Keeping a blog this semester has helped me in many ways become more flexible in my thinking and my writing process. I have enjoyed sitting down to write with only a vague idea in my head of what I wanted to say, and then my thoughts and words interacting to create whole new thoughts. This blog allowed that to happen.
Our class syllabus points out the 6 student learning outcomes for this course, and I believe this blog as helped me meet all of them. The first outcome deals with knowledge of the genres. This blog allowed me to better meet that outcome because of the space it allowed for reflection on the genres we have read about in Tompkins (2012) and discussed and presented in class. It also provided me with a digital format to write, which further enhanced my learning of formats and how we adapt and use our writing in different ways.
The second outcome deals with audience and purpose and author's craft. Again, having the space to reflect on these ideas was great, but because the blog is public, it helped me realize how important audience is when writing. Each week's entry was usually up to us, even when we had a prompt, it was guiding us, not inhibiting us, so I feel that I alos was able to see first hand how when we have purpose we are more at to write something we believe.
Going along with the third outcome, in this blog I was able to test out certain theories and beliefs concerning reading and writing. At the beginning of the course I was much more set in my ways, but throughout the course, reading the texts and participating in lectures, I was able to develop much more flexibility in my thinking and openness for digital formats.
I remember on the first day of this class, as we sat in room 38 (I think) brainstorming the writing process, and then the reading process and seeing all the similarities. Outcome four deals with this relationship. The only thing I can really say about how this blog has helped me meet this outcome is when I write, much like when I read, I participate in the same patterns, I move in spurts, and then pause to clarify and repair, and then move on.
The fifth outcome deals with metacognition and its role in writing proficiency and reading comprehension. This blog has helped me meet that outcome by thinking through my writing, thinking about my writing, and allowing my current thinking to shape my writing and new thoughts. Much like I discuss in reference to outcome four and in the introduction, metacognition plays a large role in my writing and my understanding while reading. I am constantly thinking about my thoughts and why i feel or believe a certain way, and this blog aloows for this because it is so immediate, we can think through our writing.
I do not feel I really addressed the issues presented in outcome six in my blog. That is not say I did not develop in ways that allows me to meet this outcome, just not in my blog. It did allow me to assess my own learning I suppose, and therefore I could use it as a self-assessment. Also, it could be used by you Dr. Jones to assess our learning from the course. it did allow me the space to experiment with the topics and themes in the texts we read and therefore we could be evaluated on how we used certain strategies while reading to extract information and write about it.
Overall, this blog has allowed my thinking to grow in ways that could not have happened without it. It gave me a space and freedom to write and think simultaneously. I would love to keep this blog going, if I do i would probably continue with the same types of topics, and also use it to work though dilemmas in my own teaching nad classroom.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Entry 11: Bless, Press, Address
After reading through my classmates entries I chose Jeff's entry 7 to address. In this entry Jeff is discussing the poetry genre and goes into detail about he he used to view poetry, and how he views it now after Tracey's presentation and reading the chapter in Tompkins (2012). I chose this entry to address because I feel the poetry genre is one that both captivates and eludes me as far as teaching it goes.
There is the teaching of poets and poems and styles, and then the teaching of crafting poems, I feel it so expansive and overwhelming! Tompkins (2012) and Tracey did a very nice job of narrowing it and making the genre approachable for those of us who feel overwhelmed with it. Tompkins breaks her chapter down into manageble types of poems and includes examples and notes on each. Tracey featured several of these in her presentation and now I feel more comfortable approaching teaching poetry by focusing on one type of poem and mini-lesson to assist students with poetic devices or craft.
The part of Jeff's blog that really intrigued me to write this post is:
"I look back and think about the writing possibilities poetry offers. Poets are able to capture the world in unique ways and perspectives. they create images other people might not be able to create. Students can take these ideas, make them their own and build confidence as a writer/poet. As a teacher, I can then harness the motivation and confidence poetry builds and scaffold it to narrative writing or descriptive or expository writing."
