Finally, we have come to the end of a semester and I have officially completed my blog. At the beginning I stated that I wanted to share my ideas from course readings and background experiences with you my readers. I hope I have fulfilled this purpose and believe that I have, at least in part. This blog sharing was sometimes an interesting task, other times a dauting one; but I can not deny that the information dispensed was rich and I hope to continue to use this forum as a learning tool even as we move beyond this our last semester of theory into the practical aspect of DTEEA.
Indeed the ideas that we were exposed to sought to make us better teachers, by providing us with teaching strategies that fostered the writing experience in the English classroom.
I thank you for your patience and hope that you too have learned something about me and my knowledge and understanding of the writing process and how it should be taught.
I wish you the best for the upcoming new year and beyond.
Thank you.
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Reading and Writing Connection
For years I have ignored the reading and writing connection; particularly because as a learner I had never been brought to see the importance. Loosely, we as learners were warned that in order to be a good writer we would have to do a lot of reading and I later grew to understand how obvious this was if only on a basic level. But the "readers make good writers" line that teachers tried to bait seemed more like a threat than a genuince enticement to engage in reading practices that would facilitate good writing practices; behind this lurked a sinister idea that those of us who hated reading would court bad grades generally. Fortunately I enjoyed reading and writing though my English grades remained inconsistent.
Now as an aspiring teacher of English the reading and writing connection holds a new allure, it promises opportunities to develop both students' reading and writing skills.
The reading and writing connection denotes the importance of reading to the writing process It is said to be important to understand the relationship between reading and writing in order to become a better writer. Both reading and writing are cognitive processes that includes constructing meaning.
It seems that those students who are exposed to a print rich environment on a regular basis develop better skills are writing. This seems to be a logical deduction as students who read frequently are exposed to different rhetorical modes and writing styles. These students are exposed to a wider range of creative ideas that can themselves spark students' imaginations. When we read we become exposed to new, and richer vocabulary in context and being prolific readers helps mechanical skills like spelling.
Generally revising our work before submission is advised and helps us to edit our errors in writing. Sometimes in reading our work, we read what we intended to write and not what is on the page; for this reason it is advisable to have others read our works to us in order to identify those errors that we have made.
Both when reading and writing we need to keep in mind the ideas of purpose and audience. For writing it helps us choose rhetorical modes and what type of language and ideas to present whilst for reading it helps us to identify rhetorical modes used and can aid general comprehension of the text as a whole. I believe we do not explicitly teach the importance of purpose and audience in the English classroom although this is an important aspect of writing and reading.
Also we do not make that connection to reading and writing for our students. Usually the two are seen and taught as two separate acts instead of two components of English sharing a symbiotic relationship. Students therefore approach each differently and never come to the understanding that one can be used to enhance the other. I think there needs to be a more deliberate attempt on the part of English teachers to make the connection between reading and writing and develop lesson plans, activities, materials and objectives that reflect this relationship.
Reading and Writing Connection and Poetry
Poetry is all too often a mysterious facet of the English Programme. Nightmares of recitation of long incomprehensible pieces written by the "Great Composers" seem to haunt many English students; at least I know it still haunts me. However, it was through poetry I began to enjoy the use of language to create vivid imagery; I discovered the beauty of figurative language. It seemed endless the number of ways a man can use language to create ideas and images in a reader's mind; today still I enjoy a witty play on words as well as the use of sarcasm.
However we need to be careful what types of poetry we introduce to our students; we should take into consideration their age and developmental level. Is a grade three student truly prepared to learn, recite and grasp "A City's Death by Fire." I know I certainly was not; and it was only much later at the Division of Arts Sciences and General Studies that I developed a real interest in certain types of poetry, in spite of many years of elocution. In fact in mentioning those days of elocution to a friend at the St. Joseph's Convent, she immediately shouted: "bad memories." During those periods our exposure to poetry was forced- it should be explained to teachers that forcing students to remember and regurgitate lines of poetry does not foster any kind of love for it.
But the same kinds of language found in poetry can be used in other types of writing. And we should use age appropriate pieces of poetry to engage students in the reading and writing of poems.
Now as an aspiring teacher of English the reading and writing connection holds a new allure, it promises opportunities to develop both students' reading and writing skills.
The reading and writing connection denotes the importance of reading to the writing process It is said to be important to understand the relationship between reading and writing in order to become a better writer. Both reading and writing are cognitive processes that includes constructing meaning.
It seems that those students who are exposed to a print rich environment on a regular basis develop better skills are writing. This seems to be a logical deduction as students who read frequently are exposed to different rhetorical modes and writing styles. These students are exposed to a wider range of creative ideas that can themselves spark students' imaginations. When we read we become exposed to new, and richer vocabulary in context and being prolific readers helps mechanical skills like spelling.
