In her preface to The 9 Rights of Every Writer, Vicki Spandel advises that we don’t teach students to write with the goal of ensuring they meet specific academic or curriculum standards. Rather we should teach them to write as a path of discovery. Writing to think, learn, find a voice, and be original, will teach students to write well and therefore will meet any of the vacillating standards that are imposed, removed, and reimposed by third parties on a fairly regular basis during a teaching career. Educational and curricular “standards” should be floors, but they tend to become ceilings when those standards are the focus of teaching. The focus of chapter 1 is "The Right to be Reflective." Focus your comments on what you agree with, don't agree with, and how you could bring this "right" into your classroom. (As always, there is no minimum or maximum word count. All we ask is that you be brilliant, interesting and insightful.)
Post your reflections as well as two short responses to postings by cohort members. - Norm
Chapter 1: The Right to Be Reflective
ReplyDeleteI loved the idea of “A mind freed is a powerful thing,” and of creating “Long thinkers.” However, I agree with much of what was said regarding technology and the limit of attention spans. Especially for my eighth grade composition students. Three days a week, my composition class begins with “Sacred Writing Time.” Quiet time for students to write whatever they’d like in their journals. I provide thought starters but encourage them to write, something, ANYTHING and to remain quiet to allow others the opportunity to think. I have a handful in my current class who take advantage of this time to write, but many don’t and I often wonder if it’s worth it. Based on the reading, I believe it is worth it to take the time, however, I may need to look at how I “sell” the idea to my students.
Reading out loud as a way to encourage thinking….interesting. As a way to have my burgeoning writers see more good writing, I have my composition classes do silent reading at the end of every class (material of their choice) and require them to keep a book log for reading responses. Wondering now if having them listen to me read instead would encourage deeper thinking and in turn deeper reflection? Perhaps that is something to try the last few weeks of the semester.
Kling’s notebook: very true about the “peculiar paradox” we face; I always allow flexibility in deadlines in my composition class, focus on revisions, offer specific suggestions and ask students questions to help improve their writing…but they are only getting that from me, from my class, for 20 weeks. Which habits are going to stick?
Hi Deb,
DeleteI know Becky reads out loud to her ELL kids and they really enjoy it. Whenever we're reading as a class, my students want me to read as well. before I just thought that they were being... Not lazy... Perhaps just unproductive :P Now I'm wondering if perhaps they unconsciously felt something I didn't, that they could think more critically about the selection. I also think you make a great point about what habits students hold onto versus forgetting. Thanks for your post!
Colleen
Hello all!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the style of writing set forth in chapter 1. I feel that this first chapter establishes the right to be reflective for students and teachers alike. Much of what I read I agree with, but as I moved through the chapter, I became more aware of how my classroom may not contain this freedom for students. Currently I teach eighth grade Composition and twelfth grade English. Comparing the two, I give my seniors much more freedom and leeway when it comes to writing, whereas I am more formulaic with my eighth graders. While I would like to credit this lack of freedom to the fact my eighth graders are in a remedial writing class, I think I have perhaps become too comfortable with educational standards as my ceiling with this particular class.
Now that I have identified an area of growth in my teaching, how to best address it? Currently my students write to assigned prompts at the beginning of each class. I would really like to adapt the “writing into the day” assignment introduced to us Saturday not only for my eighth graders, but for all of my classes. I am fortunate to have block scheduling and thus the time to devote fifteen or twenty minutes solely to writing. Although my seniors will be leaving soon, perhaps I can incorporate this into my Composition class for the remaining weeks of the semester.
“Time… is the key to good reflection.” This line stands out to me primarily because time is the one thing of which I feel I never have enough, particularly with the eleven days of testing my eighth graders withstood in the last three months alone. I think as an educator too I feel fear when it comes to giving students time. Is it too much time? Are they using it wisely or taking advantage of it? Then there is the awkwardness of timing when three or four kids finish too early or the entire class is waiting on one or two to finish. As teachers, we are instructed to fill every minute, that time spent simply sitting is time wasted. However, after reading this chapter, I question whether students are, in fact, simply sitting. Is there the potential for reflection in the time spent quietly waiting for others? I think there may be, and that perhaps I am too hard on myself and my students by consistently filling every second of each class period.
Have a great week, everyone!
