Since the student I worked with the first week was away for this week, I was placed with another grade eight student. He is a very frank, and very open boy who likes to speak what is on his mind. Unfortunately, most of what was on his mind was the popular game Minecraft. There was more than a few occasions where the topic of conversation had to be brought back to writing. As I looked through his story, creatively entitled "Short Horror Story," I noticed a few things right away. First, his writing is well crafted and his grammar is near perfect after the first draft. Any errors I caught, he managed to point out before I could. Second, the story had a good flow to it and his use of conventions (capitalization, elipses, etc.) added emphasis in the necessary places. Third, his story was the exact plot to the "Thriller" video from Michael Jackson.
So we had the conversation about plagiarism. I told him that there is nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from another story, but that there is something wrong with copying the exact plot line. It was such an obvious rip off: the protagonist's name was Michael. That is when he admitted that he had forgotten about the assignment, and he wrote it in ten minutes right before meeting me.
So we spoke about the 6+1 traits. the word choice, voice, organization, sentence fluency, and conventions were well executed, and I felt that in the short time we had together, he would be better served talking about the sixth trait, ideas. He admitted to having difficulty coming up with his own ideas. He said he would usually just slightly modify the plot from another story, or borrow ideas from his peers. He knew that wasn't ideal and showed interest in becoming more creative with his ideas. Since his genre of choice is horror, I drew inspiration from some of my favorite horror writers. Often horror writers will start with the ending. Once they know what is going to happen, they work on the details of how the story got there. I showed him some graphic organizers which dealt with developing a sequence working backwards.
Hopefully that strategy might help him with originality in the future!
Friday, 27 February 2015
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Mentoring students at Hawthorne
What an experience to get ourselves in to a school and work on helping students with their writing process. The nerves built up over the preceding weeks as I wondered what I was getting myself into. I questioned my capabilities of being a mentor for a young student. Do I have what it takes to help someone get better at writing? There is an automaticity to my writing which comes with years of practice. If I don't even understand my own procedures, how could I possibly improve someone else's? However, I quickly came to realize that the tricks and procedures which I have come to think of as automatic are easily accessed if I am being prompted to think about them.
So Monday, we walked into the class nervous and excited to get into the work. When it came time to pair up, the nerves went away as they normally do once I am set into action. I was placed with an outgoing and funny young girl whose writing has a lot of room for potential. Although I wanted to take that first half hour to get to know her on a more personal level, she is all business. I was there to help her get better at writing, and she saw no point in wasting time going through the regular formalities. A quick introduction was enough to set the wheels in motion and start working on making her writing better. She spoke about her desire to increase her vocabulary, and to be able to express her opinions using "big fancy words." So we spoke about using a thesaurus while writing, subscribing to a word calender, and increasing her vocabulary by looking up any words she doesn't know while reading. More importantly, I tried to convey the idea that fancy wording can sometimes take away from the overall efficiency of one's writing. We spoke about working with the vocabulary she already possesses to make sure she is properly explaining her ideas in a coherent manner. I used my sister, who writes government documents for a living, as an example. Her job is to express the meaning and intentions of the policies into words which are accessible to everyone. Her work must be well crafted, but it also exemplifies the importance of conveying meaning efficiently.
Aside from vocabulary, she struggled to locate the exact places where she most needed improvement. But one thing became blatantly obvious about her writing as we spoke. She lacks confidence in what she writes, and how she writes it. She would say "this person does this better than me" or "I'm not very good at that." There is a level of anxiety which she gets when she even thinks about her writing because she is always comparing herself to her peers. We spoke about seeing her classmates as resources rather than competition. I told her that if she sees someone else doing something better than her, talk to them about what they are doing. Ask them about their procedures, and show them some of her own writing to see if they can improve upon it. I also spoke with her about being proud of, and focusing only on her own development. If we think about it as a correlation chart, she is always comparing herself to someone else, and both her and her comparison are constantly improving. But she is only looking at the fact that she is still behind where the other person is. Looking at it that way, she won't ever look at her own improvements and be proud of what she has achieved.
Looking over her writing, there are some grammar and thought organization issues which we can improve upon. I left her the following quote in an email about the best way to improve her writing:
It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.
- C. J. Cherryh
So Monday, we walked into the class nervous and excited to get into the work. When it came time to pair up, the nerves went away as they normally do once I am set into action. I was placed with an outgoing and funny young girl whose writing has a lot of room for potential. Although I wanted to take that first half hour to get to know her on a more personal level, she is all business. I was there to help her get better at writing, and she saw no point in wasting time going through the regular formalities. A quick introduction was enough to set the wheels in motion and start working on making her writing better. She spoke about her desire to increase her vocabulary, and to be able to express her opinions using "big fancy words." So we spoke about using a thesaurus while writing, subscribing to a word calender, and increasing her vocabulary by looking up any words she doesn't know while reading. More importantly, I tried to convey the idea that fancy wording can sometimes take away from the overall efficiency of one's writing. We spoke about working with the vocabulary she already possesses to make sure she is properly explaining her ideas in a coherent manner. I used my sister, who writes government documents for a living, as an example. Her job is to express the meaning and intentions of the policies into words which are accessible to everyone. Her work must be well crafted, but it also exemplifies the importance of conveying meaning efficiently.
Aside from vocabulary, she struggled to locate the exact places where she most needed improvement. But one thing became blatantly obvious about her writing as we spoke. She lacks confidence in what she writes, and how she writes it. She would say "this person does this better than me" or "I'm not very good at that." There is a level of anxiety which she gets when she even thinks about her writing because she is always comparing herself to her peers. We spoke about seeing her classmates as resources rather than competition. I told her that if she sees someone else doing something better than her, talk to them about what they are doing. Ask them about their procedures, and show them some of her own writing to see if they can improve upon it. I also spoke with her about being proud of, and focusing only on her own development. If we think about it as a correlation chart, she is always comparing herself to someone else, and both her and her comparison are constantly improving. But she is only looking at the fact that she is still behind where the other person is. Looking at it that way, she won't ever look at her own improvements and be proud of what she has achieved.
