Entry #11: Keeping Up With The Blogs

Throughout the course of this semester, I was required to write blogs as a way to document what I had learned about written expression and the ways to keep my students engaged in a writer's workshop. Before this course, I had no experience with creating my own blog. It was very much a trial and error process. I was required to learn how to navigate this website, Blogger. I was able to write about the thoughts, questions and ideas I had about the weekly readings I was assigned to read. Through this writing process, I was also able to add images to support my thinking and create labels that would connect the previous blogs I wrote that discussed similar themes and ideas. I was able to change the roll-over font colors to make reading my blogs more meaningful and an exciting experience for my readers. Lastly, I was able to add hyperlinks to websites that would provide my viewers with additional information and resources about a specific educational topic. 

https://holmessp19writing.blogspot.com/

Keeping a blog was a new way to organize my learning. I was able to put my personal input on the information I was acquiring. I was able to examine a wide variety of genres that readers and writers can use to communicate for a specific audience and purpose through a digital forum. Through this forum, I was able to view my classmates' posts and give critical feedback about what I enjoyed about their posts. This peer feedback experience was difficult for me because it is hard to pinpoint what you enjoyed, critiques, and thoughts I was still wondering about on posts that were written by individuals I know. Learning to provide feedback is also a wonderful tool that is necessary for me as an educator to present for my students. Giving students purposeful feedback is crucial so that my students know what kind of changes or improvements must be made to led to more successful learning experiences. 

In each of my posts, I had to consider who my audience was and the purpose of my blog. My audience was specifically my fellow classmates, my professor and anyone else who was interested in reading my blog, in order to learn about my writing journey to becoming a stronger reader and writer. This process also helped me to become a well-rounded educator because the various strategies and techniques I acquired throughout this course can be used in my classroom as a way to improve the reading and writing experiences I can provide for my students. For example, the use of revising centers as a way to differentiate my writing instruction (Tompkins, 2019, p. 12). These centers can help students become more consciously aware of changes they can make to improve their writing pieces.

Author's craft is a multi-faceted concept that I used in every experience I had within this course. For example, while creating these blogs I was able to practice using a number of elements found within an author's craft. I began my coming up with the ideas and I had to determine how to organize these thoughts to make them sequential and understood by all of my readers. This organization was improved by my word choice, sentence fluency and conventions that I chose to use for each piece. Because these blogs are to meant to be used to display personal thoughts, my personal voice was often found in each of my written posts. Lastly, the presentation is especially important for these blogs. It is crucial that my blogs are digitally enhanced to make each post accessible and entertaining for all of my viewers. 

My habits of mind towards writing have developed throughout these blogs. Curiosity and creativity were especially present while writing these posts. The purpose of most of my posts were developed based upon my desire to know more about a particular topic. I also had to be creative in the way I presented the information within my blogs. I had to find images that would enhance one's understanding of what I was trying to present.  Metacognition plays a big role in the process of creating these blog posts (Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project, 2011). Sometimes, I have a hard time brainstorming what to write for each of these posts because I struggled to compose my thoughts and think critically about what I have just read. During this course, I have become more conscious to the process of thinking about what I read in a way that will be memorable and can be applicable to my future teaching career. 

References 

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing.Retrieved from http://wpacouncil.org/framework/

Tompkins, G. E.  (2019).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (7^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.

Entry 8: 'Address' That Feedback

Over the past couple of days, I have spent some time looking at my peers' blog posts. It has been a wonderful experience to see how my classmates react and respond to different educational research and readings. I have found a number of similarities and differences within the professional opinions shared my peers. This is what is so great about the field of teaching, I am always being exposed to opportunities where I am able to collaborate, receive feedback and acquire new skills/strategies that can be applied to my own classroom. On the other hand, it is also important to know how to appropriately provide feedback to others. Hicks (2009) provides his audience with the National Writing Project's model for giving peer feedback. Within this feedback, it important: to bless, to address, and to press a given text you would like to respond to. 

