Chapter 12 Teach writing your way

I could identify with Don Murray's article because I too believe in writing with my students
and the importance of surprise and discovery. I have enjoyed the editors' margin notes
and their comment on page 186 that Don's idea of one assignment for an entire semester
may work better for older students. "Writing is rewriting" and there are many ways to
use this in the classroom. I find distance importance. If I put my own writing aside for awhile
and revisit it, I am more objective and can edit and revise more easily. I try to build this into
my class assignments, sometimes collecting drafts and letting them cool for a few days or weeks, returning them with suggestions or options, or asking students to share with other writers they trust. Asking students to take the same writing and drastically reduce or expand, or take another perspective or time, exploring the same piece in three different genres, works well, too. I particularly liked Sandra Cisneros' statement at the end, about allowing someone to see you in your PJ's and writing in that voice about what makes you different. So honest. When students write what matters to them, the real writing happens. I will be looking for his two other books (and was saddened at the mention of his passing). This is why I like anthologies. They serve as
introductions, like samples at a buffet.
I was amused in the introduction that the editors would point out the features of this book and how to read it. But I do find that the margin notes like hypertext links enable vital connections esp. when reading chapters in order of interest, which this book welcomes. So, when I read Tom Romano's Chapter 11, Teaching Writing from the Inside, he reinforced the idea of surprise and discovery, the need for writing to be as natural as "slipping on sandals" or "taking the canoe up the wilderness river. " I have listened to stories told by men who never graduated from high school and been captivated by their language and imagery, by their honesty. Everyone has a story and a voice. When Romano ends with the story of his father calling, it all fits perfectly.
He does practice what he promises. Writing what matters most engages students and provides
personal investment. I have students include "writer's comments" to provide insight into the
process. I have learned so much from these. I suppose they are similar to Harvey Daniels'
letter strategy in Chapter 9. I remember one student who wrote a poem about the perfect
day fishing with his father. There was nothing remarkable about it but in his comments he
wrote that this was fiction, that his father never spent time with him and that his neighbour
taught him how to ride a bike while his father drank beer and watched TV inside the house.
It was a very special poem. When Romano includes the poem his friend wrote, it parallels
the piece he wrote about his father. It is the calling for the dog, for the child, and the need
for patience, for listening, for seeing. It is writing from the heart that matters.

Chapter 15: Making It Matter Through the Power of Inquiry

Great chapter choice, Nat! I had something marked on every page.

Certainly the issue of flow is an important one. I first came upon this concept when I accessed Konrad Glogowski's presentation on the K-12 Conference last year (BTW, this is a free online conference. You can access the 2008 conference here). His presentation examined the use of blogs and wikis with students and how to assess and evaluate them. Anyway, the concept of flow wasn't new to me but I can certainly recognize when I am in the state of flow. I think that the reason that many students are disengaged is because they aren't experiencing that flow. When Wilhelm and Smith listed the 5 principles of flow experiences and one of them stood out for me.

Clear goals and immediate feedback was one that resonated with me. This really ties in with assessment for learning. We know that feedback is the most powerful tool in improving student achievement and student motivation. Yet, as teachers, we still over emphasize evaluation and assigning of a grade. I hear time and time again that students won't do the work if they don't get a mark. This certainly can be the case with students but how can we re-train them and us so that we have cycles of draft - feedback-revise-feedback - revise-.... where a grade is not in sight until it will be used as a summative assessment? That why I like the traits approach to teaching writing. There is an emphasis on examining models, lots of feedback on one trait at a time and time to take that feedback and make things better. This should create conditions of flow with student writers.

Inquiry is key to creating this flow. When I think about the times that I am experiencing flow it is most always when I am trying to find the answer to a question. I like the suggestion that the authors made of creating classes around essential inquiry questions and then answering those questions by engaging in a variety of texts. What if teachers built text sets based around essential questions (and this would include not only print but web-based texts). How can we integrate text messaging, video gaming and social networking as part of these texts sets? How can we move away from our dependence on literary fiction and move into real life texts - the texts that we encounter as adults over 90% of the time? I believe that inquiry-based classrooms provide the answers to these questions.

