To say that the literacy narrative was both a challange and fun is not a contradiction. It is also not hyperbole. The assignment forced me to take an introspective look at my own education and growth. That was the challenge. Once I had managed to sift through the madness, I was able to flex my creative muscles: the fun part.

The iSearch threw me for a loop. I was determined to write about jazz, and instead fell victim to 16th century lore:







Through it all, week in and week out, were the blogs. At first, I limited myself to surface analysis of the readings. Gradually, I was able to slay my airfreshener vampire. Farting and Batman were the result:



While all of the exercises were unique, fun, and challenging, the greatest utility was gleaned from the insight each provided into how to structure a productive writing class that not only gets student writing, but perhaps more importantly, gets students interested in the craft of writing.

Posted for Mark

Mark Johnson
Blog 11

First, I must comment on something of which I am all too aware: I picked a really bad time to become a teacher. Imagine—for all of you young, inspiring, future teachers reading this—growing up in a time when computer s were, in existence, yes, but huge and scary and almost something from science fiction books. Now imagine starting teaching career years later and trying to play catch up. I mean it is not that I have no aptitude for today’s technological wave. I am carried along the artery of perpetual advancement into the future with the rest of you. My only disadvantage is having come from one very different era and ending up in this cyber-techno world; your advantage is that you do not know the comparison between the two eras.
Herrington’s and Moran’s tour, through the blindingly fast “evolution” of our writing systems, has forced upon us--however reluctantly for many older folks —the need for a newer pedagogy. I mean, imagine how educators used one system for long periods of time. Now it seems the beginning of a perpetual need for a changing pedagogy at a rapid rate and smaller intervals of time between newer systems. This, my friend, is the negative to all of the presupposed virtues of the great wizard, the great “Apollonius” of our time, technology (Keats). And this, this, would prove the division between the relic teachers of print composition and the windfall of technology.
We are fortunate, though, to witness writing in a multi-dimensional way. What tools we have with classroom equipped with computer labs, networking ideas across the once seemingly unbridgeable chasms of distance, culture, time. Everything is at the writers fingers. But do the basics of composition even have a place today? I am alleging that they should. Are we witnessing “better” or more capable writers today, even with all of the tools out there?
For all you perspective teachers, consider Vitgotsky’s “cultural tools”. I think we can consider the technology we are using and beginning to use in writing education as some of these tools. The question as to whether or not these “tools” have a place in a child’s cognitive development or not does not so much concern my thinking on this subject as does how much of these tools should make up the greater portion of a child’s cognitive development. Well, like it or not—as far as you “older” educators are concerned—these tools have a definite place.
The social aspect of writing, the seemingly limitless meaning of expressing meaning—as with the hyperlink access of students which the chapter describes, most certainly leaves little room for lack of imagination for the student writer. Or does it?

Herrington

I chose to work with chapter 6 because of the relevancy, I feel, it has to my position in an urban school. "To teach reading and writing in a global world, we need to follow our students' lead into a new understanding of media as text," (Herringon 93). My initial impression of working in an urban setting had me thinking that many of these kids would not have access to technology (camera phones, personal computers, etc.), but boy, was I wrong. I realized that they may not OWN all of these gadgets, but they certainly are resourceful enough to find access. I discovered this the day after an out-of-school fight was being investigated and it came out that a few of the students recorded it on their phones and uploaded it to the internet via YouTube.
This got me thinking about a way in which my students can be reached. I'll be going down a tiny rabit-hole with this tangent, but bear with me. Many students are either late or absent, causing their parents to pay heavy fines due to truancy laws within the district. By using technology, why not give the students an option to log into a webinar or some type of online medium (YouTube, etc.) where they can still view the lesson and at least reduce the amount of fine for their parents. There should be lots of verifications regarding the student's participation (quizzes, writing an essay, etc.), but it is sad to me when a child doesn't care if their parent goes to jail because of their truancy. I'm done.
Now, in dealing with poetry, I have a unique niche because many of my students love rap music, which is really poetry set to a beat. By using rap as a gateway to other forms of poetry, hopefully students will be able to see the connection between the two and understand that without poetry, there would really be no rap. The following objectives Herrington listed can be applied to my setting:
Appreciation of the art, as well as the pleasure of poetry: What do they enjoy about poetry (or rap music)? How does it make them feel? Does it make things easy to memorized if used as a test-preparation strategy?
Understanding of how sound, image, and words are integrated in poems and videos: How do the images used in rap videos affect them? Do they inspire? Do they offend? How do they represent their culture? Is it accurate? How have these images influence their cultures?
Ability to interpret and analyze poetry: What does this song mean to you? Could it mean something different to someone else? Symbolism?
Ability to write and talk about poetry: Students may write their own raps and use software to create a beat. They can then present them to the class for extra credit.
Confidence as writers and readers of poetry: Discuss their insecurities. Brainstorm what we can do to help them build from that.
I hope that regardless of my age, I can always stay relevant with and to my students. I think that once teachers float into that out-of-touch atmosphere, it becomes dangerous and the possibily of "losing" students can become a reality. By allowing them to learn from mediums that interest them can only benefit both teacher and student by making teaching easier and learning less intimidating.

Chapter 5 got my attention, mostly because of our "lives" blogging in this class. I have to wonder, though- we have been blogging in a postsecondary setting, so how will this work in secondary settings? As I have mentioned, not all of my students have personal computers, so logistically-speaking, this may have to be an assignment they complete in computer class. Although, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, considering writing across the curriculum (wac) is becoming a huge trend in schools. The way I may incorporate this assignment into my classroom would start with something less personal: perhaps allowing the students to choose prompts from our "Unjournaling" book. After they understand how bloggin works, we can move to more personal topics such as personal reactions to texts or discussions in class.
I believe there IS a place for blogging in the classroom, but it must be understood that certain ettiquete must be present and respect for others and self still apply. I hope that with more grants for urban schools to buy laptops, that this blogging assignment will become more realistic, because I think students would benefit from seeing others writing, as well as putting theirs out to their peers for feedback and reflection.

Technology and Blogging

Critical Warning

I'm not so sure I like the use newer technologies in the classroom or for use in general. Chapter 9 talks about the use of powerpoint slides. A picture or slideshow can be a nice visual tool or aid, but technology can easily become a crutch. Four-function calculators often take the place of actually doing simple arithmetic. Is using only newer technology the lesson? While learning about technology has some uses; the few jobs ever used what was taught in my classes. Different software is often the case.

Not only is technology a crutch a problem, but technology is also a big pain, especially with all the "newer" updates. Windows 7 seems way slower than Windows XP. The slow networks make it hard to use the internet to look up how to disable the new "snap" feature. Such a simple task should not have to take more than one hour . . . :(. Other problems quickly arise too. Uninstalling a trial version of Office 2007 also removed Office 2003 on my machine. Now opening a docx file is hard enough using a doc file, and near impossible with a rich text format (unless you can figure out how it is coded . . .). Why is my own docx file read only when I try to open it to make changes? Why save the file again just to change a punctuation mark? Why is copying and pasting from the internet to word (2010) so easy and posting from word 2010 to this blog so hard? Technology has become both a dependency as a crutch and has become a real pain to use. There is enough vested interest from recycled misinformation in text books, and the educational system really does not need more vested interests from failed newer software from the same corporations.

Despite all this, technology can be a powerful tool if implemented and used properly. The kitty sniper picture on page 30 is hilarious.

Blogging

Blogging is unique. (Chapter 5) Having personally experienced many blogs this semester, blogging seems very useful in teaching writing. Even after posting, modifying and editing blogs is simple. Blogs also help form connections and interactions between people. Even without comments, reading others' blogs is still interesting to see what others wrote and why. I think blogs are both interesting and useful as a writing teacher.

Blog 11, I think

5. Be a Blogger: Social Networking in the Classroom

I chose this chapter as my first article because blogging is something that has intertwined itself into the lives of most school-age individuals. It's a tool many people already know how to use, and I like that this article is about integrating this already well-used medium into a classroom setting.

In my view, classroom blogging is a hit-or-miss activity. I can think of three separate instances (not including this class) where my classmates and I have been assigned weekly blogs as part of the course. The first time I used blogs in the classroom was in high school in my American History course. If I remember correctly, it was open to the general public, but no one outside of our class ever commented. I'm not sure exactly why, but I was drawn immediately to this idea of blogging as part of the class. I remember checking the blogs repeatedly for new updates that I could comment on and new ideas to discuss with my peers. In hindsight, the only reason I can think of as to why I might have been so drawn to the idea was that the posts were informal and open-ended. We could post about any topic in the chapter, anything we discussed in class, or any questions we might have. The posts were only expected to be a few sentences long, too, which helped because we could say what we needed to say without having to fill space for the sake of filling space.

The second instance I remember was part of an education course. That one, at least for me anyway, flopped. I didn't care one bit about that blog. We were expected to comment on very narrow subjects that weren't really open for interpretation. Each week my posts were nothing more than me going through the motions. I got nothing but a weekly nettle in my side out of that assignment.

