Entry #4

This week for class we spent time discussing the use of blogs, wikis, and feeders in the classroom.  I have personally used wikis and blogs on my own but I haven't had the opportunity to use them with my students yet.  I am very excited after reading all about them in Hicks(2009) I now see that there are so many opportunities to use the wikis and blogs.  I like the idea of students being able to communicate and construct their own meaning online. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to work on a project online where they research and collaborate. 

I have never worked with RSS feeder or even heard of them for that matter.  But I think that the concept of students being able to choose topics they are interested in and have many different sources brought to their fingers tips is wonderful.  These many different sources can be used as a teaching tool for students.  The ability to figure out if something is a worthwhile piece of information is an important skill that they will always need.  I also like how the feeder can bring different points of view of the same topic to you,  it pushes students to think outside of their own worlds and learn about others and their experiences. I think that giving students the ability to use the RSS feeder is a useful teaching tool however; I do struggle with giving students so much freedom on the internet. There are so many things out there that are incorrect of misleading or inappropriate for students.  I’m just not sure how we give them this freedom while still keeping on top of what we’re doing.

I am very excited to introduce digital writing workshop but I have so many reservations of giving students that kind of freedom on the internet.  There are so many things on the internet that students can get into that I don't think that students should be exposed to.  The internet also creates an issue of anonymity that allows people to give their point of view or say things that they may not say normally face to face that could be hurtful instead of helpful.  I think that these are hurdles that we will all have to cross with the introduction of so much technology into schools.  I think that this will have to be a continued discussion as we experiment with our students to find out what works and doesn't work.

Entry #3

        In class this week we discussed journal writing as a genre and how it can be used in the classroom.  I was able to look at a few different types of journals in book form, when I first started I was looking at these books more as a teacher then just a reader.  Through that lens I saw them as just a teaching tool for journals and not so much for content.  The more I thought about it these texts can be used in the modeling of journal writing.  Then release students to write their own journal on a completely different topic once they understand the genre as a whole.
    
          I like the idea of using journals for students to respond to text on their own.  Expectially the double journal entry where I can give them something to focus on that is an important theme of the book that they may not have picked up on themselves.  Then use the journal to have them think and respond on their own. 
      
        I also think that I may have my future students keep personal journals in my classroom.  These would be just the students eyes unless they wanted to share it with me or the class.  I like the idea that they can write down things that they are struggling with or something that is going on in their own lives.  I know that writing things down has helped me in the past as a way to work through me thoughts and it maybe used as help release for my students.  These journals can also be a place for students to share ideas or other things they are excited about that is going on in their lives that they would like to share with the rest of the class during a designated share time.
         
        In conclusion journals will be used in my classroom both to further students understanding and to allow them a place to write without worry of a grade or who might see it so they are completely comfortable which will hopefully help them to become better writers overall.

Entry #2

             With my limited experience in teaching being in a self-contained classroom as well as a sixth grade science classroom I haven't had much experience with writing workshop. For the writing assignments that what a part of the topic was chosen for the students and they had rubric that they were to follow as they wrote so that they knew what they needed to include and what needed to happen for them to do well. I also look back to my own experience as a student, I can't remember having such independence that this type of workshop creates. Hicks(2009) has students working in both a physical and a virtual classroom on projects that they have a lot of control over. They were able to choose their own topics, collaborate with the teacher as well as other students on their projects and then had the ability to choose how they were going to publish their work. These choices are what I see as independent and taking responsibility for their own work. Taking responsibility for their own work to me means that they aren't writing just for the grade but they have a purpose and they are using writing to create real meaning and sharing it with the world.
       Since I don’t have experience teaching writing workshop I have an ideal set up in mind that I would love to implement in my future classroom. It would start by tying into what we’re learning in science or social studies at the time so students could get experience researching. Within the broad topic that we are working on my students would have the ability to choose something that they wanted to learn more about and then create a writing piece about that would eventually be published and shared with the class to enhance the learning of the class as a whole. Once the topic is chosen students can research in books or on the internet and then start the prewriting process. There would be places in the room where they can work individually as well as consult with other students and myself.
       Once the prewriting, drafting, revising and editing stages are complete students would be able to choose how they want to present what they have written to the class. This is where the digital part comes in; they will have access to computers to blog, use a wiki, and create a brochure, PowerPoint, prezi, poster …..the possibilities are endless and I am sure that my students will have more ideas then me. After this final step students will share what they have created to the class and everyone will learn more with the broad topic that we started with. 
       I understand that this is a very idealized digital writing workshop but I would like to create a community in my classroom that fosters students independent, curiosity and a sense of ownership for their work instead of creating students that are just doing something just for a grade and not really learning or getting anything from the writing process. This is what I ultimately see as the goal of writing workshop and I was never able to experience this much freedom of choice in the classroom so I would like to create this in my future classroom.

Learning Log Entry #1

     My limited experiences with assigning and working writing in classrooms have been very different going from a self contained elemenatry classroom (students worked on narrative pieces) to an inclusive 6th grade classroom (students worked on informational texts).  Each played a role in forming how I look as teaching writing,  I have found that no matter the age or ability level that the biggest factor is making the students feel comfortable shaing ideas and asking for help. 
   Once that foundation has been set I like to have the students brainstorm ideas that go along with the assignment so that others who maybe struggling have a chance to catch up before they work individually.  Then with indidviaul time students can bring their own creativity into what they are working on, while I walk around abd check in with students that I see struggling or are getting away from what they are suposed to be doing.  With my limited experence this style has worked for me but based on my observation of different genres of writing and students different style I know that my own style of teaching will have to change and morph with the setting and genre being used.
     Technology now plays such a big role in schools and our students lives that I think it is important to consider how it will be integrated into writing workshop itself.  One of the biggest challenges that I see is how stuedents can incoropate technology without letting it take over the information they are trying to convey.  Technology also poses the problem that students may rush the prewriting and drafting process to get the fun part using.....TO BE CONTINUED