Dear Sara:
I finally finished the next class readings. WOW, McCarthy sure can go on and on in her A STRANGER IN STRANGE LANDS paper. I don't know about you but I found it difficult to read and way too long. However, I did enjoy her metaphor of a newcomer in a foreign country as a way of explaining how Dave felt in his new academic territories (126). There are times that I too felt like a "stranger in strange lands" when I attended some courses in college. McCarthy also refers to writing, like speaking, as a social activity. I agree with this - my students are always texting, which, I guess you could say, is a form of writing. It is just not the writing I want them to do. Oh, and how did you like the section on Observation and Interviews (130)?? Did it bring back the painful undergraduate days when you had to sit in classes and observe students for your field work credit? One last thing with regard to McCarthy. She mentioned there was little talk among students about poetry. I found this odd because poetry is the one subject I believe there should be much discussion about. There are so many different ways to interpret poetry that I think the professor should have welcomed any and all discussions and not just his interpretation (148). Sara, what are your thoughts on poetry discussion?
Ok, now let's talk about Bean's ENGAGING IDEAS and his chapter on grammar - now, unfortunately, my worst nightmare with my Freshmen. I agree with him that teaching sentence correctness is a "slow and difficult process" (54) and I continually reinforce sentence correctness every day in my classes with the Do Now. Until this year, I truly believed grammar was covered in middle school - but, apparently, not the case. I am not blaming anyone just going back in time when I and, also, my children were taught grammar and sentence structure in grammar school. On page 57, Bean refers to traditional "8th grade grammar" and that is what I remember (even before 8th grade I was taught grammar). This traditional grammar "analyzes language into eight parts of speech, ...sentences as subjects, verbs, objects, complements, modifiers, and so forth". This is exactly what I am attempting to teach my wonderful Freshman! However, they do not seem to be getting it which means I will be teaching it again and again for however long it takes!
One more thing before I sign off. On page 69, Bean does suggest that you should hold students responsible for finding and fixing their own errors. I did just that this week when I returned their test. Unfortunately, the majority of them failed and, in order for them to receive a passing grade of 65, they were to correct their own test. Some of them took me up on my offer and that 20 or 40 was raised to 65. Others did not and I guess they will wake up (or maybe not) when report cards are given out the end of this month.
Ok, that's about all for now. I have to run - the next 2 weeks will be very hectic - end of marking period and I have to make sure I have enough grades for my students, inform parents of possible failings and start to compute my grades for approximately 150 students. Have a great weekend. I will try to do some work on our theoristcard but I can't promise.
Take care,
Ann
REFLECTION ON LETTER BLOGS
I have mixed feelings about this exercise. While it was nice to discuss via letters the assigned readings and to share the parts we liked, disliked and any problems we may have had with the different theorists, I did not like the fact that we had to wait for someone else before we could complete the assignments. I can only speak for myself and say that I have many things to juggle in my life and I try to complete my assignments whenever I have any free time. I never know when a "curve ball" will be thrown into my life, thereby, forcing me to rearrange my entire schedule. Fortunately, for me (and I hope I returned the favor), my partner was quick to respond so that I had ample time to complete my assignment without having to stay up into the wee hours or stressing out waiting for her to send me her letter.
I introduced this exercise to both my Freshmen and Sophomore classes. I wrote them a letter regarding what I was trying to teach them in class. The Freshmen letter dealt with the grammar and sentence structure (I thought by modeling the correct grammar and sentence structure it would help) while the Sophomore letter discussed the main characters in the book we are currently reading in class. Their responses are due this coming week and depending on that outcome, I may use this letter writing for my Proof and Practice assignment.
How would I assess this assignment? While I am doing a trial run in my classes, I do not believe it is a good assignment at the Master's level. We are all adults with full and, sometimes, complicated lives. I do not think it is fair or right to have us wait for someone else in order to complete the weekly assignments. Again, I speak only for myself and I am not critizing anyone - I was asked for an assessment - I did not care for this assignment.
Ok, Sara, that is about all
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Blog #5- Response to Sara's Letter
Dear Sara,
How are you? Hope you are enjoying some of your time off? I do not know about you but I myself am having a difficult time keeping up with my job related work, school related work and life in general. Oh well, enough complaining, let's get down to my response to you.
