TEACH WRITING as a PROCESS NOT PRODUCT
Murray: "To be a teacher of a process such as this takes qualities too few of us have, but which most of us can develop. We have to be quiet, to listen, to respond. We are not the initiator or the motivator; we are the reader, the recipient" (5).
Sloven: Murray has a very excellent point. After we explain to our students what we except of them and teach them the tools they need to write, we should take a step back and allow our students to experiment in order to discover their own writing technique. Our role should become one of a facilitator, gently guiding our students to their full potential.
WRITING TO LEARN: STRATEGIES FOR ASSIGNING and RESPONDING to
WRITING ACROSS the DISCIPLINES
Elbow: "Low stakes writing gives us a better view of how students are understanding the course material and reacting to our teaching. We get a better sense of how their minds work" (8).
Sloven: I do this in my classes but until now was not aware there was a name for it (low stakes writing). At the end of each class, the students answer the lesson's AIM on index cards - the answers do not have to be in complete sentences; it is very informal and this process gives me a sense of who "got" the lesson and who did not.
THE NON-DESIGNER'S DESIGN BOOK
Williams: "I took a walk around the block, and there must have been a sale at the nursery when everyone was landscaping their homes--at least 80 percent of the homes had Joshua trees in the front yards. And I had never seen one before! Once I was conscious of the tree--once I could name it--I saw it everywhere.
Sloven: That is so true. I remember when I first bought my Nissan Sentra. I never paid attention to the car before but after I had one, they were all over the road and the only reason I was conscious of that car was because I owned one. Also, several of my students told me they were watching an episode of THE SIMPSONS. Although they had seen it several times before, they were not aware that it was loosely based on A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE which we were currently reading in class. They knew the story, some of the dialogue and were able to make the connection.
First, I really enjoyed the parallel between your discovery of "low-stakes" and Williams' "Joshua Tree." I know it's a blog but that juxtaposition was great.
ReplyDeleteI understand how the index cards work but I want to know more about when you write about journaling. You type, "The writing is very informal and I believe it is important for the students to have the freedom of this private writing." Have you noticed that this really does help students perform better?
Yes, I do Paul - I believe that students should feel comfortable in the classroom and this helps them achieve that comfort level.
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