I have to admit, writing has always been something I've had a passion for. I'm thankful for my interest and talent in writing because in all honesty, the world requires us to be masters of writing. Jobs require formal documents and e-mails to be written; other subject areas such as science still require a significant amount of reading and writing. The world revolves around writing, where it is fair or not.
I credit my love for writing to my elementary school teachers. I believe that they were the ones who got me excited about writing and celebrated my writing early on. Some students are not as lucky and continue on to dread writing, thus making the process much more difficult for them. In high school, I really enjoyed my creative writing class where once again my work was celebrated. I was given such praise and positive feedback that I began to realize I may have a knack for this. I then began started writing my own poetry and journal entries on my own. The activity of writing as extra-curricular may appear as pleasure for me but is also great practice. I can attribute my knowledge of writing and my writing abilities to this practice. I'm so grateful that my teachers celebrated my writing because it truly has changed my life. As a result, my second major is English. As a prospective teacher it is my goal to celebrate the writing of my students and get them just as excited about writing as I was.
Peer writing conferences are a wonderful way for students to get one-on-one attention for their writing in a timely manner. I enjoy peer conferences because I welcome any and all suggestions to help me improve my writing. Constructive criticism is a difficult yet important concept that students must learn. While its nice to hear compliments throughout the entire conference, it is important that students are actively trying to help improve the writing piece.
During my peer conference in class, Rachel provided me with several goals to consider when editing my informational piece on fairy tales. To begin our conference we switched and silently read each other's papers. Next, we took the time to make thoughtful comments and suggestions. It was nice because I did not feel pressured to rush through my feedback section. As a writer, I understand how beneficial peer reviewed paper's can be, therefore I provided Rachel with the thoughtful comments and suggestions I would like in return.
Rachel helped me understand that my paper has great content, however it could be organized more effectively. She also pointed out specific sentences that I repeat myself and therefore should eliminate. Rachel also suggested that I provide examples in certain areas to strengthen my claims. She then suggests that I connect my ideas throughout the paper more clearly. Finally, Rachel recommended that I created a concluding paragraph to wrap up my ideas.
I'm so appreciative to Rachel for her thoughtful suggestions. I think all of her suggestions are great and will definitely apply them when it comes to creating a revised piece. We set three goals for me to focus on for my next draft. These include: working on in-text citations, create more fluidity between ideas and create a concluding paragraph. These goals are excellent recommendations and I will certainly use them when it comes to revising my paper.
As an experienced college student (with a double major in English), I have come to learn a thing or two about writing. It has become routine to produce pieces of writing(essays, summaries, responses etc.) on a daily basis for me. I'm lucky in that I enjoy writing and look to it as an outlet. Throughout my career as a student I've played with and adapted certain rituals that help me to produce my best writing.
Pre-writing to me, is the most important part of the writing process. I use pre-writing to put any and all of my ideas out on paper. In grade school, I was often subject to using graphic organizers. Although I currently don't use them in my pre-writing process, I still see the significance in organizing my thoughts before actually writing them.
When I am trying to produce my best writing, I usually like to think about what it is I am going to discuss for a day or so. I then take all of my scattered thoughts and ideas and simply put them down on paper. I've found this to be tremendously beneficial because I am able to document all of my ideas first. I then go back to this paper and organize it in a strategic way. What ideas are related? What should I keep and what should I cut? If I need to provide evidence, this is where I make note of the evidence.
Creating this small organizer is highly beneficial because it keeps my writing on task. It only takes a short amount of time, however it tremendously improves the quality of my writing.
UPDATE: In terms of my pre-writing ritual for my informational piece on folktales, I used my strategy of creating a bulleted organizer of ideas. First, I researched my topic and found the necessary information. I then combined this research with my ideas in my organizer. I found this to be very beneficial for me because I had already decided what information I wanted to use and where to apply it. When it came time to actually write my piece, I had already created an extensive outline to follow. This allowed me to focus on fluidity, grammar and other writing strategies instead of organization and content.
Literature circles are a great way for students to engage in social interaction, understand that reading is transactional and to participate in more student-centered activities. While there are numerous benefits to literacy circles, there are several factors that contribute to making literacy circles a disaster.
It is not uncommon for literacy center discussions to quickly move off-task. Many students take this "unsupervised" time to bully their peers as a result of economic disparities, strong student animosity and racial or gender tensions. Many teachers question if literacy centers are right for their classrooms because they often result in verbal and/or physical altercations between students.
So how do we promote effective literacy centers? First, teachers need to establish a caring and respectful environment. For teachers in urban settings, it is especially hard to create a safe and respectful environment when students are so accustomed to solving problems through force and threats. Although it is difficult, it can be done. There are several strategies for teachers to create nurturing and caring environments.
Teachers can use a "membership grid" when creating literacy center groups where students answer questions such as "what is your favorite TV show?". The teacher will then place students with common interests in the same groups, giving each group a positive relationship from the beginning. Teachers can also implement the poker chips method where each student is handed a stack of poker chips at the beginning of the discussion. Each time a student speaks, they are to place one poker chip in the middle. Once they have run out of poker chips they are no longer allowed to participate in the discussion. This is a great way for students to have the same amount of time speaking and for students to gage their participation based on the other students'.
Next, teachers can implement a compliment system where each student must compliment another student in the group. This will deter students from focusing on the negative aspects and will start to get them to think about the positive ones. Also, students can be given the opportunity to watch their discussion on tape so that they can discuss what went well and what didn't go well. Teachers should also strategically select books that will captivate their students' interests. Keeping the students' interests is a key component in literacy circles. If the student is genuinely excited about the book, they will freely contribute to the discussion and be excited to talk about it. The literacy circle is more likely to fail once a student looses interest in the book.
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