SDIPERNA SP22 618 Blog

 Dear Dr. Jones, It is exciting to think that we are already at the midpoint of the semester. I have enjoyed class and getting to know my fellow classmates. It is very exciting to be back in school as a student and I am looking forward to continuing my graduate studies. Overall, I feel that class has been going well! This is my very first semester of graduate school and I was nervous to start out the year. I quickly felt at ease in the classroom and enjoy the atmosphere of the class. I felt that I acclimated quickly to class and balancing homework and work. I didn't know what to expect when I started, I was very curious of what the format of the class would be like. I am enjoying the structure of class and of giving us time in class to feel as if we are in a writing workshop. I like the way in which we are grouped together for our projects. This allowed for me to feel more at ease when it came to working with others and opening up in class. I am also enjoying what we are learning. ...

In class, we recently used the Card Strategy Lesson that was written about by Kucer & Rhodes in their article, "Counterpart strategies: Fine tuning language with language"(1986). This activity allowed for us to brainstorm about our topic for the genre pieces project. Reflecting on my experience with this strategy, it provided me with a sense of clarity in terms of which path to take for this project. I knew that I wanted to do something regarding diversity in literature but I felt that that was too broad. I wanted to narrow down my topic and make it feel more concrete. I then had the thought of focusing on banned books. Going into class with this being my train of thought, I welcomed the card strategy! This brainstorming did not disappoint. By allowing myself to just come up with terms that had some type of connection to my topic, it allowed for me to gain insight into my project. I realized that all the key words and terms that I could relate to the topic of banned books...

 I wanted to spend some time thinking about a writer's voice. When I read chapter 3 in Tompkins textbook, there was a section about the six traits when it came to the writing craft. This section has been the most helpful to me in terms of how to teach writing. The figure 3-1 on p.58 in Tompkins textbook, was a chart that I spent quite a lot of time looking at. I placed stars and sticky notes on this page to go back to and spend time with it. I teach seniors in high school and I feel that if I gave this chart to my students, they would view it as beneficial. The one trait that made me pause was voice. This one spoke out to me because I often feel that as students are being taught to be writers, teachers can become fixated on the other traits listed such conventions and organization. While these are very important traits to the writing process, I start to think about what happens to students as they get older. The fixation of certain traits stays and we can miss the opportunity to al...

This class has allowed for me to think critically about my own teaching. During undergraduate schooling, I always felt that there was a lot of instruction on how to create readers out of your students. We spent a lot of time focusing on reading strategies and how students can use these strategies to enhance their reading. Not as much emphasis was placed on the writing component. This class allows for me to think about how I'm not just creating readers but I am building a room full of writers as well. My writing instruction is for seniors in high school so I am trying to focus on how my writers can craft writing that goes beyond the five paragraph essay that they have dealt with for the past three years of high school. I am trying to push my students to feel less like a class but as a workshop where there is true ownership of their writing. Looking at my own teaching, I feel that it is easy to get stuck in a very regimented style of teaching writing. I teach seniors in high school a...

  I have had experiences with writing workshops both as a student and as a teacher. Thinking back on my experiences as a student, I would say the most beneficial workshops occurred when I was a college student. I don't have many memories of using a workshop model like the ones suggested by Tompkins or Calkins & Ehrenworth. My time writing in elementary school setting was spent sitting at my desk completing the writing assignment and then revising after speaking with my teacher. The student-teacher interaction was the only component I had that feels similar to the readings. As I write this, I am trying to actively remember my experiences as a writer in school and a "workshop" type of experience is not coming to mind. It never felt like a community of writers but more so, as if we were all just trying to finish an assignment for class and hand it in for a grade. I wonder if I felt that I was part of a community of writers when I was younger, would my outlook on writing ...