Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Additional reflection to THE RIGHT TO SEE OTHERS WRITE

Micki's post emphasized the significance of reading and its impact on our writing.  I strongly agree.  I can't imagine teaching writing without using books, magazines, newspapers, etc. as mentor texts.  We need to utilize all of the resources we have available.

Using a class novel as a mentor text is a definitely a great resource.  I have had students bring in favorite books (including children’s books) and identify passages that they felt were very effective to share in class. Another idea is to have students keep a journal of impressive passages they notice as they are reading the novel.  Becoming more cognizant of the effectiveness of professional authors’ (or colleagues’) techniques is another step toward improving our own writing.  

As students begin to share their writing, it can be simply in Pair/Share– just listen to my draft and share a reaction, such as what stood out to you or Say Back what you heard.  This method works well with younger/beginning writers.  As writers mature, more complex feedback can be required.  Sharing writing in conference groups (usually 4-5 students) definitely increases the opportunities for students to develop stronger writing.  However, in order to create effective conference groups, you need  to give students some guidance.   In looking through my files, I found some worksheets for peer response that might be helpful in preparing for conference group meetings.  Here is one I used:

1    Please give me feedback for the following questions I have about my writing.
                        Question #1     
                        Your feedback:
                        Question #2
                        Your feedback:
2    Underline those parts of my draft you especially liked, found effective, or found   memorable.  In the left hand margin next to each part underlined, briefly note why you underlined it.

Here is a reflection sheet for that process:
    The single most helpful comment (written or oral) that I received was
2    As a result of the group feedback, I changed my draft in the following ways:
3     My conference group as a whole worked well in these areas:
4   My conference group as a whole had difficulty with:

The right to see others write should include seeing instructor’s writing as well as classmates’ writing and published authors’ writing.    





            



Sunday, April 26, 2020

RESPONSE:

After reading Muriel's post, I started thinking about how I learned to write. I only had one speech class, and that was in eighth grade, so I know it wasn't then. In high school, we wrote many "themes," but I don't remember any instruction given other than an assigned topic.

I think I learned to write by being an avid reader. I was always reading so always had a story in my head. My favorite essays to write were expository, ones where I could describe in detail a personal experience. Summers at our lake cabin lived on my paper.

I tried to create the vividness of scenes from my favorite books. I think this is also the reason that I strongly advocate the use of mentor books for writing instruction. I wanted to describe and set scenes the way my favorite authors did. And I think it's an effective way for students to internalize qualities of good writing. By examining how authors/professional writers put together effective sentences and paragraphs, their own writing will improve.

You can use mentor pieces for any type of writing. For example, I love Gloria Anzaldua's essay on "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," which begins with a trip to the dentist.

"We'rgoing to have to control your tongue," the dentist says, pulling out all the metal from my mouth. Silver bits plop and tinkle into the basin. Mmouth is a
motherlode.·
The dentist is cleaning out my roots. get a whiff of the stench when gasp.
 "I can't cap that tooth yet, you're still draining," he says."We're going to have to do something about your tongue," hear the anger rising in his voice. My tongue keeps pushinout the wads of cotton, pushing back the drillsthe long thin needles. 
"I've never seen anything as strong or as stubborn," he says. And think, how do you tame a wild tongue...

To use this as a mentor text, have students draft experiences of their own, and then give them copies of Anzaldua's piece and have them look at the length of the sentences and how she uses quotes, and how descriptive words like "plop" and "tinkle" add to a visual picture for the reader. After examining the essay, they would return to their own writing and adapt some of her style to their own piece. For older students, the entire essay may provide a model for how to take an experience and use it as a metaphor for something bigger in life.

If you are doing a whole class novel, perhaps after examining the style of the writer, students could try some writing on their own using that same style. If you haven't tried it yourself, I think you will be surprised at how effective this process is in improving the quality of a piece of writing. Let us know what you discover...





Wednesday, April 15, 2020

6 THE RIGHT TO SEE OTHERS WRITE

Last week during this difficult time for educators, I participated in a Zoom meeting Connecting the Network hosted by the Minnesota Writing Project.  It was/is an attempt to provide an avenue for sharing ideas.  I learned that MWP has created a blog https://mwpconnect.wordpress.com that provides another place to find support. I was also reminded of the great resources the National Writing Project; among these is nwp.org where I would recommend checking out The Latest. It will lead you to another useful blog where you can find more helpful ideas. 

