SHSU Writes

Lisa A. Kwoka - Question & Philosophy

Lisa A. Kwoka

N. Votteler

SHSU Writing Project

8 June 2011

The Teacher Exploration Workshop (The Question and Profile & Philosophy): Making Grammar Instruction Count

The Question:
How can I ensure students transfer learned grammar skills to their own writing?
Philosophy & Profile:
This matters to be me because classroom instruction should be applicable to real life.
It would appear students master grammar concepts if grades on grammar exercises serve as indicators. However, if student writing served as the indicator grammar proficiency would be received deficiency marks at best. Student writing does not indicate students’ ability to transfer mastered grammar concepts. In the past months, I have read articles centered on this topic. These articles shed light on researchers’ belief in student writing truly being the key to unlocking this problem. The recommendation is to abandon isolated grammar instruction. Instead, researchers encourage educators to use the errors in students’ writing to drive instruction. I’m all for work shopping a piece of student writing with its author. In the S.I., I’d like to dig deeper into the question I’ve posed and also into the logistics of individually work shopping student writing with large numbers of students. This concern results from the sinking feeling I get each time I read over student writing riddled with blaring errors. I can’t help but feel that the student was aware of such an in your face error when he or she turned the paper in. When questioned, however the student feigns ignorance. If the student truly did not see the error, then teaching proof reading techniques are the least I can do for my students. Proof reading strategies alone feel inadequate, however. I feel like I’m failing to treat the real problem which appears to be students’ inability to create the most polished piece of writing possible.
Most recently, I worked at a local high school where the demographics reported approximately 70% Black, 20 % Hispanic, and 10% White/Other. The only other significant factor I was made aware of during my employment there was that there was a tremendous amount of moving within the district. By this I mean, parents were so impoverished that it was not incomprehensible for a family to move every three months to a new residence to avoid eviction. Poverty adds additional stress to any learning community. I don’t know how much of a factor it plays in student writing, but I can not discount it in my search for assistance with my question.
***Disclaimer... I’m so tired I’m bleary eyed. I feel fairly certain many of these sentences can be re-written so as to present a much more reader-friendly text. My apologies if you’ve struggled to understand this text and reserve the right to fix it up tomorrow. I’ve submitted it at this time only out of respect for those who have asked for it by this evening.

Cassie Manley: Question and Philosophy & Profile

Disclaimer: This is a first, rough draft. I've already modified my question. It and the adjusted (and fully hashed out) philosophy & profile to follow.

In other words, please don't judge me.

Cassie Manley

N. Votteler

SHSU Writing Project

8 June 2011

The Teacher Exploration Workshop (The Question and Philosophy & Profile): Literature Circles in an Unlikely Place

The Question:

How do I incorporate successful literature circles into a World History class?

Philosophy & Profile:

This matters to me because I have tried various, mainly homemade, approaches to literature instruction in my previous two years as an English teacher and had very mixed results. When I tried a version of literature circles, some groups sailed along beautifully, digging deeply into challenging texts and engaging in inspiring dialogue, with little to no input from my co-teacher nor me, and some groups struggled with the text and each other all the way through. These groupings were changed at the start of each quarter, so I can’t attribute their respective successes or challenges to particular mixtures of students. I suspect that particular students’ leadership was a factor here, but I feel certain it can’t be whole explanation. This is also important to me because next year contains a lot of change, and consequently a lot of opportunity, for both me and my school. Among the changes in store is an adjustment to the length of time of the World History block: four hours. My principal has expressed a desire and my co-teacher and I are excited by the possibility that this change allows for the World History class to become more of a Humanities class, to incorporate literature, art, and music. This obviously leaves plenty of room to incorporate meaningful literature study in the class, and it allows the English class to be more a composition class, which is something the lower level English teachers have desired for some time.

The question then is how to do this well. I am grateful for the opportunity to research this topic and gain knowledge about what has worked for others in the past. I believe that literature circles are a fairly common practice in the inspired English classroom, so my solution may be as simple as incorporating tried and true practices here. I’m not sure if the subtle twist of setting will factor in at all.

