Spandel Chapter 6 Reflection The Right to See Others Write
And here is the chapter that addresses what I have noticed in my reflections from this book is a common thread: what can I be doing to make things stick? Clearly my goal needs to be to do more modeling as it makes complete sense to me that doing so will “dramatically increase the efficiency of instruction” (80). Right now I have some models that I have created and share during certain lessons, but they are already complete. I think Spandel’s suggestion about modeling the whole piece (or different stages of different pieces) could be a very valuable element of good practice for my writing assignments - especially at the beginning of a term. I like the idea of students suggesting a topic and me writing in front of them - what an interesting first or second day of class idea! Perhaps even typing the draft using my projector…and then over time going back and modeling my revisions etc. as they work on their own pieces, using some of the strategies in my own revision that I ask them to try. It would be a good way to illustrate that messiness is “the normal state for the writing in process” (87). I think making a list of the things that work for me and sharing that list with students is a great idea as well (89), though I think I may like the students to add to that list the things that they know or find work for them as our time together progresses (I am envisioning a handout to start followed by hanging chart paper that students can add to). This chapter gave me hope!
Debbie, I also thought about making a list of the things that work for me and asking students to add to it. that way they can begin to realize there is not one correct way to engage in the writing process. Keeping chart paper posted and watching the list grow is a great idea.
Debbie and Rebecca - couldn't agree more. Love the idea of making lists and having students add to that list will, in my opinion, make the list(s) more valuable. Going to try this in my class!
It just occurred to me as I am sitting here watching my sophomores take their final exam, that we really aren’t differentiating between creative and academic writing. One of my students came up to my desk to ask if he had to fill out the graphic organizer that I provided before writing his essay, and I told him yes, I want him to follow the process that I have decreed for this assignment.
I almost choked on the words, because it seems to at odds with what I have been reading in 9 Rights. So much of what Spandel says makes sense, because she identifies so clearly the thought processes that go into writing. Yes, I never had a teacher model writing for me; yes, I “learned” to teach writing based on what I saw my own teachers do (or not do); yes, I see how personalizing a topic creates much better writing; yes, I know it’s hard not to allow yourself to be distracted; yes, I’m feeling very uptight about the thought of modeling writing for my students; and yes, I want to keep my secrets to myself.
Even though it’s the end of the year, I have switched into planning-for-next-year mode, and this chapter has given me so much inspiration about how I’d like to adopt the strategies that Spandel suggests in this chapter. The problem is how to develop my students as writers while meeting the requirements of the curriculum, which is pretty narrowly focused.
However, I like the idea of allowing students to revise, change and abandon, and to that end I am going to give them a very open-ended writing prompt at the very beginning of the year to develop as they see fit over the course of the term (I’m not sure I can maintain their focus for a year). I might try the button prompt.
I also like the idea of inviting writers into your classroom. I actually did that once – we have a local published writer, and she was very generous with her time. My juniors really enjoyed hearing about the process. But, I invite writers into my classroom every day. Sadly, most of them are dead, but their work lives in the literature we read, and many 20th Century authors are immortalized on YouTube. This will make a great connection between literature and writing.
So, I still haven’t entirely reconciled the disconnect between academic and creative writing, but maybe if we do both, the students will make the connections that although writing can serve two masters, it is still one servant.
Anne Berthoff, author of forming, thinking, writing and The Making of Meaning, defined creative writing as any writing in which the writer made a new connection between or among ideas or thought of details in a different way. Thus, all writing is creative. Maybe that is the barrier we need to break down because I feel that Spandel, or King in On Writing, are focusing on the traditional creative writing process though creativity generates all written thought--even in those formal essays. Narrative writing is one of the domains parcc has thrust on us and perhaps we can use it as a lynchpin for all writing.
Corinne, your last thought echoes one of my own - the hope that helping students develop into good writers in general will help close the gap between our own expectations as writing teachers and our given district's requirements...that good writers will BE good writers no matter the task.
Same thoughts here Corinne - I'm also thinking if we work a bit on creative writing, as we teach the rest, it could fall into place a bit better than it has in the past. Everything I read from Spandel suggests students will enjoy writing more if we follow her strategies. I'm thinking if they enjoy writing more, the tedious writing they need to practice (PARCC related) may not seem so horrible.
Thanks for all these good ideas. Al - I can definitely see the value of creative writing through making connections. Isn't that what we ask students to do in academic writing? Debbie -- I'm going to try to be bold this year and do what I think is right, rather than what the district tells me is necessary. I hope I can make the case for its value. Bill -- I'm trying to look at the PARC prompts as opportunities. We are restructuring our writing curriculum to align more closely with what PARCC requires. I will be able to control some of those synthesis assignments in such a way to (I hope) make them meaningful.
Corinne, I like the idea of giving students a prompt to develop throughought the term. I think it's a great first step in bringing in an assignment that does not need to be finished right away and can be changed many time at a student's discretion. Since I teach younger children, I'm not sure I could hold their attention for a whole term but I'd like to try to find a place in the middle to try this idea as well. Maybe a writing journal that students can visit at any time during writing? Not sure yet.
