Entry 13: What Blogging Taught Me

 This semester, I acquired information that altered my understandings of reading/writing and provided me with new insights. I demonstrated my findings in a format that was unfamiliar/new to me... blogging! At first I found blogging to be really odd, because I have never done anything like it before. I don't have Facebook and I do not post on Instagram very often. Thus, writing my thoughts in a manner that is read by others, in a way that reminds me kind of like a newspaper article (with less formality at times), was tricky. 

Yet, just like anything, the more practice I had (the more blogs I did) the more confident I became! By engaging in these blogs, I came to recognize a few important things about the format itself (that the learning outcomes do not fully mention). I enjoyed having the chance to explore my peers work (blessing/addressing or pressing their thoughts) later on in entries. That is a very important skill to do as an educator, to collaborate and extend/share knowledge! The incorporation of visual images, in addition to our online format for sharing information, helped to provoke my thinking and reminded me what was important to take away. I loved adding pictures to my work and often added around 3 to support my "bigger" points. Looking at my peers and I this semester, from our blogging experience we have truly become "a community of writers" (Lacina, 2012, p. 319). Writers who are engaging in practices that correspond with the time frame we live in, a world filled with technology. Working with others, selecting media to convey meaning and engaging in an online format are all important skills that have become more polished for me, and skills I can teach my future students (where fit).

Our student learning 618 outcomes:

1.    The variety of modes, genres, and formats for reading and writing

Focusing on mode and genre were two areas I hardly thought of prior to this course. Thinking of the format of a piece of work, I often focused on the aesthetic aspects, and not really the format/tone for the writing. I learned a great deal about genre style, when interacting with the Tompkins text. I transferred my knowledge from this experience and our writers workshop classes, unto my blogs. From here I practiced writing certain genres (like a friendly letter to Dr. Jones) or explored more about the mode/format when looking at my peers work. 

2.  The role of purpose and audience in writing and reading and the elements of author’s craft used to address the desired purpose(s) and audience(s)

       In my first blog, I recognized that blogging in itself requires me to have a perspective that aligns with my thoughts and purpose for presenting my thinking [to persuade, entertain or inform]. Often when I wrote my blogs, I wrote them in a manner where I was trying to show my big take away(s) in relation to the field of education. I recognized that my audience was my peers, Dr. Jones, and myself. My thoughts, questions, and findings can be seen in providing "advice/takeaways" for what is important to recognize or implement. My writing often informed my peers, while at times I may have tried to persuade them with language that highlights what educators need to provide for students. 

3.    The cognitive processes and strategies of reading and writing, including the composition strategies used in crafting and comprehending texts

       My own ability to write has developed through the use of these blogs. In Blog 2, I discuss how "Writing... is a skill that develops with use. Writers need time to write" (Calkins & Ehrenworth, 2016, p. 8). As I have written each blog, I take the time to reflect on my previous entry. I am always seeing where I can build off of my thinking (by re-considering past knowledge) and I engage myself in an inner-dialogue to think critically of reading/writing/teaching literacy. Reading and writing both require us to be alert and aware of the information being conveyed! I certainly feel more confident in my ability to teach writing (or how to engage students in literacy activities) now, vs. what little I knew from the past.

4.    The relationship between the writing and reading processes and the iterative nature of the composition and comprehension processes

      Much of my writing from this course centers on Tompkins, but I also aim to incorporate outside research. Bridging together what I have read and what I can write about those findings, has certainly impacted my ability to comprehend the key takeaways from this course. In my third blog, I come to addressing having students apply what they learn in practice activities. Thus, being able to transfer skills over, incorporating writing words to reading those words in sentences, increases students retention of the word and its meaning. I also appreciated how from class we read Tompkins, and wrote/engaged in hands on instruction during the genre workshops. From these experiences, where I looked at specific genres (outcomes 1 & 2), I was able to see how I could educate future students and show that reading and writing go together. From blogging, I have been provided the chance to explore my understandings and my "ah-ha" moments, which have added to my knowledge about significant literacy principles/genres.