Jeff's quote above stood out to me a few reasons, one: it reminded me of why I love reading poetry. The way words can be used to describe and create whole new thoughts and worlds is unique to this genre and is incredible. Two: I like how he implies that playing with words and creating their own poems will motivate and enhance confidence in students, and three: he touches on what we all agreed on during Tracey's presentation, that poetry can be used as a gateway to other genres.
I think using poems is a great way to scaffold writing into other genres and topics. Poems allow the student to get at the creative aspect of a topic and inspire curiosity about a topic, and then they can take that curiosity and run with it into creating a non-fiction book about their particular topic. Let's use the manatee poem that Dr. Jones read during Tracey's presentation as an example. After studying manatees students could create a poem about them, or the poem itself could be a gateway into studying them. Then the student could learn more about manatees and add that information to what they learned about the poem and create an expository text about manatees.
The poetry genre still continues to intimidate me, however I feel more comfortable than before and I see a whole new way to integrate it into the curriculum.
There is the teaching of poets and poems and styles, and then the teaching of crafting poems, I feel it so expansive and overwhelming! Tompkins (2012) and Tracey did a very nice job of narrowing it and making the genre approachable for those of us who feel overwhelmed with it. Tompkins breaks her chapter down into manageble types of poems and includes examples and notes on each. Tracey featured several of these in her presentation and now I feel more comfortable approaching teaching poetry by focusing on one type of poem and mini-lesson to assist students with poetic devices or craft.
The part of Jeff's blog that really intrigued me to write this post is:
"I look back and think about the writing possibilities poetry offers. Poets are able to capture the world in unique ways and perspectives. they create images other people might not be able to create. Students can take these ideas, make them their own and build confidence as a writer/poet. As a teacher, I can then harness the motivation and confidence poetry builds and scaffold it to narrative writing or descriptive or expository writing."
Jeff's quote above stood out to me a few reasons, one: it reminded me of why I love reading poetry. The way words can be used to describe and create whole new thoughts and worlds is unique to this genre and is incredible. Two: I like how he implies that playing with words and creating their own poems will motivate and enhance confidence in students, and three: he touches on what we all agreed on during Tracey's presentation, that poetry can be used as a gateway to other genres.
I think using poems is a great way to scaffold writing into other genres and topics. Poems allow the student to get at the creative aspect of a topic and inspire curiosity about a topic, and then they can take that curiosity and run with it into creating a non-fiction book about their particular topic. Let's use the manatee poem that Dr. Jones read during Tracey's presentation as an example. After studying manatees students could create a poem about them, or the poem itself could be a gateway into studying them. Then the student could learn more about manatees and add that information to what they learned about the poem and create an expository text about manatees.
The poetry genre still continues to intimidate me, however I feel more comfortable than before and I see a whole new way to integrate it into the curriculum.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Entry 10: Reflecting on the Genres we have Explored
I really enjoyed presenting and participating in the genre expert projects. I feel I have learned a lot by studying my own genre, and by participating and interacting with the others. We've been exposed to the journal genre, poetry, the biography genre, the persuasive genre, and the expository genre. I can not say I was 100% comfortable with any of these.
Before this class, the genres I felt most comfortable with (that we explored) were poetry and biography. Now, after the presentations I almost feel more overwhelmed by these two genres, but not in a bad way! I felt I had a good grasp on these two, but was then exposed to so much more taht i did not know about: activities, strategies, and mentor texts. I also witnessed just how expansive the genres are, so now I feel there is much more to have to grapple with as far as they are concerned. I do feel more equippped to deal with certain aspects of these genres, Presenting and participating in the presentations opened my eyes to more.
As far as journals, expository, and persuasive, I feel I have a foothold now. Those (especially expository and persuasive) have always intimidated me, but after reading Topmkins (2012) and participating in the presentations, I feel more comfortable.
