I apologize for my tardiness and glad to see the conversation has continued without me. I've totally let my writing go the last few weeks and I need to get back on track with everything.
I'm very interested in the section on writing in chapter 6. I've studied writing a good bit this year and I'm intrigued on what it would take to get us to move towards more writing in the classroom. How many of us have writing on major tests? (I actually only have writing in the English classes--very little multiple choice questions.) And why don't we have more writing on major tests? Students can finagle mastery when its "multiple guess", as my father calls it. They can even cover holes in their knowledge with oral answers. But they can't get around it in writing. If you truly want to see if your students get it, have them write it out.
So what can we do to incorporate more writing into our classes? Sizer stated that "writing is the litmus paper of thought...the very center of schooling."
Chapter 6 also talks about talk. How often do students bat around ideas just like adults do? How can we set up this scenario in our classrooms?
Chapter 7 is coming soon...I promise not to fall too far behind! And blue sheets will be coming around the 19th.
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I think one of the reasons for not having more writing on major tests is that teachers may not feel comfortable grading if they are not an English teacher. I think some teachers are afraid that if they are not an English teacher, how can they grade writing? I know we can focus on our content more than grammar but I also think each teacher should know enough about English to know good writing. I may not know how to explain what a dangling modifier is but I can figure out noun/verb agreement. I do agree that we need more reading and writing in our classes. When and why did it stop?
As for the "talking" in class, I think it is important for students to debate and "bat around ideas." This is just a matter of planning on the teacher's part. We need to allow the time for the activities which sets up this scenario in our classes. It's just a matter of teacher preparation. We can put our desks in circles and give students topics to discuss, for example. We just need to put this in our lesson plans.
In human growth we have the subject matter to debate. Our subject allows us to get into some good debates. The kids respond really well to this because of our backgrounds. We discuss anything from racial sterotyping, Hurricane Katrina, socioeconomical backgrounds, legalizing mariujuana ect. The students actually have well educated arguments for their side. All the kids will respond in some way. They enjoy this and often times, we learn something about someone that we did know before. It gives student a better understanding about another person's feeling or thoughts. This has been a really good teaching tool in the health class.
Another side of the "talk" issue is teaching students HOW to talk in class. When we say "debate," students think of Jerry Springer-type verbal altercations with all the drama. Somehow we have to teach them the give-and-take of conversation, which includes listening skills.
I am trying to teach my students to read with "pen-in-hand." I explain the value of writing down one's thinking during reading as well as after. I don't have my notes with me as I write, but I am taking copious notes while reading Results Now, and I am sharing my reading log with students--the interesting and provocative ideas. As a learning community, perhaps we should all show students our reading, thinking, and writing. Students aren't always convinced that we practice what we preach! Perhaps if we videoed our book study groups sometimes to let students see how we participate in a "class."
I am really struggling with incorporating the best practices in my English 3 class. It is so much easier to resort to the lecture-teacher-centered class management than to use the learner-centered approaches (teacher and student are learners together).
As I read chapter 6, my mind constantly went from what I was reading to what occurs in the lab that I facilitate. We "lock" these students into five minutes of study for each lesson. Those who are really interested in learning the concept of the lesson usually find themselves spending much more than the five minutes in this study section. I see them reading, rereading, and taking notes on how to do the various concepts presented. In math, that would mean writing down the formulas discussed or writing down examples for reference. But those students who don't like to read spend the time gazing into space or worse yet begging me to take the study time off! Some of the very bright students say they don't learn from reading; they learn when they try the examples and get feedback.
I tried an experiment with one such student. I went through the lesson, took the appropriate notes, and simply read the notes to the student. That student passed the lesson with flying colors. When I suggested this is the method the student should try on her own, she replied "I don't know what notes to take." As a math teacher, I struggle to explain exactly how I know what is important; yet I know instinctively because I've done it for so long.
The other thought that kept jumping out at me is the component in the lab called the "essay". We have been eliminating this part of the lessons and I realize that this is probably the area that I need to change. I know that I will start requiring students to respond to the essay questions in the lab next year. I may only spot check them, but at least I'll have some written feedback from these students.
I am convinced after reading this chapter that my next steps in strengthening my students' abilities are to require more reading, do more one-on-one or small group discussions to allow them to "bat around ideas" about the content and then require the writing component before a lesson can be mastered.
With Global studies you always have good material to debate.If it's history you can see if students would make some of the same choices the ancient civilizations made or debate current issues that affect the area you are currently studying. Coach Redd and I have been creating our notes to force students to read with pen in hand. This has allowed for more students to get involved with discussions in class. Student feel like they have ammo to discuss with, they like to argue especially when they have a understanding of read material. Personally, I think strategic reading is great for history type subjects.
It used to be required that we have at least one essay/discussion question on our tests. Even though no one checks up on that anymore, I still do it...and my kids have to write in complete sentences or I do not grade it.
My Global STudies students are getting used to the reading with pen in hand [and I didn't realize we were doing what the book suggests till now :-)]. We read a section out loud then together we create notes, fill in graphic organizers, study guide questions, or outlines, etc. They have started asking "should we write this?" if they find something they think is important.
Writing in my Sociology class is more of a stuggle...I can't get the students to respond in depth to the writing prompts they have for our "case study". They tend to write simple one liner responses. When I ask them to "evaluate" they might write "yes it was a good decision because he had fun..." and not go into details of how the deicison compared to the alternative.
When working with anticipation guides for reading, especially, I've tried to organize my students physically so that they could debate. The problem, as someone pointed out, is that the students don't understand the dynamics of a civilized debate. They talk over one another, get mad and storm off, interrupt constantly, or refuse to participate. I understand that in order to get students to have wonderful debates and discuss ideas that I have to teach them the necessary skills, like politeness, listening, and tact. This seems really hard to do on top of the rest of the information I need to teach. But, then again, can I effectively teach that information without using these skills?
As far as the writing goes, I know my students don't do near enough writing as they should. This is something I definitely plan to change for next year. I'm planning to start of the school year with a large focus on writing. I want my students to start of writing about anything and everything, just to get in the habit. Journaling is a great way to do this. In order to get students to the critical reading and writing stage, I plan to use techniques, like Say Something, to get students used to doing close readings. I may also incorporate portfolio writing so that my students get to practice writing in various genres, but have to polish the pieces of their choice.
This year I did several think-alouds with my students using the overhead to show them what I was thinking as I was reading, and the stages of reading comprehension that I went through with each piece. The students really loved this activity and got into when I gave the a copy of the story and told them to jot down their thoughts in the margins. I especially made sure to mention that EVERY thought was important, whether it was a connection or a question, or a point of confusion. EVEYRTHING COUNTS!
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