I was intrigued by the point Spandel made that if we "manage and assess" rather than "write, share and revise" then that is all our students will learn to do. The accuracy of that statement made me wonder how I had learned to enjoy writing in the first place. Did I have teachers who modeled for me? Thinking back (it was a loooong time ago), I could not recall too many of my teachers modeling for me.
The best modeling I experienced came from my father, a teacher with a passion for writing. He was constantly reading and writing and I was always asking him questions. He encouraged me to write and rewrite, just as he did, on topics that moved me. This usually involved some social injustice that appalled me at the time. We would discuss what I had written and how to make it stronger. I had learned what worked for him.
I clearly remember working on a high school research paper at the kitchen table one night. Let's just say I was less than motivated. I'd decided to write about space, not because I had any interest in space, but because it seemed like an easy topic to find information on. I was sitting at the typewriter (yes, in the dinosaur days), pecking at the keys when he asked me what I was writing about. When I answered with "space" he got this strange look on his face and asked me, quite sarcastically, why I would write about something so boring. He told me I should change the topic. I argued that it wasn't boring and it was my paper to write. But an hour or so later, when I was still struggling to find the words, I decided he was right. I changed my topic to sexism in advertising. With that topic, I was able to truly find my voice.
I would like my students to experience the writing process as "problem solving" by involving them as I write. I can envision inviting them into my mind as I select a topic and begin to "think on paper". I can imagine showing them how I write, in a quiet environment, for a period of time. I want to share the messiness that is my revision process with them. I want to "invite them backstage". But I can also imagine that being the precise moment the dreaded unannounced observation takes place. I would, no doubt, be admonished for writing silently instead of taking a group for instruction. That vision is like having a great dream that suddenly turns into a nightmare. I know the potential power in what we are reading in Spandel's book, but it's out of my grasp for now.
I know what you mean. There is always that fear (or reality?) that the administration, especially with the new evaluation system, would misunderstand something like the silent modeling that Spandel describes. When "they" are so wrapped up in a certain program and are unwilling to trust teachers to do what they know is right for their students, our hands become tied behind our backs. It's disappointing and sells our students short. I feel fortunate that I have a very uniquely supportive administration right now, but I know that is not the case for so many teachers.
Rebecca, the idea of "manage and assess" also resonated with me because I realized that that is how I was taught. Now I see myself as a reluctant writer trying to find the right words all the time when in reality the right words are whatever works for me and the purpose of my writing. So even though the expectations of teachers to follow curriculums and standards are there isn't it also fair to say that in only choosing to manage and assess we are creating a new generation of reluctant writers? I worry that I am not teaching my students to love to write but I also worry about all the expectations.
I really like how you found your voice switching the research topic--maybe that story could be part of your planning for next year's research paper. You are lucky to have had such an interested mentor who modeled writing for you. I am not sure an unannounced observation would be negative if you were supplying a model or an exemplar for the student though I do not know the mind set of your administrators. If you had portfolios, your own included, they certainly would be part of the observation. Maybe we can do a write-aloud-think-aloud type of modeling. It might work for short, quick writes or something of that sort. Or maybe you could give the students one of your messy drafts and ask them to write about how they thought it came to be. That way you wouldn't be writing silently when the unannounced visitor came into the room and the lesson would be student-centered.
I agree with Al - I think this type of unannounced observation it exactly what administrations need to see. Think of modeling as Spandel suggests, for about fifteen minutes. And if you're showing what you are doing on the projector, administration may reward you for it! Good luck.
Spandel writes If a picture is worth a thousand words, modeling is worth a thousand pictures.(79). I both understand and agree with her statement, but to me, modeling can be a difficult process. I, like other teachers I’m sure, look for step by step processes to model concepts, i.e., algorithms, reciprocal reading, etc. It has been difficult for me to find a process to teach effective writing. Actually, I stand corrected. It’s easy to find a process. The difficulty arises when we have to teach it effectively.
I’ve been through WEX, Four Square, John Collins, 6 traits, etc. with my district and I haven’t experienced any stellar writers emerge in my classroom. Clearly it’s me ( …my constant thought) or maybe I just need a new process?.
After reading this chapter I am realizing it’s not all about the process, it’s about allowing students to experience the process. I love the process; assign, explain, provide samples, model yet the way I believe Spandel would teach it is what excites me. It requires modeling each time you provide a new strategy. It also comes with some exemplars to ensure you’re on target. If I happen to be modeling a strategy and my work seems a bit off, that’s OK, simply model what to do next – possibly scratch everything and start over, change a direction of your thinking to go down a different path, or actually ask your students what could be done. I liked the fifteen minute example she shared with us and to me, it does seem doable. I’m sure with time and experience, just like writing, our modeling will be amazing.
You raise a good point that whatever errors we make we simply acknowledge them and carry on...all in the name of good modeling. I did WEX one year as well and I actually thought it had some decent lessons. The stellar writers emerge years later. You are simply laying the foundation.