The third time it was used, my reaction was a mixture between my two previous experiences. It was a literature course, and each week, after reading the assigned book, we had to comment about what we thought of the work (what stood out to us, what we liked or didn't like, why we felt the way we did, etc.). I preferred this over my previous instance because it was more open-ended and we had more room to work with.

Looking at these three experiences together makes me realize that if I use this in the classroom, I have to give the students room to breathe. I can't limit the topics and I have to choose something that doesn't limit students' thinking processes. In the article, I like that the teacher lets the students choose their own topics. As is the case for our I Searches, most (if not all) of us prefer writing about topics that we choose, are interested in, and/or know a great deal about. If the blogging aspect itself is the aim, I see nothing wrong with letting students choose their own topics. If the aim of the blog is specifically content-based, then I can understand limiting the content to pre-chosen subjects.

6. Poetry Fusion: Integrating Video, Verbal, and Audio Texts

Interpreting poetry in the form of a video. I like this. I agree with the author when he puts forth the assertion that a reader gets a more holistic view of a poem when it's read aloud. On a personal level, even though poems are easier for me to understand when I'm reading them myself, poems that are read aloud have much more depth to them. For example, in the first link I've posted, the poet's work incorporates gestures. If I was reading this poem, I wouldn't get the whole meaning of the ending because without seeing the gestures I wouldn't know what he means by "this." By viewing it, I do see what "this" means. I also like that the inflection and tone in his voice adds to the meaning of the poem as well. That effect would not be obtained simply by reading it on a page.

Def Poetry - Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make" (I chose this poem because it is written about teaching by a teacher, which directly relates to many of us. I also chose it because Taylor often speaks with his hands. If anyone is interested, second example of him frequently using gestures to get his point across can be found in the poem called "Like, You Know." Tone and inflection, too, are crucial to the understanding this poem.)

A second topic that the chapter explains is the idea of creating a visual representation of a poem by using video. In the video below, read by E. E. Cummings himself, the creator of the video incorporates visual images into the reading of the poem to add to it's significance, to show the youtuber's own interpretation of the poem, and to visually enhance the meaning expressed in the audio of the work.

"anyone lived in a pretty how town" by E. E. Cummings

It seems to me that students would enjoy this type of video-centered poetry lesson. In high school I did a project similar to this in my photography class, but I used still images instead of video. Back then, before I had any real appreciation for poetry, I would have gotten quite a bit out of making a poetry video like the ones explained in this chapter. I think this idea could be a fun addition to an English class.

blog 11

This week’s reading: Teaching the New Writing: Technology, Change and Assessment in the 21st century classroom
I generally like to begin at the beginning so I read chapter one first. For someone as old as me to be called a “newcomer” is exciting even if it is referring to one new to technological writing. The evolution of writing does seem frightening at first. Newspapers disappearing and the internet as mode of research does seem strange, but I enjoy new things and still have a sense of adventure. This outlook helps to keep me young and requires me to continue learning and challenging myself. I must admit, I am somewhat of a dinosaur as I still love the feeling of a page in my hands when I read. I have yet to part with books adorning my shelves at home. Although I appreciate a rapid cut and paste editing session, or a high speed highlighting session of downloaded materials while reading, I repeatedly long to write in and on the text. Welcoming the conveniences of technology, I still feel attached to the older ways and wonder if they will become obsolete.
Next I wondered about the so called “social worlds” of "email, cell phone, text messaging, on line gaming, blogging, etc.” As much as I enjoy the convenience of these worlds, none of them can compare to being with those people face to face. I like that as a teacher these forms of communicating and writing are available, and do believe they will help to encourage many new and interesting writing assignments and will help peer relations, but the part of the chapter about the difficulties monitoring behaviors using these methods, was disconcerting. It seems with every positive for technology, there are drawbacks as well.
Most troublesome was the discussion of how out of sync standardized testing seems to be with how students need to be assessed. There seems no end in sight, but voices against these standard forms of assessment do seem to be getting stronger and that is encouraging.
Also promising are the many original teachers’ ideas about how to make technology useful and meaningful in students’ writing, and I look forward to the projects that they will be able to create with technologies available to them. With that thought in mind, I looked to chapter seven about Multimedia Presentations from Yearlong Research and Community Based Culminating Projects. Since I have been involved I many programs like this with original theater troupes and school projects in the past, I was really looking forward to getting better ideas about how to effectively run these types of programs. I enjoyed reading about the student’s projects and am always surprised by what students produce when they are given the chance to spread their wings in these ways.
In the conclusions section, I was reminded how necessary teaching these skills are to the lives of our students and to learn them ourselves.

Chapter 3: Collaborative Digital Writing

It is too easy and ingrained in most of us when we are revising papers to dive right into corrections of diction, grammar, usage, etc.  The students I am currently tutoring struggle hard to eek out typed words on their current essays.  To offset this anxiety, I have conversations with them before writing to talk out their essays.  What really has struck me is how fluently they can convey their arguments but the absolute brick wall that confronts them on the assignment.  "Don't worry about grammar," I advise them, "let's just get your ideas down and then we can go back and polish."  As easy as this sounds, it is really difficult for them to convey ideas without trying to make them perfect. 
For this reason, I really enjoy this idea of technologically savvy peer editing.  If students need to meet deadlines for their peers and not for teachers, they will begin typing.  In a students' mind their peers have suggestions, while their teacher has the right answers.

Chapter 12: Technology, Change, and Assessment

Tuesday's class fit right into this chapter for me.  My grandmother has been penning book reviews for me recently, and now we will be using Dr. Kearney's new revisionary methods to assess my grandmother's current work as an experiment for assessing the papers of my future writing students.   If it works for an 85 year old, I figure it will work for a high school student.  I worry about using computers in the classroom and how to properly back up a lesson plan that relies heavily on usability.  Yet, this is all part of the needed flexibitly of the teaching profession.  In any lesson, if students begin falling asleep one needs to be able to fix the problem immediately.

Chapter 8

My most recent addiction is podcasting. Or, to be more accurate, listening to podcasts. Without exaggerating, I typically listen to 3-4 hours worth a day. But, after perusing chapter 8, I now view podcasting in a completely different light. I do not podcast myself. I have thought about producing a few classic novels that do not have copyright issues, but have not taken the time to complete them. But what I have done is listen to myself record a chapter or two of a book. With this, I have been able to notice several things: the tone of my voice, the speed in which I read, my delivery, and my mood. I think in the classroom setting this is something worth noting. Remember the first time you heard yourself on a recording? Exactly! You thought you sounded hideous! With technological advantages, I have listened to my final papers time and time again with simple recordings. I can actually hear my mistakes. This works extremely well with oral presentations. Middle-college students should consider recording their presentations and posting them so other students can critique them.

Herrington

I picked chapter 5 because now that I am blogging for this class I know how helpful this can be. To get into the practice of writing once a week and to not have the fear of being graded constantly. I really enjoyed the blog "From Love to Social Pressures" in this chapter. I enjoyed the way Herrington describes how a blogging class looks for example helping students who are bored and discouraged. That is what I would want to be the most as a teacher or an instructor- to help the followers/students. Not just order and expect them to fulfill their "duties" To get involved with them would be priority.

According to this chapter, students grow their blogs over the semester and they publish their work. This seems like an interesting idea because that way there is a higher chance that the student improves or increases his expectation level from the blogs he posts.

Encouraging students to post videos, pictures art or anything that they find interesting and exciting is a great way to make their writing more personal or become more attached to these blogs, hence get in the habit of writing more and more.

The most important thing is to get the students accustomed to writing regularly and not see it as something so challenging and boring all the time. And blogging allows the writer to get feedbacks from several other writers and viewers, they almost form a relationship and then the writers feel like they have a "reason" to write better.

Overall if I were to become a teacher someday I would be more than willing to introduce the idea of social networking in the classroom. I know for one , I would be a much better and willing writer if I had such technologically advanced and fun activities in the "classroom."

I thought chapter 3 was extremely interesting too. I guess the word MacBook Pro caught my attention! I am sucker for technology for sure, no surprise there. The collaborative digital writing seemed like division of labor to me in economics, which is basically dividing a task into several tasks and letting a group or an individual focus on a specific task to increase efficiency. Engaging students in “leap frogging” seems like an excellent idea, I myself have experienced this with my other friends in different class projects we did. And usually we started off with a simple idea and as others got more into it we ended up with a complex and interesting idea. Imagine working alone to form a complex idea. I think the author does a very good job with explaining the roles of a teacher starting from encouraging revision to wrapping up. These are the steps that I would write down somewhere to help me in the future. I love what it says in the conclusion that students not only improve their technology skills but also their communication and organizational skills. Seriously the more I am reading these chapters the more I am getting jealous. I wish I had more teachers back home who would take such initiative to get us more involved as opposed always “lecturing” us for two straight hours with most people not even listening to what they were saying. I am really enjoying this book simply because it has so many ideas on how to get students in this generation more excited and interested about writing.