Generally revising our work before submission is advised and helps us to edit our errors in writing. Sometimes in reading our work, we read what we intended to write and not what is on the page; for this reason it is advisable to have others read our works to us in order to identify those errors that we have made.
Both when reading and writing we need to keep in mind the ideas of purpose and audience. For writing it helps us choose rhetorical modes and what type of language and ideas to present whilst for reading it helps us to identify rhetorical modes used and can aid general comprehension of the text as a whole. I believe we do not explicitly teach the importance of purpose and audience in the English classroom although this is an important aspect of writing and reading.
Also we do not make that connection to reading and writing for our students. Usually the two are seen and taught as two separate acts instead of two components of English sharing a symbiotic relationship. Students therefore approach each differently and never come to the understanding that one can be used to enhance the other. I think there needs to be a more deliberate attempt on the part of English teachers to make the connection between reading and writing and develop lesson plans, activities, materials and objectives that reflect this relationship.
Reading and Writing Connection and Poetry
Poetry is all too often a mysterious facet of the English Programme. Nightmares of recitation of long incomprehensible pieces written by the "Great Composers" seem to haunt many English students; at least I know it still haunts me. However, it was through poetry I began to enjoy the use of language to create vivid imagery; I discovered the beauty of figurative language. It seemed endless the number of ways a man can use language to create ideas and images in a reader's mind; today still I enjoy a witty play on words as well as the use of sarcasm.
However we need to be careful what types of poetry we introduce to our students; we should take into consideration their age and developmental level. Is a grade three student truly prepared to learn, recite and grasp "A City's Death by Fire." I know I certainly was not; and it was only much later at the Division of Arts Sciences and General Studies that I developed a real interest in certain types of poetry, in spite of many years of elocution. In fact in mentioning those days of elocution to a friend at the St. Joseph's Convent, she immediately shouted: "bad memories." During those periods our exposure to poetry was forced- it should be explained to teachers that forcing students to remember and regurgitate lines of poetry does not foster any kind of love for it.
But the same kinds of language found in poetry can be used in other types of writing. And we should use age appropriate pieces of poetry to engage students in the reading and writing of poems.
Planning for Writing and Pre-Writing Strategies to enlist in the Classroom
What does it mean to plan for writing; and how exactly does one engage in pre-writing? These questions baffled me immensely as I had never engaged myself or been exposed to such practices. Writing procedures were fast and furious in those younger student days where a good writer was one who was just able to write. Creative ideas, full of imagination and flair were self-generated and a testament to writing ability. Yet this behaviourist approach has left many inspiring and developing writer's without support and scaffolding for personal growth. As stipulated by NCTE: perhaps everyone may not create a masterpiece; but everyone can improve in terms of how they write.
Gatz (2004) Pre-Writing Strategies are:
Key to good essay writing and a key component of the writing process.
A way of organising ideas in preparation for writing
Comprise a delineation of of a topic to be written about
Guide an organised outline of possible ideas/topics and or comments
Different from drafting, revising and editing.
Planning for Writing incorporates brainstorming activities that help stimulate and generate ideas for writing and follow the process not product approach to writing.
Students should be encouraged to: pick a topic that interests them. This can be done through use of media and technology; personal experiences; dreams; visual representations; think, pair, share; discussions and even free writing.
Free writing is an appropriate follow up once students have selected a topic. It focuses on having students to practice writing without focusing on the mechanics of the language; it is the thoughts and ideas generated, not the mechanical structure that is of value at this point and many ideas can be generated through the use of this technique. The key is to write and mute the internal editor and check ideas after at least 10 minutes using this strategy; it surprises all of us how difficult it is not to critique while writing as well as how good some of these free writing ideas can be.
A flexible and multidimensional tool that can assist a students' planning to write is the Graphic Organiser. It allows students to organise ideas in a logical manner. It is an illustrative way of representing students' thoughts and caters especially to the visual learner. It associates the visual diagrams with written ideas. It can be a useful tool for scaffolding because of its perceptual properties; helps writer organise and chunk information; diagnose and solve identified problems. It is more effective if students create/generate the graphic organisers themselves; but if students are not properly trained in how to use these tools it may negate their purpose.
Questioning, another strategic pre-writing tool helps stimulate students ideas through prepared questions and students' responses. Students can respond to the questions and use the ideas that best suit their purpose for writing: those ideas that can cater to their writing.
In the hand-out "Brainstorming" I thought it was interesting that the author listed keeping audience and purpose in mind when writing. How often do we ourselves as writers and critical thinkers take this into consideration? Also as English teachers do we help students identify purrpose in their own writing as well as the works of others? We engage students in quite a lot of "comprehension: activities while at the same time ignoring a writer's purpose and his intended audience. These key factors can help both reading and writing but are ignored in the classroom.