Spandel writes about how every writer needs "an ideal writing environment" (84) though we as teachers are responsible for providing it. Many of my students have no aquarium to sit next to, no pet to sit upon their laps. they have overcrowded houses, noisy streets and sometimes insurmountable obstacles. Unlike Mario Puzo they can not sit inside and watch "Hell's Kitchen" through a window. Hell's Kitchen is in their houses. Spandel has made me think more of how to re-structurew my room, to use a double sided bookshelf as a contour for a writing area. (Yes, the studnemay be reading as a means to gathering information for their writing.)
Spandel has also made me think more about assessing writing versus evaluating it and I will repace my writing folders with portfolios next year. Students then will have the choice to rifle through their work and revise, re-discover, their ideas and put them into a form. I do wonder what type of self-evaluation I coud attach to the portfolio so that students could also express their own views on their writing and even on other students' writing--or on my writing. If I am modeling, I too should keep a portfolio. I am sure they will find some messy and inane scribbling in my portfolio.Maybe then they will become voracious writers and their writing will resound with voice,
Al - I like how you intend to restructure your room. As an elementary teacher I am constantly creating nooks and crannies in my room for reading/writing, etc. It's nice to see someone teaching the higher grades realizing that we all, regardless of age, appreciate an area designed for a specific purpose. much more inviting.
We used to keep paper portfolios in our department. Students were given the opportunity to place two (or more) of their favorite pieces of writing in the folder at the end of the year, and it followed them throughout their school careers. One of their favorite days of the year came when they reviewed their folders and looked back at their work over the years. These folders weren't necessarily "portfolios" that showed the various types of work that Spandel talks about, but they were a chronicle of growth.
As I reflect on them now, the students really enjoyed looking at their past work, and I think that maybe, at least on that one day, they saw themselves as writers. I think that writers do need to go back and review what they have done, whether it's good or bad or indifferent. It's part of the idea-generating process.
However, we no longer keep portfolios -- we didn't move them to the new school, and while we are in the planning stages of creating digital portfolios, I don't believe they will have the same tactile pleasure as the old ones did.
I enjoyed reading most of this chapter because modeling my own writing for students is one of the most powerful teaching tools I've used when it comes to writing. It makes feel me vulnerable to share my work and process but I think it helps the kids to trust me as a writing teacher and mentor. Going back to the art analogy, modeling writing is a lot like modeling drawing (or any other craft for that matter) for students. When you see someone DO it, it makes a lot more sense and feels like something you can also accomplish.
Spandel mentions that, at writing workshops, she asks "How many of you saw your own teachers write?" I thought about the question and could think of one teacher who modeled writing for me and my peers in middle and high school. There was a teacher who conferenced with us from time to time, but that was the extent of any explicit instruction. I believe most of these teachers meant well, but they did not teach me how to write through modeling. If they had, I'm sure I would have been far more successful.
On page 80, Spandel gives us an example of how she has modeled writing for students in the past. I thought that was an excellent way to show teachers who might not be comfortable with the process how to "think-aloud" while modeling. Although it can feel awkward at first, it really does help students understand how to get from point A to point B.
In Jim Burke's writer's notebook excerpt, he mentions how important it is for him to do some or even all of the work that he gives his students…that this is one of the ways for him to really understand what it is he asks of them. He says that students have the "right to learn from someone who understands the complexities of the craft they are struggling to master." (p. 92) It is so important to be practitioners of the craft we teach. I want to do this as much as possible, especially in the area of literary analysis since this can be so challenging for students.
I think you're right about how sharing work and process can help the kids to trust us as teachers, not just because it helps them get from point A to point B but also because for some students it may also help to make the work more relevant. "Why do I need to know this?" is such a common question (and not just in English classes), but demonstrating relevance through our own thinking and modeling can bring things home for students in a new way.
As I was reading, I ran across this. The writer is asking if she shares too much when she models writing for her class. I found it relevant to chapter 6. http://www.ethicalela.com/oversharing/
Thanks for the link! I think it goes along with what Jeri is saying. The author's students seem to trust her more because she became more of a person with an actual life rather than simply another face in the front of the classroom. I am curious about how/if that level of sharing brought about better writing from her students; she mentions their comments about her own writing, and she feels they want to reciprocate, but it left me wondering a little if opening herself up so much led to the end result she was looking for.
I too would have been sitting in that audience with my hands resting on my lap. I do not ever remember seeing a teacher write while I was writing. Nor do I ever remember seeing a teacher model a piece of writing that was personally important to them. I agree with Spandel that modeling writing is an invaluable strategy, and that good modeling is about showing the students the strategies and the behaviors that we employ as we write. It felt good to read that Spandel also lacks the mental dexterity to write and talk at the same time. Another statement that resonated with me as well was"Writing comes from who we are; modeling must begin with sharing ourselves and what interests us- rather than asking students, "What interests you?" So, if we allow our students some freedom to write about their passions, those passions can help teach them about writing. I do plan on bringing most of what I read in this chapter into my classroom come September. I am going to model at least one piece of writing that is personally important to me through the entire writing process. I am also going to allow more time for writing.