4 and 6

I enjoy writing stories, so I was immediately drawn to Chapter 4- Digital Picture Books. BAM! Immediately there is mention of The Magic School Bus books and I read on no matter what comes next. I loved those books and the cartoons as a child, and this article explains how the series could be a forefather for today's educational computer games.
The process of creating a digital picture book is intriguing to me. Although most of the activity will be completed on the computer, the students have to have a solid understanding of the basics of writing to start out with. Therefore, this keeps the importance of language arts always prevalent.
Another thing i really like about this activity is that it can fit easily into a learning focused school, which is what most schools (at least in this area) are these days. From what I've seen, LFS's like to use cross curriculum projects, so the fact that in an English class the students can be making books about math, science, or social studies is a great idea. Also, in an age where technology rules everyone's lives, this could be an activity in which the students could truly succeed at and take true pride in.
Chapter 6- Integrating video,verbal, and audio texts is about another topic which holds interest to me. I enjoy poetry a lot. When I was younger (and much more dramatic) I would dabble in writing poetry and read aloud to my parents and friends. However, I realized a few weeks ago when the students in the 8th grade classroom where I am observing were listening to the teacher read a poem, that they were not interested. So, this article on placing poetry in creative videos, this strikes me as something that is defiantly useful in the classroom. The author recognizes the whole process and discusses how the students must understand the writing process in order to understand the filming process, as well.

I truly enjoyed the articles. They give very detailed guidance on what to do and what is to be expected and avoided. I hope to utilize both of these ideas in my future classroom!

blog 11

I read chapters 3 and 8.

I thought chapter 3 was fantastic. I'd have to learn all the technology Bledsoe mentions, but I'd be willing to try it out. I loved loved loved the first part about revision. The technology is the exciting part for the kids, but the idea of writing a story TOGETHER is simply brilliant. Kids are revising and they probably don't even know it. I believe this method of teaching revision could really work. Learning to revise on your own can be difficult and it's hard to see the point. Why would you want to change what you think is a pretty good piece of writing? But when kids are writing and collaborating together, they point out what works and what doesn't. It gets them thinking out loud and practicing these skills together so that it doesn't seem so pointless or monotonous. Nice.

Chapter 8 was pretty interesting as well. I would have never considered podcasting as a way of presenting speeches, but this seemed to work for these people. It makes perfect sense that JUST listening to your voice instead of giving a traditional speech would make you more conscious of learning how to hear inflections and tone and the "voice" of your speech. And once that's hammered out, a student would most likely be more comfortable in front of people making a traditional speech (I have no idea; I'm just hypothesizing).

If the reported impact on the student community was guaranteed, I'd recommend this to EVERYONE. I mean, getting students to interact with one another's work? And talking about it? And posting comments? Well, learning is taking place, and gee wilikers...that's what we're hoping for! AND students are motivated to learn and engage outside the classroom. I'm floored. And excited.

I'd like to try both these in my classroom. The possibilities these articles pose are fantastic and could seriously benefit our kids. What could be better?

A Whole New World

I enjoyed this week’s book. I picked and read chapter 11 and 12 because both titles seemed appealing to me as I am preparing to make a switch from high school teaching to college instruction. I also read the foreword and preface to better acquaint myself with the overall theme of this book. The first item that really struck me was the opening quote found in the foreword which states: “As technology continues to alter societies and cultures, it has fostered and supported an unprecedented expansion of human communication. In 2005, 172,000 new books were published in the United States alone. One hundred million Websites now exist worldwide. One hundred and seventy-one billion e-mail messages are sent daily. To write in this world is to engage in a millennia-old act that is reinventing and regenerating itself in the modern age” (Herrington, Hodgson, and Moran vii). I was amazed at the figures and realized that we really are living in a whole new world. A world in which technology has become such a vital part of a person’s daily life. Yet, what is interesting is how many of these items are seen as personal activities and not educational. When e-mails and websites are utilized in the academic setting it is strictly limited to the communication of questions between students to their teachers and as a guide to important scholarly texts that one can use for a paper. In fact, schools spend time instructing students on what are appropriate internet resources. For example, I am always amazed that Youtube is constantly recognized as an appropriate site for personal entertainment but that it is not suitable for classrooms or academic purposes (even though many instructors and students utilize it. Hence making one question who creates or deems appropriateness, what is appropriate and how do academic communities define appropriate and inappropriate). Thus, this book’s authors believe that it is time for an educational overhaul so that technology can be better utilized and valued by both instructors and students alike. I was also intrigued to learn that “another group of educators and public representatives were hard at work on a new Writing Framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP is ‘the Nation’s Report Card’”) so that “By 2011, mass assessment in writing would need to accommodate new digital tools” (Herrington, Hodgson, and Moran vii). I was wondering if anyone had any more information on this process. I will try and do some more research and see if I can find out any interesting points or important dates.

Chapter eleven is really an amazing chapter. The three authors “who collectively have 48 years of experience teaching writing to high school and college students” discuss how they have found different ways to incorporate various medias within their English classrooms and department requirements (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 181). They write that “we have begun to understand, as Yancey (2004) articulates, that ‘never before has the proliferation of writings outside the academy so counterpointed the composition inside,’ and that ‘never before have the technologies of writing contributed so quickly to the creation of new genres’” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 181). In this chapter, the authors talk about a novel type of writing that they use in their classroom that facilitates the use of different medias. This new item is termed the hybrid essay because it is “an attempt to emphasize that these otherwise traditional essays should use word and image together with each playing an equal role in informing readers rather than rely on what Kress (1998) has identified as a less rhetorically effective use of illustration, in which ‘the written text carries all the information, and the image “repeats” that information’” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 186).

What is so important about this chapter’s whole point about utilizing different items and technologies and incorporating them in the classroom is that we need to remember that our students are “composing: and not “writing” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 182). The authors write that “moving away from the word writing allows us to stop privileging print and thus stop limiting our- and our students’-communicative abilities” and that composing allows them to “teach students… how to get their ideas across, to make meaning, to say what it is they want to say regardless of the medium they choose” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 182). Later in the chapter it becomes apparent that the difference in writing and composing also allows the student-teacher dynamic to be changed. The authors write that “Making a smack move like using the word compose instead of write can empower students to think of themselves as multimodal composers, as individuals who have a variety of rhetorical choices at their disposal” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 192). This terminology change allows the student to become the writer and author that we are always telling them that they are (or are suppose to be). Finally, the college curriculum is allowing for students to get passionate about their assignments (which are relevant to real life (and job) experiences). Not only are our students going to become interested in their project and hybrid essay but they are going to share this idea with others who will either accept or reject the idea. Either way, students are finally getting a chance to become authors and share their voice and vision with an increasingly global audience. In chapter twelve, which ended up being a conclusion and summary of the whole book, Herrington, Hodgson and Moran write that “our understanding of writing as the production of linear text is expanded to include the writing (or composing, or designing) of texts that might include words, images, sounds and hyperlinks that connect any and all of the above to other words, images, sounds and hyperlinks” which is “accessible to peers for editing- and now the term peers is not geographically constrained”(Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 199, 202). Thus, by broadening our traditional writing limits through the use of technological advances, like blogs, our student-writers will have their voices and opinions heard not only among their fellow classmates but also by others around the world who can offer different perspectives which will aid in their education and writing. Herrington, Hodgson and Moran agree stating “What the new technologies make possible, however, is freezing the discussion so that the participants can reflect and comment on it, keeping the composition in the moment” (Herrington, Hodgson and Moran 201-202).

After reading this week’s readings, I felt that the term writing is restrictive and outdated since it keeps the student-writer as a student who writes perfect or imperfect five paragraph essays for only one person, the teacher, who will provide the student with a grade and freely edit a paper that will never be seen or read again. On the other hand, I felt that the term composing allows the student to become the student-writer who works on creating a unique perspective on how an illustration and sound or illustration and texts work together. The student-writer then will present this idea in various demonstrations, like blogs, website, movie, song, and hybrid essay, that will be frequently seen and freely commented on by various audience members. In other words, writing stops discussion, while composing thrives on discussion.

Really enjoyed this chapter. I think I might have a modern day example of this book’s message. Basically, a blogger held a contest and he selected other writers to work on a book that focus on simple stories which now are published. I will bring the article to class on Tuesday so that we can try to discuss it since my blog is already long and the article is interesting.

Unjournaling

Sorry- I am late!

