Ryan J. Calhoun
Dr. Votteler
SHSU Writing Project
8 June 2011
Teacher Exploration Workshop: Profile and Philosophy
The Question:
How can I get students to offer more than just surface-level or hollow responses to analytical writing prompts?
Profile and Philosophy:
This matters to me because after two years of working with a variety of students one on one as a tutor, a semester of student teaching at two grade levels, and six months of classroom teaching, I have had the opportunity to work with a diverse of level of writers from eighth-graders to doctoral students and have noticed a common area of weakness. I have found that although many students claim to understand the concept of forming an argument, making an assertion, and providing evidence for it, they do not quite understand how this really works in application. In a recent essay in my classroom, the students were tasked with evaluating the leadership ability of Odysseus using a clearly defined set of criteria, and while many students competently chose quotations from the text which could potentially prove their points, these quotations were frequently followed by statements such as: “This quote shows that Odysseus is a good leader,” offering no further proof to support their points. I have found through my tutoring experience that although the phrasing of statements such as these may improve greatly from the time students begin their high school careers to the time they enter college, the root of the problem behind statements such as these remains; students are making unsupported claims in their writing. One of the greatest challenges that students face is the coming to terms with the realization that no matter how eloquently they write or what evidence they pull from the text, if they cannot effectively explain how their evidence proves their points and why those points are relevant to their central arguments, then they have, in effect, said absolutely nothing. This pervasive problem plaguing our pupils is only going to get worse if we do not find and correct this issue as soon as it arises. The problem then is: How is this to be accomplished?
Ryan, I struggle with this issue quite a bit as well. I think the most effective way to do that is through offering prompts that dig deeply into a student's inner workings. I honestly have no true idea of how to do this, as each student is different. Good luck in your research, and if I find sources I will forward them along to you.
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