In the last couple of chapters, which translated into my last couple of blogs, the book Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide has focused on writing to learn, writing that is intended to help students build meaning and synthesize concepts we cover in class. Chapter 5 in the book shifts to "Public Writing," which is "intentional, highly polished pieces that can go out into the world, connect with real readers, get some work done, and stand up to scrutiny...we expect students to take the time, do the thinking, and invest enough effort that they can say: 'This is my best" (p. 112).
One point that is emphasized regarding public writing, is that it is a process. We shouldn't just give the students a handout or rubric with directions, say here you go, and expect high-quality work. Sure, we all have students who would do fine under those conditions, but can we honestly say the majority of our kids would turn in high-quality work? I know as a middle school teacher I hear teachers who leave out the process complain about how the kids "should already know this." But, if we always assume someone else will teach them, will they ever learn what we feel is essential for them to know? Okay, back to the idea of process, this includes (and this is veery brief) choice, giving kids time to write and allowing opportunities for feedback from themselves, peers, and us along the way.
Another aspect about the chapter I like was a box entitled "What About Plagiarism?" We all know how much easier it is for kids to copy and paste now a days, no more poring over the encyclopedia with a pencil, now a few clicks and boom, paper done! This box suggests that we rethink the writing assignments we give to help discourage the copy and paste; these examples they give on page 117 of topics that can be reworded to reinforce the same concept, but not as easily plagiarized:
Easily Plagiarized Forces Originality
Describe the functions of different parts Compare parts of a cell to parts of a car.
of a cell.
Explain the importance of vectors in math. Show how vectors are involved in the game of
chess (in the layout of a city, etc.).
Why was the Twenty-fifth Amendment repealed? Under what circumstances might the Twenty-fifth
Amendment be reinstated.
I love these ideas, and I look forward to the next couple of chapters, where they promise more ideas of how to get students to take ownership in and engage in public writing.
Just curious, is there a foundation for students to understand the importance of "public writing" for middle school students? I know if I was a middle school student (glad I am not)I'd be thinking "what am I doing this for?"
ReplyDeleteI guess the best answer I can give, based on what I've read so far, is to have an audience besides the teacher. Part of the process should be revision, where students are focused on developing ideas and explaining clearly, not necessarily mechanics. Knowing their work will be read and critiqued by others can sometimes motivate kids to put more thought and effort into their writing. The authors also suggest having audiences, such as adult panels, maybe sending work to a professional in the field (who will not want to respond to each individual, but may be able to respond to the whole group) or another group of students who will read and view students' work. I'm not sure that this is the answer, but I think it may help. I know when I had kids publishing work online last semester, it seemed to help kids take a bit more ownership. Also, helping students through the process so they gain more confidence helps some students who maybe didn't care because they felt they weren't able to do effective work. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeletethanks for the clarifying. It does make a lot of sense now, especially when you explained your assignment in online writing that created a space for the students to "gain ownership" of their writing. Responsibility in any task is how we all improve in the things we do. Even this assignment of creating, writing and contributing to blogs consumes a lot of time, but through the process I've learned a lot from my peers.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of showing the students through the process. I think all to often they may have been shown the process couple of time and if they got they are good writers and if they did not they are bad writers. I Have been pushing for my school to post the main points of the writing process in every classroom on a brite orange sheet/laminated. This way for student like me that like to always review the process it is always there.
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