Colleen
Hi Collen, like you I have identified an area of growth in teaching. I also assign prompts of the day, however my prompts are based on their readings of the day before. It doesn't offer flexibility and reflection. As a third grade teacher our students must become successful in so many areas of writing due to the fact it is the first time they are taking MCAS or PARCC. We are given a 30 minute time slot to teach the mechanics and how to answer the prompts. I agree "Time" is needed not only to reflect, but to learn what true writing is.
DeleteHave a great week!!!
What a pleasant surprise this book is. I'll admit I was a bit concerned about completing my homework assignment until I actually began reading. Suddenly what seemed like an exercise in compliance became one of purpose.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are many points I agree with, a few stand out as significant to me. "Assessment must focus on what matters, not on what's easy to measure" really hit home. For years I have watched standardized testing hijack the purpose of writing and steal my students' voices. In a high needs school we focus heavily on formulaic writing instruction because, as Spandel clearly explains, the heavy emphasis on assessment is linked to fear. We take shortcuts to meet the goal of passing the test. Or else...
Many times I asked for, and was denied, the leeway to teach my students to love to write. I knew they would become better writers because they would have the motivation to write. When I read "The great irony is that when we teach writing for the right reasons- to help our children write with passion and touch the hearts of readers-the little things tend to fall in place anyway" I felt vindicated. There were so many thoughts swirling in my mind at this point, and I had only read the preface.
Chapter 1 was just as engaging. Long thinking and deep reflection are essential for serious writing, but how can we "open this door" for our students when others may perceive the time as wasted or off task? Spandel asks, "Where did we get the idea that writing only occurs when a pencil is moving or a keyboard is clicking?" We need to be able to explain that our students need, and have the right to, the time for reflection and "making things up". I believe many of the adults in our schools could benefit from some reflection on how to best empower our students as writers.
I am looking forward to reading more.
Hi Rebecca - sorry you were denied the leeway to engage your students in writing from, I'm assuming, an administrative directive. I'm sure you're making a difference by merely loving to write. I believe that's the beauty of this Institute. We can work together to figure out a way to make writing, good writing, experienced and enjoyed (maybe even requested) by all. I also look forward to reading more.
DeleteChapter 1 of the Spandel text got me thinking a lot about how students judge themselves as writers. So many of them walk into my classroom at the beginning of the year thinking that they “can’t write”. When I ask them what they mean by that, they often tell me that when they sit down to complete a writing assignment, it comes out wrong. It doesn’t look or sound correct when they put their thoughts down on paper...there are mistakes, etc. They say that when other kids write, it comes out “right” the first time. Then I tell them that they’ve got it wrong...that writing is a process that takes time. I tell them that mistakes are okay, that they are a necessary part of the writing experience. They don’t believe me at first, and then I tell them that Katherine Paterson wrote Bridge to Terebithia at least 10 times before she was done. This fact usually helps them start to accept that what I’m telling them is true..which finally gives me a place to begin.
ReplyDeleteLike Spandel, it bothers me that students pick up the misconception that if their writing isn’t perfect right away then they just aren’t good writers. I know that I used to feel that way too...there were a few teachers along the way that directly or indirectly sent this message my way. It wasn’t until I was in college and I started to read about writing that I began to understand what it really was...Stephen King’s On Writing, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well and Writing About Your Life, and so many others. These writers helped me see that writing really is a process, one that doesn’t even necessarily start with putting pen to paper. They taught me that writing could be a form of meditation and that it could teach me to reflect and learn new things about myself. Then I became a songwriter and these lessons made even more sense to me.
Now I try to pass this understanding along to my students but it’s not always easy. Between students’ misconceptions, having to “meet the standards”, and often having to conform to the constraints of the required traditional literary analysis papers (an assignment which often bores or frightens the heck out of most students) it becomes a challenge to keep their faith in what I have told them about writing.
By the way, Mrs. K is Jeri! :)
DeleteJeri, one of my mentors at BBWP was Kit Dunlap, who was our site director, and the director of the ISI. I have never forgotten (and often cite to both colleagues and students) the words she used to say about "perfect" writing - "The editing and the revising are like window dressings - they come after you build the bones of the house". I love that simile, as it allows us, as writers, to disregard the proper grammar and the perfect paragraphs in our early drafts. When we allow ourselves (and our students) to focus solely on content, solely on getting the thoughts from our brains to our papers, then we're focusing on good writing. We're putting our content and our voices ahead of conventions. Yes, those conventions are important, but they are the paint colors, the window dressings, the throw rugs and comforters of the houses we're building. It's so hard as a teacher to embrace that. It requires us to give students time (of which many here have already stated is in short supply) to play with words and ponder possibilities. It's a challenge to find that time and to justify it to those who cannot see the benefit through assessment-colored glasses.
