It seems obvious, though, that that easy answer doesn't get through to the "7,00 young people [who] drop out of high school" every day (Graham and Perin 2007, 3). So how do we penetrate the minds and writing skills of the "70 percent of students in grades four through twelve in this country [who] have been designated as low-achieving writers?" (Graham and Perin 2007, 7) I already mentioned that I liked the idea of connecting their need for better writing skills to real-world needs because even if those kids do end up dropping out, it is also true that "writing has become foundational to finding meaningful employment." (Gallagher, 3) So those kids can drop out if they truly believe school is not worth it for them but that does not take away from the fact that if they went into the work force after, finding a job that they are passionate about without the proper writing skills is going to be difficult. And just maybe, that would be enough to keep at least a fraction of those 7,000 students in school.
Gallagher's 2nd premise, however, I may have some issues with. Although I agree that teaching students through modeling is a great way to show that writing is a process and not just the final product, it can be difficult to do that without imposing your own strategies on them. For example, I write essays a totally different way compared to how my brother writes essays. There are a couple factors that go into why. One is that I'm a history major and he is an industrial engineer. As Wilson says in her article "A Social Semiotics Framework for Conceptualizing Content Area Literacies," there are different ways to write and analyze in different disciplines due to the complete different focuses in each content area. The second factor that goes into the different writing strategies of my brother and I is that we're different people. When he writes, he writes a solid thesis first and finds information to back that up, which is exactly how many teachers teach their students to write. However, when I write, I simply write a rough thesis, go on to write what I know and develop my actual thesis right before I finish my conclusion. Both my brother and I are intelligent and got good grades on our papers.
One of the biggest points that stood out to me in the readings is Wilson's idea that "students have often not received instruction on how and why the forms of texts they are expected to write might vary as they participate in different disciplines." (Williams, 442) So while the other articles spoke about general ways to get your students to write more and improve their skills, Wilson goes in depth. She goes through each discipline and talks about what are the different texts they focus on and why. For example, history mainly focuses on written texts such as primary sources and textbooks. Science, on the other hand, mainly focuses on material texts, such as looking at a germ through a microscope during lab. Two totally different texts that can be analyzed and written about in two totally different ways. So when Gallagher says to teach students the art of writing through modeling the way you think and write, I believe it can be beneficial but only to a certain degree because it goes way far beyond than just showing students how you think and telling them to duplicate that in their own writing. First, because every student is their own thinker and second because if every teacher did that, students would be handed all different kinds of strategies in different content areas without any explanation.
I definitely agree with you on the whole idea of modeling writing formats for students and how it is beneficial, but also has its drawbacks. I think students should be shown how to write properly because this probably would keep a fraction of students from dropping out of school. Students know they need to do well in school to be able to pass, but what do you when they believe they don't have the skills and tools to write well enough to get them to that point? I think that teaching our students how to write can be helpful, but they also need to know that just because I or some of their classmates structure my writing differently or have a different process (my writing process is very similar to yours) that that doesn't make their process wrong. Gallagher makes a point I agree with, "Much like painters who create different kinds of paintings, writers create different kinds of writing. Giving students stacks of newspapers and having them hunt for the various purposes helps them begin to understand that not all writing is the same" (Gallagher, 2011). This goes along with your point about students in different disciplines writing differently and showing our students that there are different ways of writing so just because two students write two different ways does not mean either of them is wrong with their process.
ReplyDeleteAlso, students need to know the "why" aspect of their work because as human beings we question ideas and concepts. I've heard students time and time again ask questions like "Why do we need to know how to write properly? Why can't I just fake my way through school so I can pass? My future career doesn't require me to write essays so why should bother doing this?". I think if students know they are able to write well and we show them that they do have the skills to succeed then less students would drop out because they already know they need certain skills to make it in the world of jobs. Doing that extra work to show students how to write would probably make a noticeable difference. As teachers, we should show students examples of how to write, but also give them the space and guidance they need to develop their own writing because you're right that "every student is their own thinker".
I also agree that writing needs to be taught by modeling, but they also need time for “free writing” so they are able sit and enjoy writing. Students would benefit knowing that it is something “fun” for them to write without the pressure of grades or writing to the test. By giving students time to write for fun, gives opportunity to increase their writing skills and hopefully become more confident in their own writing abilities. I also believe that having students work in groups can be beneficial as well. You can group according to ability or mix the students randomly. Having students learn from one another can be more beneficial at times. Students are more willing to talk and learn from one another knowing they are not under pressure as can be during whole group instruction. Free writing brings out students creativity and helps with spelling and grammar. I like having students read their writing to a partner. When reading it aloud, allows for the student to hear their writing and listen for mistakes they may have missed.
ReplyDeleteFatima,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. The first point you make mentions the statistic that 7000 students drop out of high school every day and that 70 percent of high school students in grades 4-12 have been designated as low achieving writers. Obviously this is a huge problem that needs to be addressed. You mention that a partial solution for this is to show students that in order to succeed in the professional world, they must know how to read and write. I like this idea and agree that it may work for older students who actually may be starting careers in a few years but younger students may have issues relating to this. I think instead it may be good to do what Gallagher proposes which is show students the "multiple purposes for writing." I like the idea that Gallagher proposes to give students a stack of newspapers and have them "hunt for various purposes" (for writing). This gives students a connection between writing and current events and could connect to more students interests.