www.ssgt.nsw.edu.au/documents/2practices_feedback.pdf

To Bless: While these keeping these feedback points in mind, I would like to dedicate this post to respond and expand upon one of my classmates specific posts. Anna Jackson's 'Blog 4: Instructional Strategies' entry really stuck out to me (https://jacksonsp18writing.blogspot.com/ ). Anna offers a number of great ideas and insight on the importance of instructional strategies to help improve own learning experiences. Within this post, she discusses how she uses the headings, subtitles and explanations to inform and organize her thinking for a given text. She also turns the headings into questions to reflect on later in the reading. This is a reading strategy that I had never considered before but I am definitely going to try this to see if it helps me get more out of the texts I am reading. I agree that this strategy would help me to become a more active reader. I love how Anna discussed the importance of making connections while engaging in reading or writing activity. In my own personal experiences, I am also making different types of connections to clarify my understanding of a particular text. Lastly, I really enjoyed Anna's discussion on the importance of reflecting on her work (NCT, 2011). I am still learning how to appropriately critique my own work through the process of writing lesson reflections and evaluations. Especially in the world of teaching, it is critical to reflect in order to improve my daily lessons and instructional experiences for my students.    

To Address: As I was reading this blog entry, I also had some questions I would like to ask Anna. When you were discussing your habits of mind, you said you wanted to become more sensitive to the texts you are reading. Can you define what you mean by that? In what ways, do you plan on becoming more sensitive while engaging in reading and writing tasks? You also stated that you wanted to 'take risks by exploring questions that are unfamiliar to you'. What would be an example of a risk taking question? 

To Press: Overall, I really enjoyed reading Anna's post blog! She offered a lot of wonderful ways that has learned to improve her reading and writing skills. There is just one critical question I would offer Anna as a way to 'move toward a stronger version or a clearer explanation of her opinion' (Hicks, 2013, p. 83). This question would be: How do all of these instructional strategies you offered in your blog post #4 inform your classroom instruction? In what ways can you make these strategies accessible for all of your students? 

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/peer-feedback-tips

References

Hicks, T. (2013).  Crafting digital writing.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project. (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing.  Retrieved from http://wpacouncil.org/framework/

Entry #7: Biographical Writing

Throughout this class, I have been learning about a number of different genres. Not only have I been exposed to learning how to write in these different genres, I have also been learning concepts and instructional methods that could be used to teach students how to write in these genres. More specifically, I have been assigned a project where I am required to become an expert on the biographical genre. I am responsible for developing and delivering a professional workshop that will help my classmates become more confident in teaching their students how to read and write all types of life stories. 

Throughout this process, I am gathering a number of resources that will deepen my knowledge on this specific genre. For example, I have collected a few research articles that exposed me to other aspects on teaching biographies that I had never considered before. I stumbled upon an article that provided three clues individuals can look for while they are reading or writing biographical pieces. The three clues are: looking for repetition within an author's perspective, looking to find any similarities or/and differences about the same subjects discussed from different perspectives and taking a look at the author's note to see if any additional information is provided about why the author wrote their biographies from that particular point of view (Zarnowski, 2019). I think these clues are great guidelines for readers to look for because it challenges them to take a deeper look into why an author would make certain decisions throughout their writing process. These same clues can be applied when I am teaching my students how to write their own biographies. All of these clues are great tips on how to make your biographical writing more meaningful and engaging for your given audience. 

https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/nonfiction/tips-writing-biography/

I also found another useful article where Marshall (2019) discusses the importance of incorporating biographies in today's classrooms that highlight multiple identities, languages, modes and histories. The author believes that these biographies should be powerful enough to promote some sort of social activism within our students. Biographies should raise ethical questions (Marshall, 2019). I couldn't agree more with the author's point that biographies should provide our students with more personal details and provoke deeper emotions than textbooks do. These biographies also shine a light on the biases and the lack of representation for minority groups found in modern-day social studies textbooks. Reading and writing biographies allow students to engage in learning about real-world experiences which in return will allow students to recall the information long-term. Marshall (2019) also offered an eye-opening activity for me to try in my classroom. Students would be required to find a story that includes a stereotype, excludes or misrepresents them as a way to show others how misleading stories can be sometimes. I believe it is important to teach my students to be critical readers by looking for any misrepresentations found in the stories they are reading. 

