Don't you just love it when you experience random perfect timing?? I read "Beyond Rhetoric: A Reflective, Persuasive Final Exam for the Workshop Classroom" by Sarah Lorenz in Breakthroughs during the second week in May while preparing final exams. An important aspect of our English III curriculum, persuasive essay writing culminates in the dreaded MAP in April. During the semester the juniors spent quality time with the writing process to produce mediocre essays. My dilemma - how to make the persuasive essay important to 17 year olds?? When I read the article, I declared, "Eureka!!"
I borrowed the idea of a persuasive essay for the final exam. I asked each student to write a persuasive essay convincing me of the semester grade he/she deserved in English III based on how our units of study either changed thinking, affected daily life, or was important to him/her. I listed our units of study and added an event in class that stood out. I cautioned the students that "sucking up" would get them nowhere!
The students received the take-home final more than a week before the final date. Some of my students began the writing process immediately and refined their essays over the week. Others, of course, waited until the exam period to begin. Regardless, the outcome was amazing. My students wrote the best essays of the year - and we all know that attaining a "PR" (personal record) is a triumph.
It was the highlight of my 20+ years of finals. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the essays. Some made me laugh out loud, some brought tears, and some totally surprised me. A few actually angered me - those written by students who only exhibited their writing ability at the last moment.
I am thankful to Sarah Lorenz for the experience of a final that motivated excellent essays and helped students examine the impact that even English III can have on their lives.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Teaching the Neglected "R"
Teaching the Neglected “R”
“Writers Reading Local Places” Kim Stafford
Possibly the one thing I appreciate the most about this article is it is practical. Stafford does not waste the reader’s time with theory and fluff. He accepts that the reader is seeking methods of engagement that will create environments that are writer friendly for our students, and he presents these methods using doable, real life, scenarios. Next to the article being practical, I appreciate that it is not political. That is to say, Stafford’s methodology allows students the freedom to engage the environment on their own terms without instructor intrusion into how that environment is to be interpreted. The foundation of my philosophy as a writing instructor is that my purpose is to assist students in saying what it is they need to say in a manner appropriate to garner respect from the respective audiences and that my personal beliefs and opinions should not intrude into the students’ work.
While the above is what I appreciated about the article, what makes this essay effective is his modeling the technique as a form of production of the actual work. We gather from the pages not just a listing of technique, or a how to teach it plan, but rather Stafford’s work itself is written from field notes created in a writing marathon thereby bringing us into the field with him. As we follow Stafford through the French Quarter, we are able to visualize our students exploring their world, be it the school campus or private neighborhoods. By Stafford presenting the essay as one created from a field book, we can visualize the form we might expect our students’ essays to take. My experience has been that, for most students, modeling the form we want an essay to take frees them from the concern about if they are doing it right, and grants them the freedom to create texts in their own voices.
Having utilized a form of this writing project in developmental writing classes, I have every intention of incorporating Stafford’s piece into my own pedagogy.
Joe
“Writers Reading Local Places” Kim Stafford
Possibly the one thing I appreciate the most about this article is it is practical. Stafford does not waste the reader’s time with theory and fluff. He accepts that the reader is seeking methods of engagement that will create environments that are writer friendly for our students, and he presents these methods using doable, real life, scenarios. Next to the article being practical, I appreciate that it is not political. That is to say, Stafford’s methodology allows students the freedom to engage the environment on their own terms without instructor intrusion into how that environment is to be interpreted. The foundation of my philosophy as a writing instructor is that my purpose is to assist students in saying what it is they need to say in a manner appropriate to garner respect from the respective audiences and that my personal beliefs and opinions should not intrude into the students’ work.
While the above is what I appreciated about the article, what makes this essay effective is his modeling the technique as a form of production of the actual work. We gather from the pages not just a listing of technique, or a how to teach it plan, but rather Stafford’s work itself is written from field notes created in a writing marathon thereby bringing us into the field with him. As we follow Stafford through the French Quarter, we are able to visualize our students exploring their world, be it the school campus or private neighborhoods. By Stafford presenting the essay as one created from a field book, we can visualize the form we might expect our students’ essays to take. My experience has been that, for most students, modeling the form we want an essay to take frees them from the concern about if they are doing it right, and grants them the freedom to create texts in their own voices.
Having utilized a form of this writing project in developmental writing classes, I have every intention of incorporating Stafford’s piece into my own pedagogy.