Whereas Sloane's "Ten Steps to Better Brainstorming" recommends that students have the opportunity to practice extensively the art of brainstorming without the discussion of the actual merit of ideas generated. It gives students the opportunity to come up with diverse ideas, which may help them to think outside the box or norm of a topic (divergent thinking). Ideas that are irrelevant or inapropriate can be later discarded but to stop the freeflow of ideas to discuss their merit may hurt the process as it interrupts student's thinking.
Enthusiasm on the part of the teacher is key. We sometimes come to our classes as though we are slaves who have been commanded to do it. If we are uniterested in English and uninterested in writing and generating ideas for writing it is unlikely that our students will be. Teachers must be certain to praise students when they come up with creative ideas, let them know that they are on the right track and encourage them even when they miss the mark, then they will be eager to work and master the writing game. Often students fail to try because of learned helplessness and negative experiences with failure: teachers should utilise the self-fulfilling prophecy in a positive way to help students build confidence in their skills as writers. Reinforce the importance of student's ideas by giving them ample opportunity to make suggestions, participate and engage in peer critiquing. Planning our lessons before hand can help ensure that we deliberately incorporate these brainstorming and pre-writing techniques so that students have ample opportunities for participation.
Lastly Sloane (1998) gave an appropriate caveat. We are to select topics that will aid not impede our ideas. Those topics would be one that takes student's interests prior knowledge and background experiences into considerations. This means we must take time out to know our students. An easy way to do this is to conduct an interest inventory. It is hardly possible that we can always take into consideration the interests and experiences of each child; in this situation, class discussions can help stimulate brainstorming. One student's ingenius idea may just spark another less knowledgeable student's thought patterns.
Engaging in all these activities shows our students that writing is important and that each of them are capable of good writing through the use of planning and pre-writing stgrategies. And although we use these colloborative strategies to build students' writing abilities, our ultimate goal should be to develop competent, independent, strategic and creative writers. This can be aided through the use of Self-regulatory strategies that assist students in deliberately engaging in metacognitive process through goal instructions, self-instructions and self-monitoring. This of course is possible in our secondary schools as students are now at the stage of formal operational thought and are therefore developmentally prepared to engage in this strategised thinking.
Though these readings were extremely long, they helped reinforce the ideas that I have been exposed to here at DTEEA. It seems an almost insurmountable task to plan to implement all of these ideas into the classroom as a novice teacher. However there are a number of ideas that seem feasible which have begun to that I have begun to form a credo in my mind as a future English teacher. This credo is to use the process approach to stimulate good writing techniques in the classroom.
Gatz (2004) Pre-Writing Strategies are:
Key to good essay writing and a key component of the writing process.
A way of organising ideas in preparation for writing
Comprise a delineation of of a topic to be written about
Guide an organised outline of possible ideas/topics and or comments
Different from drafting, revising and editing.
Planning for Writing incorporates brainstorming activities that help stimulate and generate ideas for writing and follow the process not product approach to writing.
Students should be encouraged to: pick a topic that interests them. This can be done through use of media and technology; personal experiences; dreams; visual representations; think, pair, share; discussions and even free writing.
Free writing is an appropriate follow up once students have selected a topic. It focuses on having students to practice writing without focusing on the mechanics of the language; it is the thoughts and ideas generated, not the mechanical structure that is of value at this point and many ideas can be generated through the use of this technique. The key is to write and mute the internal editor and check ideas after at least 10 minutes using this strategy; it surprises all of us how difficult it is not to critique while writing as well as how good some of these free writing ideas can be.
A flexible and multidimensional tool that can assist a students' planning to write is the Graphic Organiser. It allows students to organise ideas in a logical manner. It is an illustrative way of representing students' thoughts and caters especially to the visual learner. It associates the visual diagrams with written ideas. It can be a useful tool for scaffolding because of its perceptual properties; helps writer organise and chunk information; diagnose and solve identified problems. It is more effective if students create/generate the graphic organisers themselves; but if students are not properly trained in how to use these tools it may negate their purpose.
Questioning, another strategic pre-writing tool helps stimulate students ideas through prepared questions and students' responses. Students can respond to the questions and use the ideas that best suit their purpose for writing: those ideas that can cater to their writing.
In the hand-out "Brainstorming" I thought it was interesting that the author listed keeping audience and purpose in mind when writing. How often do we ourselves as writers and critical thinkers take this into consideration? Also as English teachers do we help students identify purrpose in their own writing as well as the works of others? We engage students in quite a lot of "comprehension: activities while at the same time ignoring a writer's purpose and his intended audience. These key factors can help both reading and writing but are ignored in the classroom.
Whereas Sloane's "Ten Steps to Better Brainstorming" recommends that students have the opportunity to practice extensively the art of brainstorming without the discussion of the actual merit of ideas generated. It gives students the opportunity to come up with diverse ideas, which may help them to think outside the box or norm of a topic (divergent thinking). Ideas that are irrelevant or inapropriate can be later discarded but to stop the freeflow of ideas to discuss their merit may hurt the process as it interrupts student's thinking.
