Entry #8

             We are over half way through the semester and I have to say I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into taking so many classes at the same time.  At points the work for the courses has been overwhelming but at the same time it has been really interesting because the concepts of every course are really intertwined.  With that being said I have been reading through my classmates blogs for today’s entry and I found this quote from Kelly P.’s blog, “It is imperative for teachers to break down the reading process at an early age and then teach whole language as the students grow older. As learners, it is more beneficial for us to learn from part to whole; similarly, the writing process is taught in the same way. First students learn their letters and sounds and then acquire the ability to write words, sentences and paragraphs. The more literacy events a student encounters the more proficient he/she will become as a reader and writer.”   Kelly’s statement sums up my feelings on what I have learned over the course of the semester. Everything is connected and that learning to read is a process, and so is writing.  This also connects to my literacy in the content areas course, we can practice the same skills and strategies that are taught during ELA and writing workshop in the content areas to continue literacy education.

The quote from Kelly’s blog also brought to light how much I have learned this semester about literacy as a whole.  At first literacy to me was just being able to read and make meaning from what is being read.  I now understand that it is truly so much more.  Dr. Jones has made it especially clear throughout our class that the writing process is also an important part of being a literate person.  The ability to communicate comes from being able to make meaning from the text we read on a page as well as how we help to make meaning for others as they read from a page.     

This changed view of literacy has helped to understand what role I play as an educator in helping students to reach their potential when it comes to reading and writing.  I think how Kelly summed it up in blog that each is a process is the perfect way to look at learning to read and write, and we as educators are the facilitators of this learning when kids hit a snag.  I know that this is something that I will take away from my graduate program.  This has also helped me understand that while I think I would enjoy being a literacy specialist in a schools I would really like to apply all of these concepts into a whole classroom.  If I can do that then all my students struggling or gifted can benefit from learning the steps to becoming a proficient and talented reader or writer.  I would also like my students to view themselves as reader and writers no matter their skill level because I didn’t feel that way when struggled with writing and I think that is why I don’t really enjoy writing as an adult.  I want to prevent my future students from feeling the way I do about writing and I think that the strategy that this courses has given me combined with my other courses will help me to do that in both reading and writing.

Entry #7

Throughout the semester we have been working with all different types of technology that can be used as part of a digital writing workshop in the classroom.  The first thing introduced was this blog, I had never used a blog before this class and I am finding it to be an interesting way to reflect on what we are learning in class. Next Hicks (2008) introduces RSS feeders for doing research on the internet.  Again I have never used this before but I like how it can keep kinds considerate on the topic they are looking for and help them the narrow down information.   We were also introduced last class to the google sites.  This is something that was completely new to me.  I didn’t even know that google was capable of this.  Creating my own site was easy and the interface was very easy to work with allowing for me to upload files and include different hyperlinks.  This is something that I will definitely be using in the future whether it is a way to communicate with parents about the classroom or just to communicate with my family. 

            All of these technologies will be very helpful for me to create a strong knowledge base of a way to bring technology into my classroom when appropriate but I am still struggling with the idea of being able to use these things on an everyday basis like suggested in our class readings.  I also like the idea of having a digital writing workshop but I’m not sure how plausible I think that is. 

            While I see all of these different technologies as valuable things to know about and valuable skills to have I am having trouble figuring out how I would apply them in a primary grade classroom.  I know that students are very tech savvy and may already know how to use some of this stuff how can we use it with the younger students? Younger classrooms I have been in only have a few computers and getting time in the computer lab is hard because it is monopolized by the older grades.  I guess I am struggling with how all of this can be applied for students who are still learning the very basics of writing and don’t have the skill set yet to create published work in the form of blogs or websites. 

            I know that all of this makes me seem like a bit of a skeptic especially if you look back at how I feel about using RSS feeders and the issues that it raises in the classroom.  The use of internet changes how we teach and what we need to monitor to make sure the information is appropriate and relevant for our students. So I guess I am still having the same issue I was having with RSS feeders and online interaction as I think about how I would incorporate google sites as something my students would use.

Entry #6

          For class we had to read Tompkins (2012) chapter 4, which is all about assessing writing.  I have found that assessing writing can vary depending on the topic and the purpose of the assignment.  My cooperating teacher during my second student teaching placement, he explained to me that he finds it best to create the rubric as you are creating the assignment.   This way you can gives the students clear guidelines of what you are expecting and they know what they are focusing on as they complete the assignment.  For a content piece I was focusing on the ideas on the paper with a small emphasis on grammar and mechanics, while for a ELA piece the rubric focuses on the conventions more than what is being written about. 

