Question, Research, Experiment, and Write

I really wish I could have attended the first half of the conference but do to a Physics Lab I couldn’t get out of I was forced to attend the latter sessions.  However, I’m not complaining because this conference was by one of the most informative and eye opening experiences.  Not only did I gain useful knowledge from other teachers, but I have a new found appreciation for English educators.  In the beginning of this class I was determined to find a similarity between the scientific method and teaching English.  Looking back on that I realize two huge mistakes I made.  Firstly, English is an art form and to somehow sculpt that into a trial and error rule based scenario is impossible.  Secondly my idea was too broad.  As creative of an idea I imagined it to be, the scientific method cannot be used in English.  However, I did learn about other techniques I find incredibly interesting!

Zazzle.com

It was the second to last session I went to, but probably the most memorable of all the sessions.  Pen Campbell, a college writing instructor from St. Joseph High School, presented on multi-media in the classroom.  She started the presentation with a personal narrative done with a program called photostory 3.  This program allows you to download photos and to transition between the photo’s at a certain rate while narrating your story.  She also showed us different writing techniques incorporated into a digital story.  From personal narratives to poetry, everything becomes digital and exciting.  Campbell also commented the sense of ownership most students feel after completing a digital story of their own.  She claimed, “Most students are excited to try something new and once they are done they feel proud of their accomplishments.”  I realize a digital story takes a lot of time to create and can’t be used for every topic, however it can be used on occasion as a method of teaching and doing.

I have created my own digital story for an Education class I took at Grand Valley.  Here is an example I hope you enjoy:  My Story

Besides Joyce Campbell’s session I also went to two other sessions.  The first session focused in on problems teachers have in department meetings.  This session as interesting as it sounds wasn’t very beneficial for me.  It may become a little more beneficial as time progresses and I become a teacher and have those problems but I didn’t really understand what was going on.  However the last session I attended was by far a step by step instruction manual of this teacher’s typical day.  Anna O’Dell, a teacher from Olivet High School, gave us her entire itinerary for the year.  She broke weeks down into key concepts she wanted students to learn and by the end of the week a paper was due.  Although, I myself am very OCD and love organization, I didn’t fully agree with her strict schedule.  I took one glance at it and immediately thought to myself, ‘I hope the kids don’t struggle with any one writing technique because she won’t have time to recover it’.  I think it is very good to have an idea of what you want to do for the entire year but I also think leaving room for adjustments is necessary.

Overall I absolutely loved the MCTE conference and I would recommend it to any future English teacher because it really does help you understand your field better.  It was worth every bit of the fifty dollars!

What is the importance of writing a history paper or science paper or even better yet, a math paper?  Isn’t it the job of the English teacher to educate students on writing?  So why do all teachers need to implement writing now?  To put it plain and simple, writing matters.  Students are required to write an essay when applying to a college.  Potential employees are asked to fill out an application in which they describe themselves and their work ethic.  Even getting your license requires some basic knowledge of our written language.  A recent survey done by the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicates that only half of students in grades 4,8, and 12 can write adequate responses to informative, persuasive, and narrative writing tasks.  So why is it that we have identified the problem and yet still are trying to find means to address the problem?  Both Street and Stang write:

Research suggests that teachers‘ histories as writers greatly affect whether they feel confident enough to use writing with their students. Even though many teachers believe in the value of using writing for instructional purposes, they report significant challenges–namely, a lack of professional preparation and time.  – Chris Street, Kristin Stang

Therefore according to this study many teachers feel inadequate to teach writing.  Whether it be from bad writing experiences in the past or a lack of knowledge, writing is scary to them.  In all honesty I can’t agree more.  Even though I enjoy writing and expressing myself, there is nothing more terrifying than being judged on that piece of writing.  Whether I misused a comma, accidentally spelled a word wrong, or even worse being unable to clearly express my own ideas.  I become so wrapped up in failure before I even begin that I don’t even have motivation to start.  However, as a future educator that is something I quickly need to overcome.

Simon & Ken

www.ctd.net

Together, Street and Strang collaborated on an idea to create a graduate level course that solely addresses these problems.  They engulfed the curriculum in building writing confidence in future and current educators.  The class was designed for teachers to come together and collaborate on ideas, share their own writings and to encourage and reassure one another of their competence.  After students took a survey analyzing the class, most reported that it was beneficial.  If teachers and students alike can build their confidence then implementing WAC (writing across the curriculum) will be easy.  Therefore rather than identifying the problem Educator’s can now address the issue of illiteracy in America.

Sponsored Article:

Street, Chris & Kristin Strang.  Improving the Teaching of Writing Across the Curriculum: A Model forTeaching In-Service Secondary Teachers to Write.  SouthernIllinoisUniversity.edu, Oct. 18, 2008.

WAC otherwise known as, Writing Across the Curriculum, was established in the 80’s in response to the high illiteracy rate of students entering college.  Since then educator’s started implementing writing strategies into their curriculum, whether it was used for learning or as a discipline.  As Melissa Kelly states:

Fortunately, as teachers in various disciplines have added writing to their courses, they have discovered that writing assignments bring great benefits. Not only do they enhance students’ general writing ability, but they also increase both the understanding of content while learning the specific vocabulary of the disciplines. – Melissa Kelly

However, she goes on to state that non-English courses are reluctant to add writing assignments into their already swamped curriculum.  The main complaints of those teachers being:  There isn’t enough time to teach students how to write a paper, let alone grade the paper.

Photographer: Howard Schatz

VanityFair.com

As a result Kelly has offered some helpful tricks including:  Grading shortcuts, peer evaluation, and holistic grading, all of which cut down on grading time.  Then to further encourage the use of WAC Kelly provides helpful sites that re-introduce writing techniques, rules and skills that any fearful non-English teacher can use to refresh their memory.  Finally she concludes with assigning a paper, making sure to keep in mind the type of essay it will be and the goals you want your students to address and learn.

From Kelly’s article I have realized how challenging WAC can be.  Not only are teachers required to meet benchmarks and curriculum content areas but they are also in charge of grading, readdressing issues that are lacking in student’s education and now finding time to incorporate writing assignments into this.  However impossible it may seem I think with Kelly’s helpful hints any teacher that wants to implement writing can easily do so.  After All being a teacher is a never ending job.  Therefore it is important for any teacher to do the best they can and to never give up.  WAC is an amazing opportunity to prep students for college and careers, finding time however little it may be is beneficial for the student in the long run.

Sponsored Article

Kelly, Melissa.  Writing Across the Curriculum.  About.com:  Secondary Education.  Oct. 18, 2008