DeleteJeri, it sounds like you are doing a great job of helping your students understand writing is a process that involves constant reflection and improvement. Your story about Bridge to Terabithia is a perfect example to use.
DeleteIt's difficult to change the habits students have picked during their school experience: find the right answer answer, avoid errors. Some of the best lessons we ever learn are the results of our mistakes. But I wonder if we do enough to encourage kids to make mistakes, to take risks. Keep the faith. Your sincerity will convince them it's all worth it!
Jeri, I feel like we've been in the same classroom! I totally relate to your concerns, especially regarding the importance of revision. So many students (who are assigned to my Composition class because they are struggling writers) feel the same way as yours when they come to my class. At the beginning, when assigned a writing task the inevitable first question is "How many paragraphs?" I always answer, "As many as it takes." They get used to it, but I often wonder how long that sticks with them after a single semester! I think I have a small advantage as with Composition classes I have greater flexibility with assignments, however, imparting that passion is definitely a struggle.
DeleteJeri -- I'm fighting the same battle with my sophomore classes. Writing is "hard" and they're "not good at it" and they never know where to start. What happens between the time they begin writing and are so excited about the ability to control and create words and middle school when they have a huge attitude shift? I am really interested in the concept of helping students see themselves as writers.
DeleteI have tried in recent years to craft assignments that disguise literary analysis with some higher interest or more relevant and contemporary topics with some success. The other advantage of creating unique assignments is that it becomes more difficult to cut and paste from the internet.
But, they still need to learn the traditional literary analysis, and there is a limited number of assignments they can handle or I can grade, so often the more fun assignments get cut in favor of the formulaic.
Jeri aka Mrs. K
DeleteIt is hard to instill contemplation as part of writing, even for my oldr high school students. They do really enjoy writing about what they know--their philosophies and tragedies, traumas because they know what they are writing about. Sometimes I think we have trained them to think in short think: write 5-8 sentences; form a topic sentence; use compound-complex sentences. Maybe publishing their work, writing filled with the worlds they create, is key to helping them gain confidence anpractice enough to know that they can discover ideas through writin. Than you for the thoughts
Great message to pass on Jeri - my 4th graders feel the same way. They think because their writing isn't beautiful in the time it takes them to multiply a two digit number by a two digit number, their writing isn't good. In one of the many writing programs our district has had us "pilot" one practice stayed with me. Whenever I see an example of "good" writing, I post it somewhere inside or outside of the classroom. I try to be inclusive and post everything from paragraphs, to sentences, to worthy adjectives, etc. The students get excited to see their writing as an example. Often I make a big deal about something a student may have written and ask them to re-write it on our whiteboard and sign it. It helps to even the writing playing field and I've also seen hesitant writers get a bit more engaged.
DeleteBill - I love the idea of posting student examples of good writing! I'm going to use that!
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ReplyDeleteMrs. K
ReplyDeleteBlogger Cheryl Mallowes said...
I agree with what you said, when you referenced Spandel and how students feel if their writing isn't perfect then they are not good. I don't know where or at what age that starts at. I teach grade 3 and I had so many students at the beginning of the year thought they would be a failure in writing. I was pleasantly surprised when their first "free" writing was very thoughtful and engaging. The students were very timid at first to share, but after reading a few, their hands were flying wildly to share. I had never had that before because I was so use to letting MCAS and PARCC steer the boat. I have changed the way I teach and approach writing. I do play soft music and allow for more free time to write. I do also understand it is a process, but not just for students, but myself. I am a life long learner and this road we are taking with this course will help me look further into what works for my students.
Chapter 1:The Right to Be Reflective
ReplyDeleteI feel that after reading Chapter 1, Spandel drives home the idea when she says, "with the power of reflective thoughts, we can visit a different place within the mind everyday and still have places to explore". How true, yet sad that as a third grade teacher, I haven't been able to give my students the full "Time" to reach beyond the classroom walls or to be reflective. As a third grade teacher we have to prepare students for all types of writing, such as MCAS open response, PRCC and how to just simply answer questions with details.