Tracie, I am also going to try to allow more time for writing. However, I'm concerned about how I'm going to pull it off. 80% of the students that I will have next year are going to be struggling readers. It's so important for me to give them a lot of reading time and I'm concerned that it would throw things off balance. When Spandel mentions that students should be writing everyday for at least 30 minutes, I felt pretty discouraged. I think this is where other content areas can help though. A school-wide approach, at least in theory, can really make a lot of this possible.
I've modeled writing with students, but not really revision. I think it's a great idea, but I'm struggling with how it would work in a class. How do you keep a class quiet and engaged while watching a teacher write for as long as 15 minutes? Could this be done in any high school classroom? Would it be something that starts with 2-3 minute increments and eventually moves up to 15 minutes or more? Any of you folks have ideas?
I was thinking about this as well...if you write while they write (only you are writing using a projector perhaps so students can see it happening) then that can be productive for everybody. I was thinking that for revisions, at first it may just be thinking aloud about word choice, or not liking the way a sentence sounds and then changing it, but eventually, I am hoping to use my own writing to show different revision techniques I would like them to try as well. I think it will be the think alouds that really demonstrate what it means to revise, and those don't have to take too long for students to get a sense of what you are doing. I think the whole modeling process will be trial and error - just like writing :)
I agree with Debbie about the trial-and-error bit of modeling. You could also partially prep the revisions beforehand. Have the essay partially revised, show them what you've done, then keep working through the essay with them. That way they see the whole paper marked up, but hopefully will remain engaged in the time you spend revising in class.
I was surprised by the information on the first two pages of the article that stated how little time is spent on writing and the reality that students "are starting over with each new instructor." When I looked at the four levels of instruction on page 79, it was clear to me that my instruction skips two of the steps. Level 1--Assign: Many of us have mandatory prompts so this step is done for us. "Explain Juliet's fears in her soliloquy." Level 2--Explain: In my experience, this is often a graphic organizer where students are instructed to find a quote from the book and place it in one box, then explain it in another. I believe this part of the process could be improved. The next step, Level 3--Provide samples: I believe this is what students are doing when they copy and paste an online essay. I hesitate to show students a sample because I honestly want to know what they're thinking, but also because I fear they will copy. Sometimes what I do is pass out a student essay and go through it but collect it before they leave class. However, showing the finished sample may not be as helpful as Level 4--Model: How the writing looks as it's going together. Perhaps level 3 and 4 just need to be reversed. One strategy I would like to add to the list on page 90 is dictation. Many times I've had a struggling student stay after school to work on an essay. I tell them to tell me what they know about the subject, and I begin typing. Sometimes I ask another question, but in every case the student is surprised that there are sentences on the page, and the page is no longer blank! Now, this doesn't mean that the student is finished, but at least there is a start. Of course, this strategy is difficult to apply to a full classroom, but also isn't there a speech-to-text feature available for Microsoft Word? This chapter gave me a lot to think about!
For the first time, I feel like I left this chapter with an action plan. I have enjoyed the chapters thus far but I feel that my reflections always consist of myself beating up myself on what I could do to be better, and usually I am trying to fix all the problems of the writing teacher's world instead of just giving myself one tip on how to become better and hopefully more effective.
I agree with Spandel's claim that teachers of writing need to model. I can say that I do model writing for my students. When I model writing however I model a piece of writing based on a text we've read or a pre-determined topic. I give my students the opportunity to see me write and usually they will hear me think aloud about word choice or content mostly. So what little tidbit really stuck out to me in this chapter? I realized I need to take this idea of modeling but show my students a more authentic experience of writing. I need to not plan what I'm going to write before I arrive at school and I need to provide more modeling based on my own interests and not just on texts I have found interesting. I loved the idea of having students name five topics and choosing one to go with from there. There is so much to teach students in terms of writing but there is a lot to pull from our own writing that we can cover. As I look forward to next year, modeling a piece of personal writing is going on my to do list.
I'm sorry this is so late, everybody! What sticks in my mind after reading this chapter is that I need to personalize the writing process for my students. Especially with the younger grades, I give them examples of everything, but nothing that I make myself. Part of it is I feel that I should focus on the content of the classroom, that no one wants to hear about me personally. However, if I am to make the writing process real to my students, I need to make myself real to them as well. They need to see my strengths and weaknesses in writing. Not being comfortable talking about myself can be considered a weakness, and one I can improve on through sharing my writing process with students. I also like the idea in the writer's notebook of testing out an assignment myself before assigning it. I think that would be extremely beneficial, and will incorporate it into my teaching going forward.
