Entry 11

When I began this class, I knew that I did not know everything about every single genre of reading and writing, which made me excited to learn about each genre specifically. I was nervous to explore and present on the expository genre since I did not like it as a child or even now as a teacher. After exploring the genre and learning multiple ways to make it exciting to teach and learn about, I began to really enjoy the genre. I learned that you can really make any genre of reading and writing fun just by the methods you teach about it and the materials you use throughout your instruction.

So when I began this exploration of the expository genre, I was not looking forward to reading about it since I had a feeling it was going to be boring. I had many misconceptions about this genre and one being that it is very boring. Another misconception that I had was that it can only be taught in one way with the same materials that were used when I was a student. But after reading Tompkins (2012), my eyes were opened to the many different ways that it can be taught in an exciting way. I learned that exposure to expository texts should be early on in order for students to be able to read, comprehend and write fluently within this genre. So with this early exposure to expository texts and their specific features, students are better able to read and write within the expository genre. This exposure is so crucial since everyone is expected to read and write within the expository genre throughout their whole life so they will need these skills that begin to be acquired early on for the rest of their lives. Expository texts are what we all learn from, whether we know it or not.

Another genre that I thought I did not know a lot about at the beginning of the semester was poetry, but after the presentation on poetry I began to see that I really do know a lot about it. Also, poetry seemed to intimidate me both as a student and teacher since there are so many forms and interpretations that a poem can take on. Once again, after the presentation on poetry I was able to wrap my head around the genre and see that it truly is not as intimidating as I thought it was.

One genre that still seems a little difficult for me to wrap my head around is the persuasive genre. I do understand the concept of it and why it is important, but the one aspect of this genre that I struggle with is personally writing persuasively. I feel as though I am not a persuasive person in general, so when I go to write it, I am a bit lost. I know with more practice with reading and writing persuasively, I will be able to wrap my head around it more.

Entry 9

When I was doing research on the expository genre for my genre presentation next week, I found myself questioning if I did enough instruction concerning expository reading and writing in my own classroom. Did my students even know what the word expository meant? Did they know what type of books would be considered expository? Have they ever read an expository text? Have they ever written an expository piece before?

I assumed that the answer to many of my questions was yes to some extent. But once I learned more about the expository genre myself, I felt compelled to teach my students more about it and implement it more into our daily reading and writing activities. I thought I would start small by introducing what a non-fiction or expository text is. I gave every one of my students a weekly reader that they are all very familiar with from this year and last year as first graders. They knew that the information that they would be reading about was true but they were uncertain of what the specific genre was. After we discussed the similarities and differences between fiction and non-fiction, as a class we slowly went through the weekly reader together. As we read along, I began to point out some of the non-fiction text features that could be seen throughout the weekly reader. Many of the students were already familiar with the features but were somewhat uncertain of the purpose of each. So I explain why we need each specific text feature to help us understand and read expository text. When we were done reading the weekly reader, I had the students take a few post- its and write three things they learned from the reading and three things that they had questions about or were still wondering about. I wanted my students to see that you can still make a lot of connections from expository books or readings as well as from fiction stories that we read. After I had them put their post- its into columns depending on if it was an "I learned" statement or an "I wonder" statement. I began to think that these post-its could lead to an expository writing piece from having many of their ideas and facts on a certain topic down on paper and easy to organize. With these post-its the students could decide to write a report on the topic that we read about and could broaden their knowledge of the topic with doing research of their "I wonder" statements. This idea then led me to thinking about how to teach my second graders about basic research skills through books and the internet. I believe that with my support and guidance that they would be able to complete their research and find the answers to their questions. Once the answers are found, we could then write reports to inform people about a certain topic that we have been studying in school.

There are just so many options that can happen when using expository text within your classroom. My presentation has got me thinking so many possibilities! I will keep you posted on how this little endeavor goes!

Entry 8

After I read through a good number of my classmates blog entries, I began to see different aspects of this class in a new light. I love how after reading or hearing another person's thoughts they begin to trigger something inside of you that springs a new thought or way to view things in your own mind.

When I was reading through my peer, Jaimie's blog, I stopped and read her post about writing conferences. I recalled the chapter on writing conferences that we had read a number of weeks about in Tompkins (2012). After reading Jaimie's post about writing conferences, many new thoughts came into my mind about how I could incorporate more writing conferences into my own classroom and how I am already using writing conferences but just in different ways.  The statement from Jaimie's blogged that triggered my new thoughts was: "Tomkins talks about eight different types:  on the spot conferences, prewriting conferences, drafting conferences, revising conferences, editing conferences, instructional conferences, assessment conferences, and portfolio conferences. Each of these conferences have something special about them." I had completely forgotten about Tompkins (2012) discussion on the eight different types of writing conferences that a teacher can have with his/ her students. So I was glad to read this portion of her blog and be able to reflect on that particular point that Tompkins (2012) makes. 

