Week 2: Lost in the Process
The readings this week were frustrating me for multiple reasons. After carefully reading each chapter and taking notes, I did not feel any closer to any pedagogical strategies for teaching writing. The entire subject felt intangible, but I will attempt to articulate some important topics that are worth discussing.
Andrews and Smith
I have a much better understanding of what is problematic about teaching writing because of these chapters. In class we also touched on this topic. It seems that because of new standards and requirements, and because of the emphasis on the writing process, writing is used more as an assessment tool than a skill worth developing. There is a "writing process" that seems to dominate most classrooms that involves in some way pre-writing, writing, and re-writing. The book suggests that this short-term development is less-than-useful because it really narrows the scope of how writing and writers can evolve over time.
This concept of developing writers is incredibly valuable. Considering the rapid growth of the digital world of our students, writing development should be happening in our classrooms in the shape of instruction that considers purpose, audience, and growth. I was able to draw a connection between writing instruction and Understanding by Design. Chapter four suggested that meaningful writing instruction can happen by starting with a rubric and working backwards. This seems more purposeful, however, there are many more aspects of writing development.
I was also interested by the emphasis of development on individual levels. This makes writing instruction seem so much more complex and impossible in a public school classroom, however it seems relevant. How can we isolate our individual students' writing processes and hone in on their personal instructional needs?
Winn and Johnson
It is at this point that culturally relevant pedagogy comes into play. The more relevant (and not "prove-to-me-that-you-know-something) writing is to our students, the more they will be affected and invested by their own writing. They might be more willing to develop as writers if they are benefiting on many levels from this development. For my last question: How can we find balance in necessary writing skills (like grammar and Standard English) and culturally relevant instruction in our classrooms?
I thought this website was a pretty cool resource that combines digital writing and creative development. The teacher starts a story, and the students take turns adding and changing the story as it goes on. The teacher initially selects the length of the story, and there is an option to publish the story once it is completed. The students are also able to vote on their favorite contributions and endings. It is called http://www.boomwriter.com/home/schools/