Looking over her writing, there are some grammar and thought organization issues which we can improve upon. I left her the following quote in an email about the best way to improve her writing:
It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.
- C. J. Cherryh
Monday, 26 January 2015
Friday, 23 January 2015
Mentor Texts
The Mentor text I chose was a movie review on the recent film American Sniper from the New York Daily News. I chose this text as a way to teach conveying meaning and intentions in writing for an English class. This type of lesson would probably be used for a grade 11 or 12 class. The review itself never actually gives a thumbs up or thumbs down type response, but the language used by the author implies a positive review. I think it would be an interesting way for students to grasp how language can affect meaning without being overtly stated. This lesson could provide students with deeper critical thinking skills in assessing bias and perspective, as well as writing skills to help properly convey meaning. Coming from a history background as well, it would be interesting to use this mentor text in a history unit. It might be fun and engaging for students to write a review of a movie through a historical perspective where they could argue for or against the validity of the movie as a fictional member of the society being depicted. In this case, it would be appropriate to use some of the mini-lessons from chapter 7 of the Peterson reading including spelling, grammar, punctuation, homophones, etc. The mentor text could serve as a guide by re-arranging sentences to convey different meaning due to poor punctuation, grammar, etc.
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Atwell and Peterson Response:
What stuck out the most to me from Atwell's article is the need for teachers to loosen the restraints they place on their writing curriculum. Teachers should be open to allowing the creativity of their students to come out in their writing, regardless of whatever preconceived notions you may hold about what "good" writing is. Taking into account the first two chapters of the Peterson reading, these concepts can be applied across many different subject areas and disciplines. The most important part of writing, not that grammar and spelling are unimportant, is expressing those ideas you have onto paper. Both readings stress the importance of sharing these ideas and editing your writing with your peers. The authors regard this practice as an efficient way of reflecting on strategies for writing, as well as for producing finished works.
Atwell claims that having a preset curriculum, with activities and assignments laid out, will limit the creativity of your students, and they will not produce their best work as a result. Having the freedom of choice allows students to produce a level of writing which best demonstrates their competency in writing. Atwell realized the importance of allowing her curriculum to work for her and her students, instead of having her students work for her curriculum. Through this change in process, she was able to see the real potential her students had in writing. She decided that relinquishing some of the power she held over the writing process benefited the students learning. If we are to take the Peterson reading into context, perhaps all subject areas can benefit from a more open approach to not only writing, but learning as a whole.
From my own personal experience, I believe there needs to be a balance between having structured, directed writing tasks, and open writing tasks where students have the freedom of choice. I really believe that leaving every assignment open may benefit students writing in the short term, but may not be conducive to preparing students for life outside of formalized education. For most people, it is a harsh reality that sometimes things need to be done regardless of whether you want to do it or not. This rule does not extend beyond the scope of writing.
What stuck out the most to me from Atwell's article is the need for teachers to loosen the restraints they place on their writing curriculum. Teachers should be open to allowing the creativity of their students to come out in their writing, regardless of whatever preconceived notions you may hold about what "good" writing is. Taking into account the first two chapters of the Peterson reading, these concepts can be applied across many different subject areas and disciplines. The most important part of writing, not that grammar and spelling are unimportant, is expressing those ideas you have onto paper. Both readings stress the importance of sharing these ideas and editing your writing with your peers. The authors regard this practice as an efficient way of reflecting on strategies for writing, as well as for producing finished works.
Atwell claims that having a preset curriculum, with activities and assignments laid out, will limit the creativity of your students, and they will not produce their best work as a result. Having the freedom of choice allows students to produce a level of writing which best demonstrates their competency in writing. Atwell realized the importance of allowing her curriculum to work for her and her students, instead of having her students work for her curriculum. Through this change in process, she was able to see the real potential her students had in writing. She decided that relinquishing some of the power she held over the writing process benefited the students learning. If we are to take the Peterson reading into context, perhaps all subject areas can benefit from a more open approach to not only writing, but learning as a whole.
From my own personal experience, I believe there needs to be a balance between having structured, directed writing tasks, and open writing tasks where students have the freedom of choice. I really believe that leaving every assignment open may benefit students writing in the short term, but may not be conducive to preparing students for life outside of formalized education. For most people, it is a harsh reality that sometimes things need to be done regardless of whether you want to do it or not. This rule does not extend beyond the scope of writing.
Free Writing Assignment:
Free writing can be difficult. When you factor in a vast question, like "what is writing," the task becomes even more difficult. It took me a while to synthesise my thoughts, as random words flew into my head. At first, I jotted down words to describe writing (particularly my own writing).
Free writing can be difficult. When you factor in a vast question, like "what is writing," the task becomes even more difficult. It took me a while to synthesise my thoughts, as random words flew into my head. At first, I jotted down words to describe writing (particularly my own writing).
- words
- messy words
- creative
- or not
- books, journals, articles, diaries, letters, blogs, etc.
- Writing can be anything you want. It is fully open. There are limitless forms of writing which can be used to convey meaning, express, influence, entertain, bring about emotions, and excite. Or you can make your writing boring. It's your call.
- You can get completely lost in writing, taking you and potential readers to places as far as your imagination will let you go.
- When I think about writing, the word structure immediately comes to mind. But the structures of language and writing are not rigid, they are flexible, and they are made to be bent, broken, and remade. I think about how words can take on new connotations, I think about how new words are made, and I think about how writing is constantly evolving as a result.
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