How did I learn to teach writing?  As an English major, I, of course, wrote several papers during my college days; however, I didn’t have a specific course on the writing process – I do remember a rhetoric book that set up expectations for different types of writing (expository, argumentative, comparison/contrast, etc.) that we basically followed; however, I really think that I wrote the assigned essays around my understanding of what was needed in a speech.  I knew that an introduction needed to catch the reader’s attention, and I understood the organization of ideas.  I don’t remember meeting/sharing writing in any form of a conference group.  So when I began to teach, I basically had students writing the way that I wrote.  It wasn’t until I became involved with the National Writing Project that I began to gain understanding and resources for TEACHING writing.  

Being able to show our students our own writing process – from generating an idea to creating a final piece is invaluable.  How do you compose?  Do you use a computer or write by hand?  I admitted to my students that composing on the computer felt too final for me (of course over the years that feeling has changed). Also, I tend to be a “chunk” writer; I start and restart sections several times before I am confident enough to commit to one version.  I find that I need to take a break – go for a walk (compose in my head), listen to some music, etc.  In sharing my draft (s) with others, I am most comfortable if I can identify what I think works and where I need more help.  

My association with MWP (Minnesota Writing Project), an organization of K-College educators was extremely influential in providing support for using writing groups.  In summer institutes and ongoing workshops teachers worked together, sharing successes (and failures) in creating writing groups in their classrooms.  We discussed the advantages/disadvantages of writing groups that remained together throughout the entire course, as well as creating new groups for each aspect of the writing process (generating ideas, drafting, revising, etc.). We investigated the effectiveness of creating groups by interests, by gender, and also size of the group.  In our summer institutes our writing groups were a mix of teachers from different grade levels and school districts.  We discovered that we gained so much from each other’s writing process.  We returned to our classrooms more confident/comfortable to share our own writing and to use writing groups.  Not only did my students gain from my sharing, but also from their fellow students. I vividly remember one student after a conference group asking me, “Why can’t I write like ____?” which opened an opportunity for me to suggest possible ways to improve.  

By modeling our own process for our students, and by having students work in conference groups from generating through drafting, we are making the invisible, visible.  We can do this, if not in person, through the wonders of technology!

Monday, April 13, 2020

RESPONSE

I love the idea of the highlighting! This gives us, as teachers, a window into what our students are thinking as well as a way to understand where they are in the writing process. The more tools we can use to help students understand that writing is just that...a process, the better.

A final thought on portfolios and the writing process:  When I first used portfolios, I designed a form that asked for student reflections on their writing in their "private" portfolios at the end of each quarter and then another form which they took home with their "public" portfolios at the end of each semester. This was an opportunity for parents to read what their students had been writing as well as see the progress they had been making. I asked parents to comment on a couple of things: What impressed you about your student's work? What was your favorite piece? What would you like your student to work on in the future? I tried to keep the questions positive. Students were required to have their parents sign the comment sheet and then bring the portfolio back.

Notice that I had "public" and "private" portfolios. Students kept all of their writing and drafts in a portfolio that remained in the room. When they took work home to show their parents at the end of each semester, they selected the work they wanted their parents to see. I mention this because I always felt that students should be allowed to write about anything that crossed their minds, but that it didn't always have to be turned in for a grade or seen by anyone else. Much of the writing we did during the week was ungraded. On occasion, pieces were selected for revision and final drafts.

Today, keeping portfolios is a much cleaner process, because it can be managed electronically. I still would encourage you to have students set up 2 portfolios. One can be finished work and be a public portfolio and the other, unfinished or work that is not to be made public. There are many free portfolio sites or perhaps your district has already set something up. In either case, I encourage you to think about getting parent feedback at least once or twice during the year. Students found this to be a very positive experience.

Please share your experiences and questions regarding portfolios. We would love to hear what's happening in your classroom.