Joe
This Writing Life
After reading Joe's post, I feel I need to quickly make a disclaimer. ***I, Kimberly Witt, love my mother and my grandmother. I am in no way looking for pity. I love my life. I am happy. I just felt the need to get some emotions on paper. I have also never read a self-help book. ***
This writing initiation tool asked us to describe a situation in life that we are currently trying to metabolize. I had just returned from a weekend in Kansas City with my mom, my sister, an aunt, and female cousins. After returning home, I really needed to deal with some of the emotions I was feeling about my mom – things I was ready to name for the first time. It was good to put some of these things on paper.
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The first thing that came to my mind was this turbulence I’ve felt lately with Mom. I’m still trying to digest everything that happened this weekend. Mom did so many little things that embarrassed me, that made me feel sorry for her. From holding her purse a little too tightly in the city to laughing a little too loudly at Tom’s jokes, she made me uncomfortable. I love her; I do. But I’m constantly wondering if she’s happy. Really she seems to only ACT happy when she’s with Dad. She just seemed like a fish out of water all weekend, like she needed an anchor. It’s so evident that Dad is that anchor; he’s the one who grounds her, gives her stability, makes her act “normal.” Then I think, “Please, God, don’t take Dad first.” And then I’m uncomfortable for even having these thoughts.
Really, who am I to judge if she’s happy? I guess my idea of happiness (joy?) might be different from my mom’s. She’s happy with Dad, gardening, camping, biking, quilting. But then why is she always complaining and nagging about her job, about grandma, about her siblings, about problems at church? At the root of all of these questions is the deep, dark, unspeakable fear that I will be like her. There, I’ve said it. That I will be so dependent on my husband, so unhappy at my job, that I will constantly be negative, biting. That I will embarrass my children by making critical comments in front of everyone and then trying too hard to fit in.
I guess I never realized until this weekend just how complicated, tentative, delicate this mother/daughter relationship is. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with tangible feelings of pity and embarrassment, annoyance and sorrow. We have a family cycle of depression, a family legacy from Grandma Bernie. (She also left us big thighs and hips. Thanks, Grandma.) I’m seeing some of these traits manifest themselves in Mom lately, and to be completely honest, it scares me to death. How can I break the cycle for myself, for my potential future daughters? I’m sure it will require lots of prayer and patience.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Cameron Response
Cameron's writing, her voice, her terminology brings to mind certain individuals that I do not wish any ill will towards. In fact I hope they find the happiness and contenment they have been faking for years now; however, if I never see these people again, I will have no regrets or feelings of loss. Since, when I read her words, I hear these people reading them, my writings have all been colored by my relationships with these individuals.
Right to Write / The Writing Life
So I thought she was using the word metabolize improperly so I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it refers to protoplasmic change in cells and refers to changes in physical life forms-so I am 55- overweight- balding- tired- own too much stuff- need to clean my house- weed the yard- ride my bike- edit Don and Sondra’s book- write a letter- prepare lesson plans- take a photograph- tone hundreds of photographs- organze them- organize my life- and she wants me write about protoplasmic changes in my cells. Why? She didn’t write about those things. Her prompts have nothing to do with those things. So why is it that I am supposed to write about those things? Actually what she wants- what it seems so many people want this day and time is for all of us to get in touch with ourselves. Excuse me! I live with myself 24/7. I am tired of self-help bull. It is time to quit self-helping and get on with living. That is why I dropped the weekly book study- it went from novels and biographies to self help- and all this stuff these books want me to get in touch with usually just rips open old wounds that are healing nicely- so no thank you Ms. Cameron- I don’t need a biology course, and I don’t need any more spiritual healing. I need to do something constructive instead of analyzing everything to death- sorry but today I don’t have a burning need to write. I have a burning need to live.
Joe
Right to Write / The Writing Life
So I thought she was using the word metabolize improperly so I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it refers to protoplasmic change in cells and refers to changes in physical life forms-so I am 55- overweight- balding- tired- own too much stuff- need to clean my house- weed the yard- ride my bike- edit Don and Sondra’s book- write a letter- prepare lesson plans- take a photograph- tone hundreds of photographs- organze them- organize my life- and she wants me write about protoplasmic changes in my cells. Why? She didn’t write about those things. Her prompts have nothing to do with those things. So why is it that I am supposed to write about those things? Actually what she wants- what it seems so many people want this day and time is for all of us to get in touch with ourselves. Excuse me! I live with myself 24/7. I am tired of self-help bull. It is time to quit self-helping and get on with living. That is why I dropped the weekly book study- it went from novels and biographies to self help- and all this stuff these books want me to get in touch with usually just rips open old wounds that are healing nicely- so no thank you Ms. Cameron- I don’t need a biology course, and I don’t need any more spiritual healing. I need to do something constructive instead of analyzing everything to death- sorry but today I don’t have a burning need to write. I have a burning need to live.