Enthusiasm on the part of the teacher is key. We sometimes come to our classes as though we are slaves who have been commanded to do it. If we are uniterested in English and uninterested in writing and generating ideas for writing it is unlikely that our students will be. Teachers must be certain to praise students when they come up with creative ideas, let them know that they are on the right track and encourage them even when they miss the mark, then they will be eager to work and master the writing game. Often students fail to try because of learned helplessness and negative experiences with failure: teachers should utilise the self-fulfilling prophecy in a positive way to help students build confidence in their skills as writers. Reinforce the importance of student's ideas by giving them ample opportunity to make suggestions, participate and engage in peer critiquing. Planning our lessons before hand can help ensure that we deliberately incorporate these brainstorming and pre-writing techniques so that students have ample opportunities for participation.
Lastly Sloane (1998) gave an appropriate caveat. We are to select topics that will aid not impede our ideas. Those topics would be one that takes student's interests prior knowledge and background experiences into considerations. This means we must take time out to know our students. An easy way to do this is to conduct an interest inventory. It is hardly possible that we can always take into consideration the interests and experiences of each child; in this situation, class discussions can help stimulate brainstorming. One student's ingenius idea may just spark another less knowledgeable student's thought patterns.
Engaging in all these activities shows our students that writing is important and that each of them are capable of good writing through the use of planning and pre-writing stgrategies. And although we use these colloborative strategies to build students' writing abilities, our ultimate goal should be to develop competent, independent, strategic and creative writers. This can be aided through the use of Self-regulatory strategies that assist students in deliberately engaging in metacognitive process through goal instructions, self-instructions and self-monitoring. This of course is possible in our secondary schools as students are now at the stage of formal operational thought and are therefore developmentally prepared to engage in this strategised thinking.
Though these readings were extremely long, they helped reinforce the ideas that I have been exposed to here at DTEEA. It seems an almost insurmountable task to plan to implement all of these ideas into the classroom as a novice teacher. However there are a number of ideas that seem feasible which have begun to that I have begun to form a credo in my mind as a future English teacher. This credo is to use the process approach to stimulate good writing techniques in the classroom.
My Evaluation of Lou's Place
In my opinion the descriptive piece "Lou's Place" is well written. The ideas were well developed, rich in thought and clearly presented. It catered well to the reader's imagination, emotions and senses. One was able to get a clear sense of the restaurant itself- what it looked like, what it might feel like to be there, and why it was such a place of endearment to all those who visited.
The sequence of the piece was well-structured; there was a clear introduction, body and conclusion. There was fluid and logical movement throughout the piece and transitions were well balanced. There was also no confusion as to the temporal flow of the piece though it explores the passing of time at the restaurant. The past, present and future of the place are all clear to the reader. There is flair and creativity with word choice and the consistent and appropriate use of figurative language. There is unusual experimentation with the language that blends well into the piece. Sentences flow well and create a gentle rhythm that coincides with the hub of the place. This piece is not exciting, but it is interesting. It moves at a slow pace that seems to fit with the quaint, slow moving life being described in a place that seems to be a world of its own. I thoroughly enjoyed the piece though I am usually more interested in thriller like story-telling. Generally an interesting and unusual read.
The sequence of the piece was well-structured; there was a clear introduction, body and conclusion. There was fluid and logical movement throughout the piece and transitions were well balanced. There was also no confusion as to the temporal flow of the piece though it explores the passing of time at the restaurant. The past, present and future of the place are all clear to the reader. There is flair and creativity with word choice and the consistent and appropriate use of figurative language. There is unusual experimentation with the language that blends well into the piece. Sentences flow well and create a gentle rhythm that coincides with the hub of the place. This piece is not exciting, but it is interesting. It moves at a slow pace that seems to fit with the quaint, slow moving life being described in a place that seems to be a world of its own. I thoroughly enjoyed the piece though I am usually more interested in thriller like story-telling. Generally an interesting and unusual read.
Writer's Purpose in Story "Lou's Place" and How it was Achieved
Lou's Place, a descriptive piece seeks to create a vivid mental image of a quaint restaurant in located in Tennessee; it tells us how the restaurant- as though having a persona of its own- captures the heart of the narrator and those who set foot within its doors. It creates the image of a place timeless and frozen in time; a place that outlasts those who come to patronize and whose scene never changes. Customers grow old, but younger ones replace them and the place is always filled no matter what decade you enter.
The narrator introduces the place to the reader through a piece of nostalgia: recounting her first visit to the restaurant twenty years before. This helps create an image of endearment in the reader's heart, as we can all relate to moments in time that seem to capture us and change our lives forever. The evident recounting of fond memories also help foster this emotion- it seems that the narrator seeks not only to appeal to our senses but also to our emotions by pulling a little at our heart-strings. The word choice portrays Lou's Place as an old restaurant but the old is not ragged or worn out but comforting and classic.