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/biograph/index.htm

Marshall (2019) also states: "autobiography allows writers the opportunity to reckon with their own past and historical time period and to provide a critique of the present." This was a very powerful quote because autobiographies are more than just writing a story about yourself. They allow writers to consider how they have developed into the person they are today. They can discuss how their prior experiences have shaped the morals and values they hold within today's society. I have found that my students enjoy the process of writing autobiographies because they get to share their own personal stories, interests and beliefs with their peers. Tompkins (2019) also offered numerous activities that I would love to try in my classroom as a way to introduce autobiographies including: "All About Me" Books, Life Books and Bio Bags. I believe all of these activities would very engaging and an easy way to teach my students about what autobiographies need to entail. 

References 

Marshall, E. (2019). Life Writing and the Language Arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178.

Tompkins, G. E. (2019). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. 

Zarnowski, M. (2019). "How One Person Sees Another Person": Focusing on the Author's Perspective in Picturebook Biographies. Language Arts, 96(3), 145-152.

Reading/Writing Blog Entry #6

Dear Dr. Jones,

I am thoroughly enjoying this written expression class! This course is very different from any class I have ever taken throughout my college career. I appreciate that this course allows me as a student to have the freedom to write openly about how I feel about specific topics relating to the world of education but also about my own experiences as I become a more developed writer. I love the concept of having writing conference groups. I find it very beneficial to have peers that I trust critiquing my work and giving me useful feedback on ways to improve my writing. These blogs provide me with the time to reflect on what I am reading and take note of any particular takeaways I want to remember to enhance my own writing development. The blogs also provide me with diverse ways to help my students become empowered writers.

I have never had the opportunity to really dissect all of the different genres. This class digs deeper on what it entails to write successfully in a number of genres. My favorite part of this class so far is the genre pieces project. It is amazing that I am given the opportunity to write about a topic that is actually important to me. I can’t recall a time where I have been able to write about something I am extremely passionate about since high school. Being able to take on different perspectives for this assignment truly has allowed me to see my chosen topic from multiple viewpoints. Lastly, I like that this class is providing me with tools specifically related to digital writing. Especially in today’s society, technology plays such a crucial role in a student’s learning process. It is beneficial to see the appropriate ways to integrate these online tools to enhance a student’s school experiences.

Throughout this course, I am learning more about my writing habits of mind. My metacognitive abilities have developed and strengthen throughout this course. Because of these blogs, I am able to reflect on my own thinking, more specifically how I have changed as a writer. I have also developed new rhetorical knowledge during this course. Now, I have more of an awareness on the purpose of my writing. While I am prewriting, I take the time to think about who my audience is and plan the context accordingly. I am also experiencing what it is like to compose in a number of different environments (Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project, 2011). Through the works of Hicks (2013) I am becoming more knowledgeable about what it takes to successfully create digital texts whether that be through web-based texts or online presentations. I have cultivated a number of skills and strategies that will allow myself to better explain to my students what makes an online text reliable or not. For example, the power of integrating hyperlinks within online texts that are not distracting but can provide readers with appropriate background information (p. 52). Another helpful example would be the tips provided on all the ways to make an online presentation ‘sticky’ or exciting for all viewers (p. 62).

All of the instructional strategies Tompkins (2019) offers throughout her chapters are noteworthy. Specifically, I found the revising and editing centers in chapter 1 to be engaging and innovative activities. These centers can hold students accountable for improving their writing within their own terms. I plan to add many of these given strategies or techniques to my strategy toolbox to use for future reading or writing lessons.

Sincerely,

Denise Holmes

References

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project. (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing.Retrieved from http://wpacouncil.org/framework/

Hicks, T. (2013).  Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Tompkins, G. E.  (2019).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (7^th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.