Teaching Writing

After spending the majority of my fall break observing in an 8th grade classroom, I feel like I have the same ideas about teaching writing, but that those ideas are now paired with a slightly different perspective. Teaching students to write in the ways that we are reading about in Gallagher and Smagorinsky, though certainly possible, is even more challenging than I had thought before. I was astounded to observe some of the writing levels of 8th graders in that many of them were much lower than I had expected. My cooperative teacher was fantastic and enthusiastic toward the students, but in reference to writing expectations, some students failed to pay attention to them, some intentionally choose not to comply with them, and others have no means to comply with them. On the other hand, some students in the classes that I observed were great readers and writers, clearly working above their grade level. Upon noticing the varying skill sets of these students, a soon-to-be student teacher can't help but ask, how do I handle this?

As always, Gallagher is extraordinarily helpful in suggesting solutions to problems such as these. In reference to various writing levels in a class, Gallagher writes that his "mantra" is "'everyone improves'" (143). This means that students, no matter what their starting point, are not to focus on reaching one certain point. Instead, everyone focuses on the goal to simply improve. I think that this suggestion is very helpful because students do not have to feel so much pressure in reaching a certain place, they only have to worry about moving forward. This means that especially low level students are in no way expected to catch up and compete with high level students.

For students that are more wary of writing in general, Gallagher provides several ideas for increasing interest and bettering student attitudes toward writing. His first idea is to allow students to choose their own topics because it will help create a "feeling of ownership in the writer" and that choice will result in a more careful revision process because students will actually care about what they are working on (91). I agree with this idea, especially after seeing this methodology put into practice. While observing at JBMS with Mrs. Best (an 8th grade reading teacher), I also had the opportunity to observe two other teachers in the building. One of these was Mr. Cromwell, who is an 8th grade English teacher. Mr. Cromwell's class functions mainly as a writing workshop. The day I observed, students were mainly working on their own pieces while Mr. Cromwell conferenced with some of the students individually. Unlike the work ethic that I saw in reading class with reading log oriented journals, the students in this English class were on task and engrossed in their work. Students in Mr. Cromwell's class have nearly complete freedom over what topics they write about and what form these pieces take. (They are able to choose between narrative, informative, and persuasive pieces, but may write on any topic.) It is clear when listening in on some of the conferences that Mr. Cromwell tries to foster the feelings of ownership and empowerment through writing to the students that Gallagher discusses in his book. Students in this class are able to believe that they are not just students submitting a paper for the teacher to grade, but that they are writers who share their stories through the work that they do in class. It is truly amazing to observe, and this type of practice in teaching writing inspires me to consider this type of methodology for my own future classroom.



Both Smagorinsky and Gallagher discuss response and audience in teaching writing. Smagorinsky writes that peer feedback approaches not only offer students feedback to help them with their next drafts, but also that "students get experience as critical readers that may help them in reading and revising their own work" (98). I think that in addition to these benefits, students who are used to exchanging their work with others are more able to be a part of a conducive learning environment. When a safe place for sharing writing is created, better relationships, as well as better products are created in the classroom. Gallagher builds on these ideas with his "Friday Night Lights" methods. Some of my favorite components to this strategy are the Author's Chair and Golden Lines. I think that these activities could really help students to feel that they have an audience in their peers. Additionally, having especially well-written sentences highlighted and being able to read the work that they are proud of will help to build their confidence, and therefore cause them to take more pride in their writing.

I am very enthusiastic toward the prospect of teaching writing to students. The writing aspect of English classes has always been my favorite, and I'm expecting that it will continue to be throughout my teaching career. I guess that when reading authors such as Smagorinsky and Gallagher, I see how wonderfully their suggestions could work, but they don't necessarily tell you how to create an environment into which these practices would be accepted. With hard work and a good attitude, I am sure that this type of environment can be created, and I plan to try to do just that as I move toward becoming a teacher.

My Prezi: The Graveyard Book

Link: The Graveyard Book: Text Satellite

Above is a link to my Prezi which is based around The Graveyard Book, a supernatural novel by Neil Gaiman. I chose this book because I felt that it was seasonal and would appeal to a wider range of students than the texts that I have chosen previously for work in our class. My intended grade level for these lessons would be 8th grade. Though the actual text in the novel is fairly easy to read and comprehend, I believe that the issues and concepts presented in this novel hold potential for deep discussion and higher thinking among older middle school readers.

If you are unfamiliar with the novel, it centers on the life and growing up of a young boy named Nobody Owens. Nobody, better known as "Bod" throughout the book, is left to survive on his own as a baby when a man named Jack breaks into his home and murders his parents and older sister. Bod crawls away to safety, eventually ending up in a cemetery in which he is adopted by a husband and wife--who happen to be ghosts.

Some of the themes of the novel are family, self-identity, traumatic life events, loss/gain, growing up (coming of age), good vs. evil, and perseverance. I included two articles about adoption. The first, "Russian Kids in America: When the Adopted Can't Adapt," is from Time and discusses the problems experienced by those adopting children from Russia, mainly due to the traumatic events in the children's lives prior to their life in America. I accessed the other article, "Cross Cultural Adoption: Adults Say the Darndest Things," through the Washington Post online. This article features a discussion about the reaction adoptees and their parents receive from the public. Both of these articles are meant to serve as a basis for discussion about what family is, how families are formed, and the different forms that family may take.

Other texts I've chosen to include are parts of the Harry Potter series novels and movies, a movie trailer for Disney's Tarzan, "After 20 Years" by O. Henry, "Loss and Gain" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, "Second Chance" by Shinedown, and a quote from Virginia Woolf. All of these texts are meant to converse together, mainly about growing up, family/friends, and how people change over time. Additionally, the Harry Potter and Tarzan story lines work very well beside The Graveyard Book, as they are very similar.

I hope you enjoy my Text Satellite! I enjoyed creating it!

Note: For some reason, my first Article of the Week link is inaccessible through my Prezi. Here is the link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997439,00.html