Spandel Chapter 6 Reflection
ReplyDeleteThe Right to See Others Write
And here is the chapter that addresses what I have noticed in my reflections from this book is a common thread: what can I be doing to make things stick? Clearly my goal needs to be to do more modeling as it makes complete sense to me that doing so will “dramatically increase the efficiency of instruction” (80). Right now I have some models that I have created and share during certain lessons, but they are already complete. I think Spandel’s suggestion about modeling the whole piece (or different stages of different pieces) could be a very valuable element of good practice for my writing assignments - especially at the beginning of a term. I like the idea of students suggesting a topic and me writing in front of them - what an interesting first or second day of class idea! Perhaps even typing the draft using my projector…and then over time going back and modeling my revisions etc. as they work on their own pieces, using some of the strategies in my own revision that I ask them to try. It would be a good way to illustrate that messiness is “the normal state for the writing in process” (87). I think making a list of the things that work for me and sharing that list with students is a great idea as well (89), though I think I may like the students to add to that list the things that they know or find work for them as our time together progresses (I am envisioning a handout to start followed by hanging chart paper that students can add to). This chapter gave me hope!
Debbie, I also thought about making a list of the things that work for me and asking students to add to it. that way they can begin to realize there is not one correct way to engage in the writing process. Keeping chart paper posted and watching the list grow is a great idea.
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DeleteDebbie and Rebecca - couldn't agree more. Love the idea of making lists and having students add to that list will, in my opinion, make the list(s) more valuable. Going to try this in my class!
DeleteIt just occurred to me as I am sitting here watching my sophomores take their final exam, that we really aren’t differentiating between creative and academic writing. One of my students came up to my desk to ask if he had to fill out the graphic organizer that I provided before writing his essay, and I told him yes, I want him to follow the process that I have decreed for this assignment.
ReplyDeleteI almost choked on the words, because it seems to at odds with what I have been reading in 9 Rights. So much of what Spandel says makes sense, because she identifies so clearly the thought processes that go into writing. Yes, I never had a teacher model writing for me; yes, I “learned” to teach writing based on what I saw my own teachers do (or not do); yes, I see how personalizing a topic creates much better writing; yes, I know it’s hard not to allow yourself to be distracted; yes, I’m feeling very uptight about the thought of modeling writing for my students; and yes, I want to keep my secrets to myself.
Even though it’s the end of the year, I have switched into planning-for-next-year mode, and this chapter has given me so much inspiration about how I’d like to adopt the strategies that Spandel suggests in this chapter. The problem is how to develop my students as writers while meeting the requirements of the curriculum, which is pretty narrowly focused.
However, I like the idea of allowing students to revise, change and abandon, and to that end I am going to give them a very open-ended writing prompt at the very beginning of the year to develop as they see fit over the course of the term (I’m not sure I can maintain their focus for a year). I might try the button prompt.
I also like the idea of inviting writers into your classroom. I actually did that once – we have a local published writer, and she was very generous with her time. My juniors really enjoyed hearing about the process. But, I invite writers into my classroom every day. Sadly, most of them are dead, but their work lives in the literature we read, and many 20th Century authors are immortalized on YouTube. This will make a great connection between literature and writing.
So, I still haven’t entirely reconciled the disconnect between academic and creative writing, but maybe if we do both, the students will make the connections that although writing can serve two masters, it is still one servant.
Anne Berthoff, author of forming, thinking, writing and The Making of Meaning, defined creative writing as any writing in which the writer made a new connection between or among ideas or thought of details in a different way. Thus, all writing is creative. Maybe that is the barrier we need to break down because I feel that Spandel, or King in On Writing, are focusing on the traditional creative writing process though creativity generates all written thought--even in those formal essays. Narrative writing is one of the domains parcc has thrust on us and perhaps we can use it as a lynchpin for all writing.
DeleteCorinne, your last thought echoes one of my own - the hope that helping students develop into good writers in general will help close the gap between our own expectations as writing teachers and our given district's requirements...that good writers will BE good writers no matter the task.
DeleteSame thoughts here Corinne - I'm also thinking if we work a bit on creative writing, as we teach the rest, it could fall into place a bit better than it has in the past. Everything I read from Spandel suggests students will enjoy writing more if we follow her strategies. I'm thinking if they enjoy writing more, the tedious writing they need to practice (PARCC related) may not seem so horrible.
DeleteThanks for all these good ideas. Al - I can definitely see the value of creative writing through making connections. Isn't that what we ask students to do in academic writing? Debbie -- I'm going to try to be bold this year and do what I think is right, rather than what the district tells me is necessary. I hope I can make the case for its value. Bill -- I'm trying to look at the PARC prompts as opportunities. We are restructuring our writing curriculum to align more closely with what PARCC requires. I will be able to control some of those synthesis assignments in such a way to (I hope) make them meaningful.
DeleteCorinne, I like the idea of giving students a prompt to develop throughought the term. I think it's a great first step in bringing in an assignment that does not need to be finished right away and can be changed many time at a student's discretion. Since I teach younger children, I'm not sure I could hold their attention for a whole term but I'd like to try to find a place in the middle to try this idea as well. Maybe a writing journal that students can visit at any time during writing? Not sure yet.