When I think of journaling , I think about a psychological, introspective, diary-like entry and I do think these are an important component of reflective thought about what has taken place in our lives. Having said that, the ideas contained in this are just plain FUN!!! Oh my goodness! How do you choose where to start to play? I come from a family who traveled in a station wagon every year for vacation. Yes we had the back seat that either faced the back, looking to where we had just been, OR two seats that faced each other, and encouraged all kinds of physical foot, elbow, and knee jousting to claim a spot for comfort.(wheel humps didn't help!!!) We would sing for hours with some of the less-than-enthusiastic seven children holding their ears, as we traveled to and from thirty eight of the continental United States. Other games with word-play prompts from Mom or Dad would get us started whenever we were bored and the whining, "Are we there yets?" started.

Where was this book then? Well, no matter- I have it in my possession now!!! I can be the director of auto entertainment for my family trips,even though the kids are almost grown or adult by now, and for an annual sisters trip still that takes place. Then there is always the grand nieces, nephews and one day (not too soon!!!) the grand kids who will be introduced to playing these " word games." Some of you who "played" this week would be fun to take along too!

Posted for Mark

Blog 10
(I hope I am writing about the right topic). “Unjournaling” seems like a lot of fun. However, I find myself a little apprehensive about getting into this book. I do not know why. In the introduction, I found the words, “writing prompts”. Man! Somehow I think I am going to have a problem with receiving some prompt or some starting point from where I begin to create something somewhat sensible. Well, I hadn’t done any of this stuff yet, but I feel like my writing process doesn’t work that way.
Alright! I know I can see the little exercises in the book as fun, little challenging games, kind of like poking at a piñata that you cannot see. But I cannot help but sift through the pages, trying to deduce some way of demonstrating my ability at beating the book. I look at everything as some test—it is just one of m hang-ups.
I personally had taken a couple of drama classes when I lived in N.Y.C. a while back. We (class) were always facing new and unpredictable little acting challenges every day. I felt sick sometimes because I felt like I would make a fool out of myself. I just went with the flow every time, though, and everything was fine. I remember one instructor told us that we have no reason about being ashamed of acting any part; after all, that’s all we are doing—acting. I look at this writing class quite the same way, because I feel that feeling of being exposed with every little exercise we do in class.

Prompt #104

Clad in pink t-shirt, low-slung midriff jeans, and spiky heeled boots, Brittany set her casserole down. It was the first casserole she had ever made. And she was proud of it. She had found the recipe on a can of green beans and carefully followed every step. The cream of mushroom soup. The French-fried onion rings she couldn’t resist. It would be the star of the pot-luck.
She nestled her casserole between vegetarian lasagna and lime-pineapple Jell-O salad. Proud of her work, she imagined placing a sign with her name on the dish. The sign would say, “Green Bean Casserole Lovingly Prepared by Brittany.” She resisted. Instead, she grabbed a chair close to the buffet.
Wrought with anticipation, she monitored the traffic closely. No one had yet braved a sample. She settled into a black beanbag chair. It is appropriate for a green bean casserole maker to sit in a black beanbag chair. There was chatter about a cute guy, but she only half listened. The guy was cute and was just her type, but she was intent on her casserole. Cute guys could wait.
Suddenly, someone scooped her casserole. It was the cute guy! She wondered how he’d managed to get inside without her noticing. She immediately perked up and watched him closely. No sooner had the guy placed the casserole on his sturdy disposable plate disaster struck. “What is this?? My plate is ruined! Who the heck doesn’t know that you are supposed to drain the green-bean water out of the green beans before you put them in the casserole!!! Look at this mess!!!”
Brittany was demoralized. The outburst had come from the cute guy. Escaping to the bathroom, Brittany burst into tears. Her first attempt at cooking had been a failure.

Prompts #3 and #198

#3 Write a paragraph that includes at least 10 words that rhyme with be.

The green door was by the sea with a knob unlocked by a key. The sun shined bright to me, while I drank some tea. There was no fee which showed the glee into the sand of the falling knee. We could see no tree for three, by the green door by the sea.

***

#198 How many ways you find to communicate, in writing, "He has a strong body"--without actually writing, "He has a strong body"?

He plowed through the team. He was a truck. He stood like a tree. Steel was nothing compared to this guy. He was a bulwark. His arms were solid concrete. This person made trees look like toothpicks, and moved mountains like anthills. He remained unmovable.

***

I agree with Andrea about that these prompts having practical use. Topics of interest can be choosen quickly, and the writing can still be flexible. This reminds me of writing an elementary student, or possibly a middle-school student, might do. It's so funny that answer keys are put in the back; they seem unnecessary, but are interesting to read.

Blog 11

Finally! A book I can use! Not that theory isn’t useful, but it only takes me so far. I can only see so many evenly weighted sides of an issue before I lose interest. I’m tired of “Theory A is good for reasons i, ii, iii, and iv, but it has problems 1, 2, and 3. Theory B, on the other hand solves problems 2 and 3 and is good for v, vi, and vii, but introduces problems 4 and 5 without solving problem 1. And then theory C . . .” Unjournaling I can utilize. It has concrete prompts that serve an actual purpose instead of putting forward X number of open-ended theories. It is something with immediate, practical use.

I made up my mind a few semesters ago to have my students spend the first few minutes of every class writing in a journal. Nothing fancy, just something to give them daily practice. Like it says in the introduction, though, some people might not want to share information because of trust, privacy, or confidence issues (though as I look at it from my current perspective, I don’t see why the sharing of journal entries can’t be on a voluntary basis). That is something I can completely understand. There are some things in my life that I don’t want anyone else to know about, and I think most of us (and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t all of us) have been in a situation where we’ve been asked to share information that we’d rather keep to ourselves. As far as journals go, these prompts keep that on-the-spot feeling to a minimum.

DiPrince and Thurston begin the second paragraph of the introduction with, “Writing does not have to be a psychological journey.” So much of the writing I did in high school was introspective and personal. I didn’t usually mind this approach, but I would have appreciated the kinds of prompts in this book on occasion too. Sometimes it’s fine for writing to be psychological, but it doesn’t always have to be quite so personal. These prompts are fun, mentally stimulating, and they encourage creativity. I also appreciate that it’s good for a broad ability and age range of students. Like the writers mention, I could certainly envision these prompts loosening up hesitant writers while challenging the creativity of experienced writers.

Prompts:

1. Write a paragraph about a girl named Dot, but use no letters with dots (i, j).

Dot turned three years old today! Happy b-day, Dot! She had a huge cake of blue and green, her two most loved colors. Just as the crowd sang to her, a breeze blew by that scattered all around the yard the throwaway plates that were to be used for the cake. The startled guests ran about to collect the plates, but, by chance, the cake was knocked from the table onto Dot’s lap. Dot was unfazed. She beamed as she brought handfuls of the fallen desert to her small mouth.

148. Write a sentence (or more than one sentence) about celebrating a holiday. Use exactly 100 letters—no more, no less.

Thanksgiving is coming soon but it still seems far away. I’m unsure if we will be having family over to share the meal with us.

101. Unbeknownst to most people, the chicken had a lot of reasons for crossing the road. What were at least five of them?

1. The chicken crossed the road because the grass is always greener on the other side.

2. The chicken crossed the road because it was playing "Truth or Dare"

3. The chicken crossed the road because it was feeling adventurous.

4. The chicken crossed the road because its friends called it "chicken!" when it refused to cross the road on a previous occasion.

5. The chicken crossed the road because it was jealous of the turtle in The Grapes of Wrath for having an entire chapter dedicated to it for accomplishing the same feat.

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#30:

Zany, yellow xylophones wander vigorously under the stars. Rob quickly peeks over numerous mountains. Llamas kick Jeff into the house. Giant, freckled elephants dance carelessly beneath my abode.

#64:

The room begins to lighten; it's about that time. She will rise from that big, squishy square soon. I sometimes get to lay on that square, but only when it's dark out and she has the light on. A bag is beside me. It was tossed on the floor carelessly after our daily journey, like me. It always hurts when she throws me down on the floor.

She rises. What does she do on the square for all that time? What a weird habit. She goes into another room. I hear sounds. When she comes back into the room, she does not look so frazzled. Why would laying on a big square for so long make a person look so unkempt?

She takes off the coverings she is wearing and throws them onto the big square. She puts on different ones. She stands me up, unzips me, and checks to see what I hold. I'm holding the same things as when you threw me down, I want to scream at her. She takes things out that are also square. Why so many squares? I'm not square.

She walks the couple steps across the room to her shelves and gets new squares. She puts the new squares in me. These squares are lighter than before. It is a good day when the squares aren't so heavy. She zips me closed, lifts me, and I am against her back. Once, when she was younger, I saw this same thing happen to a human. They called it a "piggy-back ride." They seem so happy when it happens; they giggle and squeal. I only enjoy the ride when I'm not so heavy. All the weight from the squares pulls me down and hurts me.

The bag that was beside me is carried on her left shoulder. We leave the room and the apartment. We go down some stairs, and she opens another door. Cold. Very cold. She carries me to a huge, scary looking machine that transports us from the place where we live to other places. She throws me and the bag on a seat next to her, and she turns on the machine. VRRRROOOOOOMM!!!!!!! The machine begins to move, and we are on our way.

