My education and writing experience in my discipline were fairly traditional. Reading classroom books and writing papers. We wrote poems during small poetry units, research papers, and essays. My senior year in high school we wrote a persuasive essay.
My teachers had me express my understanding of my discipline through papers and tests. Usually the tests were short answer questions and we had to use full sentences. If we were reading a play, then occasionally we would act out snippets. Usually we would just assign different people to read different characters. The only fun writing I remember was when our teacher had us write an essay from another person's perspective in order to teach us 'voice' and the difference between 'narrator' and 'author.'
I think the way I was assessed in my discipline, as a student, was fairly practical but not very creative. Also, it did not promote any rich understanding of the subject area. We did not have very many group or class discussions until my senior year, which was a concurrent enrollment class. The teachers I had were not very good at keeping the focus on the subject matter at hand to be able to assess our understanding. To be fair though, we were brats and didn't want to talk about whatever book they had us reading.
As I teacher, I see myself assessing students in much the same way. I want to teach a junior high level, and at that age they are still gaining mastery at the knowledge and comprehension levels. That's not to say that I will not challenge my students and ask them deeper level questions, but I will have to assess where they are at. I have never taught that age of students before to know their specific needs. I really want to work with them on a portfolio that will encompass a semester at a time. I want to give them a handout, describing the essentials of that type of writing (persuasive essay, haiku, short story, research essay, etc.) and then I want to have them put their example of that writing behind the handout that they completed. That way, they will have a reference notebook to use in their future writing careers.
I think that portfolios are a great resource for the future if done well. I completed a portfolio in one of my English classes and I still have it! It's a great way to easily refresh my memory on the key aspects of different writing styles. I like the idea of you providing the students with a handout of the essential elements that will be something to guide them through the writing process but then they can include it in their portfolio and keep it as a reference for future use too. Good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of covering all different kind of writing and giving students a worksheet that they can continue use throughout their whole life. Not only is that a huge help to their writing skills but it helps them see how your content relates to the "real world". Good idea.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the argument that English teachers ought to prepare students for the types of professional and technical writing that they will do in college and in the workforce. This writing is often persuasive, argumentative, and informational. I do think that the other goal of English, though, is to get students to LOVE writing...to see its value in our lives for a variety of purposes, to make us laugh, to connect us with others, to help us hash out and clarify our own ideas, etc. That's why I really like your idea to write using a variety of genres and for a variety of purposes, from short fun papers emphasizing "voice" to more lengthy papers emphasizing other traits.
ReplyDelete