Unit 4: Activity 4-Participation in a Writer's Workshop

Reflection of my participation in a 

on First Steps in Writing

As a self-directed learner, this was not my very first virtual writer's workshop. I discovered very early on in this course that one of the best ways to improve my professional practice was to view videos on teacher educational sites and YouTube which showed me practical application of concepts in real life-the classroom. The only difference with this one and the rest was that I have viewed was the conditions and frame of mind. I  am more knowledgeable about the writing process than I was back then and so I was viewing from a critical perspective rather than an "all accepting" perspective. I also had a legal pad, taking bullet points of information which I later coded. I coded the information that I gathered as (1) beliefs about writing I already know, (2) concepts in writing that sparked my imagination because they informed practice. I tried to get another data category but to no avail.

I found the following lists of beliefs or ideas about writing to correspond with that held by the NCTE, based on reflections on the NCTE Position Statement of Beliefs about Writing contributed by me and my peers via writing (a blog entry) and orally through class discussion.

BELIEFS ABOUT WRITING CONTRIBUTED BY TEACHERS IN A VIRTUAL WRITER’S WORKSHOP THAT ALIGN WITH THAT OF THE NCTE

-The role of the teacher in the classroom during writing periods is to foster writing for purposeful communication during students’ adolescent life and in preparation for entering the world of work. Students need to know that writing suits informal and formal contexts and thus there is always the need to “say what you mean and to know how to say what you mean.” -Writing should occur with intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is needed to find one’s voice in writing as well as personal style. There is no such thing as writing for the teacher. As teachers our role is to help students find their individual inspirations for writing so that writing is authentic –relates to students personal view of creative expression and not an empty piece which reflects a template or “writing for writing sake” -Writing conferences (peer-to-peer and student-teacher) are effective means of addressing individual student needs. At the writer's conference student's affective filter is very low so they are more receptive of corrective feedback than the regular classroom environment. In these conferences there is a targeted and progressive approach to improving student performance in writing which includes the writer setting personal goals to improve writing products at various stages in the writing process.Guidance is received from a peer tutor or the teacher every step of the way in making the writing better so that the major goal of independence in writing will come to fruition after scaffolding is removed. -Reading is a quintessential part of writing. This is because published pieces of writing and students' own samples of writing provide models about what is acceptable and unacceptable in any specific writing genre based on the 6 traits of writing.Furthermore, reading provides inspiration to write because it can paint pictures of what writer's want to write, provide evidence for argument based writing, delimit a topic, promote discourse about the topic and surrounding issues when planning to write among other reasons. More importantly, it has been purported that a great writer is a great reader and a great reader is a great writer- reading and writing use similar cognitive processing to make sense of meaning and promote understanding. -Good writer's practice, practice, practice. We are not all born with an innate capacity to write using the process approach. Development of the writing craft therefore needs to be nurtured both within and outside the classroom environment. With lots of practice there is more development of creative expression by wanting to experiment with and discover new writing techniques that work well with specific genres. Expert writers take risks in their writing to find their unique voice while novice writers are less critical of their craft and as a result do not develop their craft beyond a certain point and tend to sound like "everyone else".

I also reflected on the multiplicity of reasons why students need to write for both academic and aesthetic purposes based on classroom knowledge and additional research conducted.

REASONS WHY STUDENTS SHOULD WRITE

empowerment to challenge society's orthodoxies promote freedom of expression promote personal satisfaction in developing communicative competence achieves concreteness in thought process (permanent records) fosters metacognitive development builds self confidence/self awareness/self-discovery develops higher order critical thinking skills (reasoning, critiquing etc) promotes social discourse

IN SESSION



In this section I compiled various segments of the writer's workshop that would help me with practical application of the knowledge that I have acquired in this course.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN SELECTING TOPICS FOR ESSAY WRITING

Guided by Schuman's planning pyramid I will accommodate for diversity in the classroom when selecting topics for shared writing in the whole classroom environment. I will endeavour not to  choose topics that only some or  few students can write about but those that all students should be able to write about based on collective experiences. I can tap into what some or few writers can write about during individual student-teacher conference, portfolio assessment and the like.

REVISION DOES NOT MEAN A SEARCH FOR IMPERFECTIONS

If students complete the editing process thoroughly enough then there will be no need for them to still try to be fixing mechanical errors in their writing when they are revising. Hence, the reason why editing should precede editing when the teacher models the writing process (although with practice the two can be done in  tandem).

I like the idea of having students construct Venn Diagrams to demonstrate that they understand the similarities and differences between editing and revising as opposed to giving them peer and self editing or revising checklists and assume that the mental conditioning is already there for the students to use them effectively.

WRITING PRINCIPLES DON"T CHANGE TO SUIT STUDENTS

In a classroom of diversity in language ability, cognitive ability, social and cultural experiences. There is no such thing as  modifying writing principles for e.g grammar rules to suit any particular group or individual students. However, as trained teachers we can apply our knowledge about differentiated instruction by making  accommodations for the learners using appropriate teaching strategies and teaching materials.

"RIFTING ON A WORD"

Part of teaching students creative expression is to teach students the denotative and connotative meanings of words. This helps very much with descriptive writing. The word "bomb" was used to create individual  poem using the writing strategy called free writing. Bomb can mean "terrorist bombs" in planes and dropped on buildings, "dropping the bomb" about an unfaithful partner, "suicide bomber" and the list goes on. This is great to promote discourse in writing and not only written expression. Students learn how to add flavour to writing by showing and not telling only when describing images, events, characters and so forth.

