experiment with this task in my actual classroom before implementing it on an important topic.
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