Digital Writing – Publishing

                Troy Hicks does such a great job of simplifying technology for the writing instructor in The Digital Writing Workshop.  I find I have to have a computer nearby when reading his book so that I can try some of his suggestions for myself.  First, I followed his step-by-step instructions for creating a portfolio on my blog.  As I will be turning in a portfolio at the end of the semester, this seemed to be a natural for trial and error.  I easily created a portfolio of my blogs, although my hyperlinks are not as fancy.  Since I am planning to use blogging assignments in my classroom, this could be an excellent tool for students to self-select and compile their most effective blogs for grading purposes.  In other words, daily or weekly blog assignments would be given a holistic or completion grade.  But, at the end of a grading period, students could compile two or three of their favorite pieces of writing for a more thorough assessment.  This follows many of the concepts we have discussed throughout this semester about self-assessment and topic selection.

                Exploring Hicks’ Ning (digitalwritingworkshop.ning.com) yielded more treasures!  I followed a link to a fellow educator’s wiki (http://eng315.wikispaces.com), where I discovered the discussion feature in wikispaces.  This is actually the feature I have been searching for – a combination of a blog and a wiki where students can post and also create content.  I am still seeking a free vehicle to create an e-zine for a digital writing workshop I am creating with two of my classmates.  So far, we have been able to envision blogging and wikis for our project but have not discovered the perfect vehicle for our final product.

                I also appreciate Hicks’ notes on safety and a closed community (p.100).  Internet safety and privacy is hopefully a conversation that is being reinforced at home – the dangers are myriad.  Digital writing in school gives teachers the opportunity not only to have the discussion about internet privacy but to show students exactly how to set up a blog or wiki and safeguard their privacy.  Teachers can demonstrate the difference between a public and private blog, and show students how content can differ between the two.

                Getting student’s writing “out there,” to a broader audience than just the immediate classroom will make them take assignments more seriously and hopefully produce more authentic writing.  On that note, I am currently looking for an outlet for a particular student’s poetry – she could really benefit from a true audience.  If anyone knows of some “legitimate” poetry contests or anthologies for middle and high school students I would love to hear about them.

Source:

Hicks, Troy. (2009). The Digital Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH:   Heinemann. Chapter 5.

Writing Assessment…Go Gently!

                Without a doubt, when I told friends I want to be a language arts teacher, the immediate reaction is “why would you want to grade all those papers?”  Of course, my answer is that I love language and I want to foster that love in a new generation.  But certainly, no teacher enjoys facing a stack of student essays.  It is stressful finding the correct balance of encouragement and genuine critical feedback.  And once you know the students, it’s even harder.  Since you know that Susie doesn’t speak English at home do you grade her paper differently than Johnny, whose mother is a teacher?  I believe Kirby, Kirby and Liner have given some excellent suggestions to avoid these pitfalls.

                I believe the best approach may be multi-pronged.  Some assignments, especially formative, should simply be graded on effort or completion.  Analytic scales, such as the Dietrich scale outlined by Kirby, Kirby & Liner on pp. 227-229, are helpful because they outline EXACTLY what is expected of the student.  I also embrace the Impression Marking idea delineated on p. 222.  Sorting work comparatively with their peers’ seems a fair way to assess a student.  It is difficult to take our adult judgment out of grading student work, but the sorting of student work into four piles and then commenting on each would remove some of that judgment.

                Clearly setting expectations for each assignment is extremely important.  I personally appreciate an instructor who gives detailed expectations for assignments.  It serves as a “checklist” as I complete an assignment. But what of creativity?  If expectations are too detailed, students will only give us what we want to hear – never stepping out of the box.  This is a fine line that I think is addressed by Kirby, Kirby & Liner’s “Checkpoints.”  The checkpoints give expectations but they are not so detailed that a student cannot use their creativity.  Troy Hicks also addresses this issue with “traits of effective and ineffective writers” (p. 110-112).  He clearly outlines questions a writer should ask himself in order to be effective, but there is plenty of room for choice.

                As an aspiring teacher, I want to present writing assessments that are fair but challenging.  I would like to use grades constructively, not as a way to penalize students.  And I want students to try out new media, like those on the web.  Perhaps the operative word is GENTLY…

Hicks, T. (2009).  Digital writing workshop.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

The End of the Literary Analysis Essay? Say it isn’t so!!