Recently I took my students outdoors when Spring was in the air. They took clipboards out with a sheet of writing paper and were asked to set five columns up labeled with their five senses. I then took them outdoors and had them sit in silence and fill in their columns. They wrote about the wind blowing, the birds, chirping, the smell of pizza cooking in the cafeteria, etc. Then in silence we went in. I played soft music to them and then gave them their writing assignment called "The Song of Spring". Students then were asked to use their imagination and what they wrote for the five senses and turn it into a free write. I gave TIME, which was part of the reflective practice. The finished assignment was one of the best writings of any of the students I had had in many years. I understand after this week's reading, the writing is a process, I just have to look at the Time allotted for writing and build more time into my daily practice.
Cheryl, I'm curious to know what your students' responses were to the sensory free write. How did they feel about the experience? I hope they were as enthusiastic about it as you were!
DeleteThird graders silent this time of year. Boy, am I jealous. That sounds like an amazing way to spend an afternoon. I agree with you that time is so precious. I would like to read some of those final products, if you would be willing to share.
DeleteJust today, after my AP Juniors finished peer editing the rough drafts of their researched arguments, I asked the class to revise their papers so they did not begin in a traditional, five-paragraph-this-is-what-I-will-be-writing-about way. They abandoned the five paragraph essay early in the year, and many of them are fine writers, but I call them victims of the rubric: they can't seem to write anything unless they have specific indicators, standards and levels of performance. I reminded them that they read many fine essays in their Longman Reader, and I guaranteed them that not one of those writers began with a thesis statement. Instead, they narrated, they compared, they described . . . and the beginning of this chapter astonished me with the vivid details with which Vicki Spandel conveyed her experience at the Boundary Waters.
ReplyDeleteWhere is this going? I wondered as I allowed her to draw me into this magical place. Then her contrasting observations about technology’s schizophrenic assault on our senses convinced me that I want to be her friend.
Yes. Here it is. We agree. My students, who have each been given a Macbook Air this year in a frenzy to launch them spinning into the "real world," have become almost incapable of quiet reflection, sustained listening or civil discourse. My colleagues report that the technology has become a focus, not a tool, and we agree that we have given up more than we gained by committing to life on the cutting edge - what a painful place to exist.
Can I provide quiet time for my students to write? Yes, of course, but a student staring off into space looks like non-engagement to an evaluator bent on finding fault. Then, I am spending so much time preparing for assessments that very little is left for much of anything meaningful. Ten years ago I taught ten books to my sophomores each year. Today I'm lucky to get through five. They don't know much, but they can certainly write an open response about it.
It's frightening to contemplate "slowing down the pace of classroom dialogue" when "working bell to bell" is the command that seems to come from a Nineteenth Century workhouse rather than a Twenty-first Century institution of education. I remember when our mandate for the year was "daily journal writing." How short-lived that was.
It's time to beat down the cynical me and let the idealistic me have a voice. With some revision of curriculum (and summer is coming, so I might have some time to do some reflective thinking on that!), I really could provide more regular times for reflective writing (but it's hard to compete with Kahoot), and through training and persuasion convince my students that writing is not torture, and one sentence does not a paragraph make.
Corinne,
DeleteI could have written this. I agree with so many of your points, especially the idea of working bell-to-bell. I feel like as educators we have "time on task" drilled into us so much that we both consciously and subconsciously convey this to our students. The students then know to give off the appearance of work rather than actually writing and reflecting. Thanks for your post!
Colleen
Corinne,
DeleteI can absolutely understand your view point. You said what I was thinking, but probably in a more articulate way than I felt like I could express. I think that the powers that be need to maybe define education differently. With the push to increase the "rigor" in the classroom I believe has also come a false idea that educating students means shoving information down their throats as fast as we can so that we can successfully say we have covered every common core standard by June. I think that as teachers we know that less is truly more. If students are given the time to digest information they might actually be successful in applying that information at a later date. Learning should bring joy, and students do indeed need the quiet time to feel ready to express their ideas in a way that is meaningful to them as well as to learn from their peers. I can appreciate your last paragraph. We must always look for the positive in any situation, and summer is a great time to reflect on how we can approach things differently!