5.    The role of metacognition in writing (composing) proficiency and reading comprehension

 I have seen the importance of acknowledging the PROCESS of writing! Often we forget that it is ok to get stuck, to change ideas, to question our work. All of that is natural when we write! Calkins and Ehrenworth (2016) as stated from my fourth blog say it perfectly, "all writers... engage in the process of writing... [to] collect and organize; they draft, they revise, they edit" (p. 7). As I have been writing these journals, I often find myself editing my wording and reflecting on how I can be more clear in expressing my thoughts. I try not to rush getting to the end product, because the process is just as important! In my fifth blog I share how at times the process of learning to write as Tompkins describes (each step we shall take), are steps I can find to be difficult to do at times. 

6.    The role of assessment and evaluation in determining student development as composers and comprehenders of texts

This is an area of my journals that I did not shine much light upon. Yet, I now recognize how reading and writing have many layers that require educators to support students in now only learning, but also demonstrating their understanding. Even quick check-ins, like having students write lines from a mentor text to show their understanding how that text is persuading or if the sentence is a descriptive sentence, will be important to incorporate! Having students become aware of their prior knowledge to current knowledge is powerful and can be done through checklist or writing activities [like the poem I just mentioned in my twelfth blog, "I use to.. but now"] (Tompkins, 2012, p. 159). We have to have students not only learn about the genres (or see the connection with reading and writing), they have to practice doing it themselves and become aware of where they can improve as scholarly learners. 

References

Calkins, L. & Ehrenworth, M. (2016). Growing extraordinary writers:                Leadership decisions to raise the level of writing across a school and a district.    The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 7-18.

Lacina, J. & Griffith, R. (2012).  Blogging as a means of crafting writing.  The Reading Teacher, 66(4), 316-320.

Entry 12: Learning About Genres & Mentor Texts: What It All Means

Before this course, I never realized how important it is to teach students specific genres and how it can be done in such a fun engaging manner! How as educators we can create an awareness of authors message, word choice, and form. My learning has been transformed for specific genres, based on my ability to collaborate and further read/view specific text types (like Tompkins examples) for clarity. Writers workshop has allowed me the chance to expand on what I know/thought I knew, and the opportunity to gain interactive feedback, in addition to in-the moment support. 

Two genres I thought I knew well were narrative and poetry writing. Much of my prior knowledge was on the look of the genre and not necessarily an in-depth inside view of how to write in that specific style. I did not realize how detailed both genres are! I always thought they were the more "easy" genres to understand and do. For narrative writing, I used to just picture a story written from the characters point of view or an outside author-like voice. Everything seemed very surface level (location character is at, name, begging/middle/end parts = "good" story). Narrative writing was not anything "fancy", as it was just writing out my/or one's thoughts on a story in factual manner. Though I was unavailable for the poetry groups presentation, often when I heard the term poetry in the past, I just pictured words rhyming and shorter sentences. I thought of old written English and how poetry can be confusing at times. It was not until I looked at Tompkins, that I realized all of the different examples/subcategories. That poems can represent prior and past knowledge, learning/personal goals and inquires. 

For narrative writing, my peers colored coded chart handout for setting, characters, and point of view was a great tool that opened my eyes to what students need to learn! I myself did exactly the same line of thinking as Tompkins (2012) suggests, "Often they think that setting is simply where the story takes place... buy there are three other dimensions as well: weather, time and time period"(p. 183). My group had selected the text I grabbed from the table, a picture book about the story that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. It was a really captivating tale! I found myself searching for what the weather was like, the time of day or period (for the setting), and I started to understand the character (behavior) of the main characters better when I was able to focus on their monologue and dialogue. From this activity, with my peers we looked at the language used in addition to the pictures. I pulled and synthesized from the text itself, to understand more of the story (the characters actions/what was happening & why/etc.), and shared my thinking with my classmates. 

Having the chance to quick sketch, I found to be hard! Representing the time period, especially when time jumps years in this book, was tricky in a pictorial format. Yet, I discovered that I was able to focus on the most important time dates to include in that picture. It made me realize a question that newly formed for me: what will I teach my students to focus on, if they pick a text (like this) where there is no one set location or timeframe, but it continues to change? My whole group was a tad stuck on what should we draw for the quick sketch, how can we show a four year time period, and two locations (war/zoo/etc.). We agreed to draw specific key parts (like a Zoo sign, incorporate London and a sunny sky with the date). My peers also did a great job explaining how we would find the point of view, an area with four different styles (that I never even realized existed). For this genre, I came to have new realizations based on my ability to draw, vocalize (what I observed in the text relation to narrative writing techniques), and collaborate with my peers.