            After reading chapter 4 I think that Tompkins (2012) would agree with my cooperating teacher,  in the chapter they gave the students checklists to follow as they were completing and assignment which is also something he did.  I found this to be a very useful tip for myself.  In undergrad I we are taught how to make a quality rubric for a hypothetical assignment but being able to use on in student teaching with his suggestions made it clear to me helpful a good rubric can be for myself as well as for my students.  How we used the rubistar in class also helped to solidify my belief in quality rubrics make everything clearer for students as they work on assignments and they will know what is expected of them in their piece.  

            Rubrics are only one way to assess writing,  I like how Tompkins (2012) presents writing conferences as a way to check in with students as well as self-assessment through checklists.  These assessments seem to give students scaffold lesson while also giving them as much independence as possible where they can grow and be creative on whatever piece they are working on.  As I have said in previous posts I have never seen writing workshop as presents in Tompkins (2012) or Hicks (2008) and I would really like to use it in my future classroom.  With that being said, I was struggling with the idea of giving students the freedom of writers workshop and fit it into the new common core standards and teacher evaluations.  Once I read chapter 4 however, I have a few more ideas on how writing workshop can be used to really show student growth over the course of the year.  Within that growth I would hope that students would perform better on standardized tests because they have developed their own thinking skills, their own writing process and know how to apply it without the teacher holding their hand throughout the whole assignment.  I wish that I had been a part of this type of writing workshop when I was in school, I really didn’t enjoy writing at all and maybe if I had some freedom I would have enjoyed writing more as child. 

Entry #5

                                                                                                                 10/3/12

Dear Dr. Jones,

            When we first started this class at the beginning of the semester I thought that I was going to struggle.  To be honest I have never really enjoyed writing I was one of those students who did that bare minimum to get the good grades.  I was never engaged in finding new topics that truly interest me and take that interest to the next level to inform others.  With that being said I am truly enjoying this class.  I think that everything that has been introduced by you, Tompkins (2012) and Hicks (2009) has opened my eyes to so many different ways to engage students in an authentic writing experience that helps develop them into successful writers in a way I was never engaged during grade school.

            As I just stated I have never enjoyed writing and wasn’t how reading and writing are connected because I love to read.  Looking back on this class so far I now see how interconnected reading and writing really are.  I now see that the writing process is an integral part of how students grow, developing ideas and revisiting them, revising and changing them to construct their own meaning using text after being exposed to a rich variety of text in their classroom.  Once a person understands how to create meaning in text the easier it is for you to understand what meaning an author is trying to convey to you as you read.   

            I think that right now I fully transact with the writing process more than I ever have.  Graduate school as pushed me to rad any texts that I may never have considered before as well as bringing new ideas to the forefront of my mind.  While all this is a normal part of graduate programs I have never been able to writing so strongly and feel so well informed about a topic.  This is what gives me that ability to truly “think when I write” a process that I know I only voluntarily engaged in a few times before.  I have chosen to engage in this process of reading and writing at this point in my life because the topics we are discussing are important to me. Teaching is something that I have always wanted to do and do well to benefit my students.  If I don’t engage fully in the reading and writing process while learning about them how can I expect to grow as teacher? How can I ask me students to engage if I myself don’t?  This is what drives me to learn and grow so that I can be the best possible teacher who can foster a love of reading and a love of writing so that students grow up choosing to interact with meaningful text. 

            Overall this class has introduced many strategies that I want to employ in my future classroom.  There are so many that foster learning and independence as a writer but I think the one that struck me the most was introducing writer’s workshop as whole.  I was never exposed to the type of writing workshop presented in this class, but I am loving it! The idea of giving students freedom of choice or topics, independence in the process, collaborating with their peers, conferencing with their teachers, and creativity to publish text through their choice of medium.  All of these aspects of the workshop can give students a feeling of ownership and that being a writer is important as well as being able to construct meaning to share with others.  I also like the different strategies that bot Tompkins(2012) and Hicks (2012) have introduced that can help students organize their ideas if they are stuck as well as bring information to them on the computer screen that they can sift through.  Both of these types of strategies teacher give up control of “Pouring information into their heads” and acts rather as a support for their students instead of know it all.

            As of right now I am not struggling with anything in class, I was a little overwhelmed a few weeks ago when all the different projects and presentations we had to complete throughout the semester.  But I now see that by using writer’s workshop during class time I will have more than enough time to get things done. So far I am enjoying this class and how it pushing me to think differently about writing.

                                                                     Sincerely,

                                                                              Rianna