Joe
Breakthroughs Response: "Skeletons Out of the Closet"
Most of my Right to Write writing is too long (and I too lazy) to transfer from my notebook to a post, so I thought I would reflect on one of the Breakthroughs articles. I've perused several and in general I have been struck by many reminders of myself in the "I noticed that what I was doing wasn't working" sections of the articles. It brought even more clearly to my attention that, in spite of the good things going on in Room 203, there are many activities we do that aren't quite meeting any sort of standards of excellence.
Thus far, I have particularly enjoyed Bob Pressnall's "Skeletons Out of the Closet: The Case of the Missing 162 Percent" in which the author addresses the problem students' revisions that usually don't really change anything significant about their writing. This has been a frustrating aspect of trying to follow a writing process with teenagers. You get them to the point of having something on paper, but they are either unwilling or unable to make it into something better. How many times in the past few years have I found myself with such students? It is easy to put the blame on the kids (and in some cases it is entirely on them), but how well do we really teach students how to revise? It's another one of those things that we often take for granted that students will know how to do. Pressnall presents a case for teaching students a method of revision that encourages them to take a skeleton (a few sentences) and add to it all the things you would need to have a complete beast (description, dialogue, etc.). After reading through his experiments with this method I am definitely interested in giving it a try next fall. But the key, as Pressnall discovered, is not giving them too much of a good thing. Luckily it looks like there are plenty of other good ideas in this volume and I bet I'll run into even more during my time with all of you.
Thus far, I have particularly enjoyed Bob Pressnall's "Skeletons Out of the Closet: The Case of the Missing 162 Percent" in which the author addresses the problem students' revisions that usually don't really change anything significant about their writing. This has been a frustrating aspect of trying to follow a writing process with teenagers. You get them to the point of having something on paper, but they are either unwilling or unable to make it into something better. How many times in the past few years have I found myself with such students? It is easy to put the blame on the kids (and in some cases it is entirely on them), but how well do we really teach students how to revise? It's another one of those things that we often take for granted that students will know how to do. Pressnall presents a case for teaching students a method of revision that encourages them to take a skeleton (a few sentences) and add to it all the things you would need to have a complete beast (description, dialogue, etc.). After reading through his experiments with this method I am definitely interested in giving it a try next fall. But the key, as Pressnall discovered, is not giving them too much of a good thing. Luckily it looks like there are plenty of other good ideas in this volume and I bet I'll run into even more during my time with all of you.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
"Eve ate the apple."
Diane Waff's article Romance in the Classroom: Inviting Discourse on Gender and Power really struck a cord with me. The quote (or phrase) that "Eve ate the apple" will not die. In my Religions of the World and Introduction to Philosophy courses we discuss the relationship between gender and religion and/or gender and power, and this phrase. For those not raised in the Bible Belt, fundamental Christianity holds that eternal damnation is secured from Eve's action in the Garden of Eden, original sin enters the world stemming directly from her initial disobedience--Adam follows suit and also eats the apple, but not first mind you. Historically, this phrase has been used over and over again, perpetuating many undesired outcomes and stereotypes. A few examples could include the myth of woman-as-temptress and to explain why women have painful childbirth experiences.
While I believe it is important to identify areas of inequality, addressing the historical roots that have been planted, I would rather focus on how we as a society can provide a more equal future. I believe as educators it is our obligation to bring issues of gender into our classrooms. How do we change society, or the value society holds of women without discourse? I have found it very helpful to bring newspaper clippings/magazine articles/documentaries with real-life examples into the classroom to begin these discussions.
While I believe it is important to identify areas of inequality, addressing the historical roots that have been planted, I would rather focus on how we as a society can provide a more equal future. I believe as educators it is our obligation to bring issues of gender into our classrooms. How do we change society, or the value society holds of women without discourse? I have found it very helpful to bring newspaper clippings/magazine articles/documentaries with real-life examples into the classroom to begin these discussions.
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