I must agree with you that I was not too happy with the Mike Rose article either. Not sure I will attempt to read his book "Lives on the Boundary" as you recommended -this article turned me off to him. Just like you, I always believed that writing well was a skill one acquires with practice using the knowledge one learns. I am glad he renamed it to an "ability" because in order to be obtain a skill you have to be able to do it.
You are so right that I had a problem that Rose thinks "teaching writing is simply teaching how to refine what we should already know how to do". My freshmen are having an extremely difficult time writing anything. I had to start from scratch teaching them the basics such as what is a sentence, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, punction, etc. I even had to go over capitalization - like the first letter of a sentence should be capitalized. I used to believe that teaching was in a way refining what you should know. But, like Bean states "students have such a wide range of backgrounds, aptitudes and academic preparation" (38) that you, as a teacher, cannot assume that they know anything about writing. You have to go in there believing that they know nothing and go from there. In my case, my Freshmen know nothing and I am teaching what should have been taught in middle school or earlier.
I enjoyed Bean; for some reason, I can read it and understand it without any difficulty. However, I did not see any examples of how to effectively lead students out of their comfort zone. I know only too well that every assignment does not appeal to every student and not all students are capable of doing every assignment well. That is why I incorporate creative projects in my classes so that those who are not academically inclined can succeed and feel good about themselves.
Sara, I have been thinking about our TheoristCard - Williams says "don't be a wimp". We will have to remember that. Also, I have been looking for a symbol or picture to use on the front of the card. I will keep you posted.
Take care,
Ann
How are you? Hope you are enjoying some of your time off? I do not know about you but I myself am having a difficult time keeping up with my job related work, school related work and life in general. Oh well, enough complaining, let's get down to my response to you.
I must agree with you that I was not too happy with the Mike Rose article either. Not sure I will attempt to read his book "Lives on the Boundary" as you recommended -this article turned me off to him. Just like you, I always believed that writing well was a skill one acquires with practice using the knowledge one learns. I am glad he renamed it to an "ability" because in order to be obtain a skill you have to be able to do it.
You are so right that I had a problem that Rose thinks "teaching writing is simply teaching how to refine what we should already know how to do". My freshmen are having an extremely difficult time writing anything. I had to start from scratch teaching them the basics such as what is a sentence, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, punction, etc. I even had to go over capitalization - like the first letter of a sentence should be capitalized. I used to believe that teaching was in a way refining what you should know. But, like Bean states "students have such a wide range of backgrounds, aptitudes and academic preparation" (38) that you, as a teacher, cannot assume that they know anything about writing. You have to go in there believing that they know nothing and go from there. In my case, my Freshmen know nothing and I am teaching what should have been taught in middle school or earlier.
I enjoyed Bean; for some reason, I can read it and understand it without any difficulty. However, I did not see any examples of how to effectively lead students out of their comfort zone. I know only too well that every assignment does not appeal to every student and not all students are capable of doing every assignment well. That is why I incorporate creative projects in my classes so that those who are not academically inclined can succeed and feel good about themselves.
Sara, I have been thinking about our TheoristCard - Williams says "don't be a wimp". We will have to remember that. Also, I have been looking for a symbol or picture to use on the front of the card. I will keep you posted.
Take care,
Ann
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Letter to my classmate, Sara (Blogs #4 & 5)
Dear Sara,
Hi, how are you? Did you enjoy the night off from school this week? I hope you got a chance to catch up on all your school work and still had a little time for yourself for some sort of fun.
I finally completed all the readings that were due and was wondering what your thoughts were about Fulwiler (WRITING TO LEARN) and his teaching method of writing letters back and forth to his (I think he is a "he") students in the form of weekly letters (15). While it sounds like a great idea and would definitely encourage rewriting and create a unique relationship with students, I have a problem with this letter writing because, as a teacher at New Dorp, I just have too many students. Also, I need to concentrate on essay writing so that my students are prepared for the English Regents. What do you think? Can you recommend a way to incorporate this kind of low stakes writing into an English class? While we are on the subject of letters, Fulwiler mentions that public school "students saturate their classrooms with unassigned letters called notes" (17). Have you ever read some of those notes that are saturated in a classroom? Let me tell ya, they are not notes that I want to read on a steady basis! Have you had similiar experiences?