Thank you John, I appreciate you enjoying my post. I realize that the idea of the need for writing in the professional world would not be relate-able to younger students and I agree that Gallagher's idea could very well be the key to bring in the younger students to want to learn. I often see, though, that younger students also always go for the easiest possible way to complete the project and not something they are totally interested in. So maybe if it was used as an in-class activity that was not graded, I agree it would peak the interest of younger students. In both cases, however, I feel as though there are always going to be students who slip through the cracks and will never understand the importance of writing outside of the classroom. That's not to say that we give up on them, just that it's important to recognize that.
DeleteWhen reading this piece, I also agree with your stance on the importance of writing outside of school. like you bring up, for those who drop out, they might not view writing as a valuable skill since they associated it with school, but many employers do ask for some type of writing skill and so it is important to teach every student the importance of writing. not only that but it is important to stress to students that knowledge is important in general. what I mean by this if the students views the concept of knowledge as important as it is, that is that without knowledge it is going to be hard to make it in life, then the will view other aspects pertaining to knowledge as equally important. hence writing skills, so while it is important to show why writing skills are important, this can be done by showing them the important of an education as a whole.
ReplyDeletealthough you disagree with his point that students should be modeled on how to write, I happen to disagree with your stance. as you mentioned , you and your brother have different ways of writing, it is important o know that both your styles where most likely influenced by someone, as your brother was with the typical at of writing being taught. although yours might be different, and there are those methods that are different from both your ways, there should be a model for the student to view each style. that is, teachers should show different ways of writing a piece as to provide students different alternatives that could work for them. so teachers should be models for students by modeling different methods of writing.
Jose,
DeleteI see how you would disagree with my point and I understand why. I should have clarified more and expanded on that idea because though I agree with being a model to your students, I also have often seen that with becoming a model usually comes the grades given to that method that a teacher is modeling. For example, if my teachers did model a method of writing in my class that I was not comfortable with, that is totally fine because I know my own method of writing or was at least developing it. If i deviated from that method that my teacher was modeling, I was given a lesser grade because I did not follow the method of writing that my teacher was modeling for us. So while I agree that modeling methods of writing could be beneficial, I also think it should not be done to the whole class because then you tend to grade by that method. Instead what could work is if a student comes to you for tutoring or you see that a student is struggling, you talk to them at a different time and explain some methods of writing that may work for them.
I liked how your brought up tbe peraonal dimension of writing. Your example you brought up with you and your brother who work in different feilds clearly read different text and produce writings differently. I would even take it a step further to say even people within the same discipline can and will produce different styles when it comes to writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teaching writing through modeling can be extremely limiting to students. However, I think its really important to that kids learn a structured, step-by-step way of writing a paper or what not. This is mainly for the sake of helping kids learn to write efficiently, and make the whole process less stressful, which I believe, in turn, will improve students' writing. That being said, I think if one were to teach writing through modeling it would be really important to stress that this is not the only way of producing written work and that students can mend the process to what suits them. Another solution may be giving them multiple examples of how to organize and write their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteUriel Rosales
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your writing because I was or still am one of those students who would constantly ask questions to an adult or teacher. I place a high value on a students origionality but at the same time I feel that everyone needs to understand that in order to excel in education And especially higher education, you need to start at an expertly written piece and from there allow your origionality to flourish. Students need to build off the research of experts but also not be afraid to question that knowledge because a of is constantly being reexamined and rewritten. There needs to be time set aside for students to develop their own thoughts into something that they can present to others and utilize later to suit their needs.
Fatima:
ReplyDeleteYou make some excellent points. Although the Gallagher article has its flaws, she brings up very concrete insights about writing in the classroom, which revolve around relevancy. She first asks to introduce young writers to real-world discourses. This has the effect of demonstrating effectively that in the real world, writing does matter. When I teach writing, I ask all of my students to raise their hand if they intend to go to college. Then I ask how many would like to become doctors or nurses. I then ask how many would like to go into business. I also ask how many would love to write poetry or song lyrics. Most students raise their hands to my questions. Then I tell them that all of those things have to deal with writing in the real world and how necessary it is to be able to write well. Gallagher is bringing forth the nature of relevancy in the classroom. I agree with you that it is important in order to demonstrate the necessity and importance of writing by “keeping it real.”
Her second premise is to provide students with extensive teacher and real-world models I agree with your opinion, but bear in mind that she has a great deal of experience in teaching her students to write. When she say, “…no strategy improves my students’ writing more than having my students watch and listen to me as I write and think aloud.” She is modeling the process to her students, she is getting them to understand the cognitive processes involved in writing, and they all see this in real-time. I agree that we are all different when it come to our individual approaches to writing, but students need to see the different teaching and real-world models first to see which one may “fit” better with that student. Just like when I teach timelines to my students, I teach them several different approaches and allow them to pick the one that works best for each of them. The same goes for writing. First we have to take the lead as teachers and demonstrate the writing as modeling then further expose them to different ways they can approach writing. A teacher can even ask students to volunteer their own way of how they do it and share it with the rest of the class. In the end, it is up to the student to find his/her own path to clear and effective writing. We are not so much teachers as we are guides to them, and they need to see what models and methods we can offer them first, then give them the chance to find their own approach. Lets show them the various tools first, then ask them which tool would work better from essay to essay (whether it is a science essay, or history essay, etc.).