This month I have been very busy, rushing from home in the morning to a busy job, after work I work more, then rush off to my children's activities, then rush back home to cook and clean and do laundry, and pay bills, then fall asleep, just to wake up again and do it all over. When I am in a season of busyness, I get grumpy and impatient and my family and students suffer. I suffer, too! Spandel describes the news, filled with sensory overload, as a reflection of our busy lives. She writes, "As they barrage us with video, subtext parades across the screen in an incessantly interruptive ticker, requiring us to read one thing while listening to another and viewing yet another. Isn't this the very sort of multitasking we've warned our students to avoid int he classroom?...In case our ability to focus is not yet sufficiently challenged, pop-up blurbs of weather, sports scores, and today's market gains and losses vie for our attention like bouncy children in the lower right corner while a summary of what's coming next...hurls flashing lights and somersaulting icons at us from lower left." As an introverted adult, I understand and seek necessary silence and reflection, most often from the pages of a book, but as the article points out, the greater challenge is helping our students to "unplug" and be reflective thinkers. Some strategies the article included were longer wait time, reading out loud, and creating time and silence for students to write and create. This course is a great opportunity to share more strategies for helping our students to carve out time for deep thinking.
ReplyDeleteHeather, that was so nicely stated. Perhaps classrooms are better suited for the extroverts, but we introverts can help them understand the power of reflection and deep thought.
DeleteHeather, you are so right. We've hoisted our multi-tasking lives on our students, and indeed, it seems that we need to add to our "teach this" list the skill of quiet reflection, focus, and deep thinking.
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DeleteHi Heather,
DeleteI completely understand where you're coming from regarding our full and often rushed lives. How are we to help our students reflect and become "long thinkers" when we are also running like hamsters on a wheel? I wonder if incorporating some sort of mindfulness practice into writing instruction would make a difference. Maybe 60 seconds of quiet breathing, or a guided meditation (disguised as a poem for the classes that think meditation is too "crunchy") before even picking up the pen, pencil, paper, or laptop.
Heather,
DeleteI understand the rushing here, rushing there and always putting everyone else first. Doesn't the long wait time and silence sound good? I often wonder with all of the students who are diagnosed with ADD and Sensory issues, are we at fault in some way? We want them to multi task, respond instantly, and travel on the information highway at alarming speeds. We throw so much at our students in an academic year, in order to prepare them for state testing, then we want them to be reflective. Sometimes, it feels like a mixed message.
Heaher
ReplyDeleteI empathize with you: it does seem we are caught wihi the chaotic strea of lie and the internet. I too love to find time and reflectio in a book, in the musty dogeared pages of an entirely different world. Longer wit times isa bit elusive or m: does the count of 7 really allow the development of long thinkers? At a recent AP conference, the presenter said she never commented on rough drafts--she simply talked through them with her students (for about 10 minutes) and the students then had the time and opportunity to reflect on what they had written and to add some "long" thoughts that were not available or formed at the time of writing. I am trying to do the sam through writing conferences and have been pleasantly amazed a the confidence students gain from a realtively short chat. They then often return for a few more conferences. Thanks for the post. It has givn me even more to ponder.
Spandel's term "long thinker" seems at odds with the current fads in eduation--ones that demand a google speed in creatin an essay or in constructing an argument. It is sort of the intrnet approach: bombard the student with difficult reading, demand they use only higher level thinking skills and construct and argument that goes far beyond their contextual knowledge. A long thinker would have the time and space, silence to produce a perspective of which she/he could be proud instead of slipping into the ceraintity that the writing is not good enough. No wonder the SATs will not require the twenty minute essay any more. The quality of what I saw may reflect the lack of time to amble through the mind, picking up and maybe even planting thoughts that would have organic growth. Maybe students' thinking skills have not diminished but our ability to evoke thought has.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder though how we convince students that such writing is wort the effort, for they, as Spandel describes, do have that short thinker, stacatto process. I used to give an art writing projct where students used dialectical notebooks--as explained by Berthoff not contemporary study skills inititives--to record their observations and perceptions; the next day, they re-read those observations and built thoughts on them Students produced some wonderful insights, even if they began by saying that they did not know how to analyze art. The project took a couple of weeks simply for note taking and then another couple to write up. Even that seems short!
I tell my students about the loons I heard on a lake in Maine, so I know how important silence is to sound. Maybe through a community of writers we can teach them them how to bring that silence into the spirals of writing.
I want to hear more about these dialectical notebooks! I'll be bending your ear about that later, Al!
DeleteAl, I agree with your idea that we do not seem to give students the time necessary to practice that long thinking. I feel that as teachers we are stuck in the hustle and bustle of an over packed curriculum and no time to cover it all. Because of that, I feel that students are constantly being rushed and that not enough time is spent on any one project in fear that we will in turn not be successful in teaching all the standards. I also worry that with new standardized testing formats, that the expectation of written responses is more rooted in responding to literature and not so much in the formulation of creative writing pieces. How much imagination is being stripped away from our students with these new rigorous standards in place? I do like that pieces of literature are being analyzed more deeply but I feel like we need to bring back creativity and imagination in this generation of learners.
