Reader response to "Mechanically Inclined" chapters 3 & 3 (Jeff Anderson

    

Anderson begins by talking about the writers notebook that he requires each student to keep, and how he goes about setting them up. I embrace this idea and appreciate all of the great things he does with his notebooks, but think that I personally (in theory, not in practice) will pick and choose the parts that I choose to use with my students.

I am a big advocate of having a notebook requirement for your class. This can be a great tool for learning as it is a central location for brainstorming, practicing, tracking progress, etc. I am not sure if all of Anderson's sections are necessary. I do like the idea of a word and phrase palette- I feel that is something I do mentally in my college writing, but this would be so much more helpful to having in writing where I could access it!

Working with his students, Anderson comes up with an Editor's Checklist. I know that things like this are much more meaningful to the students is they take part in their creation, so that is great. I feel like he made editing in to a pretty painless process with his "express-lane edits", and I would like to be able to use that in my classroom.

The fourth chapter is about using visual lists on the walls of your classroom. At first I liked this idea but thought I could never use it- I like my walls to be filled with pre-printed, perfectly written posters. After reading the chapter however, I realized that when I take a test, I can personally visualize the handwriting of my notes (the color, the position on the page, anything I wrote out weird, etc.). This leads me to completely believe Anderson when he says that when the lists are taken off the walls for testing, the students can still look up to the wall and visualize what it said, helping them out a great deal. I am now on board with wall charts.

Reader response to "Mechanically Inclined" chapters 1 & 2 (Jeff Anderson)

I was reassured to hear that a successful English teacher, now writing a book about grammar and mechanics, was a self-proclaimed "nongrammarian". As I am a pretty avid reader and a fairly good writer, I do not know the definitions to some of the most basic of grammar and mechanics terms. This book seems to be speaking to me personally.

I appreciate the fact that Jeff Anderson introduces himself and his situation, it's something I can readily relate to. This leaves me coming in to the book with a much more open mind. As I'm reading, I see that Anderson says what I've been thinking all along- We know we should not "drill and kill" grammar and mechanics, we should teach them in context - but how do we do that?

Anderson talks about focusing on the most important points- the points that give our students the power to write effectively. He refers to Connors and Lunsford's list of the 20 most common errors found in college students' writing- then modifies it a bit to work for his  middle schoolers. This gives focus to the cause.

An additional point that I really liked is that he aims to "have kids crafting their writing with correct mechanics and grammar without even realizing they are learning them". I have always believed that leading students to discover ideas on their own is the most rewarding, and usually most effective way to teach. This is accomplished through using mentor text to "show, not tell". Here are some mentor texts used by another teaching professional/ blogger, Amy Illingsworth.


At this point, Anderson has me hooked. I am really hoping to be able to use his ideas in my own teaching. We seem to share some foundational beliefs and through his introduction, I know he is speaking from his own experience and is not suggesting an approach that requires unrealistic time and effort.

Reader response to "Teaching Grammar in the Context of Teaching" (Constance Weaver)

This article starts by telling us what we have already learned this semester- research shows that teaching grammar independently does not help students become better writers. Although the research behind this is pretty broad, the proof is in the pudding. Findlay McQuade's research in 1980's determined that after teaching his students a course in writing mechanics, he found that "though the students' pre-course essays were not spectacular, their post-course essays were miserable and apparently self-consciously constructed to honor correctness above all other virtues, including sense". It looks like "teaching grammar in the context of writing might be much more effective than teaching grammar as a separate subject."

Weaver goes on to give some examples of lessons. The technique I could see myself using was one that Weaver herself uses with her undergrad students. She has her students turn in first drafts, looks for the most common grammatical mistakes and creates a mini-lesson around those few mistakes, using the students own work as examples. She also includes peer-review in this process. This seems to be a pretty practical way of doing things for older students, but I think it's important to make sure you're not making your students feel dumb. She noted that she marks on some students' papers "You need to get a grasp on this, because it's something you'll be expected to teach even elementary-level students!" - that might be true, but I don't agree with going about things that way. I think this could create a overly self-conscious writer and ashamed student.

I also like Sarah's exercises with getting her students to write descriptively. She did a mini lesson, then had students write based on a general prompt. She then had the students actually experience what they were writing about and write about it again. Their second pieces were much more accurate in their descriptions and students had improved without even realizing they were being taught. This is great because it creates a more effective and fun experience than rote memorization or simple exercises focusing on grammar alone.

Additionally, the article mentions giving "guidance in understanding and applying those aspects of grammar that are most relevant to writing", and "teaching a minimum of grammar for maximum benefits", which I absolutely agree should be a best practice for writing teachers.