For poetry writing, I was unable to attend our class but I did engage in the reading and reviewed my peers shared materials. I wanted to acknowledge that I never realized HOW MANY poems exist!! It spanned 12 pages, which shocked me because I often think of rhyming or the occasional open style writing called free verse (as seen in Tompkins from pages 156-168). From looking at these poems, I had never heard a good number of them, but the one that

I was interested in was the "I used to... but now..." poem (Tompkins, 2012, p. 159). I think this poem would be a very powerful tool for students, as they can reflect on their prior knowledge to their newly learned knowledge about a variety of topics! Having the opportunity to compare ones understandings would be a great way to develop a deeper understanding of a topic (while learning how to write in the genre of poetry). I appreciate how the poetry group incorporated how the mentor poem texts selected made us feel. Poems do often try to invoke emotions and I feel that it was a good opportunity for the class to see how poetry is all about form and word choice (appealing to the purpose/audience). I also found it very interesting how poetry can be fitting for struggling readers, due to it's design to "be rhythmic, creative, unusual, and accessible" (Concannon-Gibney, 2018, p. 431). 

When I look at mentor texts, I see how to engage students in hearing/seeing what the genre can sound and look like. I see how text can take on specific looks (like ZOOM, ZIP, VROOM) from Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee, for the descriptive genre. From class, I have come to appreciate the collaborative moments where we worked with our peers to look at a text (like my experience during the narrative genres presentation). My thinking was provided further support or shifted when my peers shared their understandings. Mentor texts in my eyes have taught me (and will come to teach my students) to "realize that authors make choices when they write, and this awareness grows after experimenting with various writing purposes, audiences, and genres" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 16). Imagine if students had the chance to write their own mentor texts, through a genre they feel confident in and/or want to learn more about? I think that would be a very powerful opportunity! 

References

Concannon‐Gibney. (2019). Immersing first graders in poetry: A genre study approach. The Reading Teacher, 72(4), 431–443. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1728

Entry 11: A Genre I Often "Forget": Biography & Why We Need to Teach it to Students

 

This is another genre that I often never think very deeply about. Usually I think of a biography with the cover of an enlarged face, often from their shoulders up, sitting on a slightly dusty book shelf. To me, biography is a genre I have never sought out to intentionally read during my educational years. Yet, for my personal interests and those famous individuals who hold importance to me, I actually do have two biographies sitting in the bookshelf below my T.V, in my apartment. Still waiting to be read, seen in the pictures to the right. I guess I have always thought of biographies for "older" readers. Perhaps this is because I feel that most people on the cover of a book to read are for the adult generation, versus younger stars or people around my age. Until I found pictures of people who sparked my interest on the cover of rather beefy sized books, I would never have thought of purposely buying a biography to read it. I feel that a few questions which need to be answered, especially for young students to become interested in biographies, is what exactly does this genre provide readers? Why do we often seek to hear about the lives of others?

I really enjoyed my peers presentation because it opened my eyes to a genre I have often feel that I am "out of experience with"! It was refreshing be reminded of the differences of an autobiography (first-person chronological life span account), personal narrative (one experience), biography (someone else's life described by another person) and memoir (life events recounted with underlying themes). Which was shared from my peers handout guide, in addition to Tompkins. When thinking about the two bibliographies I own, I was reminded of a book I read not to long about for a college course at Nazareth. This book, pictured to the left, I would say is a personal narrative while also being a memoir. This book details a teachers struggle with the ups and downs of educating, but he also shines light on the important messages to take away (while using rich strong language to detail the real accounts in the process). I remember how this educational book made me feel after it. I was shook, both excited and terrified of being, becoming, a teacher. Reading his words, his experiences, his thoughts, had impacted me because it struck a chord of understanding and curiosity for what my own experiences would be to come. He had assured readers that it was going to be difficult, just as I was starting to realize, but he also shined light on how pursing this goal is the most rewarding feeling to ever go after. 