Unjournaling

Prompt 67

Paul pushed his pen pointlessly across his paper pretending to pay attention to Professer Peterson. Professor was presenting points on powerful paragraph penning while Paul proceeded to ponder his party plans. Professor Peterson perceived that Paul was preoccupied. His perception proved accurate after perusing Paul's paragraph.

Prompt 90

Asking a woman you just met when she is due is a bad idea.

Leaving your car running with the door unlocked in Harlem is a bad idea.

Asking a masked man in a dark alley for directions is a bad idea.

Going back to the house you just robbed to ask the owner on a date is a bad idea.

Using a curling iron on your eyelashes is a bad idea.

Throwing water on a grease fire is a bad idea.

Friending your boss on facebook then proceeding to trash her and the company in a post is a bad idea.

Putting your hand in a tankful of piranha's is a bad idea.

Telling your wife that she looks fat in those jeans is a bad idea.

Walking around barefoot in the gym locker room is a bad idea.

response to unjournaling (shh!)

At first these exercises made me uneasy. I'm just too familiar with keeping a different type of journal-- one which is very personal and revealing. In my journal, I write my thoughts/troubles and try to conclude my post with some sort of answer. Overall, I try to move toward improving my life.

With that being said, I read the first few prompts and thought to myself now this is just foolish, where is the depth in that entry? Though the introduction clearly states that Unjournaling is aimed toward familiarizing writers with word play and creative thought, I had trouble separating myself from my determination that this type of prompted writing should reveal something personal. Because after all, how does a teacher rouse the excitement of students without asking them about themselves?

But as I read and I tried a few prompts, I began to understand the concept of how having "fun with language" is the best way to learn how to let writing flow. This book is appropriate for absolutely anyone-- beginners can use it to warm up to words and I can use it before I write a paper to tap my word keg ;)

I have decided that the concept behind Unjournaling is genius, and I definitely will not be selling this book back during finals week.

The writing inspired by this little golden booklet can be quite personal, in fact, simply because certain prompts appeal to my personality more than others. While I read over the prompts, certain ones grasped my attention immediately-- very good writing can result from that type of spark.

My favorites:

• #16-- Revealing the nature of a character through his or her words.
• # 26-- Create an impression of a person by only describing her hands. I have written a short story about my mother which centered around her hands.
• #61-- Write a paragraph including a line from both a favorite song and movie. I love music and the movies and quoting things. I'd be good at this.
• #90-- Write 10 bad ideas. I could do this from experience.

Also, I felt that prompts 52-54 were very very Elbow-ian, so I was pleased to see that are textbooks, though very different from one another, still seem to interrelate.

Fun time!

Prompt #2

Silly is Farisa, who gets 'drunk' on red bulls and sticks half her body from a sun roof in a car doing 90miles at a 40 degree temperature, and screams at the entire road not knowing that it is illegal!

Silly are those old women who irritate me and tell me "your next" whenever we go to a wedding - I feel like telling them "your next" whenever we go to a funeral!

Silly is the Chillis molten lava chocolate cake that calls out to gluttonous Farisa every time she goes to Chillis and expects her to just say no to its beautiful, warm, supple and luscious face.

Prompt # 101

The chicken crossed the road because he was suicidal.

The chicken crossed the road to prove himself to mankind.

The chicken crossed the road because he was chasing a goose to get to know him better.

The chicken crossed the road because he was on something for sure.

The chicken crossed the road because he was bored?

Blog 11

Prompt #12

The chill had increased in classroom number 123.  It was nearing the end of the semester.  The professor, Mr. Borin, droned on in usual soporific tones.   Joey crooked his hand to his chin doing his best to daydream for the full length of the 57 minute class period.

Prompt #26


His hands held wisdom.  It was as if every winkle had lain beside the next for eternal companionship. Pressed together, the whole congregation longed  for their own solemn serenity.

A Fart by Any Other Name

In the introduction, DiPrince and Thurston suggest that Unjournaling encourages students to "have fun with language" and that "silly writing really helps writers loosen up" (5). In prompt #201, when instructing the reader to "describe farting in a new light", they seem to take their advice to "loosen up" quite literally (58). Nonetheless, in the spirit of the assignment, here is my Ode to farting:

Shakespeare was wrong. Farting, not death, is the great equalizer. I fart. And like it or no, whether you are President Obama, Brad Pitt, Oprah, Tom Brady, J.K Rowling, Lady Gaga, Darth Vader, Osama Bin Laden, Sarah Palin, Captain Kirk, Mr. Rogers, Big Bird, or Mother effing Theresa, you fart too. Farting is a natural, biological process. Like breathing.

Unfortunately, when it comes to farting in public, there is an air of surliness that lingers in the obdurate hearts of the masses. We turn our noses to it. It is a social more that few are ever brave enough to break, and that plain stinks! We suffer enough stress day to day, why add needlessly to our burdens? And, as it turns out, farting freely has been the key to solving a majority of the modern citizen’s problems.

Experts have shown that holding a fart in causes a physical discomfort which triggers a complex chain reaction within the body that ultimately leads to a violent psychological disturbance of our otherwise mentally/psychically balanced selves. If we allowed ourselves to jake-brake freely, war, poverty, discrimination, and hatred would all cease to exist. Marriages would last longer. Literacy would increase. The economy would rebound. And as it turns out, unabashed farting is actually good for you too. In a highly scientific study just conducted by my brain, 99% of those who fart freely live healthier, longer lives.

Have we become that enslaved to certain social mores? I say no more to abruptly excusing yourself from your date to rush off to the public bathroom! It is only when we find the courage to fart in front of our partners that love becomes real. Farting makes the world a less frightening place (just think of OBL farting in some remote cave in Pakistan). Embrace the rapture, the pure sweet relief that comes with unencumbered release. Loosen up that sphincter and let ‘em rip. Dare to be the pioneer who makes a board meeting a little more interesting, who passes gas while sitting in class, who crop dusts while teaching class, who rocks the casbah while sitting on a flight from Pittsburgh to Paris, who unleashes the thunder from down under while acting on stage, who airbrushes their boxers while defending their dissertation. Rid your trunk of the ephemeral flatulent junk. Let ‘em fly. Let ‘em rip. Become a public farting advocate - you’ll gain my vote and my respect. I’ll be doing a lot more farting in the future. And whether you admit it or no, you will be too. Tear down the walls that have been holding relief hostage. The world needs more farters in it. Your sphincter will thank you. The world will thank you, and I with it.

Bottoms Up!

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Okay. You got me. There is no prompt #201 on page 58, but there is prompt #190 on page 56 that I thought would be fun to modify slightly for the purpose of this class. Did anyone fall for it?

Assessing and Evaluating-- or, why I will never teach

In this chapter, Williams describes exactly the confusion I face when I read over my peers' papers or when I attempt to write one myself. Sadly, the first thing I consider as a student is usually the professor-- do I know the professor? what does she/he like? will she/he allow me to resubmit this for a better grade?

As a professor, however, I do not know how I would grade writing reliably so that it would be "consistent across evaluators and across time" (304). To me, this seems like a lot of pressure. Before reading this chapter, I assumed that, if by chance I do become an English teacher down the road, I could simply form my own "taste" for writing and grade accordingly. After all, this is how I have learned to write-- with evaluators and their different tastes in mind first and foremost. Williams calls this type of behavior out in Chapter 16, and he has made me glad once again that I am not pursuing a career in education. My assumptions about teaching were all wrong. And I had a feeling they were.

Another aspect of teaching that Williams points out, and that I am glad to avoid, is the workload. I have recently dug through a bunch of my papers I have written throughout college, and I have found exactly the types of comments Williams describes on page 315: little comments scribbled in the margins, then a paragraph at the end that seems to begin in a celebratory tone-- stating the positives of my paper-- and then shift to a more constructive tone to describe my weaknesses.

Overall, I found that Williams once again spends the majority of this chapter's pages to tearing down the traditional writing pedagogy with which I am most familiar. He then proceeds to offer research supporting his claims, and then he finally offers better methods for assessing and evaluating writing. I must admit that I like his suggestions for improvement. I was glad to see that I have experienced some of these improved methods in several classes. I like the idea of universal grading for writing, and I believe that Williams's suggestions could steer future teachers toward a reliable scale.