DeleteAlso, I love that you tell your students about the loons in Maine. What a great way to capture how powerful silence is!
I agree with Spandel’s interpretation of a modern day Information Highway connecting to our students. Most of my students (and they’re only 9 and 10 years old!) have a daily agenda mirroring that of a corporate executive. They have scheduled activities, play-dates, sports/dance practice, etc. Their ability to fit elementary school into their plans baffles me. In addition, they have access to more information at their fingertips every day than their ancestors possibly had within their lifetimes. And as this young generation grows, their lives keep getting busier. So the question is; do they have time to reflect or even know what reflection is?
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassingly enough, as a teacher, I’ve never really taken into consideration the time needed to reflect as it relates to writing and as I reflect on Spandel’s writing (I know, ironic, isn’t it) she makes some great points. It does take me a while to create/plan what I am going to write before I sit down to actually write it. But how, as an educator in 2015’s public school system can we schedule reflective time in class?
We’ve got to get creative …
I’m wondering if I try to give reflection as a homework assignment. (cool idea, huh?) I would introduce the concept of reflection in class and formulate a discussion on how we need to have reflection to become better writers. We would discuss each student’s “Boundary Waters”, and use visualization to experience calmness/reflection in the classroom. I would assign the nights homework as an instruction to practice the same visualization for approximately fifteen minutes, longer if possible. All the while, preparing for the following morning’s Free Write detailing their experience. Then in the morning, we would write. What was the experience like? Did they reflect? Was it different from how they reflected in the classroom? What did they visualize? Etc. Then possibly, we could think about another topic to write about, a topic of their choosing. I would ask them to reflect prior to writing. Then write. I’m interested in the results, even more interested in the results if this became routine practice.
On another note …
LOVE to read in my classroom. Luckily I am a 4th grade teacher and am encouraged to do so as part of my job. (I also read to my 8th grade class on the weekends and they love it!) I’ve had success with teaching writing through reading as Spandel mentions. My favorite activity is to read a passage or two from Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux. Specifically a sentence on Page 13 describing a ray of light:
The April sun, weak but determined, shone through
a castle window and from there squeezed itself
through a small hole in the wall and placed one
golden finger on the little mouse.
I get chills each time I read that and hope my class does as well. Once we end our discussion, I ask the class to take an ordinary sentence and make it extraordinary. The lesson doesn’t take much time, yet it yields fantastic results. I often extend the lesson asking students to find an extraordinary piece of writing and rewrite it in a mundane way. They enjoy the challenge!
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DeleteBill, what a beautiful sentence to share with your students! After reading Spandel and your post, I think it’s time to start reading TO my students instead of just WITH them at the end of class. I have some mentor text picture books which they enjoy, and I have select passages I use for specific lessons or assignments, but to find a novel to share seems to be a more beneficial way to model thinking and point out good writing so they then know what to look for when they are reading independently. I had gone away from that mainly because students just don’t read enough on their own, but perhaps it’s time to update my class practice again! Thank you : )
DeleteThe preface to this book made me face reality. I do not see myself as a "good" writer. I do not feel comfortable sharing my writing. It's not the act of writing, or the process of writing that bothers me. It's reflecting upon what I have written.Therefore, I am going to need to put my own fears and insecurities aside, take some risks, and learn to slow down so that I can become a reflective writer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that I read in chapter one. Vicky Spandel made so many great points that validated some of my own thoughts. Spandel wrote about thinking about things for long periods of time and taking time to reflect. Time? who has time? I feel that I am on the go constantly, and that there are so many demands put upon me that I barely have time to think, never mind long periods of reflecting. There is one statement from chapter one that stuck out more than others. Spandel stated that we should not teach writing just to help students meet the standards. I have thought about this numerous times this week. A wee where I have been proctoring PARCC daily.
I only have my students for forty-five minutes a day. Am I too focused on making sure that they are comprehending the texts, that we read, that I am short changing them by not giving them enough time to write? It's my ongoing battle, because if they can't understand the text, then how do I expect them to respond.