I think it is incredibly powerful to allow our students to experience biographies. Why not include a wealth of the thoughts, achievements, and authentic human experiences that students can learn from? When we expose students to this style of writing, we are teaching them to look at how expression/experiences is being worded and evoked. The language of the writer will be recognized for the purpose of reading and hearing the "true accounts of people's lives... gain[ing] insight into their subjects' personalities" (Tompkins, 2014, p. 230). By reading mentor texts from this genre, whether it is an autobiography, memoir or so on, we can come to teach students to focus on the demonstrated language seen. This will be used towards their own writing. In fact, I loved the 6- Word memoir we completed in class! This helped to indeed "promo[t] writing for the sake of expression, to reinforce the tenets of the writing process" (Saunders & Smith, 2014, p. 600). It made me really stop to think, how can I use language to portray my feelings or who I am, an aspect of me/my being, in only 6 words? When teaching the bibliographical genre, students have to come to recognize that they can connect with the reader or understand similar experiences, to support their own comprehension. They can read about experiences new to themselves, and they can reflect on how to be an author that is telling their own life, the life of another or so on.

  

When I think of biographies, my interest is peaked for reading more books in each detailed style. Our knowledge continues to build the greater we come to hear of similar (and different) experiences. There is certainly power in hearing others stories, but there is also power in having the chance to share your own experiences and understandings of the world around you. Based on this, students can partake in this style of writing, by " start[ing] with their earliest memories of traditions, education, religion, triumphs, defeats" (Muhammad, 2020, p/. 52). We can start to have conversations and discuss the importance of actions, of ideas, and recording/reading about the life of individuals who serve as models of excellence and everyday (even unexpected) "heroes". 

References

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating Genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Saunders, J. M., & Smith, E. E. (2014). Every word is on trial: Six-word memoirs in theclassroom. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 600–606. 

Entry 10: Bless, Address, or Press: Taylor L & Her Work :)

Hi Taylor, in looking at your Blog Entry #9, you explore the various elements that make up the narrative writing genre. I want to first address how much of your feelings in regards to the narrative genre were exactly like mine! I never realized that there were so many viewpoints (ways stories can be told), and many of the aspects of narrative writing may seem "easy" at first, but re-hearing these important concepts has allowed us to better recognize what they consist of/mean. My own understanding of including weather, time, and time period, in setting has really been transformed too! 

I would like to bless your recognition of the objective viewpoint appearing to be like "watching a film". Recognizing that you connect with this notion, can really aid in allowing students to understand the objective viewpoint. Perhaps you can connect with their own background knowledge of what it feels like to watch a movie, or watch others at home/school, what we experience, and how a viewer/reader of an objective viewpoint in a book experiences the same thing. As provided from the Narrative Presentation's handout, the chart on page 5 of the viewpoints details how objective authors "are godlike... [knowing] the thought processes of each character". To further press on this viewpoint, I would ensure that students learn specific terminology (learning that the objective viewpoint has terms such as what is seen and heard), and that they can act out the correct role in feeling what it is like to read (or "watch a movie") from the objective viewpoint. 

I would like to address further the two figures you mentioned from Tompkins that you find to be beneficial for your students. The Narrative Expert Presentation group shared a quote from Tompkins (2012) which explains how "Children's concept of story plays an important role in their ability to comprehend the stories they read" (p. 180). You liked the idea of having students tell a story's events through drawings as seen in figure 8-2 (Tompkins, 2012, p. 191). To tie into the concept of what viewpoints students are using, this would be a great opportunity for them to explore writing in a first-person, omniscient, limited omniscient, or objective viewpoint. Depending on the grade-level, students can either verbalize what is occurring in their story or add in some descriptions to further emphasize the point of view at play. For figure 8-3 which caught your eye, you like the notion that students can ensure they have included multiple aspects of the narrative genre in their piece of writing. I agree that this is very important for creating an awareness of paying attention to their thinking in their writing. I would like to address, how at times it can be difficult to narrow down who the main character of a story is, if there appears to be multiple main characters. Perhaps this is where we could potentially tie into how a viewpoint is being used and if we are receiving the thoughts of one particular character, more than another's? Or better yet, even painting a picture of the main character being the "star of the story" and other individuals as supporting side characters, would help students in knowing what to focus on. 