Posted for Mark

The problem with teaching language arts, as I have feared, is the pre-determined standards of correctness: or, rather, the lack of black and white guidelines for interpreting the skills of the student. In some way, I believe the notion is what attracted me to language arts in the first place. Understanding the complexities of assessment in our discipline leaves a lot of room for bad assessments.
When considering the objective of meeting a standard, we, in language arts, realize that a standard must be in place in order to achieve a measurement of some sorts of our students’ grasp of the subject-matter. But this standard only exists when we allow for the view points of someone—whether at the school or state level—to have credibility. I guess I am wondering what gives any one person or any panel the authoritative license to dub an interpretation or criticism of any literary work as a standard.
Even applying all the key factors in assessment, any teacher teaches any given child for one year’s time. Now at the end of one year’s time a general assessment is finalized and students either get to the top of—unless they’ve been there already—the class, get to the middle, or stay or fall to the bottom (the average, of course, being in the middle). But one year’s time cannot determine which student ultimately develops into a great writer over a longer measurement of time. And the fallacy of our assessment system is that it measures some “improvement” within a narrow framework of time, based on a standard that may or may not be valid. The rightness or wrongness of interpreting text is one thing. But the rightness and wrongness of expressing oneself by way of writing is another.
All factors of assessment have limitations. For instance, there have been many instances—as I have witnessed myself—which fly in the face of the predictability of one’s future performance in their later academic endeavors. Also, the issue of equity falls short with any given assessment in a particular group. The “fairness” factor necessarily falls short because of the endless amounts of differences between one student and the next.
So, gaining an “accurate” assessment of students’ abilities within small units of time—because this our most “efficient” way of doing so—categorizes students and artificially dubs them either good, average, or bad writers. I know, there must be some grading. But that one year’s assessment doesn’t stop after that one year, not for the student. They carry that “ranking with them. I apologize for the wordiness and hope my quantity did not out at least some quality. It is a manic day!

write, wrITE, WRITE!

Generally, I never regurgitate text. As many who have read my blog know, I tend to write in a stream-of-consciousness format that dances around within the required reading of the week. Sometimes this works, other times it feels messy. After last week’s discussion, I have selected one topic that REALLY stood out for me this week (as I have been contemplating this issue in my mind before stumbling on it). I’ll try to make this work ;)

A concern I have as an educator is how I can give enough focus to an individual student’s work among a towering load of papers. In my student observation, I have been given the task to work with one student to help them improve their performance. After doing this task for less than a week, I am concerned as to how I will be able to monitor the performance of 30-90 other students each week. Is it easier to communicate a student’s errors and mistakes on paper or in a one-on-one meeting? Williams notes, “Given the labor-intensive nature of writing comments, teachers have only two choices when deciding on a method. They can assign little writing but try to provide copious written comments, or they can assign much writing but make few, if any, written comments. Most teachers opt for the first choice” (314). I’m not certain that I agree with this.

I personally prefer greater workloads. Not necessarily more papers and greater length, but a strong emphasis on daily journals and a few larger papers as the semester rolls along. I believe that giving a daily prompt (with a small focus on time, maybe 5-7 minutes) will not only allow students the opportunity to get their creative juices flowing, but allow them to develop their craft. This also works to my advantage as well. If we collect the journals quarterly (or more), we will be able to notice patterns of error that a student may frequently make. If we can recognize these patterns early, we will be able to note their progress on a much more frequent basis. I believe this will also decrease the possibility that these mistakes will appear in much more significant writing pieces. I could be totally wrong with this assumption, but I think it is worth a go.

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First, I'm not quite sure I agree with Williams' assertion on page 308 about students with good vocabulary using having better writing skills, and, therefore, standardized testing on vocab is a good measure of a student's writing ability. I've never used or even SEEN one, but don't they make those SAT vocab books? How easy would it be to memorize those meanings, memorize a few of the sentences the word is used in, and pass the test that way? Even if students aren't passing the vocab section that way, I really can't agree that having a good vocabulary means you're a good writer. Now, if the student scores well on, say, the reading comprehension part, I'd be willing to agree that student has a good grasp of writing. Good readers are usually good writers. Not always, but usually.

On pages 309-10, Williams talks about the correlation between performance and funding, and that there is very little correlation between more funding and higher performance. He references schools out in Ohio that were given plenty of funding, but had low performance and average to above-average performing schools had less funding. Who would have guessed that some problems just can't be solved by throwing money at it? (I hope you caught the sarcasm..) It doesn't matter what kind of books or technologies a school has. If the teachers are lazy and the students don't care, performance is going to be low. We need teachers who are willing to inspire students to work hard and actually learn some things. That's a hard task...humongous, really. But it takes time and perseverance to get through to ALL students.

Similarly, if students are going to learn anything about writing, we need to be willing to invest time into giving detailed, constructive comments to our students. Like Adrienne, there's nothing I hate more than an 88% on a paper with a "Great Job!" at the top and no comments. If I'd done a "great job," wouldn't I have gotten a 100%? Page 316 provides some good tips for evaluating papers. One of the ones I liked especially was reading each paper twice. Not every mistake or good point of a paper is going to shine through the first time. We need to slow down and really devote some quality time to each paper. Now, I know that's a little idealistic, but if we're going to teach these kids about writing, we're going to have to go above and beyond. As mentioned in class and in previous chapters of Williams' book, writing is a complicated process, and progression to becoming a better writer is slow. Feedback is essential if they're ever going to get better.

Teacher Comments on Papers

As a student, one of the most valued components of the receiving of graded papers is not necessarily the grade, but the teacher comments. If I receive a 90% on a paper, rather than 100%, I would like to know reasons why I didn't get the grade I thought I deserved and how I can improve my writing. It becomes very frustrating to see points taken off a paper, but no explanation, or worse yet, to see "Great job!" or some other bullshit feedback.

Since I know the frustration of lack of feedback or lack of quality of feedback, I hope to use that as perspective into what my students need to improve their writing. "Given the labor-intensive nature of writing comments..." (Williams 314). Hold it, right there. Yes, it's labor-intensive. Isn't it your JOB to provide feedback via written comments? "...teachers have only two choices when deciding on a method. They can assign little writing but try to provide copious written comments, or they can assign much writing but make few, if any, written comments. Most teachers opt for the first choice," (Williams 314). I believe that written feedback is important, but if a teacher is limited on time to write those comments, they can meet with students through conferences, allowing the students to receive that feedback they so desperately need.

Currently, my placement at Ben Franklin (Harrisburg School District) has revealed to me that 1. Kids aren't reading enough, leading to 2. Kids aren't writing enough. In a staff meeting yesterday, the principal told the teachers on my "team" that no matter the content area, the students need to be writing everyday. To most, this may seem excessive, but Harrisburg School District is ranked 498 out of 502 in standardized testing scores, leaving them far behind many schools in the area and almost the worst in the entire state. A component of the tests that was especially low was in writing proficiency, so to improve this, the assignment was given to have students writing everyday. That said, teachers cannot possibly look at 100 entries each day, and offer constructive, thorough feedback that the students both need and deserve. Over the next few weeks during my placement, I hope to try and problem-solve how these writing opportunities can turn into learning opportunities. Sometimes kids need to write just to become comortable with the process, but whenever possible, teachers need to (dare I say!?) earn their paychecks and do something other than a scantron sheet test.

Blog 10

What is assessment?

I never really thought about the difference between assessment and evaluation before. I never considered them synonymous, but I found it hard to pin-point a difference between them before reading this section. I certainly agree with Williams that assessment is harder for writing teachers than the teachers of other subject majors. In high school, for math (and sometimes for other subjects where the answers were straight-forward) we would grade each other’s papers, and, other than the potential for cheating, it was an simple and accurate system for teachers to see how the class did on the assignment. With writing, though, it’s obviously not so straight forward. There is no wholly right or wholly wrong. When I was doing my observations last semester, I spent quite a bit of time grading papers, and it was amazing to me to see how broad the spectrum was throughout the class. Fortunately for me, though, the teacher had a very specific rubric that helped immensely.

There’s a quote on page 299 that I really like. Williams writes, “students who have been writing C papers for weeks will get excited about an idea or a project, will work on it for days, and will produce B work or better. . . . By the same token, students who generally are very good writers occasionally will stumble, producing a paper that is barely passing.” It goes on to say that in both cases not everything that a student submits will reflect his or her true ability. I can’t remember where I read about this, whether it was this class or my EDUC416 class, but this is one of the reasons I like the concept of a portfolio. Of course, I will have no way of knowing just how effective a portfolio is until I try it in a real world situation, but, as a theory, I think it sounds promising. With a portfolio, students could choose papers and projects (the quantity of which would be predetermined by the teacher beforehand) to submit in their portfolios. They could include the works of which they are the proudest, and they would not have to include the ones on which they did poorly. The portfolio would be weighted more heavily than individual papers themselves.

Key factors in assessment and evaluation

Validity

One of the earliest assertions of this section, the statement about assessing what was taught, reminded me of something my 10th grade teacher used to do. As part of our heading, he would instruct us to list specific factors, all of which we discussed in class, that he was going to be focusing on heavily when grading. I didn’t understand the purpose of it then, but now I see that he was trying to improve our work step by step by focusing on the new things we learned.

Reliability

This section talked about the SATs, and while I can understand where they’re coming from in their statements (the tests are all scored the same way so it’s an easily tabulated means to get a general overview of progress), I do not think the SATs are reliable. The knowledge of the students needed to pass the SATs says very little about that student’s actual writing skill.