What I am going to try to do these last weeks is to let my students have more time to reflect and more time to write. I have been wondering; what would happen if I did fewer texts, but dug much deeper into them. After all, if the students are writing about the texts, then they are thinking about them. And if they are thinking about them, then they are making connections and developing their own voices.
This week, I am going to try to slow down, be more reflective, and start a journal
Ugh! The tests! There is so much imbalance regarding assessment. I completely see where you're coming from. We are expected to help the kids do well on these tests so we feel pressure to push aside time for real writing…the kind that can stay with them for the rest of their lives.
DeleteI also understand what you're saying about the fear that comes up with sharing writing. It's not easy because writing is so personal and reveals so much of who we are…sometimes I find that what I write tells me more about myself than I ever knew. I think this institute will help take the edge off of sharing each time we meet because it's such a supportive environment.
In reading Chapter 1, I was first struck by the author's claim that we are underwhelmed by our students' level of attention & focus, but yet they do indeed live in a culture where they have so many gadgets to provide entertainment that besides in the school setting they are not asked to sustain attention very long. The author then connects our technological society as possibly being one of the reasons that our students are not able to sustain the attention that helps them to create longer pieces of reflective writing. The author writes "serious writing requires long thinking." I agree with his idea. In looking at my own classroom, it seems like it's the norm for my students to complete writing tasks very quickly. Because many of my students have communication or learning disabilities, my first impression is always to think that they do not have the sufficient number of ideas to develop longer pieces of reflective writing, but the author's connection to "long thinking" makes me think that really, they are rushing to finish to get to whatever thing they think is coming next. Instant gratification. If I finish, she will leave me alone. I have worked for the past few years to build my students’ reading stamina: have them sit with a book and “really” read it for longer increments at a time. I think that I need to focus more on writing stamina. I want to have my students understand that “fast writing” is not necessarily “good writing.” I want them to know that good writing takes time and that good writing does not have to be done in one class or even in one week, but in order to do that I need to change how I approach writing assignments. I need to be less “product” oriented as well and more “process” oriented.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of the chapter was when the author listed the three necessities to help students become more reflective writers: writing in quiet, reading texts of all kinds to them, and time. I think I liked this part of the chapter not because it contained any profound information but because I feel like sometimes I just need a reminder of what good practice is. As teachers we do a lot of reflection, and as I read that section I realized that writing is not always quiet in my classroom if I’m conferring with others. I read to my students but why not read more? You can never read enough! And. . .time? I feel like I’m always saying “We don’t have time for that.” I’d like to hear myself say, “Take all the time you need” a lot more!
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ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteI love your practice of having kids make an ordinary sentence extraordinary, and visa versa. I do something similar where I have students "zoom in" on a particular part of their writing and really focus on the details…show, don't just tell. I'm a high school English teacher but also a reading specialist and I find that my kids love to hear me read. Sometimes reading just a paragraph from a YA text will get them hooked and wanting to borrow it from my classroom library. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks Jeri - I am glad you are still reading to your students! it inspires me to see teachers read to older students. I LOVE it when someone reads to me, so why wouldn't an older student love it as well. I like the "zoom in" phrase and if you don't mind, I may steal it! it could connect to the picture the students are trying to create in my class. Thanks!!
DeleteThere is a motif running through all of your reflections; and that is there really isn’t enough time to properly instill reflective writing habits in our students. Due to pressures of looming tests; evaluators who may mistake reflective students for idle students; short periods; our own hectic lives; lack of student buy-in; and any number of other hurdles; we fail to give students the time they need to improve as writers. Our mission, which we have already accepted, is to do it anyway.
ReplyDeleteOne way we already do this is to put the reflection AFTER the writing. We call it peer editing, editing discussions, rewrites, second drafts, last chance to fix that crappy grade, or any number of things; but it is REFLECTION. Why did you tell me this fact? What are you trying to convey? What do you want your reader to feel/know/ask? How could this passage be more effective? Eventually, we want our students to ask themselves these questions as they write and even before they write, so it is up to us to tell them to do just that. Like writing, teaching is a PROCESS. We tend to get frustrated when students make the same mistakes from assignment to assignment, but we only have them in our class for a very small part of that educational process. As primary and secondary school teachers, hopefully none of us ever actually get to see the finished product in our classrooms.
I love the reflections and observations you folks have made; they’re insightful, meaningful and thought provoking. Remember that this summer institute is in the end meant to be encouraging. You are already effective teachers and you’re getting better all the time! We are here to build confidence, not self-doubt. Keep up the great work.