What I learned from the journal presentation is the idea of a double entry journal. Typically when I thought of journals, I thought of narrative and fiction. These double entry journals reminds me a learning log, and allows the student to make connections with the text and make those connections visibly on an organized template. I also like the simulated journals. I think this is such a great way to get our students thinking in new ways. By putting themselves in someone else's shoes, they can see diffrent perspectives and develop empathy. And of course, all the great mentor texts we were able to browse through and get acquainted with!
The expository genre opened my eyes to the different text structures. I knew some of these, but not to the extent I do now. I was most comfortable as a reader of this genre, I still feel uncomfortable as a writer or even a teacher of writing in this genre. That is probably due my exposure to the genre, I am not frequently asked to write in this genre.
The persuasive genre I realized depends on audience more than all others we looked at. This is because when we are trying to persuade someone it will only work if we can appeal to and reach our audience, otherwise it will be futile to try to persuade. I also really liked, and will always remember the Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio to symbolize ethos, pathos, and logos. I think this genre is probably the most important to focus on for me, because this type of writing matches what I must focus on with my students: evidence based claims. The graphic organziers included in the packet handed out are extremely useful too as is the argument, persuasion, or propaganda chart.
For all of these genres, I learned strategies and tools to use with students to help them become better readers and writers of these genres as well as a plethora of great mentor texts to use to model and teach these genres.
Before this class, the genres I felt most comfortable with (that we explored) were poetry and biography. Now, after the presentations I almost feel more overwhelmed by these two genres, but not in a bad way! I felt I had a good grasp on these two, but was then exposed to so much more taht i did not know about: activities, strategies, and mentor texts. I also witnessed just how expansive the genres are, so now I feel there is much more to have to grapple with as far as they are concerned. I do feel more equippped to deal with certain aspects of these genres, Presenting and participating in the presentations opened my eyes to more.
As far as journals, expository, and persuasive, I feel I have a foothold now. Those (especially expository and persuasive) have always intimidated me, but after reading Topmkins (2012) and participating in the presentations, I feel more comfortable.
What I learned from the journal presentation is the idea of a double entry journal. Typically when I thought of journals, I thought of narrative and fiction. These double entry journals reminds me a learning log, and allows the student to make connections with the text and make those connections visibly on an organized template. I also like the simulated journals. I think this is such a great way to get our students thinking in new ways. By putting themselves in someone else's shoes, they can see diffrent perspectives and develop empathy. And of course, all the great mentor texts we were able to browse through and get acquainted with!
The expository genre opened my eyes to the different text structures. I knew some of these, but not to the extent I do now. I was most comfortable as a reader of this genre, I still feel uncomfortable as a writer or even a teacher of writing in this genre. That is probably due my exposure to the genre, I am not frequently asked to write in this genre.
The persuasive genre I realized depends on audience more than all others we looked at. This is because when we are trying to persuade someone it will only work if we can appeal to and reach our audience, otherwise it will be futile to try to persuade. I also really liked, and will always remember the Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio to symbolize ethos, pathos, and logos. I think this genre is probably the most important to focus on for me, because this type of writing matches what I must focus on with my students: evidence based claims. The graphic organziers included in the packet handed out are extremely useful too as is the argument, persuasion, or propaganda chart.
For all of these genres, I learned strategies and tools to use with students to help them become better readers and writers of these genres as well as a plethora of great mentor texts to use to model and teach these genres.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Entry #9: Technology in classrooms...
For my open entry I would like to spend some time thinking about using digital texts in the classroom. I've mentioned before in a previous entry that I feel a slight dilemma when it comes to teaching students to craft digital texts versus traditional ones, but I have come to the realization that it is more of a disservice to not allow or teach these.
There are a few problems that I need to work through before I am able to integrate these types of meaningful assignments into my teaching. First, there is the obvious problem of lacking the technology. In my school, there is one computer lab, this lab houses the technology class and the computer applications class, leaving zero periods open when I teach. The only other option is checking to see if All City, the other school in Marshall would allow us to use their lab, but again, availability may not work out even if they would allow it. Looks like I will have to appeal to my administrators like we did in our mock digital presentation!