I think that one of the things that we have to be careful of is having too narrow a definition of what it means to be literate. When the authors talk about expanding our notions of what counts as text and meaningful reading and writing, I keep thinking about how our education system is narrowing the definition - i.e. success on the OSSLT. Does it mean that students are literate because they can write a news report and an opinion piece? Our students are communicating in a variety of ways - and the new ways of communicating require different skills sets than the old ways.

Bottom line, as the authors state on the last page, we need to..."build bridges from the literacies they have to the literacies they need". And I think that we can do that through the power of inquiry.

Chapter 15- Making It Matter

To begin, I like the idea of "flow" ("experiencing something so intensely that nothing else seems to matter") and I think this is what we're all trying to do with texts; get kids to be so engaged that they're at maximum learning potential. I know that I want to create a learning environment where everyone can experience "flow". (I think this is actually one of the reasons I decided to become a teacher- because when I was doing it I was so happy and involved that I lost all track of time...I was in the "flow"...so I knew if I could do this job that I loved, it would be a very good thing...and it still is!)

This chapter reminded me how important it is that all students, and especially boys, understand a clear purpose or at least why an activity/assignment has value. As we head into a new school year, I will be thinking about how to get the "buy-in" by showing students why experiencing texts is important.

I really liked the idea of developing inquiry units and reading different texts around a "common question". The premise sets a teacher up nicely as facilitator of motivated, self-directed learners. It also naturally allows students to seek out a variety of texts and collaborate as answers and approaches come together. I agree that inquiry units also provide the opportunity to combine skills to be taught (essay writing, grammar, theme) thus saving time and maximizing similarity to real-life applications as skills are used in sets rather than in isolation.

Following Sharon's current focus on revamping our texts, this chapter also encourages us to "widen our notion of texts" and consider what may be captivating- fantasy, mystery, magazines, graphic novel, etc. Most importantly, we need to select texts that utilize pre-existing schema or interest or expertise so that kids feel successful while they explore and make meaning.

It's common sense but a good reminder: "Who enjoys feeling dumb all the time?" We need to ensure that our lessons follow Wilhelm's five M's of promoting competence: "model, mentor, monitor, and provide multiple modalities and measures". Reflecting on my own practice, I know I can always push myself further to ensure that every kid is feeling like a success in English. I need to start checking for that "correspondence concept" at the end of each semester so that I can check that my students are progressing towards becoming competent readers and learners.

I'm sure that many of the boys I teach at Century have a "damaged learner identity" and that, oftentimes, our English teachers (including myself) need to do quite a bit of repair work and building up of their self-esteem as learners. Our kids need to have a "virtual identity" as a reader, researcher, analyst, etc. so that they can "build the bridge" to success with increasingly difficult texts.

Overall, I'm finding that the timing of this book study is perfect as I'm considering this text as I plan for September.

:)
Natalie

Flying Blind

This chapter resonated deeply with me. In my current position in alternative education I am both a teacher and an on-site administrator, and in this capacity I spend a lot of time talking with student one-on-one addressing numerous issues. I have had the experience Chris Crutcher writes of -- a deeply troubled teenager who fondly recalls his grade three teacher. Their relationship is so strong, they meet periodically over coffee. When my student speaks of his former teacher, he glows. It is one of the few positive and deeply meaningful relationships he has, and it clearly speaks to the connections that are possible.

Crutcher's inclusion of stats. on page 16 -- one in three girls sexually mistreated, etc. -- is so powerful in illustrating every teachers role in working with adolescents facing huge challenges and makes us realize how critical our relationship with all our students can be. The potential there is very exciting and for many, the reason they were drawn to becoming educators -- it's the possibility to make a positive difference in people's lives. I have learned you will be remarkably successful with some, less so with others, but you never stop trying. His statement that real education consists of "response, expression, relationship" makes me think of the character development program we are currently building in our board. As the character development teacher in my program, I plan on sharing this article with my colleagues.