Reader response to "Professional Writing in the English Classroom" (Bush & Zuidema)

Although this article was short, I think it brought up a very important point that we haven't touched on much at this point: The majority of our students will not being writers for a living. They may not even write a paper, poem, or essay again after they are done taking classes.


They will most definitely have to write SOMETHING in a professional context however. Proposals, notes to coworkers, directives, emails, etc.
If they are unable to write even casual notes with (mostly) correct spelling, grammar, mechanics, etc- they will not be taken seriously- or worse yet, the "audience" may not even be able to determine what they're trying to say. I receive emails at work all the time that I have to reply back asking for clarification because they are so poorly written- this is hardly professional!



The article mentions that there is not typically a formula for most of these kinds of writings, but we need to empower our students to make contextualized choices considering GAPS (Genre, Audience, Purpose, and Situation).


The way that we can do this is making the students write a lot- things that aren't even assignments necessarily. Have them give feedback in writing, write letters to you, compose a blog entry, etc. Before long, it becomes second nature- and it's one of those great "learning without knowing you're learning" things! Writing will always be a part of all of our lives and we should be able to do it well, regardless of the GAPS.

   

Reader response for "Clearing the way" chapters 9-11 (Romano)

     

  I want to teach like Tom Romano.

He talks a lot about the age-old formal essay and how "such repeated, narrow engagement in composition prevents students from developing open, flexible attitudes about writing." Mr. Romano uses essay questions on his test, but is very careful about the wording of his prompts. He wants the students to know that this will not be evaluated in the same fashion that a multi-draft piece would be, and that there is likely not a correct answer, he just wants to hear what they have to say.

In teaching literature, Romano talks about how crucial it is to find out what the reading means to the student personally. Isn't literature about what it means to the reader, rather than what scholars and critics think it means? Having the students hash out questions, opinions, and additional thoughts on the readings in small groups - and then coming together as a whole class to discuss different reactions is a great technique. I have experienced this before as a student and it made the readings much more interesting and often clarified points that I was wondering about. It's always good to hear perspectives that are unlike yours, even as a teacher.

Another best practice is having students do informal, spontaneous writing about what they've read. This way they have a chance to hash out what didn't make sense, and sort out their thoughts on what they've just read, to get out their initial impressions, and to hopefully find a personal connection with at least a part of what they've read.
"They discover that this isn't alien territory they're moving into. This is literature, and literature is life. Students are living the very stuff that literature is made from. When they realize this, their interest heightens.

Reader response for "Responding, Evaluating, and Grading" (Zemelman and Daniels)

Much of this chapter was things we have already discussed in class; like keeping observation, response, and grading as separate steps in the writing evaluation process.
There were a couple of new key points I wanted to discuss:

1. As teachers, we need to always be aware that students pick up on our verbal AND our non-verbal communication. An important part of getting kids passionate about writing is letting them know that what they're writing matters and that you care about it- they will know if you're insincere.

2. Teachers have many roles like: Listener and learner, adult/protector, encourager and guide, coach, expert, copy editor, and judge. We have to find a way to find a balance between all of these things- our students need to know we will be there for them and our classroom is a safe place to share ideas and feelings.

3. Have the students pick their most polished pieces to go through the final grading phase. This chapter suggests that should be about 20% of what they write. This saves you work and also gives students the choice to own their work and be in charge of what happens with it (to some extent).

4. A point that I think deserves to be brought up again in evaluation is to "avoid being prescriptive. leave decisions to the writers, but encourage them to take some kind of action." Simply telling students what to do in their writing turns their piece into your piece, and they don't learn anything from it.

Reader resonse for "Papers, Papers, Papers" (Jago)

This article addresses one of my biggest fears in teaching a writing class: The sheer amount of time it takes to thoughtfully grade papers. As Jago says, "Teachers cannot work any harder. We have to be more effective in using time and resources."

As we have read in previous articles for this class, it is clear that although we might have to fight our urges to re-write and fix students' papers, it is much more effective to point out problem areas and have students come up with solutions to fix them on their own (as much as possible). 

In the section on Level 2: Rephrase for Clarity and Style; Jago provided an example of getting students into small groups in order to help each other be more effective in what they are trying to say. I have to think this would work better with certain ages of students, and in certain classes where the students feel more comfortable sharing. I do think this is a better strategy than just a total peer review of a paper however, as focusing on just one or two trouble sentences can really help the writer see ways to fix more issues in their writing overall. 

I personally love to get teacher feedback on my writing and find it disheartening when I receive a paper back with a few things circled and some teacher chicken-scratch in the margins that I cannot read. This does not help me improve my writing and I often just end up (for the most part) ignoring the marks the teacher has made on my paper- which is not teaching me anything. 

I will keep this article on hand and refer to some of Jago's best practices if I find myself bogged down  or hopeless in the grading of papers.