Lastly, I would like to press the importance of teachers not "push[ing] any one perspective on a child; they just have to create a space where children can think across history and develop their own perspectives" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 110). Interweaving criticality in our teaching of narrative writing is important (in my opinion). We can have our students be aware of the viewpoint and what that viewpoint is saying (or leaving out). Who does it belong to? What exactly does that mean? To have our students not just take everything they read or that is read to them as automatic truth or being correct. To think of the time period the story is being told from. Perhaps the author is asserting a very particular viewpoint on a topic, or what are we missing from the other characters viewpoints we are not receiving? I feel that we should not just teach the elements of narrative writing, but have students actively engage in being aware of what is being said and how to make sense of what they are learning. 

Thank you Taylor for sharing your thoughts! The two figures you shared from Tompkins are fantastic teaching tools that would allow you to further foster your students understanding of the Narrative genre. Great thinking! 

References

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating Genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Entry 9: Time for Me to PERSUADE You of My Understanding... of the Persuasive Genre!!! (See what I did there? ;D)

Last Tuesday, our presenters who did a fantastic job (Sam, Makayla and Taylor) opened my eyes to the importance of the persuasive genre and how I would have missed teaching my future students valuable literacy and life skills from this content area/technique. I do not recall the last time I thought about persuasion in relation to writing. I guess subconsciously, when I have seen an add or heard on the radio a commercial that is "overselling" a product/service. This tends to turn me off  from their product/service as I find any sincerity to be lacking, as it appears to be more of a money grab. The most recent memory I have of thinking more deeply about persuasion, was from a course I took right before COVID at Nazareth College (I cannot recall the name of the course for the life of me!), that had us look at media. For one project we had to essentially persuade our peers to buy our product. From this experience, I learned how I tried to gain credibility, and I often used logic and sprinkled in emotion words or provided examples that would tug at the heart strings. I discovered it was fun trying to merge together sincerity and acquiring my goal of having people "buy" my product. Now I have realize that in regards to teaching, I have never thought of teaching persuasive writing to students. I have often thought of teaching students to read and write, not to ENGAGE in different techniques and styles. I see the benefits now, of being able to adopt multiple stances as you read a piece of work, to know how you are being targeted, or how you can target what you desire/want to invoke from others. 

From the presentation and my engagement of the chapter, I learned how this genre can build on thinking critically and providing students an opportunity to showcase their own voices. Students can even have chances to learn from voices different from their own! To me this means having students explore Logos (logic), Ethos (credibility/character) and Pathos (emotions) texts in addition to having them write from each stance. I imagine having students
look at mentor texts or sentences spread out across the room, and they would record which persuasion technique each quote was. To me, their is power in knowing the difference between logical reasoning, experience, and emotions. When we see how language is being used, how words take on multiple meanings and how students "intellectual identities [develop] ... [those] new ideals in ways... [which] enlarge their mental powers" this to me is having an engaging education (Muhammad, 2020, p. 104). I have noticed that students often are driven by their emotions, as they are young and still maturing/developing. To present literacy content that evokes them to think of their own credibility, using their logic and emotions, we are presenting opportunities for students to work with one another to think beyond what the words are saying. 

As provided in the persuasive leaders presentation, when "students write persuasive letters and essays, they learn to think critically, differentiate between persuasion and propaganda, analyze arguments, and use oral and written language effectively in their appeals" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 252). To me, this sole quote shines light on the importance of teaching students the ins and outs of the persuasive genre and providing them the tools to engage in creating their own pieces, which is necessary for creating thinkers who analyze and reflect. I also imagine having a school based project, at multiple grade-levels that engages students in supporting their reasoning, would not only be a fun project (where students can be very creative) but one that showed the importance of why we express our thoughts in specific manners. I want my students to not write or read only because they are "told". I want them to pause and think for themselves, what is this text (or person) trying to say? How do I know what persuasion techniques are being used? Most importantly, why should I write or vocalize my thoughts that show case my experiences, my understandings, and my emotions?

 References

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating Genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.