As I was reading through Noden's text, I must admit I was a little apprehensive about his ideas of imitating without plagiarizing. After reading and a lot of thinking, I believe that Noden's idea would be a great way to approach writing for students who do not like to write or have a hard time with coming up with creative ideas at the beginning of the writing process. My favorite approach that Noden discussed was the Pooh Perplex Approach. I really enjoyed reading the examples he put in the book such as "The Old Man and The Seal and The Old Man and The PC. "It creates a parody of a serious piece of writing." I think this would be a great (and creative) way to test students at the end of a novel. We (as future teachers) could give the students the option of taking a test on the novel or writing a short parody of the story (maybe 5 pages in length) and presenting it to the class. Personally, I would chose the story! :)
I really liked the strategies section of the text also. We already read about the Writer's Notebook, but I am pleased to see Noden also recognized this as a wonderful resource for students. I really liked his idea of painting from a family photograph. This could be an exercise to be used in class as a writing prompt for journal writing. Create your Own Edgar Allen Humpty is another awesome writing prompt for students. These could all be used in a creative writing course! (I am getting so many great ideas! Yay!) I am going to be bringing up some of these ideas next time I am in my 7th grade classroom.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Playground = Writer's Notebook
I loved Anderson's concept of writing in a journal or notebook very often in a classroom. I was always so jealous in high school when I saw teacher's using this method to instruct writing workshops, because I never had a teacher who ran their classroom using this way of teaching. Anderson began his section by saying, "...I know how most students see these corrections: as X's over their souls, their desires, their thoughts." This really got me, because I can not imagine why any teacher could have the heart to tear apart a piece of work that a student constructed. It amazes me that this is still happening everyday in classrooms. I can not imagine telling a student that his/her work is awful and redirecting them how to write! I remember my first year of college, I had a professor that was so rude (at my previous college --- not Ship!), and I asked him to look over my paper for me while editing in class one day. He read the first page of my paper and tore it up in front of the class and said it was awful and I completely missed the point of the book. I was mortified and that day I decided I was not going to be an Engish Major, because of what a teacher told me about my writing. After serious thinking, I obviously did not change me major, but that day will always stick with me. He did me a great favor actually, because I knew what kind of teacher not to be.
But getting back to the Anderson's text, he had some wonderful ideas about how to get students to ease into the writing process. He stated that at the beginning of the year, he would begin class by reading students a passage out of a novel, magazine, ect and then allow them to think about it and begin writing. If some students were hesistant about writing still, he would nudge them along by suggesting a topic to begin writing about. Sooner or later, each student would begin to write and share their work out of their journals. He would then build up the students by pointing out the positives of their work. I just really liked this idea and look forward to possibly applying this to my classroom someday!
Anderson also talks about establishing a checklist for students, so they can begin to recongize their mistakes. Teachers' can begin the "Editor's Checklist" by writing up simple rules such as: Capitalization Rules, Apostrophes, Commas, & Run-on Sentences. Soon the student will begin to look for these and possibly come up with their own rules to add to the list.
But getting back to the Anderson's text, he had some wonderful ideas about how to get students to ease into the writing process. He stated that at the beginning of the year, he would begin class by reading students a passage out of a novel, magazine, ect and then allow them to think about it and begin writing. If some students were hesistant about writing still, he would nudge them along by suggesting a topic to begin writing about. Sooner or later, each student would begin to write and share their work out of their journals. He would then build up the students by pointing out the positives of their work. I just really liked this idea and look forward to possibly applying this to my classroom someday!
Anderson also talks about establishing a checklist for students, so they can begin to recongize their mistakes. Teachers' can begin the "Editor's Checklist" by writing up simple rules such as: Capitalization Rules, Apostrophes, Commas, & Run-on Sentences. Soon the student will begin to look for these and possibly come up with their own rules to add to the list.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
This paragraph really stuck out to me while I was reading Mechanically Inclined: "If parents don't understand why you're not marking papers, take a peice of children's art and stick a transparency over it. Then, start marking all over it, crossing things out, redrawing other parts, putting notes on it. Of course, everyone gasps. Then ask, why would we do this to student writing?"
I actually read this after I finished correcting WIFYS papers and felt bad that I had marked so much stuff incorrectly or wanted to basically change their paper. They obviously wrote the paper they did a certain way, because it had a great impact in/on their lives. I believe that by changing it to the way I think it should be told may completely change the outlook on their paper. I realize that I did need to make corrections on the paper though, because I cannot meet formally with each student. However, I will be considering doing this when I am paired up with a student in a few weeks.
By comparing a child's work of art to a college/high school student's writing, it really helped me fully understand what teacher's are doing. I would never consider reconstructing a child's work of art or telling him/her to add or take away certain pieces that they drew. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING TO STUDENTS THOUGH. We are telling them how to write and then when they write, if we do not like their style of writing we make them change it! "Marking every error did about as much good as yelling down a hole." --I believe that this is why teachers get so frustrated at times. They may not realize that they are in fact damaging their students instead of helping them succeed. As future educators, I think that we need to begin focusing on the approach that Anderson and Weaver are taking.
I actually read this after I finished correcting WIFYS papers and felt bad that I had marked so much stuff incorrectly or wanted to basically change their paper. They obviously wrote the paper they did a certain way, because it had a great impact in/on their lives. I believe that by changing it to the way I think it should be told may completely change the outlook on their paper. I realize that I did need to make corrections on the paper though, because I cannot meet formally with each student. However, I will be considering doing this when I am paired up with a student in a few weeks.
By comparing a child's work of art to a college/high school student's writing, it really helped me fully understand what teacher's are doing. I would never consider reconstructing a child's work of art or telling him/her to add or take away certain pieces that they drew. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING TO STUDENTS THOUGH. We are telling them how to write and then when they write, if we do not like their style of writing we make them change it! "Marking every error did about as much good as yelling down a hole." --I believe that this is why teachers get so frustrated at times. They may not realize that they are in fact damaging their students instead of helping them succeed. As future educators, I think that we need to begin focusing on the approach that Anderson and Weaver are taking.
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