Predictability

If assessment systems are so often unreliable, how can predictability be accurate?

Cost

The last sentence in the first paragraph (page 307) talks about “teaching to the test.” This is something that worries me. It seems like so much time is spent “teaching to the test” that important lessons get pushed to the side.

Fairness and Politics

The “fairness” section was short and straight-forward. I have nothing to add in response to this piece of text. As for the “politics” section, I have a hard time coming to a conclusion with political ends related to teaching. Because I’m not a teacher yet, I still look at it from an outsider’s perspective and I can only make unbacked, theory based assertions. The section made me think of me of a George Carlin comedy sketch. He said: “No Child Left Behind! Oh really? Well, it wasn’t long ago you were talking about giving kids a Head Start. ‘Head Start’? ‘Left Behind? Looks like someone’s loosing f***ing ground here.” Maybe that’s not the most relevant quote (or the most appropriate) but it’s what stuck in my mind as I was reading the “politics” section. Relating to the section itself, I have a hard time believing the assertion that funding has little to do with performance scores. How is a school that does not even have enough books for all students supposed to compete with a school with Smart Boards in every classroom?

Reducing the paper load

I like the quote on page 316 that says, “everything we know about how students learn indicates that improvement comes when comments are made on a draft that students will revise . . .” I completely agree with this. In high school, many of our papers were single draft submissions, so when we got our work back, even though we read the comments, we didn’t put the comments into practice because the paper was finished and it was time to move on to something different.

Holistic scoring

I like the idea of holistic scoring. I think it’s something I’d have to wait until I had a few years of teaching behind me before I attempt it though because there’s so much at risk if I don’t facilitate it correctly. I would hope that a process like holistic scoring would encourage students to reflect upon their own work, knowing in advance how their classmates would be grading their papers. Additionally, I liked the idea of students working together to develop their own rubric. I think they’d care more if it was their own creation.

Portfolio grading

Williams presents portfolios as an alternative to holistic scoring. Of the two, I prefer portfolios, but I would like to give holistic scoring a try sometime. I’ve already mentioned portfolios earlier in my post, so I won’t readdress it here.

Sample rubrics and sample papers

Being able to see examples was helpful for me, though I’m not sure if they needed to include quite so many examples.

Williams 297-344

Williams states “…funding is not a significant factor in student performance” (pg. 310) but after watching a reality show School Pride on NBC I have a hard time believing that. Proper funding ensures that the students have a safe environment, proper equipment-books, computers, supplies and qualified teachers. The one show that I watched featured a middle school in Compton. The buildings were in extreme disrepair-crumbling ceilings, restrooms that looked like outside gas station bathrooms, roaches, and rodents. The science teacher had to foot his own supply expenses and the other classrooms did not have adequate supplies. I would have to wonder if Williams would send his own kids to an under funded school in any area. I would bet that he would send his kids to a top rated private school and not have to worry about the public school system. The government, in an effort to try to get schools to adhere to certain testing standards, fund according to test scores. Teaching to the test has now become a must in order to ensure funding. “In many states, schools that show improvement in test scores are rewarded financially, whereas schools that fail to show improvement are “sanctioned”. Who is this punishing-the students or the teachers? I believe that the governments’ efforts in education have definitely backfired. Unfortunately, student’s education is all to often put in the hands of politicians who usually do not care about the students, but rather about getting into office.

One of my clients is dealing with a situation in her son’s school. Her son has been diagnosed as being autistic but the school is refusing to place him in an autistic classroom. She is seeking legal advice to fight this. One of the reasons the school may be refusing to place her son in the autistic classroom may be the high cost that comes with providing the educational needs of a special education student. Ultimately, it is the son who loses out on an education that would best suit him.

Assessment Vs Evaluation

First of all extremely important and helpful chapter, not only for the teacher but also for a student who would like to have a better understanding of how he or she is being assessed. And what tools are being taken to assess the quality of a paper.

The definition of assessment is very well defined in this book. Deciding what to measure and the instruments used in measuring and using these instruments properly is what assessment should really be about.

I liked the Holistic Scoring approach that Williams talks about. The best part is that you would not really necessarily need a workshop to implement this approach. I think the hard part could be creating a general rubric, rubrics tend to be quite subjective and a rubric by a teacher may not be quite easy to follow by a student. But I guess a general basic rubric could be a start. I Still feel students should be asked to make their own rubrics just as Dr. Kearney asked us to make for our I search peer review. I think it is important that students learn to assess them at some point which can help them understanding how much they are deviating from their own set standards.

However the portfolio grading sounds more feasible and fun. Having the capability to choose the best papers and being evaluated on them. From a teacher's point of view not only does it save time and energy but I think it makes more sense because then the teacher will not have to spend tens of hours reading bad papers over and over again by hundreds of students. This approach may have several draw backs such as failure on the part of teachers to follow the portfolio protocols but between the two approaches, the portfolio approach seems more helpful.

But I am not quite sure about letting other students grade their peers in my class if I were ever to teach. But I would definitely have them write comments in the papers. I do not think that it is the student's job to grade another student. I think what truly helps is honest insights from different students to make a better paper. So I truly do not know if I would use the Holistic approach as promising as it may sound.

The suggestions on pg 316 on how to make written comments more useful were good ones.

It says to read a paper twice, actually depending on the depth and complexity of the paper, that number changes. But definitely any paper should be read more than once. Then another bullet point emphasizes on keeping comments short. Even if teachers find it hard to resist long comments for a good reason of course, but that may confuse the students more.

Finally the chapter ends with Sample papers and rubric which was interesting to read and extremely helpful.

blog number uh ten

On page 300, Williams refers to the regular practice of poor assessment standards and grade inflation amongst high schools: "The skills that served them [the students] well in high school will not enable them to excel at a university."  If we are preparing our high school students for failure in college composition, this raises the question should we then adopt collegial standards for writing?

To the first question, which college's standard for writing would we choose?  Harvard?  Community College?  For me, the one major difference between a college composition course and high school english was the emphasis on writing and not literature.  While we did read and discuss various works, we never had to list all of the characters, describe the plot elements, or take vocabulary tests.  College composition was mainly a student run discussion with the professor sometimes acting as facilitator and participant.  Topics for our papers were chosen among a list, discussed with the professor, drafted and peer reviewed multiple times, and then published.  A grade of B or higher in the class meant the paper was well-written, focused, and revised many times with intermittent discussions with the professor and the class.  This was never ever the case in my high school english classes.  We read books and answered boring right or wrong questions.  I would write maybe four essays a year.  If the focus was on the test, I never paid much attention but still managed to score in the 90th percentile or higher every year.  Comparing and contrasting were such simple terms that I would have been insulted to have been given a graphic organizer highlighting them in the ninth grade.  The key facet of my learning was that I enjoyed solving problems: this involved reading, putting together puzzles, or even organizing my room to highlight my trophies better.  If something wasn't challenging, it was not worth my time, and I think this is how a lot of students feel when we give them boring worksheets.  I wonder what would happen if we really let them discuss whatever they wanted regarding a book.  Wouldn't there be comparing and contrasting, inferencing, mood, etc?    If we foster a collegial sort of environment, where questions are nurtured and answers are student driven, a collegial standard for writing will follow.

Chapter 10

This chapter brought up many points that, as a future educator, I have thought about or need to think about a lot more. The first that jumped out at me is the difference between assessment and evaluation. We have learned these textbook definitions in our education classes, but I find that the refresher on the meaning of the words is useful to begin this chapter. The idea that writing teachers "have a much harder job than any of their colleagues when it comes to evaluation...it is more difficult(Kindle, p6529)" rings true to me. Math, science, and history are held up to objective standards that cannot be deviated from. However, "with writing, the situation is significantly different..evaluation involves comparison on two levels: the standard set by other students in the class and by some pre-established standard of good writing(Kindle, p6535)" This has me wondering: WHERE does this pre-established standard of "good writing" comes from? After viewing my classmates rubrics and seeing how everyone, basically, has dissimilar ideas of what constitutes "good writing", it seems almost impossible to agree on ANYTHING.
However, later in the text, Williams mentions having students create a rubric of their own. "This procedure helps students to feel that the rubric is theirs, that it reflects their views on what successful responses will look like. The empowerment that comes from this procedure is highly beneficial to students and their progress as writers(Kindle, p7086)". The empowerment the students feel, I believe, makes them more passionate about their own writing, as well as more successful within their writing.
One thing that is ONCE AGAIN mentioned in Williams is the fact that teachers have such a heavy student load that they do not have time "to conduct numerous conferences(Kindle, p6664)" Unfortunately, in certain schools this is true. With so many students to tend to, one on one time is next to impossible ALL THE TIME. However, in the middle school I am observing in, when the teacher has too many students to conference with, she employs peer conferencing. It is interesting watching the students working together, because each student is learning from the other. Each is nervous and leery of sharing their thoughts and opinions, yet they grow from the experience. Overall, this chapter was very beneficial to me!