What did you think about Bean's ENGAGING IDEAS? I find a few things of interest like evoking the students' natural curiosity and stimulating both learning and critical thought (2). However, do you really believe we evoke the students' natural curiosity and stimulate their thoughts in our classes? I think students are curious but these days, we tend to spoon feed our students by giving them the answers. Do you agree/disagree?
When I was reading Williams' NON-DESIGNER'S DESIGN BOOK, I thought about our theoristcard. I really like the way she creates consistency by using a strong display of repetition, linking all the pieces together with a similar shape, logo, etc. (54). Maybe we should attempt to do that for our presentation? I will start thinking about it and we can discuss later in an email or maybe in class. OK?
By the way, did you have a difficult time reading Britton's SPECTOR ROLE AND THE BEGINNINGS OF WRITING? This one was a tough one for me. Not only did my printer produce a "bad" copy, it seemed like he went on and on. Were you aware that there are two types of reading processes? I had no idea! Of course, I am referring to efferent reading and aesthetic reading. Do you as a reader use those two processes(153)? Maybe, we can discuss this too.
Oh, well, Sara, I have to sign off now. I have to figure out my lesson plans for tomorrow's classes. I do not know if I told you but, Tuesday, they changed my program again. I have Freshmen, double periods - reading and writing component and of course, the "powers that be" thought it would be nice if the entire Freshmen class taught the same novel. Not a bad idea but, unfortunately, I have never completely read the book of choice which is HEROES, GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE GREEK MYTHS. Write back when you get a chance. See you Tuesday.
Ann
Hi, how are you? Did you enjoy the night off from school this week? I hope you got a chance to catch up on all your school work and still had a little time for yourself for some sort of fun.
I finally completed all the readings that were due and was wondering what your thoughts were about Fulwiler (WRITING TO LEARN) and his teaching method of writing letters back and forth to his (I think he is a "he") students in the form of weekly letters (15). While it sounds like a great idea and would definitely encourage rewriting and create a unique relationship with students, I have a problem with this letter writing because, as a teacher at New Dorp, I just have too many students. Also, I need to concentrate on essay writing so that my students are prepared for the English Regents. What do you think? Can you recommend a way to incorporate this kind of low stakes writing into an English class? While we are on the subject of letters, Fulwiler mentions that public school "students saturate their classrooms with unassigned letters called notes" (17). Have you ever read some of those notes that are saturated in a classroom? Let me tell ya, they are not notes that I want to read on a steady basis! Have you had similiar experiences?
What did you think about Bean's ENGAGING IDEAS? I find a few things of interest like evoking the students' natural curiosity and stimulating both learning and critical thought (2). However, do you really believe we evoke the students' natural curiosity and stimulate their thoughts in our classes? I think students are curious but these days, we tend to spoon feed our students by giving them the answers. Do you agree/disagree?
When I was reading Williams' NON-DESIGNER'S DESIGN BOOK, I thought about our theoristcard. I really like the way she creates consistency by using a strong display of repetition, linking all the pieces together with a similar shape, logo, etc. (54). Maybe we should attempt to do that for our presentation? I will start thinking about it and we can discuss later in an email or maybe in class. OK?
By the way, did you have a difficult time reading Britton's SPECTOR ROLE AND THE BEGINNINGS OF WRITING? This one was a tough one for me. Not only did my printer produce a "bad" copy, it seemed like he went on and on. Were you aware that there are two types of reading processes? I had no idea! Of course, I am referring to efferent reading and aesthetic reading. Do you as a reader use those two processes(153)? Maybe, we can discuss this too.
Oh, well, Sara, I have to sign off now. I have to figure out my lesson plans for tomorrow's classes. I do not know if I told you but, Tuesday, they changed my program again. I have Freshmen, double periods - reading and writing component and of course, the "powers that be" thought it would be nice if the entire Freshmen class taught the same novel. Not a bad idea but, unfortunately, I have never completely read the book of choice which is HEROES, GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE GREEK MYTHS. Write back when you get a chance. See you Tuesday.
Ann
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