The details of the writer's first encounter- the fact that the visit was accidental (to get directions as a result of a missed turn)- tells the reader that the place is seemingly insignificant to a passerby; without flair or anything to attract customers through decor. Yet, the Siren's Song seems to beckon and capture the hearts of people from all walks of life just as it did the narrator.
The narrator introduces the place to the reader through a piece of nostalgia: recounting her first visit to the restaurant twenty years before. This helps create an image of endearment in the reader's heart, as we can all relate to moments in time that seem to capture us and change our lives forever. The evident recounting of fond memories also help foster this emotion- it seems that the narrator seeks not only to appeal to our senses but also to our emotions by pulling a little at our heart-strings. The word choice portrays Lou's Place as an old restaurant but the old is not ragged or worn out but comforting and classic.
The details of the writer's first encounter- the fact that the visit was accidental (to get directions as a result of a missed turn)- tells the reader that the place is seemingly insignificant to a passerby; without flair or anything to attract customers through decor. Yet, the Siren's Song seems to beckon and capture the hearts of people from all walks of life just as it did the narrator.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Differentiating the Rhetorical Modes
A writer may use any one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse or a combination of these modes in order to fulfill his purpose. These four modes are identified as exposition, narration, argument and description. It seems that knowledge of these modes can be useful to our students in the classroom as their fulfill their roles as both readers adn writers by helping them select appropriate modes to accomplish their purpose when writing and to categorise texts when reading. These modes should be explicitly taught in the classroom to develop students' understanding of texts in order to help them fulfill the goals and objectives of the English curriculum. Here I seek to differentiate these modes according to my understanding from texts read.
Rhetorical Modes
| | Description | Narration | Exposition | Argument |
| Purpose | Descriptive prose is used to express what a thing looks like, smells like or tastes like. It seeks to portray the way things are perceived through the five senses (sight, hearing, touch smell and taste). It caters especially to the visual sense. | Narration seeks to recount the details of events/ actions in a temporal sequence. It seeks to present an event to the reader and to provide a sense of witnessing an action.It generally seeks to appeal to a reader's imagination | Expository discourse is concerned with making an idea clear, analysing a situation, defining a term, giving instructions. Its primary function is to inform and explain.Therefore seeks to appeal intellect and understanding. | An argument makes an attempt to convince or persuade an audience that a claim is true by appealing to reason/rational thought processes as well as their understanding or to emotion. |
| Audience | Reader- usually conjures up a mental/visual image of what is being "described" or written about. | Reader- helps to recreate an incident for readers to create the sense of witnessing action. | Reader- conveys information to give reader a level of understanding. | Reader- It moves the readers to take an action or to form or change an opinion. |
| Content | It helps answer questions like: What is it like?
What is he/she like? What does he/she look like?
| This mode answers the question of what. For example: what happened? | Some questions that an expository text may answer are How does it work?
What are the constituent parts?
What is its importance? | Answers the question why is this so? |
| Style | Explicit use of adjectives, sensuous details and spatial/descriptive sequence that "freezes" time as it moves over an object/person/place etcetera to describe it | Use of action or dynamic verbs, dialogue; point of view narrator which is usually first or third person narrator. It should include story conventions such as plot, setting, characters, climax and resolution. | Expository style is characterised by the following: analysis, classification, definition, illustration, cause and effect, comparison and contrast and analogy | Presents claims and use of supportive evidence, argument use facts, authoritative opinion, and personal experience for its development with refutation of counterarguments whilst the "artistic" argument uses persuasion in the form of repetition, rhetorical questions and emotional appeals. |
| Voice | Description uses details that appeals to our senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch). May be artistic appealing to affective and sensory faculties or technical/scientific with an unembellished description. | To convey a particular mood (feeling) or to make an incident come alive, narratives employ the use of the first person or “I” narration and the third person or he/she/it persona. Generally artistic in nature. | In exposition, the writing is engaging and reflective of the writer’s underlying commitment to the topic. Generally scientific/technical in nature though it may be artistic. | The voice of argument has a strong and definite position on an issue from the beginning of the piece and has enthusiasm from start to finish. Can be logical (scientific/technical) or psychological (artistic). |
| Organisation | The organising principle of description is spatial. It creates a virtual image in the minds of readers as we must move spatially over the object in order to describe its different parts. described. | Time is the organising principle of narration. It is temporal in nature meaning that its events are sequential. | Organisational structure of this mode are various, with majority being based on logic: analysis, clarification, definition, illustration, cause and effect, comparison and contrast and sometimes analogy. The method chosen dictates the organisation of the piece as each method has its own distinguishing characteristics. | Argument is organised by way of formal elements and logic. The formal elements include at least two claims, the first of which being the conclusion and the other, the remaining claim or claims that are the grounds which support or justify the conclusion |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
How I was taught to Write and How I plan to teach Writing to my Future Students
When I reflect on my experience as a learner in the English classroom, I realise how much I was handicapped by perhaps well intending teachers and I feel shortchanged. Quite often the focus of our attempts was how well we could reproduce, recall and regurgitate. It became quite difficult for me later on to rely on my own wealth of knowledge, common sense and insight when making responses. This was because I had been so well spoon-fed, that I became dependant on the thoughts of others to make my own response. I also crafted well the art of manipulating the information disseminated to me to make the response my own. Truly, this form of teaching became a crutch for me and I realised how much I would panic or get stumped whenever I did not have some outside source of information to qualify my responses. Even now, when doing assignments at this level I feel a high level of disequilibrium if I do not have some source of information to "check to see" if my answer is on the right track. This means that I am not yet fully an independent learner and learning to rely on myself for answer has been an unsettling experience.