turning promise into practice

I thought about the subtitle of the book for some time especially as I have time to read
books for leisure during the summer. I want my students to feel the same eagerness
and excitement that I do when I get to read a novel I have been saving. I want them to enjoy my class and the material we discuss. Lit. circles are vital. One novel for everyone just doesn't do it. I do like an anthology text that offers short stories, plays and poems for grade levels because there is nothing as frustrating as students announcing that they have encountered the same material last year. It gets tiring trying to find appropriate material for various classes.
An anthology does allow students to select a range of reading material for group work without
controversy. A good anthology provides a mix of themes and contemporary pieces. I have often
researched an author and read more, after encounters in anthologies. They are good introductions to finding writers that provoke interest.

Great Start to Our Discussion

I think we have made a great start to our online book discussion! We'll move on and Dorothy can join us when she can. Why don't we move on and see if we can do 2 chapters next week.

Natalie, why don't you choose a chapter and Darina, you choose one. Post the chapters that you chose in the comment section of this post and then we'll aim for responses for both chapters by the end of next week.

Looking forward to our next readings!

P.S. To upload an image, just click on the picture icon above. If you have an image saved on your computer or have one that you want to use from the 'net, you can upload it in about 5 seconds.

Introductory Chapter

One thing that caught my eye while reading the introduction is that the organization of the book reflects its philosophical stance that literary instruction and development is not subject specific -- accordingly, no chapter focuses on a single content area. As the editor notes, "In the same way that we want learners reading a variety of texts to synthisize information, we want you to do the same." I like how they are modelling the process that we would apply in our classrooms. To me, it suggests a well-considered and thoughtful approach to creating this anthology, one with a clear philosophical direction, and it bodes well for the chapters/articles to come.

Secondly, in a letter sent to contributing authors, the editors note that jobs in the very near future (one can argue, now, in fact) require a skill set that includes "creating, synthesizing, and evaluating." They go on to state that individuals who hold such skills possess "ingenuity, imagination, and empathy... take risks and work cooperatively." This passage reminds me very much of statements found in the Ontario curriculum, particularly for the elementary panel. Strateiges like portfolios and cooperative learning and cross curriculum activities seem to be more the norm in grammar school, but as students move to the secondary panel, many of the strategies that develop and encourage the skill set noted above seem to vanish. I hope that the chapters to come support or demonstrate the successful integration of various strategies that secondary school teachers can explore with their classes.

Finally, reflecting on Sharon's posting, there are many different theories in the great field of literary criticism, and many different approaches to understanding a text. In fact, some theories question the definition of what a text is -- novel, short story, poem, menu, road map, newspaper, etc. What is deeply exciting now is the possibilities of differentiated instruction along with the introduction of differntiated texts. I hope at least one chapter explores these possibilities.

Introduction

After reading the introduction, I'm excited to be a guest at this dinner party. I think it'll be great to experience so many voices in one book and, although I've taken a few online courses, this is my first time blogging so that's exciting as well.

To begin, I'm not familiar with Friedman's The World is Flat, but I did a bit of research and it seems that his overall idea is that we're all on a level playing field in terms of commerce and competition- Wikipedia emphasizes his "equal opportunity" view.

I also came across this:

"A free [audiobook] download was available after registration on the author's website until August 11th, 2008 as a promotion of the author's new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded."
The website (because I'm not sure if that link will work and in case anyone's interested in the download) is: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/giveaway.

After I listen to the audiobook, I hope to have more connections to share. In the meantime, I'm relying on Wikipedia's description of how Friedman "suggests the world is "flat" in the sense that globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries. In his opinion, this flattening is a product of a convergence of personal computer with fiber-optic micro cable with the rise of work flow software. He termed this period as Globalization 3.0". If anyone is familiar with this text, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Next, like Kylene, I do think now is a time for "bold goals" and "bold ideas" for teaching literacy in a way that makes sense with globalization/shifting demands/evolving technology/altering employment landscape. Without getting caught up in the negatives (fighting for time in our computer labs, restricted access to SMART boards), I'm eager to find out how I can improve on my existing strategies within the limits that are our realities to maximize the success of my students.