QUICK WRITES RATHER THAN LONGER PIECES OF PROCESS WRITING

Students need practice in writing in various genres and opportunities to share the writing with others. Quick writes focus on dominant characteristics of a particular writing genre but don't focus on writing mechanics. Quick writes promote critical thinking and are popular with students due to immediacy of feedback from peers or teacher.It also lessens teachers workload of evaluating full essays of 5 or more paragraphs.There are numerous other advantages to quick writes. Click on the links below for more advantages of quick writes and how to implement them in the classroom.

http://nrhs.nred.org/www/nred_nrhs/site/hosting/Literacy%20Website/Literacy%20Strategy%20Templates/Quick_Write__description.pdf

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1053/quick_write_draw.pdf

MORE SERIOUS CLASSROOM MATTERS

FOR WRITING

-It is best that a yearly writing plan be made which is broken down into term and weekly plans.

-When planning, the activities in the lesson plans should build momentum in achieving students personal goals. (Of course, teacher needs to find out what these are and make adjustments where necessary)

-Following the curriculum guide, plan all writing genres (narrative, expository, descriptive, argumentative). It is better to overplan than to have never planned at all. This is because the writing genre that was not incorporated into the plan for the term may be the one that sparks a child's imagination. 

-Try to incorporate writing practice into instruction on a daily basis for at least 7 minutes. This can include: film  review, part of  a chapter or unit review, predictions, story retelling for e.g different beginning or ending and the list goes on. This will take the form of small group, large group, whole class and independent activities. However, the rule of thumb still applies that writing needs a stimulus and it occurs after listening,viewing,reading, visually representing and speaking. However since the focus of literacy tends to be reading and writing, writing tends to follow reading in a typical classroom.

-Materials need to be sourced right away as the lessons are planned. This is because the teacher needs to make accommodations for diverse learners in an all inclusive classroom environment."The early bird catches the worm" and it is necessary to avoid other issues such as increased cost as well as inadequate or non-existent supply which may lead to frustration or having to change the lesson's format. 

SETTING 

-Source student friendly writing tools to enable students to get from a place of less confusion to a place of  serenity when planing to write (prewriting stage).

-Not all students will learn just because writing concepts have been taught. Hence, there is need to take records of  students progression throughout the various stages of the writing process and to come up with plan of action that is in tune with students personal goals as well as those that you the teacher has set for them based on the prescribed curriculum. The "Writing Goals" Chart  below identifies specific personal goals of the students in an English language classroom that align with those of the curriculum.

AIDING STUDENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL WRITING GOALS

EXAMPLES OF GUIDING QUESTIONS TO AID STUDENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC WRITING GOALS

• How do you intend to revise this piece?
• What are the qualities of a good piece of  "X genre " of writing?
• Can you tell us about your best piece of writing?
• What topics would you like to write about this term?
• What type of feedback helps you to make corrections?

Rule of thumb: Teachers should periodically assess whether individual student goals have been met during the course of the term.

TEACHERS SHOULD BE REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONERS

• Teachers are encouraged to join the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) to network with English language teachers all around tho have similar goals which are accomplished in different ways. Professional conversations, professional workshops (face-to-face and virtual), teacher blogs, classroom videos of teaching strategies in action, teaching aids developed by teachers for teachers are some of the perks of becoming a free member of the NCTE. (I am already a member and receive regular e-mails specific to my professional development as an English Language teacher).
• Professional courses are not hosted by reading and writing groups in St.Lucia unfortunately. If there are any it is organized by Ministry of Education for teachers to network from all over the island for a two week period. This is not a regular occurrence throughout the year. 
• Despite a lack of professional courses available free of charge to  St.Lucian teachers there are still creative writers and dramatists who are willing to assist in a professional capacity.( I plan to visit a few of them about the possibility of publishing my poems). There are also group such as "Headphunk" that promote the performing arts inclusive of stand up comedy and poetry. Teachers who are practicing writers can take advantage of these free opportunities for hands on experience in practicing the content that is taught to students.
• In the pursuit of developing "top-of-mind awareness" of the English language curriculum requirements, the school's, students' and a teacher's personal goals there is need to network with members of the English language department at the school that a teacher is employed.

The aforementioned  can take place at a negotiated  time  for e.g two hours each week after school day has ended.  The English language Head of Department should be a regular participant in those meetings to keep abreast of the issues facing the English language department in meeting needs of diverse classroom populations- especially in light of  meager resources provided for teaching of English language as compared to content area subjects. The teachers will discuss their strengths and weakness in meeting challenges that are unique to teaching English language. There is a whole hour for  brainstorming and demonstrating effective teaching strategies that have been tried and tested by novice, emergent and expert teachers. Other times there will be writer's workshop where only the improvement of students' performance in writing is on the agenda.Resource persons can also be invited to those departmental meetings.In developing such a high level of support for each other "behind chambers", teachers should be provided with the opportunity to co-teach or exchange expertise with teachers at the same grade level. In this way addressing strengths and weaknesses in teaching of writing can be examined from a global as opposed to just a localized perspective i.e.the teacher' s classes only.Teaching is indeed not a solitary act.