I have never taught English before, but I refuse- now that I have been introduced to a better method of instruction- to handi-cap my students by not giving them the skills necessary to make their own responses and to put to paper their own thoughts. Whether it is in responding to comprehension questions, questions based on literary texts or in completing some form of writing (poetry, prose, argumentative). I strongly approve of the process approach to writing and I think that its incorporation in the classroom will help foster our students' writing and response skills. That way, in the future, when they are faced with lecturers who expect them to do more than give a "correct answer" they will not have to face the fury of self-doubt and agitation.
I have never taught English before, but I refuse- now that I have been introduced to a better method of instruction- to handi-cap my students by not giving them the skills necessary to make their own responses and to put to paper their own thoughts. Whether it is in responding to comprehension questions, questions based on literary texts or in completing some form of writing (poetry, prose, argumentative). I strongly approve of the process approach to writing and I think that its incorporation in the classroom will help foster our students' writing and response skills. That way, in the future, when they are faced with lecturers who expect them to do more than give a "correct answer" they will not have to face the fury of self-doubt and agitation.
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Product vs Process Approach
It is critical to note that the two approaches in teaching writing : The Product and Process approaches, vary in several ways. Below is a brief outline of those differences from my own understanding of literature read:
The Product Approach:
Focuses on the end product not the process used to create it
There is use of imitation of a model piece of writing/ language structure and the type of language which should be used in the piece; that is students are first exposed to the model piece and then must go through a drill and practice routine where they use the important features of that piece
Organising one’s ideas or the structure of the developing piece is given more weighting than the ideas themselves
Students now create a similar piece
The Process Approach:
Places as much emphasis on the writing process as on the final product; students are guided through the series of brainstorming, organising ideas, drafting, sharing and editing activities (which are part of the pre-writing, during writing, post-writing procedures)
The Approach that I think is better suited for Teaching and Learning today.
We educators now have transcended beyond traditional pedagogy, where students are spoon-fed. We now measure a students’ intelligence by more than their knowledge of facts and ability to recall and regurgitate, we now require them to engage in critical thinking and reasoning, to deduce probabilities when making an informed response to a given question. For this reason, it appears to me that the process approach, especially for creative, narrative and argumentative pieces are best suited for the teaching of writing in the classroom. Even where a more structured format is required, like in letter writing, where the product approach should be used to equip students with the skills necessary for appropriately addressing, greeting and ending the letter, it would seem to me a wise idea to incorporate the process approach in order to generate the ideas that should form the body of the letter. Students can be asked to determine what ideas are best suited for a letter seeking employment from a business place or one to a friend relating a recent devastation, then taken through entire process so as to make the experience a more engaging one. In this manner the two approaches can be used together.
I say this because even as an adult, I dread letter writing. The entire process seems so rigid and formal that I can truly say I have hardly ever written a letter that truly reflects who I am. My letter writing instead reflects more often all the rules and regulations of letter writing and says very little about the individual holding the pen and paper. But why should that even matter? I think that unless it is strictly necessary (like in a business setting- where the letter being written is intended to represent a company, organisation or the Government) one should be allowed the opportunity to write in a manner that will give the reader a true idea of who you are, or a true idea of what your thoughts are. We have all become so accustomed to one style of writing a job application that many offices are filled with thousands of letter applications all saying the very same thing; none giving the employer a true view of the individual’s work ethic and character. These “standardised job letters” do not reflect what we truly believe but rather what we think employers want to hear.
From the onset, we can teach students the rules of the writing game as well as show them how to make something their own if we include the process approach when teaching writing.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Summary of NCTE's Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing
The National Council of Teachers of English has provided us English Instructors with some groundbreaking ideas about how we should teach writing to our students. Generally I found this information insightful and enlightening as it got me to reflect on the process of writing and how it should be approached with our students. Here are some of the ideas that I found most intriguing:
1.) Unlike some human experiences writing must be taught and for this reason everyone can be taught how to improve their writing ability. Everyone can learn to write.