Discussion-Because Digital Writing Matters (Introduction)

I couldn't remember if we were supposed to do this on-line to, so I did just in case.

1. The first quote that made a lot of sense, was on page 2 in the introduction. It was talking about how students have a higher level of availability to Internet access. This doesn’t mean that learning will take place automatically. Students still need a mentor or guide that is prepared. I agree with this because there are many teachers that are opened to technology but there are still teachers that refuse to use it. It is our jobs as teachers to motivate students and relate their learning to real life experiences. This would be the use of computers. On page 10 it talks about an elementary teacher asking her students to join in on a word processing space. All the students put their input, which I thought was great. The part I didn’t agree with was pulling it up on a projector and asking students to point out student’s responses that were salient. I feel this might embarrass some of the students. I think that because I would have been one of those students. I think this would defiantly be a challenge that teachers need to really think about. Digital literacy is wonderful as long as we help students feel safe and comfortable using it.

2. The chapter I would be most interested in reading, would be chapter 2 because it talks about the writing process and how to write in a digital world. It will focus in on how teachers can use digital tools to help students and their writing.

Sofi Teston: The Question and Profile & Philosophy

Sofi Teston
N. Votteler
SHSU Writing Project
7 June 2011

The Teacher Exploration Workshop (The Question and Profile & Philosophy):

The Effect of Collaborative Technology on Writing

The Question:

How would the use of collaborative technology affect my students’ writing?

Philosophy & Profile:
This matters to me because I believe that an integral part of my students’ successes in writing stems from using collaboration throughout all phases of the writing process. By allowing them to bounce ideas off each other before they write, encouraging them to seek clarity for structure as they draft, encouraging them to experiment with peer suggestions during revision, insisting that they have others double-check their editing, and then allowing them time to share with one another once they are ready to publish, my students have repeatedly grown as writers, become more confident in their writing tasks, and yes, even excelled on the state-mandated TAKS tests. More importantly, they have learned that I am not the only source of writing knowledge- the value each other and themselves as writers and critics. I believe that my low socio-economic and ESL students have especially benefited from the opportunity to share with others. However, I want more for my students than I am currently providing. I want to move them beyond the comfort of their classroom peers and introduce them to another level of collaboration. I can’t help but wonder how they would be affected by the introduction of collaborative technology. If they are already successful within the small confines of my classroom walls, how might they excel given the limitless boundaries of the Internet? If their forty-three minutes of class time were expanded to after-school hours and weekends and the summer- any time that they could log on- how might my students grow even more as writers and critics? How might this encourage my non-college bound students to reconsider their career path and my college-bound students to prepare for the academic collaboration they will face when they graduate?

The implementation of collaborative technology in my 2A Title I rural school would present multiple challenges. First, not all of my students have equitable or even adequate access to technology. On the high end of the technology scale, I have a handful of students who own the latest Mac, Kindle, iPad or 4G iPhone. At the low end, are those without a computer and without a cell phone. Sadly, these latter students are often the ones who already struggle the most. As one of my students succinctly put it, “It’s just not fair. The kids with the toys (technology) just keep getting smarter and I keep getting dumber. I can’t afford to keep up with them.” In between I have a mixture of technology owners. In addition, our district's technology is limited to one computer lab that is shared between the sixth through twelfth grade classes; my classroom houses one laptop... mine. Given our latest cuts in educational finance, the outlook for additional technology is limited. Because our community is so small (our town sports a convenience store, two restaurants, two mechanic shops, and a drive-through dry cleaners, and a courthouse. No library. No WiFi hotspots. Not even a McDonald’s where students can log in), students can’t even use outside resources to access technology. Pack these limitations together with parents’ fears about the Internet, my administrations’ concerns about which sites to block and which to allow student access to, and the task seems almost impossible. Almost... If I’ve learned nothing else from my students over the past fifteen years of my teaching, nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. I hope my research will serve as the impetus to begin.