When I began to think about each different writing conference style, I noticed that I do use a number of them but there are also some that I could try implementing within my classroom starting next week when we begin a new writing piece. I realized that I conduct on the spot conferences with my students on a daily basis, whether it is during writing, reading, or math time. I feel as though a teacher should always be prepared to hold an on the spot conference with a student if they feel it is necessarily or especially if a student has a misconception that could hinder their learning. I feel as though I could work harder in holding pre-writing conferences. I do hold them with my students but they are not structured and they are sometimes in a whole group setting after I have introduced the writing assignment. With such a time crunch these days to get everything covered in such a short amount of time, I feel as though a whole group pre-writing conference where I ask each individual student about their ideas for their new writing piece, may have to do for the time being. I do make a conscious effort to go around and talk with each one of my students during pre-writing so they are able to get on the right track, tell me all of their ideas and then begin their writing piece. I definitely hold both drafting and revising conferences with my students. I have created a sign up sheet for my students to put their names on when they have either completed a draft or are ready to sit with my and revise their writing. I feel as these conferences are extremely important and the students learn so much from that one on  one time with the teacher. When I think about editing conferences, I believe that I do lump those in with the revising conference. But I am going to try harder to also implement just editing conferences into our writing time. I feel as though I am constantly holding instructional conferences either one on one, small group or even whole group when I am introducing a writing style or a new writing piece that they will be working on. Once again there are extremely important to teach about new styles, genres and writing strategies. The last 2 types of conference that I do need to be better about holding are assessment and portfolio conferences. I believe those conferences are also extremely important but can be left out very easily just like I have done the past couple weeks.

 I do believe it is very important for a teacher to have the one on one time with a student to discuss all the various stages of their writing as they are working through all of the steps of writing. These conferences make that one on one time happen and allows a teacher to bond with their students.

Entry 6

Before reading Tompkins (2012), I struggled with finding a balance when it came to assessing my students' work. For being a new teacher, I feel as though I am still learning the best ways to complete certain tasks as a teacher. One task I have been struggling with is what is the best way to assess my students' writing pieces. Throughout my student teaching places, I had two teachers who had completely different views on writing but they both had similar conventions that were used with their students. Both of my cooperating teachers taught their students to go through the writing process and steps, but the way they went about it was different from each other. One of my cooperating teachers thought it was best to model, use mini lessons and walk students through the process, while the other one just did mini lessons on different writing styles and genres and then had their students go through the writing process. I am not sure which one I believe was the best strategy. I would like to think that I use a little bit of both in my own classroom.

I do not feel as though I am struggling with how to teach my students how to write or how to guide them through the process of writing; what stumps me is how much to assess and how to assess a students writing. I am afraid of being too critical with my second graders writing abilities and stifling their writing passions. So I believe that I am still trying to find the balance of how to exactly assess my students work the correct way. I am still not sure there is a correct way to assess a writing piece. Do I correct all spelling and grammar mistakes? Do I work with them to revise their writing so they are learning their mistakes having to do with grammar and spelling? There are just so many questions that come to mind when thinking about assessing a student's writing. I know that certain writing pieces should be assess based upon a rubric to make sure they are meeting the standards and requirements for a particular writing style or assignment and that a teacher should not assess every piece of writing a student produces since students will be producing more writing than a teacher will have the time to look at. Also, I know that as a teacher, we should be constantly observing and performing informal assessments on our students to gage their understanding of a certain topic or concept which then helps to guide our instruction.

So after reading Tompkins (2012) about assessing writing, I have gained a little more clarity on the topic of assessing students' writing, but I still see to have a lot of questions. I believe that if I follow Tompkins (2012) suggestions on how to assess students' writing then I will be on the right track and better able to guide my students in learning how to become better writers. After reading Tompkins (2012) I think I am going to try to implement more time to have assessment conferences with my students. This way I can be constantly monitoring my students' progress on certain writing pieces and see what strategies they may be struggling with and need some reinforcing with. Through these assessment conferences that I am going to implement with my students, I also think I will get a better sense of what type of writer each one of my students is and better able to support them in their writing while getting to know them on a more personal level by reading their writing.

Entry 3

After reading Tompkins' (2012) section on personal writing with a focus on journal writing, I began to truly see the difference between different styles of journal writing. When I was a student, I remember doing a small amount of journal writing and used to love it! Now that I look back on it, I believe my teachers used reading logs and personal journals throughout my elementary schooling. At that time, I do not think I understood the importance or motive behind all of my journal writing. But now after reading Tompkins (2012), I truly see the importance of the different styles of journal writing that a teacher can implement within his/ her classroom.

As being a second grade teacher, I can see journal writing being very beneficial. Once I read the section of the book on personal journal writing and how to implement it within your classroom, my ideas just came flowing into my brain about how I could work this type of writing into my classroom. I began to think of having my students keep personal journals or even dialogue journals as a part of their morning work. Every student comes into the classroom in the morning with some type of story they need to tell me, so why not have them practice their writing skills and write about it in their journals. If I was to implement journal writing as a part of their morning work, then it may help my students start off on the correct foot and get their brains moving. If I was to implement, specifically, dialogue journals I would want to make sure that I had a system in place as to which journals I will respond to each day or even week. Even though I have a small class, I do not think I would be able to respond to every student's journal each day.

On top of modeling and implementing personal and dialogue journals, I believe that my students already use reading logs in class. They are not always formal reading logs that Tompkins (2012) describes, but they are a form of a reading log. After we have read their reading story for the week, I ask the students to respond to it with any thoughts, questions, predictions, etc. that they may have had after reading the story. We also discuss predictions about what the story may be about, which then could turn their reading logs into double entry journals if I wanted to. If I did teach my students about double entry journals, then they would all be able to write questions and predictions down as they take a picture walk through the story or even after they have had just read the title.

There are so many options when it comes to journal writing that a teacher can adapt and implement any of the journal styles in his/ her classroom as a way to have their students practice their writing skills to become fluent writers. As I have come to understand, journal writing does not have to take place everyday in the classroom, but is just another way to get your students writing and practicing to become more fluent writers in a less formal way.