2.) Writing is a process which begins long before words are placed on the page. Students thoughts and ideas must be stimulated before we ever begin to demand the written product.
3.) Students daily activities and interests can be used to teach writing to students. For example, activities like texting and the use of social web-sites are students' major modes of communication and using it as a writing tool for English makes the experience more authentic for students.
4.)In order to improve one's writing ability one must practice writing. Therefore teachers must provide lots of opportunity for students to practice their writing.
5.) The act of writing itself also helps our thinking process. Ideas come to us as we write.
6.) We write for numerous purposes, such as report writing, essay writing, creative writing and responding to examination questions. Therefore students should be taught that writing differs depending on the audience and purpose for the writing.
7.) Those who are proficient readers generally make better writers as reading can inform the way we write. Likewise, being a good writer can help one become a better reader.
These ideas should inform the way we approach teaching writing.
1.) Unlike some human experiences writing must be taught and for this reason everyone can be taught how to improve their writing ability. Everyone can learn to write.
2.) Writing is a process which begins long before words are placed on the page. Students thoughts and ideas must be stimulated before we ever begin to demand the written product.
3.) Students daily activities and interests can be used to teach writing to students. For example, activities like texting and the use of social web-sites are students' major modes of communication and using it as a writing tool for English makes the experience more authentic for students.
4.)In order to improve one's writing ability one must practice writing. Therefore teachers must provide lots of opportunity for students to practice their writing.
5.) The act of writing itself also helps our thinking process. Ideas come to us as we write.
6.) We write for numerous purposes, such as report writing, essay writing, creative writing and responding to examination questions. Therefore students should be taught that writing differs depending on the audience and purpose for the writing.
7.) Those who are proficient readers generally make better writers as reading can inform the way we write. Likewise, being a good writer can help one become a better reader.
These ideas should inform the way we approach teaching writing.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Introducing Teachers to NCTE's Ideas for Teaching Writing
As previously mentioned, incorporating students' daily activities like the use of text messages and electronic mail to help teach writing, are some of the ideas forwarded by the National Council of Teachers of English. I believe that these can be helpful if not powerful learning tools. On the other hand I anticipate that many teachers would be unfamiliar with these strategies and doubtful about their benefits. This may make them hesitant to implement these ideas into the classroom- especially as it would require more planning and use of teachers' personal time and resources (particularly in the beginning phases).
For this reason , I believe that introducing these new ideas for teaching writing in the English classroom should be a nationwide endeavour so that most if not all schools gain exposure to these new efforts.
One teacher can make a change in the education system through how he teaches; however at this point we need more than just a handful of pioneer teachers on board trying to go against the grain. What we need is a nationwide effort to come together the appropriate aid, support and guidance from administration and Ministery officials and teachers. Otherwise, the efforts of the few who may initially want to make certain changes to how writing is taught may in the end become futile.
Too often we dismiss good ideas and discourage those who seek to make changes as we may become inconvenienced by the higher level of attention and care that is required from us for success. Perhaps if all come on board as a unit, then we will find the task less stressful and more approachable.
The first practical step that may be needed in my mind would be workshops for teachers and administrators alike to expose them to the strategies and their benefits. But it should not stop here. Our government as a whole, Ministry officials and the Ministry of Education need to be prepared to financially support whatever resources and materials may be needed for this venture to be a success.
For this reason , I believe that introducing these new ideas for teaching writing in the English classroom should be a nationwide endeavour so that most if not all schools gain exposure to these new efforts.
One teacher can make a change in the education system through how he teaches; however at this point we need more than just a handful of pioneer teachers on board trying to go against the grain. What we need is a nationwide effort to come together the appropriate aid, support and guidance from administration and Ministery officials and teachers. Otherwise, the efforts of the few who may initially want to make certain changes to how writing is taught may in the end become futile.
Too often we dismiss good ideas and discourage those who seek to make changes as we may become inconvenienced by the higher level of attention and care that is required from us for success. Perhaps if all come on board as a unit, then we will find the task less stressful and more approachable.
The first practical step that may be needed in my mind would be workshops for teachers and administrators alike to expose them to the strategies and their benefits. But it should not stop here. Our government as a whole, Ministry officials and the Ministry of Education need to be prepared to financially support whatever resources and materials may be needed for this venture to be a success.
Ideas for Writing in the Classroom
As our approaches to teaching have evolved over the years, experts now see the validity of incorporating students' daily activities and personal interests into the classroom. I notice in my reading from the National Council of Teachers of English, that it should be no different for the English student.
It is true that we do not have the resources available to allow students to use certain types of media and technology in the classroom itself, but since writing should not be just an in-class experience, I think that incorporating forums like the blog, social networking sites, text messages and e-mails into the teaching - learning experience would not only allow us to captivate students' interests but would also allow us to demonstrate the value and authenticity of "writing" to the human experience.