                OK, I admit it – I was skeptical at the beginning of Kirby, Kirby & Liner’s chapter on writing about literature.  After all, I was an English major – literary analysis essays were the reason for my existence!  But Kirby, Kirby & Liner said to leave the critical analysis to “Advanced Placement classes – and later for graduate seminars.” (p. 178)  Teaching students to find the hidden meanings and themes in literature and writing about them effectively seemed to me to be the highest goal of the literature class.  However, after reading some of the WONDERFUL literature writing ideas, I was intrigued!  I wanted to try some of them myself.

                The Author Letter, as outlined on p. 179, is very effective because it teaches several skills.  At some point or another, even in this digital age, students will need to write a business letter.  The correct format is the first impression for the reader – it separates the men from the boys, so to speak.  Teaching students to write a good business letter gives them a very practical life skill.  But this lesson is also a good exercise in audience – a REAL audience.  Since the letter is to be sent to the actual author, it also follows that the writing will have to be thoughtful, not simply an assignment to be turned in.

                I was also interested in “Imitation in Kind (Vignettes).” (p. 180)  I would like to suggest the addition of Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to the list of authors to study.  Students could have a great time exploring stream of consciousness, while also discovering how difficult it is to tell a story in this manner.  Likewise, “Shifting Points of View” (p. 185) helps explore a work of literature, by illustrating how a simple change of viewpoint will change the way a story is told, or even the story itself.

                I am a visual learner, but I am concerned about using too many non-writing responses to literature.  Writing is still about manipulating language.  I can support using writing as PART of a writing assignment (perhaps as part of a multi-genre writing piece), but would have a difficult time accepting this as the full assignment.  I would like to see some writing in addition to the visuals.

                I still believe there is a role for the literary analysis essay but seriously, how much practice does a student need?  Developing the relationship between literature and writing, thereby strengthening both skills, is vastly more important.

                Meanwhile, this chapter has inspired me to think about writing some of my family’s tall tales (p. 182).  My favorite involves a distant relative, named Punkin, and a gun…stay tuned!

Resources:

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Poetry and Essay Writing in the 21st Century

                I am NOT a poet.  I love to write prose, but except for silly rhymes for my children’s birthdays or off-the-cuff raps to annoy my husband, poetry is not my most comfortable medium.  I do, however, enjoy analyzing the poetry of others.  They are like little word puzzles – what is the poet trying to tell me?  How does the poem make me feel?  I believe if we approach teaching poetry in this way, poetry doesn’t seem so intimidating.

                I agree with Kirby, Kirby & Liner that “understanding poetry follows most naturally from fooling around with poetry.” (p. 151) Music is a great resource for teaching poetry.  The better rap songs (minus the foul language!) are great anger poems.  They are really the poetry of this generation and deserve our attention.  Rap is also something students can easily understand.  Writing a rap or the lyrics for a song is a good start to get students writing poetry.  My favorite activities from Kirby, Kirby & Liner are the I Remember poems and the class poem.  A class poem could be a great starting point to get students interested in writing their own poetry.

                I spent some time this weekend visiting some of the websites Webb discussed in his article Literature and the web: Reading and responding with new technologies.  They are a wonderful resource for students!  I find it interesting that schools still teach the exact same poems that were taught to me as a student.  Clearly, some are so significant that they merit inclusion in any literature course.  But there is a serious lack of focus on contemporary poetry – or really anything from the last 50 years.  For students, it appears that poetry is something old fogies did back in ancient times – not a vibrant and living art.  I intend to use some of these sites with my students as a way to explore what is happening right now in poetry.

                In Kirby, Kirby & Liner’s chapter on essay writing, I particularly related to the section on blast pieces.  Teaching students to give themselves a timed deadline, sit down without distractions, and BLAST “through their inertia and fear to a rough first draft” is a tool they can use throughout their schooling and beyond. (p. 201)  In fact, it is a tool I use myself every time I sit down to write.  Each student writer is unique – the trick is to introduce them to many different techniques so that they can discover which works best for them.

Sources:

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 

Rozema, R., & Webb, A. (2008). Literature and the web: Reading and responding with new technologies. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Reading Response #6 – Podcasting and Grammar

                “Proof Revising” with Podcasting by Anne Davis and Ewa McGrail has given me several new ideas.  I have always encouraged my students to read their writing aloud and to focus on “snags” – spots where they stumble over the words.  This often helps weed out the blatantly awkward phrases.  Using podcasts as a tool would, I believe, be even more effective and help students train their own ear over time.  I did wonder, however, if instead of opening two windows for the revision task, it would easier to simply have a paper copy of the text while listening to the podcast.  Then the students could make quick notes as they listened – or even simply question marks in unclear spots.