What to Do When You Catch Your Fillet Mignon Smoking Weed: A Survival Guide

High Steaks, get it?

While Williams does point out a number of flaws in high-stakes-testing, when it comes to assessing assessment he does not go far enough. Assessment is more than a political force; it is an economic one.

Let's talk about the giant duck in the room. ETS, NTE, SAT, SAT 9, ACT, GRE, LSAT, etc., etc., etc., are all money-making forces. These blood-sucking leeches have corrupted and decimated education to the point where- having morphed it into an INDUSTRY of profit and efficiency - education is no longer recognizable. It is in the industry's best interest to find, solicit, and elect politicians whose goals are most closely aligned with their own. As such, the newly forged education industry will doubtless prove a formidible opponent to topple. To maintain profit, it is in their best interest if the status quo does not change and they will fight tooth and nail to make sure it does not.

In the cold detached world of profit, loss, and bottom-line efficiency what room is there for the concerns of the student? Is it any wonder our system is failing? While Williams's discussion of Holistic scoring is well intended - it may even work within the industry to improve students' writing - Williams fails to address the over-arching problem of education as industry.

Students, not profit, should be the focus of any policy aimed at correcting perceived deficiencies in our educational system. To this end, Williams deserves some credit for unearthing some potential focal points for improvement, namely: writing as an incremental process; shifting demographics; class size; teachers working together; teacher pay; and the break down of the family. Williams describes writing as one of the most complex disciplines to assess (297). Therefore, it should follow that any solution for improvement should be equally complex (it should also look to undermine the education industry).

Imagine a world where, for writing, you had the same instructor from beginning to end. From grades 1 to 12. Let's stretch our imagination a bit further by suggesting that not only we have the same instructor, but the same group of 10 - 15 classmates for the same stretch of time(again just for writing). Such an approach might resolve issues of "the break down of family" by creating an environment where a student from a broken household could - at least on some level - substitute family with classroom - and without fear of abandonment. Additionally, by having the same instructor all twelve years, any lack of continuity from grade to grade would be eliminated while simultaneously addressing the issue of writing as an incremental process - the instructor being able to assess the student's entire body of work over a number of years. Of course, keeping records of assessment over such a long period of time is a considerable amount of work, and instructor pay should reflect the additional load. But, perhaps the most radical suggestion for improvement I can offer addresses grading.

I like the concepts of rubrics, student workshops, and teacher as coach. Why not implement these in the system described above, but, instead of earning a grade throughout a semester with a final grade at the end, just have one final assessment upon graduation that looks at the entire body of work? This approach would really put the students' grades in their own hands - where it belongs. At the same time, this approach would stealthily avoid concerns of students' aversion to writing which may result from negative reactions to criticism from a wicked red pen.

Williams raises some interesting concerns, but ultimately falls on the wrong side (or short side) of the issue. My ideas may be radical, but I believe they have merit. What do all of you think?

Write What You Know

This week’s reading was extremely helpful in not only creating my own rubric but in also summarize the semester’s readings thus far. While most of this chapter is about creating rubrics that try to fairly asses a student’s grasp of the concepts, I was fascinated with some of the early features of this chapter. I had a major light bulb moment and am so elated to share it with you all. A wise mentor-teacher told my high school freshman writing class that her only rule for the year was to write what we know. At first we all nervously laughed because we thought the whole point of a classroom was to teach us stuff we did not know and our grades would showcase the extent of our hard work and discipline in conquering the material. However, I did not realize the depth of her wisdom till this weekend. In this blog, I will try and “show” you my point.

The whole point of write what you know is not solely fixed in the content of the material but rather the understanding and recognition of the audience. If I am going to write a book, I am first going to decide the genre. Most people would argue that I would then be putting the primary focus of my book on the content rather than the audience. However, I argue that the board and generalized genre of my book allows me to focus on my readers and thus, will allow me to actually write a book that a member of the particular community would seek to read. For example, if I would write a medical crime book, I would utilize medical jargon because my audience is medical personnel. The “know” part is about understanding the shared and accepted community jargon. Throughout his book, Williams tries to stress the importance of audience but what is also equally vital is that of the shared understanding between the writer and readers. This common or shared understanding will allow the writer to either enhance his or her point (through the use of vivid descriptions which will allow the reader to conjure up an image that will once again allow the reader to mutually share in the visions of the writer [be on the same page]) or to aid the writer in not overdoing it (by boring and or belittling my audience) on an already mutually shared point. For example, I will offer up textual evidence to support my expanded ideas while at other times, I simply refrain from using certain comments or statements to further develop a point since I am aware of my audience and our common vocabulary. In chapter two, Williams writes that
“Many English teachers try to set aside this paradox [to write an English paper] by asking students to write about world affairs or local issues rather than works of literature, but these well-intentioned efforts merely encourage journalistic prose and do not address the underlying issue, which is that most writing is produced for a particular audience, not a general one, and therefore must follow conventions specific to that audience” (68).

At another point in chapter two, Williams reiterates this point. He states
“that if the audience of a paper ‘belongs to an identifiable group, . . . [one] will be writing for insiders.’ But if the audience ‘does not belong to such a group, . . . [one] will be writing for outsiders.’ Writing produced for insiders is , by its very nature, exclusive, whereas writing produced for outsiders is inclusive. . . . Articles in professional journals use language, concepts, interpretations, and references that only insiders fully understand…” (73)

Thus, one can see that Williams believes that we write for our audience and the way we write depends on whether or not we know our audience.

Williams continues to write that most of the classroom writing is centered on being broad “because the teachers in these classes lack sufficient content-area knowledge to help students produce texts for insiders” (73). This quote led me to this week’s assigned chapter. This chapter is focused on “assessing and evaluating writing” (297). Yet, Williams is not solely focus on outlining his readers (most are teachers or soon to be educators) the best or easiest way to quickly read and grade numerous students’ papers. He is arguing that teachers have for too long been dependent on time honored and outdated methods and thus, we should not be surprised that our students have come to dislike writing. The problem is that students do not hate writing. They despise grammar and have not yet had an authentic writing experience. We have talked about in class how grammar, usage and mechanics are areas of study that teachers need to learn in order to aid (after appraising a students’ writing samples) their students but students need to actually write. We have discussed how students’ writing does not improve through the extensive study of grammar and that this is the problem that Elbow seeks to fix. Williams writes that “In the typical language arts class, ‘writing instruction’ focuses almost exclusively on surface features such as punctuation, subject-verb agreement, the three types of sentences… and the parts of speech…” (302).A writing class needs to be writing otherwise, the grammar focus education will stunt the writing ability of students. Williams states that “These features are taught through exercises that provide students with lists of error-filled sentences that they must correct and with fill-in-the blank worksheets asking them to identify terms… as though such knowledge somehow is related to effective writing” (302). Thus, students are assigned papers in response to books so that the teacher can once again decide (assess) the student’s grasp of the information. After all don’t most schools have a summer reading list in which the students must read a book and then write a paper? These papers are graded in the first few weeks of school and are used to not only test the student understands of the book, like Watership Down, but also to evaluate the student’s knowledge of grammar. After grading the papers, the teacher will decide (evaluate) whether or not this class needs to redo drills on prepositions, commas, etc. According to Williams, “it is silly to suggest that the study of the play is somehow related to learning how to write a piece of literary analysis. Likewise, it is incorrect to suggest that students can transfer what they learned from the punctuation exercises to their own writing” (302).

Lastly these exercises do not allow students to better understand the vital role of audience and audience accepted language into the creation of a paper, article or book. Williams writes that “freshmen enter college having received nothing but A’s on all their high school essays… these students discover that they cannot earn anything higher than a C in freshman composition. The skills that served them well in high school will not enable them to excel at university” (300). The students are unable to recognize their new audience member and shared vocabulary because they have never been trained to write first for the audience and then edit. In other words, our students are able to do the telling part of writing but they cannot do the showing part. Elbow informed us last week that telling is “talking about the actual writings…” and that students can describe a piece by stating “ first this happened, then this happened, then this happened, and so on” (Elbow 89, 87). Showing on the other hand is “like installing a window in the top of your head and then taking a bow so the writer can see for himself. There’s no need to try to remember what was happening as you read… Showing conveys more information but in a more mixed and ambiguous form” (Elbow 92). Students are use to telling because they have done it for years in order to receive grades but the showing part is the real sticky issue. A writer needs to remember his or her audience otherwise the paper, article or book will never be well received. A quick way to understand the difference between telling and showing can be found in the musical “My Fair Lady”. The one song, “Show Me” really highlights Elbow’s outline of both tell and show. Here is a website to listen to the song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8zyF0ZOy3k&p=E15427EA30609A20&playnext=1&index=11

Looking forward to Thursday’s discussion. This chapter really got me “excited about an idea” and I just had to share it with you all (299).