DeleteI was intrigued by the point Spandel made that if we "manage and assess" rather than "write, share and revise" then that is all our students will learn to do. The accuracy of that statement made me wonder how I had learned to enjoy writing in the first place. Did I have teachers who modeled for me? Thinking back (it was a loooong time ago), I could not recall too many of my teachers modeling for me.
ReplyDeleteThe best modeling I experienced came from my father, a teacher with a passion for writing. He was constantly reading and writing and I was always asking him questions. He encouraged me to write and rewrite, just as he did, on topics that moved me. This usually involved some social injustice that appalled me at the time. We would discuss what I had written and how to make it stronger. I had learned what worked for him.
I clearly remember working on a high school research paper at the kitchen table one night. Let's just say I was less than motivated. I'd decided to write about space, not because I had any interest in space, but because it seemed like an easy topic to find information on. I was sitting at the typewriter (yes, in the dinosaur days), pecking at the keys when he asked me what I was writing about. When I answered with "space" he got this strange look on his face and asked me, quite sarcastically, why I would write about something so boring. He told me I should change the topic. I argued that it wasn't boring and it was my paper to write. But an hour or so later, when I was still struggling to find the words, I decided he was right. I changed my topic to sexism in advertising. With that topic, I was able to truly find my voice.
I would like my students to experience the writing process as "problem solving" by involving them as I write. I can envision inviting them into my mind as I select a topic and begin to "think on paper". I can imagine showing them how I write, in a quiet environment, for a period of time. I want to share the messiness that is my revision process with them. I want to "invite them backstage". But I can also imagine that being the precise moment the dreaded unannounced observation takes place. I would, no doubt, be admonished for writing silently instead of taking a group for instruction. That vision is like having a great dream that suddenly turns into a nightmare. I know the potential power in what we are reading in Spandel's book, but it's out of my grasp for now.
Rebecca,
DeleteI know what you mean. There is always that fear (or reality?) that the administration, especially with the new evaluation system, would misunderstand something like the silent modeling that Spandel describes. When "they" are so wrapped up in a certain program and are unwilling to trust teachers to do what they know is right for their students, our hands become tied behind our backs. It's disappointing and sells our students short. I feel fortunate that I have a very uniquely supportive administration right now, but I know that is not the case for so many teachers.
Rebecca, the idea of "manage and assess" also resonated with me because I realized that that is how I was taught. Now I see myself as a reluctant writer trying to find the right words all the time when in reality the right words are whatever works for me and the purpose of my writing. So even though the expectations of teachers to follow curriculums and standards are there isn't it also fair to say that in only choosing to manage and assess we are creating a new generation of reluctant writers? I worry that I am not teaching my students to love to write but I also worry about all the expectations.
DeleteI really like how you found your voice switching the research topic--maybe that story could be part of your planning for next year's research paper. You are lucky to have had such an interested mentor who modeled writing for you. I am not sure an unannounced observation would be negative if you were supplying a model or an exemplar for the student though I do not know the mind set of your administrators. If you had portfolios, your own included, they certainly would be part of the observation. Maybe we can do a write-aloud-think-aloud type of modeling. It might work for short, quick writes or something of that sort. Or maybe you could give the students one of your messy drafts and ask them to write about how they thought it came to be. That way you wouldn't be writing silently when the unannounced visitor came into the room and the lesson would be student-centered.
ReplyDeleteGood ideas. Thanks!
DeleteI agree with Al - I think this type of unannounced observation it exactly what administrations need to see. Think of modeling as Spandel suggests, for about fifteen minutes. And if you're showing what you are doing on the projector, administration may reward you for it! Good luck.
DeleteSpandel writes If a picture is worth a thousand words, modeling is worth a thousand pictures.(79). I both understand and agree with her statement, but to me, modeling can be a difficult process. I, like other teachers I’m sure, look for step by step processes to model concepts, i.e., algorithms, reciprocal reading, etc. It has been difficult for me to find a process to teach effective writing. Actually, I stand corrected. It’s easy to find a process. The difficulty arises when we have to teach it effectively.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been through WEX, Four Square, John Collins, 6 traits, etc. with my district and I haven’t experienced any stellar writers emerge in my classroom. Clearly it’s me ( …my constant thought) or maybe I just need a new process?.
After reading this chapter I am realizing it’s not all about the process, it’s about allowing students to experience the process. I love the process; assign, explain, provide samples, model yet the way I believe Spandel would teach it is what excites me. It requires modeling each time you provide a new strategy. It also comes with some exemplars to ensure you’re on target. If I happen to be modeling a strategy and my work seems a bit off, that’s OK, simply model what to do next – possibly scratch everything and start over, change a direction of your thinking to go down a different path, or actually ask your students what could be done. I liked the fifteen minute example she shared with us and to me, it does seem doable. I’m sure with time and experience, just like writing, our modeling will be amazing.
You raise a good point that whatever errors we make we simply acknowledge them and carry on...all in the name of good modeling. I did WEX one year as well and I actually thought it had some decent lessons. The stellar writers emerge years later. You are simply laying the foundation.