                In Narratives about Teaching Language and Grammar, I enjoyed the comparison of grammatical elements with a painter’s brushstroke. As a visual learner myself, I would have benefitted from such an illustration.  Examining an impressionist’s work, for example, to see how minute, seemingly incongruent brush strokes work together to form a beautiful whole – that is an idea about grammar I can understand. 

                I was also interested in the concept of “English Teacher as Grammar Experts vs. English Teachers as Experts in Communication” (Narratives…).  Isn’t one of the most important goals of a language arts curriculum to foster good communication skills?  Writing, after all, is simply communication – whether it is instructions for working the coffee pot or poetry that communicates complicated emotions.  Good writing can even translate into good verbal communication.  Exercises with “dialect shift” will help students comprehend that we use different aspects of language with different audiences.

                I still struggle a bit with the “appropriate” balance of grammar and language.  I do NOT like grammar in isolation, but it is still essential to know how to construct interesting, grammatically correct sentences.  As an avid reader, writing came fairly easily for me.  I tend to FEEL whether a sentence is grammatically correct rather than checking the rules.  But if some of my students are English language learners, they will not be able to FEEL their way through a writing piece – they must have a framework of rules.  There are still some grammar mistakes that are very telling as adults (and personal pet peeves):  the misuse of their/there or using an adjective in place of an adverb, for example.  I believe DOL exercises, as mentioned in Narratives… are very appropriate, but must we do more?  Must we haul out the grammar exercise book?  I hope not…

Sources:

Alsup, Janet and Bush, Jonathon. (2003).  But Will it Work with Real Students?  Scenarios for Teaching Secondary English Language Arts. National Council of Teachers of English, Illinois.  Chapter 3.

Davis, Anne and McGrail, Ewa. (2009). “Proof-Revising” with Podcasting:  Keeping Readers in Mind as Students Listen to and Rethink Their Writing. The Reading Teacher, 62 (6). Pp. 522-529.

Reading Response #5 – Multimedia, Wikis and Copyright – Oh what a tangled web!

Wiki’s, blogs, RSS Feeds…my head is spinning!  However, I am now the proud owner (ok, not exactly OWNER) of all three.  Before I can try out any of this new technology on my students, I must experiment with it a little myself.  I am grateful that this class provided me with the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.

                In Digital Writing Workshop Chapter 4, Hicks discusses the author’s craft in multimedia composition.  So often when we are working on multimedia composition, the images, effects and sounds are an afterthought – window dressing.  Teaching students to integrate all of the elements in a composition and to consider images, sound, etc. as a key part of the whole is something I had not considered as a language arts teacher. 

As Hicks stated, teachers need to use multimedia “as alternative or supplemental ways of meeting the goals that have been long set in the writing curriculum.” (p.59)  The idea of creating a book talk as a podcast allows students to analyze literature in a new and exciting way.  The PSA is a wonderful alternative to the persuasive essay.  The ideas in this chapter are an excellent way to step away from traditional pen and paper projects, but still stay within the confines of the curriculum.

The copyright issues raised by Drs. McGrail should motivate every teacher to fight for change.  All of the conversations we have had thus far emphasize finding broader and broader audiences for students’ work.  In addition, the digital tools I mentioned earlier like Wikis and blogs are excellent teaching tools, but as educators we must be aware of copyright infringement issues.  It raises the question, how do we teach these new technologies, incorporating images and music, and not violate copyright laws?  As I understand it, as long as the work is meant to stay in the classroom or school, it follows the fair use guidelines.  If we are encouraging students to find “real” audiences for their work, it is a tricky tightrope walk.

In developing a digital magazine writing workshop, I am attempting to incorporate wikis into my digital tool arsenal.  Troy Hicks’s wiki lesson in Appendix 1 of Digital Writing Workshop is an excellent introduction to wikis.  Spending a day or two working with students on which resources they can use on a wiki and which they cannot is a lesson they can take with them into college and beyond.  As I practice with the wiki developed for my group, these are issues I need to keep in mind.

Resources: 

Hicks, Troy. (2009). The Digital Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH:   Heinemann. Chapter4 & Appendix 1

McGrail, J. and McGrail, E.  What’s Wrong with Copyright:  Educator Strategies for Dealing with Analog Copyright Law in a Digital World. Innovate 5 (3).  http://www.innovateone.info/index.php?view=article&id=630

Reading Response #4 – Voice and Audience

Voice is such a crucial element in writing, but one that is often ignored in writing instruction, which favors expository writing.  But voice is important even in expository writing – in how a writer presents an argument, whether he or she is concise or verbose, or simply how the writer “sounds” on the page.  I agree with Kirby, Kirby & Liner that voice must be developed – a beginning writer must “hear clearly the flow of language through her head and capture it on the page.” 