Thursday, April 9, 2020

ACCEPTING THE RIGHT TO WRITE BADLY

As one of my favorite go-to resources, Lucy Calkins, reminds us, our task is to “teach the writer, not the writing.”  I needed to accept that my students were growing as writers, and that my task was to provide them with the tools/techniques to improve.  Even though they winced at my calling their first/early draft a “vomit” draft, I think that it drove home the idea that with time/effort, they could improve.  Of course that improvement often depended upon my providing important "remedies" that we could practice.  As Micki shared in her entry, we teachers have so many ways to create minilessons that can help students improve their writing.

One strategy that I liked to use was glossing.  I don’t remember where I picked up the strategy, but I did find it written about in an old Edutopia article: 
1. Either with a highlighter, or with the highlighter function in word processing, the student highlights the changes made from the previous drafts. In some cases, it may be a line or a sentence. In some cases, it may be an entire paragraph. Either way, it is important to highlight or "Gloss" any and all changes, even conventions.
2. In the margins of the paper next to the glossed section or with an arrow pointing to the revisions, the student writes why they made the changes. If details were required to better illustrate an example, a student would write just that. "I added this detail to strengthen my example." This step is important because it requires a student not only to make revisions, but also to use the language of the revision process to illustrate understanding of why the change(s) were made. This understanding is essential for a student to take ownership of writing and move forward in the writing process, and it is important information for a teacher in assessing the next step(s) of the process and mastery of specific assignments.
3. Students must turn in the "Glossed" draft along with the previous draft for the teacher to review. The teacher can quickly browse the original draft, and then refer to the glossed draft to see the specific highlighted changes. A double check of the student’s margined explanation provides further evidence of the student’s understanding of the revision. It is not necessary to read the entire piece of writing, but rather, teachers can focus attention directly to the glossed portions of the piece.
Check out the Literacy section of Edutopia.org for some helpful writing resources.

I believe that having students reflect upon their own growth as a writer is extremely valuable.  The use of portfolios is definitely a way for students to see their own progress.  As a culmination of their work, I required students to write an introductory essay to their portfolio and highlight certain writings, or sections of writing, that revealed their strengths (or improved strengths) as a writer.  This type of assignment could definitely be modified for younger students. Several of my 12thgraders found that they were able to use their portfolios to demonstrate proficiency for college writing courses. 

Here's a challenge for you (the teacher):  Write down your core beliefs about teaching writing.  


Monday, April 6, 2020

5 THE RIGHT TO WRITE BADLY

"You have to put down less than marvelous material just to keep going to whatever you think the end might be - which may be something else altogether by the time you get there." Larry Gelbart, Writing Changes Everything

Stephen King says, "Only God gets it right the first time." (2000)
Encouraging students to get their words on paper in a rough draft is critical to helping them learn what it takes to be a good writer. I felt so strongly about this that I required students to turn in a rough draft with their final copy whenever I assigned writing for credit. It seems like that would have solved the problem...encouraged students to reflect on their writing and make needed adjustments, but, unfortunately, students often just copied their rough draft over, neater, and in ink.

Students need to understand that a rough draft is an exploratory copy, but a necessary copy. This is where conferencing is helpful. Talking with students about their intent and asking clarifying questions allows students to understand where they are going in the piece. Between the rough draft and the final draft is also a great time for a minilesson using your own writing to talk about your process. What were you thinking when you first started writing the piece? How did that change as you came to the end? Are there sections that you would switch around? Have students switch their introduction and conclusion. Does the paper still work? Show them where, in your piece, you needed more detail. Ask them to search their piece for similar areas. Give them a reason to write a final draft that is better than the rough draft.

"Our goal as teachers should not be to fill the world with perfect text or even acceptable text. Our goal should be to take students to such a place of comfort with writing that they will persist through three pages of random thought to an emerging clarity on page four..."Vicki Spandel, p. 72 The 9 Rights of Every Writer

Besides requiring rough drafts, another way to make students aware of their growth as writers is to have them keep in-class or online portfolios - copies of their writing throughout the year. I found that allowing them to see their progress over time was interesting, gratifying and helpful to them and to me. Even now, I hear from students who talk about their writing portfolios from 8th grade and how much they learned by focusing on the writing process.