ReplyDeleteSpandel writes about how every writer needs "an ideal writing environment" (84) though we as teachers are responsible for providing it. Many of my students have no aquarium to sit next to, no pet to sit upon their laps. they have overcrowded houses, noisy streets and sometimes insurmountable obstacles. Unlike Mario Puzo they can not sit inside and watch "Hell's Kitchen" through a window. Hell's Kitchen is in their houses. Spandel has made me think more of how to re-structurew my room, to use a double sided bookshelf as a contour for a writing area. (Yes, the studnemay be reading as a means to gathering information for their writing.)
ReplyDeleteSpandel has also made me think more about assessing writing versus evaluating it and I will repace my writing folders with portfolios next year. Students then will have the choice to rifle through their work and revise, re-discover, their ideas and put them into a form. I do wonder what type of self-evaluation I coud attach to the portfolio so that students could also express their own views on their writing and even on other students' writing--or on my writing. If I am modeling, I too should keep a portfolio. I am sure they will find some messy and inane scribbling in my portfolio.Maybe then they will become voracious writers and their writing will resound with voice,
Al - I like how you intend to restructure your room. As an elementary teacher I am constantly creating nooks and crannies in my room for reading/writing, etc. It's nice to see someone teaching the higher grades realizing that we all, regardless of age, appreciate an area designed for a specific purpose. much more inviting.
DeleteWe used to keep paper portfolios in our department. Students were given the opportunity to place two (or more) of their favorite pieces of writing in the folder at the end of the year, and it followed them throughout their school careers. One of their favorite days of the year came when they reviewed their folders and looked back at their work over the years. These folders weren't necessarily "portfolios" that showed the various types of work that Spandel talks about, but they were a chronicle of growth.
DeleteAs I reflect on them now, the students really enjoyed looking at their past work, and I think that maybe, at least on that one day, they saw themselves as writers. I think that writers do need to go back and review what they have done, whether it's good or bad or indifferent. It's part of the idea-generating process.
However, we no longer keep portfolios -- we didn't move them to the new school, and while we are in the planning stages of creating digital portfolios, I don't believe they will have the same tactile pleasure as the old ones did.
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ReplyDeleteJeri's Reflection - Spandel - Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteSorry this one is late, folks!
I enjoyed reading most of this chapter because modeling my own writing for students is one of the most powerful teaching tools I've used when it comes to writing. It makes feel me vulnerable to share my work and process but I think it helps the kids to trust me as a writing teacher and mentor. Going back to the art analogy, modeling writing is a lot like modeling drawing (or any other craft for that matter) for students. When you see someone DO it, it makes a lot more sense and feels like something you can also accomplish.
Spandel mentions that, at writing workshops, she asks "How many of you saw your own teachers write?" I thought about the question and could think of one teacher who modeled writing for me and my peers in middle and high school. There was a teacher who conferenced with us from time to time, but that was the extent of any explicit instruction. I believe most of these teachers meant well, but they did not teach me how to write through modeling. If they had, I'm sure I would have been far more successful.
On page 80, Spandel gives us an example of how she has modeled writing for students in the past. I thought that was an excellent way to show teachers who might not be comfortable with the process how to "think-aloud" while modeling. Although it can feel awkward at first, it really does help students understand how to get from point A to point B.
In Jim Burke's writer's notebook excerpt, he mentions how important it is for him to do some or even all of the work that he gives his students…that this is one of the ways for him to really understand what it is he asks of them. He says that students have the "right to learn from someone who understands the complexities of the craft they are struggling to master." (p. 92) It is so important to be practitioners of the craft we teach. I want to do this as much as possible, especially in the area of literary analysis since this can be so challenging for students.
I think you're right about how sharing work and process can help the kids to trust us as teachers, not just because it helps them get from point A to point B but also because for some students it may also help to make the work more relevant. "Why do I need to know this?" is such a common question (and not just in English classes), but demonstrating relevance through our own thinking and modeling can bring things home for students in a new way.
DeleteAs I was reading, I ran across this. The writer is asking if she shares too much when she models writing for her class. I found it relevant to chapter 6.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ethicalela.com/oversharing/
Thanks for the link! I think it goes along with what Jeri is saying. The author's students seem to trust her more because she became more of a person with an actual life rather than simply another face in the front of the classroom. I am curious about how/if that level of sharing brought about better writing from her students; she mentions their comments about her own writing, and she feels they want to reciprocate, but it left me wondering a little if opening herself up so much led to the end result she was looking for.
DeleteDebbie, I was wondering the same thing and also thought it went with Jeri's post.
DeleteI too would have been sitting in that audience with my hands resting on my lap. I do not ever remember seeing a teacher write while I was writing. Nor do I ever remember seeing a teacher model a piece of writing that was personally important to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Spandel that modeling writing is an invaluable strategy, and that good modeling is about showing the students the strategies and the behaviors that we employ as we write. It felt good to read that Spandel also lacks the mental dexterity to write and talk at the same time.
Another statement that resonated with me as well was"Writing comes from who we are; modeling must begin with sharing ourselves and what interests us- rather than asking students, "What interests you?" So, if we allow our students some freedom to write about their passions, those passions can help teach them about writing.