It is important to show students that we write not simply to attain good grades or answer questions on a test, but also to communicate daily; and that the experience we have in the classroom with writing goes in tandem with what we write/experience on a daily basis.
Of course with new teachers and even experienced ones there is always a level of trial and error when incorporating new ideas into our teaching, and finding a way to make these newer approaches work may take some time and a lot of careful planning but I believe that those ideas should be explored and may very well make an impact on how our students respond to writing in the long run.
It is true that we do not have the resources available to allow students to use certain types of media and technology in the classroom itself, but since writing should not be just an in-class experience, I think that incorporating forums like the blog, social networking sites, text messages and e-mails into the teaching - learning experience would not only allow us to captivate students' interests but would also allow us to demonstrate the value and authenticity of "writing" to the human experience.
It is important to show students that we write not simply to attain good grades or answer questions on a test, but also to communicate daily; and that the experience we have in the classroom with writing goes in tandem with what we write/experience on a daily basis.
Of course with new teachers and even experienced ones there is always a level of trial and error when incorporating new ideas into our teaching, and finding a way to make these newer approaches work may take some time and a lot of careful planning but I believe that those ideas should be explored and may very well make an impact on how our students respond to writing in the long run.
My Former Beliefs on the Art of Writing
When posed with the question on what my beliefs were about writing, I had to concede that I really did not have any. Prior to this course, I had not given much thought to the writing process and how it should be developed and nurtured in our students.
In the classrooms the major skills necessary for success are reading and writing and writing appeared to be a very basic part of the learning process: you read to comprehend the information being presented to you and generally you make responses to questions via writing.
Even in the English A classroom, it never occurred to me that writing truly was a cognitive process that should: a. ) begin with some type of experience to stimulate ideas; b.) be followed by the emergence of the ideas themselves; c.) lastly would then be expressed in writing on a piece of paper in one's note book.
However, in spite of the short period of time thus far spent doing this course I have come to understand that writing is a lot more than putting words on a page for an audience (usually in our students' case that audience is the teacher). Instead, I realised the importance of the pre-writing phase- that is brainstorming- to the entire "writing" process. During the period of brainstorming, our ideas emerge. But even prior to that, there must be a deliberate attempt on the part of the teacher to allow students to connect with the topic on a cognitive level so that the ideas can be generated.
I think this is where we fail in the classroom. We give topics and urge students to write on this topic, without giving them the opportunity to strategically develop their ideas. I anticipate that from now on there will be a change in the way that we approach "writing" with our students.
In the classrooms the major skills necessary for success are reading and writing and writing appeared to be a very basic part of the learning process: you read to comprehend the information being presented to you and generally you make responses to questions via writing.
Even in the English A classroom, it never occurred to me that writing truly was a cognitive process that should: a. ) begin with some type of experience to stimulate ideas; b.) be followed by the emergence of the ideas themselves; c.) lastly would then be expressed in writing on a piece of paper in one's note book.
However, in spite of the short period of time thus far spent doing this course I have come to understand that writing is a lot more than putting words on a page for an audience (usually in our students' case that audience is the teacher). Instead, I realised the importance of the pre-writing phase- that is brainstorming- to the entire "writing" process. During the period of brainstorming, our ideas emerge. But even prior to that, there must be a deliberate attempt on the part of the teacher to allow students to connect with the topic on a cognitive level so that the ideas can be generated.
I think this is where we fail in the classroom. We give topics and urge students to write on this topic, without giving them the opportunity to strategically develop their ideas. I anticipate that from now on there will be a change in the way that we approach "writing" with our students.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Learning via Blogspot
I would like to welcome my classmates to my very first blog. We have learned in past courses that technology can be a very useful tool in the classroom and I am happy that we have been given the opportunity to use media and technology to facilitate our own learning. Additionally using the blog provides an example of how technology can incorporated during the teaching process.
The truth is that the practical aspect of our lives here at the Division of Teacher Education and Educational Administration is soon approaching and we need to make use of every available opportunity to learn how to make our English classrooms an environment for learning and discussion- after all our grades depend on it. Moreover, the students whose lives shall be impacted by our teaching ability need us to hone our own teaching skills so that they will not be short-changed in the classroom.
Therefore, I plan to use this blog to learn: discuss ideas and gain insight from my peers and lecturer. So without further ado, let us please get the ball rolling!
The truth is that the practical aspect of our lives here at the Division of Teacher Education and Educational Administration is soon approaching and we need to make use of every available opportunity to learn how to make our English classrooms an environment for learning and discussion- after all our grades depend on it. Moreover, the students whose lives shall be impacted by our teaching ability need us to hone our own teaching skills so that they will not be short-changed in the classroom.
Therefore, I plan to use this blog to learn: discuss ideas and gain insight from my peers and lecturer. So without further ado, let us please get the ball rolling!
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