I really appreciate the fact that literacy is approached as an integrated area of learning (it's not just on the plate, it is the plate) and that this text seems designed to help "ALL" learners, regardless of where they are on the literacy instruction continuum. This is reassuring to me, because at a vocational school like Century, I work with kids every day who really need daily intensive instruction.

I'm really looking forward to exploring this text and participating in this Book Club.
(I would really like to try some blogging with my kids next year, so this is great practice.)

:)
Natalie

Introduction Post #1 - Sharon

For the introductory chapter, I'm just going to write about some of the excerpts from the chapter that I highlighted and why I highlighted them.

The first section in the intro that really caught my attention was on page xiv, second paragraph about 2/3 of the way down. The section starts " We'd like to push many of them side and suggest that much literacy development is not subject specific... [W]e learn the syntactical cues and that show us ... relationships and use those cues across all content areas."

I marked this because it just supports the directions that we have been taking for the past couple of years, especially with the TLTTs getting into the content areas and showing content teachers how to integrate literacy strategies onto the content areas. I hope that more teachers see that they can teach good literacy strategies and not have to give up content. Since I'm out of the school, I find it hard to have a sense if content teachers are being more accepting of their role as teachers of both content and literacy or if they are still clinging to the belief that they don't teach reading (and writing and spelling, etc).

For English, I really feel that especially with grade 9 and 10 students, we need to go beyond the literary criticism/analysis focus and focus on how they interpret the texts. I just read and article in the current issue of English Journal that addresses this issue. The teacher had 2 Grade 11 English classes and he did his regular lessons (where he asked the questions and led students to the 'right' answer) with one and with the other he used the same texts but used a variety of literacy strategies (inferring, making connections, visualizing, summarizing, organizing), oral discussions and rereads of short text passages to help students build meaning. He found that the second class, who was required to construct and support their own meaning from the text understood, comprehended and retained much more that when he used his traditional methods.

The second place where I marked was on the next page (xv), first paragraph where it starts "Will the strategies presented in this book help your students who read significantly below grade level? Absolutely - but only if you use the strategies that are at the student's instructional and/or independent reading levels."

A question came to mind here. Why are so many teachers still teaching the whole class novel? So many times I see requests in the English conference by teachers looking for whole class sets of novels (and some of these novels are really old). How do we engage students with texts that not all of them can read or even want to read? A significant amount of money was invested in small groups of books for lit circles and there are online databases that teachers can access to get magazines and newspaper articles at different reading levels for students. I am wondering why we even have use for an English textbook. One of the things we need to do this year is to choose new English textbooks for grades 9 -11 academic, applied, college and university. Do we need these textbooks or would more small sets of novels and non-fiction at a variety of reading levels be a better use of our money? I really fell that there is a need for more differentiated texts to engage our students.

The last section that I highlighted was on page xvi the second and third paragraphs. This was just a reminder to me that my job as a teacher is to model and provide scaffolded lessons that support students to move to independence. I can think of the times that I didn't provide that scaffolding and was just an activity giver and assumed that the students had all of the skills to complete the assignment. Strangely enough, when I was an activity giver it was when I was teaching secondary school, not elementary. What happened when I walked through those secondary doors? Why did I assume that these adolescents had all the skills?

I look forward to your comments and responses.

Welcome to Our Discussion Blog

Hello and welcome to our space where we can discuss the book Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. The book has a Study Guide that can be downloaded here. You may find this helpful as we go through the book. I set this up using Google Blogger - it is very user-friendly (I believe the geek term is intuitive), so you should find posting easy once you go through it the first time. Since this is a collaborative site, you all have posting privileges. This means that any one of us can start the discussion with a post. Once a post about a chapter is up, then the rest of us can follow up with either a post that expands on the chapter (for longer responses) or a comment (for a short response) . Don't be leery of trying things with this blog space - the other part to this is for you to get comfortable with blogging so that eventually you can find ways to use the technology with your students. The best way to do this is to jump in and give it a try.

So here we go. I'll start the first post, then we'll take turns with other chapters.