I do plan on bringing most of what I read in this chapter into my classroom come September. I am going to model at least one piece of writing that is personally important to me through the entire writing process. I am also going to allow more time for writing.
Tracie,
DeleteI am also going to try to allow more time for writing. However, I'm concerned about how I'm going to pull it off. 80% of the students that I will have next year are going to be struggling readers. It's so important for me to give them a lot of reading time and I'm concerned that it would throw things off balance. When Spandel mentions that students should be writing everyday for at least 30 minutes, I felt pretty discouraged. I think this is where other content areas can help though. A school-wide approach, at least in theory, can really make a lot of this possible.
I've modeled writing with students, but not really revision. I think it's a great idea, but I'm struggling with how it would work in a class. How do you keep a class quiet and engaged while watching a teacher write for as long as 15 minutes? Could this be done in any high school classroom? Would it be something that starts with 2-3 minute increments and eventually moves up to 15 minutes or more? Any of you folks have ideas?
ReplyDeleteI think 15 minutes would be tough to pull-off. Maybe five minutes at a time broken up with think-alouds in between?
DeleteI was thinking about this as well...if you write while they write (only you are writing using a projector perhaps so students can see it happening) then that can be productive for everybody. I was thinking that for revisions, at first it may just be thinking aloud about word choice, or not liking the way a sentence sounds and then changing it, but eventually, I am hoping to use my own writing to show different revision techniques I would like them to try as well. I think it will be the think alouds that really demonstrate what it means to revise, and those don't have to take too long for students to get a sense of what you are doing. I think the whole modeling process will be trial and error - just like writing :)
DeleteI agree with Debbie about the trial-and-error bit of modeling. You could also partially prep the revisions beforehand. Have the essay partially revised, show them what you've done, then keep working through the essay with them. That way they see the whole paper marked up, but hopefully will remain engaged in the time you spend revising in class.
DeleteI was surprised by the information on the first two pages of the article that stated how little time is spent on writing and the reality that students "are starting over with each new instructor."
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at the four levels of instruction on page 79, it was clear to me that my instruction skips two of the steps. Level 1--Assign: Many of us have mandatory prompts so this step is done for us. "Explain Juliet's fears in her soliloquy." Level 2--Explain: In my experience, this is often a graphic organizer where students are instructed to find a quote from the book and place it in one box, then explain it in another. I believe this part of the process could be improved. The next step, Level 3--Provide samples: I believe this is what students are doing when they copy and paste an online essay. I hesitate to show students a sample because I honestly want to know what they're thinking, but also because I fear they will copy. Sometimes what I do is pass out a student essay and go through it but collect it before they leave class. However, showing the finished sample may not be as helpful as Level 4--Model: How the writing looks as it's going together. Perhaps level 3 and 4 just need to be reversed.
One strategy I would like to add to the list on page 90 is dictation. Many times I've had a struggling student stay after school to work on an essay. I tell them to tell me what they know about the subject, and I begin typing. Sometimes I ask another question, but in every case the student is surprised that there are sentences on the page, and the page is no longer blank! Now, this doesn't mean that the student is finished, but at least there is a start. Of course, this strategy is difficult to apply to a full classroom, but also isn't there a speech-to-text feature available for Microsoft Word?
This chapter gave me a lot to think about!
For the first time, I feel like I left this chapter with an action plan. I have enjoyed the chapters thus far but I feel that my reflections always consist of myself beating up myself on what I could do to be better, and usually I am trying to fix all the problems of the writing teacher's world instead of just giving myself one tip on how to become better and hopefully more effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Spandel's claim that teachers of writing need to model. I can say that I do model writing for my students. When I model writing however I model a piece of writing based on a text we've read or a pre-determined topic. I give my students the opportunity to see me write and usually they will hear me think aloud about word choice or content mostly. So what little tidbit really stuck out to me in this chapter? I realized I need to take this idea of modeling but show my students a more authentic experience of writing. I need to not plan what I'm going to write before I arrive at school and I need to provide more modeling based on my own interests and not just on texts I have found interesting. I loved the idea of having students name five topics and choosing one to go with from there. There is so much to teach students in terms of writing but there is a lot to pull from our own writing that we can cover. As I look forward to next year, modeling a piece of personal writing is going on my to do list.
I'm sorry this is so late, everybody! What sticks in my mind after reading this chapter is that I need to personalize the writing process for my students. Especially with the younger grades, I give them examples of everything, but nothing that I make myself. Part of it is I feel that I should focus on the content of the classroom, that no one wants to hear about me personally. However, if I am to make the writing process real to my students, I need to make myself real to them as well. They need to see my strengths and weaknesses in writing. Not being comfortable talking about myself can be considered a weakness, and one I can improve on through sharing my writing process with students. I also like the idea in the writer's notebook of testing out an assignment myself before assigning it. I think that would be extremely beneficial, and will incorporate it into my teaching going forward.
ReplyDelete