Teaching Writing - Week 14 - End of Course Reflection

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 14 of the course Teaching Writing for the Bachelor's in English Teaching at ULACIT in term IIC 2023. Today we will look at some final practices you may want to consider incorporating into your writing classroom then we will review the major contents and tasks of this course and reflect on what we have learned. We will also take time to review your final creation and discuss the instructions for your Portfolio and Needs Analysis projects due next week.

Today's Goals:

• Demonstrate the design features of your Peer Feedback / Self-Editing Protocol creation.
• Consider a series of final teaching practices that can be applied in the writing classroom during the school year.
• Review and react to some of the key ideas covered in this course and articulate your learning takeaways.

Guiding Questions:

• How can you support peer feedback and self-editing?
• What more can I do to help my students develop appropriate skills and attitudes regarding writing?
• In what ways have your thoughts on teaching writing changed or deepened through this course?

Task 1: Creation Demo- Peer Feedback / Self-Editing Protocol

This week you were asked to design your ninth and final activity creation. Let's take a moment to review what you created.

• Example: Walk us through your plan.
• Strengths: Tell us what you think are the strengths of using protocols to stimulte peer feedback and self-editing.
• Challenges: Tell us the potential challenges associated with these protocols.

• Additional Considerations: CLICK HERE

Task 2: Final Ideas to Consider

Let's take some time to explore some of the key ideas from the final chapter of our assigned textbook, "A Year of Writing".

• Looking at Student Writing: How can we look past the text and see the writer?

• Quote: "Skilled writing teachers develop an ability to look closely at student writing and quickly assess strengths and weaknesses, as well as other aspects of writing that aren't good or bad. They're just interesting (p. 123)."

• Quote: "The writing itself can only tell you so much...It's crucial to build a portrait of your student writers so you can put their individual pieces in context (p. 123)."

• Assessment and Grading: How can we assess and grade students' writing effectively?

• Quote: "If you want to ensure your young writers do not progress, grade everything they write (p. 130)."

• Quote: "The adage Think globally but act locally applies to gradding writing. ...Instead of describing one grading system, I'l propose a few guiding principles (p 131)."

• Involve Students: 

• Talk to students about what strong writing is.
• Have students choose examples of their best work to grade.
• Have them complete self-assessment: What did you do well in this text? etc.
• Grade the texts along with other factors such as quantity of writing, willingness to revise, willingness to try something new, etc.

• Use Portfolios: 
• Collect multiple writing samples
• Student reflection on progress during the year

• Don't Grade Everything: 
• We want them to take chances.
• Learning always involves failure.

• The Genre Study: How can you expose students to multiple writing types?

• Quote: "There are many factors to consider when you decide which genre to pic: what your students are clamoring for, the demands of the curriculum, and your own preference and passions. I urge you to avoid make-believe genres that only exist in school. Instead, select forms of writing that can be found in the real world: nonfiction, sports writing, memoir, persuasion, and poetry (p. 135)."

• Quote: "Embraice choice within the genre study, and try not to judge which topics seem legitimate and which strike you as bogus. I recently worked in a fifth-grade class where one boy's list included:
• Dark Magic
• Superheroes
• Magic Cards
• WWE (wrestling)
• How to make a Meme
• How to get extra food at Chipotle without paying extra
• "This list shows where this boy lives - his expertise as well as his passion - so there's a great chance he'll be able to write well about these subjects (p. 136)."

• Engaging Boy Writers: How can we encourage all students to find their writing voice?

• Quote: "The data shows clearly that boys continue to struggle in writing classrooms. Why? Boys' difficulties with writing have something to do with the scarcity of male teachers. In elementary school the teacher population is overwhelmingly female. This gender gap may make it difficult for teachers to appreciate the sensibility boys bring to writing (p. 139."

• The author cites some of the following reasons that boys tend to struggle:

• Their writing often includes irreverent humor and violence which is deemed inappropriate.

• Their fine motor skills develop later than in girls so they are often marked down for poor handwriting.

• Quote: "But I do think teachers could take steps to make the writing classroom boy-friendlier. The items in the following list are designed to nurture boy writers, though it occurs to me that they will bost girl writers as well (p. 140)."

• Give them real choice of what to write and how. Do not judge their interests.

• Show interest in their passions.

• "Be more accepting of violent writing (with commonsense limits)."

• Celebrate their humor. Their humor is their voice.

• Give them praise.

• Allow boy writers to collaborate with each other.

• Make room for genres that engage boys.

• Allow them to draw. "A boy will often rehearse what he's going to write while he's drawing."

• Don't worry about messy handwriting. 

• "Boys write for each other. Don't be surprised in boys view other boys as their main audience."

• Get them excited about writing. If you engagethem first, quality will come later.

• End-of-the-Year Rituals: How can I help students reflect on what they have learned?

• Quote: "When students have been in an active workshop for many months, they will become stronger writers. If we don't take time to reflect, then we miss an opportunity to see and celebreate their progress. Celebration fuels writers. By taking time at the end of the year to reflect, we build students' confidence as writers and send them on to the next leg of their journey knowing they can become a stronger writer and ready to persevere (p. 157)."

• Surveys: Give students prompts and surveys to review what they have learned, reflect on their feelings, identify areas of growth, interest, celebrations, etc. 

• Selection: Have students select a piece they want to photocopy to share with the teacher's future students. They have to review their writing and tell their partners why they chose it. "The best par tof that is when students tell me why they want me to copy a particular page and why it is important to them as a writer. How students interact with each other and reflect on their own work is what cements the message that they are writers (p. 158)." 

• Teacher Reflection: The author says it's also essential that writing teachers reflect on their experiences through the school year to identify areas they are proud of, activities that worked and are worth repeating, challenges, and areas of future experimentation.

Task 3: Reflecting on the Course Content

As a final wrap up for the course, let's take a look at the main ideas, content, and tasks you engaged with through out this term. Click the link below and follow your teacher's instructions.

• Course Reflection: CLICK HERE

Task 4: Review of Remaining Projects

Let's finish today's class by previewing your final projects due next week.

• Writing Activity Portfolio: CLICK HERE
• Writing Needs Analysis: CLICK HERE

References:

Fletcher, R. (2017). The Writing Teacher's Companion. Scholastic Inc.