Another issue I would have to work through is learning enough about digital texts so I can guide my students. After reading Hicks (2013) and his chapters on crafting digital presentations, audio texts, videos, and social media, I realized I have a lot to learn! Especially after reading the last two chapters, 6 and 7, I feel under pressure to be able to undertsand and give my students the opportunity to create in these forms. I feel like this can be the key to unlocking engagement and motivation, and deepening their content knowledge.
I do not know enough about the programs and software needed for many of these types of assignments, but luckily Hicks (2013) does provide a wide range of resources and tips. I think the first step is playing around.
The next issue I would face would be when to use such a project and set guidelines and a timetable for it. How do I determine when a traditional assignment would be a better assessment and product to display new knowledge, than a digital text? How do I ensure purpose and audience? How do match thoughtful intelligent instruction without getting too caught up in the technical aspect?
I know that my students would be engaged, but would they be able to maintain focus on content while playing with the technology? Hicks (2013) provides many methods for assessments, and what I like about his methods is that they involve student reflection, peer feedback, annotations and comments, basically they involve writing, so my original fear that traditional writing would be far too absent from the class is uncalled for. Hicks also stresses to have students start out by planning the video or digital text without even coming close to a computer. I think this would be an appropriate balance, planning on paper, creating with the technology, then reflecting on paper, and so on. A recursive process.
Two more problems I would have to address before I approached teaching these types of texts are teaching how to be critical readers on the interent and citing their sources. I know these can be broken down to explicit mini-lessons, but they seem like time-consuming and difficult lessons to capture in a mini-lesson.
One things for certain, I need to figure out a way to give the opportunity to my students to create digital texts, I know they would amaze me with their abilities.
There are a few problems that I need to work through before I am able to integrate these types of meaningful assignments into my teaching. First, there is the obvious problem of lacking the technology. In my school, there is one computer lab, this lab houses the technology class and the computer applications class, leaving zero periods open when I teach. The only other option is checking to see if All City, the other school in Marshall would allow us to use their lab, but again, availability may not work out even if they would allow it. Looks like I will have to appeal to my administrators like we did in our mock digital presentation!
Another issue I would have to work through is learning enough about digital texts so I can guide my students. After reading Hicks (2013) and his chapters on crafting digital presentations, audio texts, videos, and social media, I realized I have a lot to learn! Especially after reading the last two chapters, 6 and 7, I feel under pressure to be able to undertsand and give my students the opportunity to create in these forms. I feel like this can be the key to unlocking engagement and motivation, and deepening their content knowledge.
I do not know enough about the programs and software needed for many of these types of assignments, but luckily Hicks (2013) does provide a wide range of resources and tips. I think the first step is playing around.
The next issue I would face would be when to use such a project and set guidelines and a timetable for it. How do I determine when a traditional assignment would be a better assessment and product to display new knowledge, than a digital text? How do I ensure purpose and audience? How do match thoughtful intelligent instruction without getting too caught up in the technical aspect?
I know that my students would be engaged, but would they be able to maintain focus on content while playing with the technology? Hicks (2013) provides many methods for assessments, and what I like about his methods is that they involve student reflection, peer feedback, annotations and comments, basically they involve writing, so my original fear that traditional writing would be far too absent from the class is uncalled for. Hicks also stresses to have students start out by planning the video or digital text without even coming close to a computer. I think this would be an appropriate balance, planning on paper, creating with the technology, then reflecting on paper, and so on. A recursive process.
Two more problems I would have to address before I approached teaching these types of texts are teaching how to be critical readers on the interent and citing their sources. I know these can be broken down to explicit mini-lessons, but they seem like time-consuming and difficult lessons to capture in a mini-lesson.
One things for certain, I need to figure out a way to give the opportunity to my students to create digital texts, I know they would amaze me with their abilities.
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