Audience is so closely related to voice, one might call it voice’s life partner.  To whom is one speaking, after all?  It is important to illustrate to students how voice modulates according to audience.  I go back to an exercise I referred to in an earlier post (especially for gross middle schoolers) of vomit in the school hall.  Explaining the incident to three different people (audiences) -a best friend, a stranger and the school principal – the voice remains the student’s, but it is modulated to fit the audience.

I believe some of the activities in chapter 6 could be problematic, especially for middle school students.  As Inside Out noted, in order to develop voice, writing needs to be shared OUT LOUD.  Middle school students are socially awkward by nature, and can be cruel to each other.  The Mad Talking activity, in which students write about someone or something that makes them very angry, thinly veiled jabs at fellow students could be very hurtful when shared allowed.    I also think the collecting dialogue exercise could be dangerous, as middle schoolers are still struggling with social appropriateness.  I did, however, like the idea of getting into another speaker and writing about a situation from two different perspectives.  This is a safe enough place for grades 6-8 to explore their voice.

I embrace the ideas espoused by Kirby, Kirby & Liner about exposing students to many different audiences for their work.  I especially enjoyed the idea of writing for a younger audience – perhaps adopting a partner class at a local elementary school.  I also would like to develop anonymous peer partners in other classes.   Students might be more apt to give honest feedback if is anonymous.  Has anyone else ever tried something like this?  I also loved the idea of drafting an appeal to their parents – this is an activity I think all of the students can get excited about!

Has anyone tried an activity they find especially effective in developing voice?  If so, I’d love to hear about it.

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Reading Response #3 – Journals and Blogs

I find myself already incorporating some of Kirby, Kirby & Liner’s suggestions as I jot notes while reading.   My usual writing process is to let the ideas stew in my mind for a few days, rehearsing sentences in my head.  Jotting can be an effective tool, but I still prefer rehearsing in my head!  This proves the idea that there is no single process that works for every student.

                I am very interested in using the journal as a writing tool in my classroom, and would enjoy hearing what has worked (and what hasn’t!) for other instructors.  For me, the tool that seemed the most useful is the Class Journal.   I teach middle school, and I see the journal as an easy way to incorporate writing several times a week into the classroom.  I particularly liked the “Quickies” noted on page 49.  I embrace the concept of choice in writing, but believe middle schoolers often need a place to start, like “tell about your favorite song.” (p. 50)  I would also try to incorporate true freewriting on a weekly basis.  Have any other instructors had success with these types of assignments?  

Middle school teachers need to create a framework upon which high school teachers can build.  The function of a journal in the middle grades I believe will be to encourage the students’ voice and comfort in the medium of writing.  Journaling can then hopefully evolve into a research tool, etc. in high school, as outlined in Inside Out, chapter 5.

One of the issues mentioned in Inside Out is assessment of journals.  One idea I had was to give a semester-long journal “grade.”  I could then draw 3-5 students’ names per week per class to review their journals.  The random drawing will hopefully keep the students honest, and eventually every student’s writing will be evaluated.  Ideally, I could  read every student’s journal every week, but the reality is that there are simply not enough hours in the day.

In my “jottings” I initially envisioned a separate journal for literature/reading response, but after reading chapter 2 in The Digital Writing Workshop, blogging seems like the natural medium for this activity.  Again, as a middle school teacher, the idea of blogging as an assignment will probably be quite new to my students.  A more structured framework than the one outlined at the end of chapter 2 will probably be necessary – at least in the beginning.  I can envision a weekly assignment of posting a reading response (much as we are doing for this class), and responding to a classmate’s post.  In my school, I have found that just about every student has access to a computer at home.  Has anyone used blogging in this way?  I’d also like to hear about other uses for blogging – I am excited about pursuing this new literacy!

Sources:

Hicks, Troy. (2009). The Digital Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH:   Heinemann. Chapter 2

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.  Chapters 4&5

Reading Response #2 – Multicultural Challenges and the Role of Grammar

I find I have a great deal to say about this week’s readings.   I believe these readings illustrate perfectly the tension between concepts of using personal writing as a way to easily engage beginning writers and the difficulty of applying these concepts to all students.   As mentioned in Embracing a Multicultural Rhetoric (Lisle & Mano, 1997), “assuming that expressive and personal writing is natural reflects a peculiarly American emphasis on individualism as the basis of identity.”  How, therefore, in a diverse classroom, does one use the strategies suggested in chapter 4 of Inside Out (Kirby, Kirby & Liner, 2004).  These strategies rely heavily on personal writing.  Perhaps using a generous mix of personal and observational writing, such as “walking composition,” (Inside Out, p. 39) and responses to music would be effective.

