Entry 10

"How can we use it with the younger students?"

As I was going through many of my peers blog posts, I came across this question in Rihanna's blog. I have been thinking the same exact thing as I have worked my way through this class and the readings that we have done for it. I find that there are so many great ways to implement technology into the classroom and the writing process, but I struggle to see the way in which it can be adapted for the primary grades.

I know that many of my students have computers at home and have grown up using them, but there are still many obstacles that I am faced with on an everyday basis when it comes to technology and my second graders. First off, they struggle to even log onto the computer since their typing skills are so poor. I know that they are still young and trying to perfect their fine motor skills, which will come with time, but it makes it difficult to implement many of the strategies that we have read about. I know that in computer class they are slowly gaining more of a tech savvy ability by learning to type a couple sentences and using power point. So hopefully with time they will be able to handle some of the more technology based strategies throughout the writing process. 

I do believe that once my students gain more of a confidence and typing ability they will be able to type final drafts of writing pieces to be published while adding graphics to them. I could also see my students using some type of googledoc or blog to keep track of all of their writing pieces, so that I would be able to conference or even check in with every student on a daily basis by going to their blog or googledoc to read what they have written so far. With these ideas, comes many challenges. First of all, by teaching a private school the funds are very minimal. I am lucky to have a smartboard and two computers in my classroom. Ideally, for my plans to implement more technology based strategies into the writing process, I would need a computer for every student to use throughout writing time. I know this will never happen, or at least, not any time soon. So I could see my idea working if I had a roatating schedule, somewhat like centers, where some students would be working on the computers on their writing pieces while others were doing other writing/ reading/ phonics activities. So that way hopefully each student would be able to use a computer during writing time at least once a day. Then at the end of the week I would be able to go onto googledocs or their blogs to check in with their writing progress. In order for this plan to work, I believe that it would take a lot of my time to model, support, guide and scaffold the process for it to work the way that I would want it to. So hopefully by the New Year in the school year my students would be able to somewhat independently work through the writing process on either a google doc or blog. I know that there may be other hurdles that I am not intending for throughout this process, but with trial and error I believe this could work. Also, the blog or other program you decide to use would have to be simplified with specific directions as to how to use it so each student would be able to navigate through it on their own or with the help of a buddy.

Ideally, I would love to be able to implement this idea with my class and see how well they move through the writing process while using technology. I am still trying to refine my idea for implementing this, so hopefully I will be able to start taking the baby steps towards this idea very soon.

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 7

There has been some difficult moments in my classroom lately with one particular student who has touched my heart from day one. She is a very eager and happy student who has a passion for pleasing the teacher. But the one difficult aspect of this child is that she is below grade level and struggles with the simplest task in the classroom. She only benefits from one on one instruction, whether that instruction is coming from me or an AIS aid who is in my classroom for a short period of time each day to work with students like her.

Today, my students were given a new writing assignment to begin in their writing journals. After giving the instructions, going over examples and modeling different writing strategies that they may want to try to use through this writing piece process, this particular student just sat at her desk with a blank stare on her face. I struggle with always guiding her through each writing process step with me telling her each little thing she needs to write about. I do not want to leave her to fend for herself, but I also want to see some of her own creative in her writing. So today, I decided to let her think for a few moments about what she wanted to write about before I went over to her desk to check in on her. When I went over to her, she explicitly told me that she needed help. I decided that I would make sure the rest of my class was under way with the prewriting and drafting of their writing pieces before I moved with the student to the back table to guide her through this writing.

When I brought the student back to the table with her journal, word journal and pencil. We talked about what she needed to write about and some of the things she wanted to include in her piece of writing. I thought it would be a good idea to brainstorm some of her ideas and organize them on a white board so we would be able to easily rearrange her ideas if need be. Since this student is one that does benefit from one on one instruction and verbally communicating her thoughts before she writes them down, I believe that using this technique of the white board would be very beneficial. Once we completed our prewriting together on the white board, I guided her to writing a topic sentence to begin her writing piece. Once she had her topic sentence down, I moved her to look back at the organizer we created to see what she should write about first. I noticed that once she had an organizer of some sort in front of her that she was better able to self direct her writing and stay on topic since that is one thing she does struggle with.

This whole situation made me think about differentiation and how important it truly is to differentiate in every aspect of learning if possible. This particular student of mine definitely benefits from differentiation since the majority of my students are able to free write while they are drafting while this paricular student needs some guidance to get her ideas down in an organizer before she moves on to drafting her writing piece.

Differentiation is always the answer!

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 1

When I first think about teaching writing, I begin to get anxious. This anxious feeling comes from believing that writing is such a crucial aspect within a student's education. Once the anxious feeling is suppressed, I am able to focus on my personal core principles of writing.

A major core principle that I value and enact in my classroom is the idea of planning or pre-writing. With this critical stage of writing valued, my students see the importance of getting their ideas down on paper without any judgements. In a way this is a time for them to brainstorm and work through many ideas that could later be turned into fully developed writing pieces. But without a great emphasis put onto planning and pre-writing, students are able to create works of art with their writing.

The one aspect within the writing process that I value is meeting or conferring with my students as often as possible. I believe that through these writing conferences, a teacher is able to understand and get to know their students on another level as well as seeing a students strengths and weaknesses with writing. Once a student's strengths and weaknesses are identified then a teacher can better target their instruction.

My love and need to conference with my students along with teaching and implementing the planning and pre-writing stage with my students are remained constant throughout my various experiences with children. I have been able to adapt and transform my writing values with various grade levels, while still keeping conferencing and pre-writing a part of the writing process.

There can be a number of challenges that are faced by both teachers and students when using new age technologies. Many students now have computers in their homes, which makes them at a greater advantage when told to use a computer to word process a final piece of writing. On the other hand, there are students who may not have a personal computer at home or have only used a computer for games or internet use, so they will not be familiar with any word processing systems. So the teacher may need to gear their instruction to target these students. With the large amount and fast pace at which new technologies are coming about, it may be difficult for teachers to keep current.

If there was infinite amount of time in the school day and even the school year, I would love to be able to devote a large amount of time to writing and working through the various stages of writing. But with all the pressures that are placed on teachers with curriculum, standards and testing, there is just not enough time in the day and year to devote endless amounts of time to writing within the classroom.