There seems to be teacher anxiety about embracing multiculturalism.  In Multicultural Teaching Concerns:  New Dimensions in the Area of Teacher Concerns Research? (Marshall, 1996), a study created to pulse teacher’s concerns, the idea of multiculturalism has been widely embraced, but implementing it into the curriculum has been slower to evolve.  Multiculturalism has often resulted in a token nod to cultural diversity (Lisle & Mano, p.13).

I was thrilled to read Narratives about Teaching Language and Grammar (Alsup & Bush, 2003).  It reflected many of my long-held beliefs about teaching grammar.  I have always found assignments based on identifying which type of prepositional phrase or whether a verb is past or past participle ridiculous!  Who cares if the student knows what the grammatical concept is called, as long as they use it correctly!  I would much rather spend time on engaging writing assignments or responding to literature than grammar worksheets, and I think the students would agree. 

However, I do maintain that students must have a strong knowledge of Standard English.  As students grow academically and move on (hopefully!) to a collegiate setting, it is essential that they understand how to create a cohesive, grammatically correct document.  As adults, most of the writing required (which varies from a sales report, to an e-mail to a child’s teacher, to a resume) will be judged according to this standard.  As suggested in Narratives…, this CAN and SHOULD be accomplished within an overall writing and reading curriculum as opposed to a separate grammar unit (which the students hate anyway!).

The concept of “dialect shift” mentioned in Narratives… (p. 88) is an important concept to teach.  Students do not realize that they shift their dialect on a daily basis.  I would propose a quick writing assignment in which students tell an event that happened at school to 4 different people, and write it as a dialogue.  Because middle schoolers love gross things, I might use “finding vomit in the school hall.”  The student would have to write a dialogue with each of the following, telling the story:  1) parent, 2) kid from math class (you’re not sure of their name), 3) school principal and 4) best friend.  The goal would be to elicit authentic writing and “voice” from each interaction, while also illustrating how the student interacts, based on the audience.

Sources:

Alsup, J., & Bush, J. (2003). But will it Work with real students?. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of      Teachers of English. Chapter 3, Narratives about Teaching Language and Grammar

Severino, C., Guerra, J., & Butler, J. (1997). Writing in multicultural settings. New York, NY: The Modern Language Association of America.

Marshall, P. (1996). Multicultural teaching concerns: new dimensions in the area of teacher concerns research?. The Journal of Educational Research, 89(6), 371-379.

Kirby, D., Kirby, D., & Liner, T. (2004). Inside out: strategies for teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.  Chapters 3&4

Reading Response – Inside Out, ch. 2&9, Digital Writing, ch. 1

                In the book Inside Out:  Strategies for Teaching Writing (Kirby, Kirby & Liner, 2004), the authors discuss the “painful pleasure” of beginning a writing project.  Writing as a process…embrace the process…  I believe I took a few of these lessons to heart as I pen this first blog entry.  Just as with many of my students, the most difficult thing is to begin.  Once the first few sentences are on paper, the rest seems to flow easily.  Which poses the question:   if it is so difficult for me to begin (and I enjoy writing), how much more difficult is it for nascent writers?  And even now, I am focusing so carefully on what is expected of me in this piece, I am questioning every assertion.   So too must students of writing be agonizing over what the teacher “wants” from an assignment.  My goal as a teacher is to turn away from the “lockstep, iron-clad procedures” (p. 14) that the authors discuss so that my students’ work is not simply a reflection of what they think I want to hear.

                In chapter 2, Kirby, Kirby and Liner propose a loose framework within which to begin teaching the writing process, which begins with students jotting down ideas based on memories.  This seems to be a very “safe” way to start – it is certainly simpler to add details to a memory.  I also liked the collaborative nature of their steps.  It is much easier to write with feedback.  In fact, I intend to share this blog entry with several of my family members for feedback before I post!

                A note on chapter 1 of The Digital Writing Workshop (Hicks, 2009):   one of the problems I have encountered with digital writing is the amount of class time required on the computer.  Even in a well-funded school, computer lab time is at a premium.  If students do not finish the project in class, it is difficult to ensure that each student has access to a computer at home (or before school, etc.), and that the home computers will have compatible software.  A digital writing project at my school turned into a nightmare, with students scrambling to complete it before and after school.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

                Writing is a journey.  It has been challenging to begin this piece, but I believe this is a solid first step in my journey to become a better teacher of writing.  Here’s hoping that empathy with my student’s struggles will be a good jumping off point!