NEATE SPRING WORKSHOP AND MY EXPERIENCE

This is actually my first time having a conversation with teachers from different schools and areas of study. It was really a wonderful experience for me. I was able to share my ideas and also hear from teachers what it is like to be in the classroom and what is expected of us as a teacher to promote a conducive environment for the teacher and the students. It is also surprising to see how every teacher talks about the standards and how generalized it is, and its effect on the students.

Hearing the three students in the Panel talk about their learning experience in High School and how it shaped their learning experience in College, was interesting. Sanchez JanCarlos who is presently a student at Johnson and Wales University, talked about his struggle with writing, mostly with starting the introductory paragraph. This problem was common among the speakers, which made me wonder if we teachers need to change our teaching strategies to better engage and develop our students writing skills. I won’t deny that as a first time teacher, I am more concerned about meeting my students’ learning objective, which is based on the standards. But listening to these students and having read Christensen’s book, I am beginning to change my students’ learning objective. Obviously, the standards is the format that every teacher has to align their curriculum on, but I come to realize that it can be modified to enable students’ voice and choice. After all, they are the reason why we are in the classroom.

Kimberly, presently a student at CCRI, expressed her concern on the generalized format and rules in writing that they as students in High School have to follow.  Instead of building their skills to become better and creative writers, it limits their creativity and makes them docile. Kimberly felt that if she had been given that freedom to go in-depth and write not just by following the generalized format, but writing how they feel on the topic, she would have been more prepared for writing in college.

Joey Carr who is presently a student at New England Tech,  reminded me of the student in Christensen’s book, who had a lot of ideas to write down, but couldn’t because of the five paragraph format which made her see herself as an incompetent writer. Joey expressed the fact that he had always loved writing and always had a lot to write, but he was faced with organizing his thoughts and putting down all his ideas when he was in High School. As a teacher, I always thought that students should only answer what they asked and not go beyond that, but these students made me know otherwise.

The points that I got from these students that I am going to take to my classroom is that:

·         In teaching, tie essays/narratives to topics that students care about makes them to want to write, which affirms Christensen’s words.

·         Giving students reflective essays; that is writing essays on topics that connect to their past experiences.

·         Providing students with resources they need to improve their knowledge and ability to write, and also how to get them.

·         Less focus on structure, and more focus on personalized writing.

DRIVING STUDENTS TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE AND POWER IN THE CLASSROOM

Developing students’ language and power in order to be good writers is something I have wondered about as I read through my students writing. Christensen made me realize that if I continue to ignore even the minor errors that my students make, “their lack of fluency with the language of power will follow them long after they leave school, silencing them by making them hesitant to speak in public meetings or to write…” (pg. 265). This is actually true because if we as teachers want students to write essays/narratives that connects to their life and for real audience, we need them to be bold enough to speak and present using “Standard/Marketplace English-the language of power”. More so, the students should be confident enough to write narratives for real audience.

Reading Christensen’s The Politics of Correction: Learning from Student Writing reminds me of one my student who is an ELL. She is in 11^th grade, and loves to write, BUT when asked to share with a partner during the think/pair/share exercise, she refuses and I always allow her to just be on her own while other students are sharing. But now, I realize that allowing students to be because they are afraid of speaking wrong results to no improvement and sticks with them. This also makes me think back to when I was in Secondary school. I don’t mind writing, but reading it out in front of people or the public was a big deal for me and I can’t even present in front of my peers. I remember my English teacher calling me out every time to present, knowing fully well that I dread it. She started by telling me to present in front of one of my peers, and then two, three, four, and eventually the whole class. Funny enough, I found myself confident enough to present in front of people. So, I need to help my students who are struggling with same problem.

Correcting the errors in students’ writing to me is the most important, because it makes them proud of their work when it is written right. But the strategy for correcting their errors really matters in order not to leave the students feeling dumb or incapable of writing. Christensen’s gave a very good method to start with when correcting errors. She said, “… start by telling the (students) what they are doing right” (pg. 265) and then follow them along the way with questions that allows them to realize their errors, providing model samples for the students to follow the format and see what they need to work on.

More so, recognizing the pattern of error(s) for each of our students helps by focusing on one error at a time. Mark Workman (the Coordinator of 6+1 Traits) and Jacqueline Raphael (the Manager) provided us with the “6+1 Traits” that we use with our students to improve their writing skills. According to them, “The 6+1 Trait Writing Model of Instruction & Assessment comprises 6+1 key qualities that define quality writing” and I agree with them because if our students are able to learn and make use of these traits, they would be regarded as good writers. These traits are, ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation. I think it is a good strategy to know the pattern of errors each of my students make using these “6+1 Traits, and correcting it one after the other in order for them to achieve mastery in their writing.

Although it is surprising to know that Christensen doesn’t grade her students’ paper, I understand the reason behind it. As teachers, our main goal is for all our students to achieve mastery in writing by developing the skills they need to become better writers. In as much as I know that it is impossible not to give students grade, I also agree with Christensen in the saying that, “students need to feel that their work is important, relevant, and meaningful… instead of rewarding or punishing students with grades, I believe that we need to create situations where students learn to care about the work they produce” (pg. 272-273).

Her words actually affirms Rick Wormeli’s talk on Formative and Summative Assessment. He said that if teachers want their students to gain the skills needed for them to produce authentic writing, we should spend the same time we spend on Summative assessment on formative assessment. His reason is that formative assessment “is the greatest impact on student achievement on feedback to the teacher… the whole enterprises of teaching and learning boils down to that formative assessment.” it really sounds right that the formative assessment should be awarded the same time for planning because that is the bedrock of our students development and mastery. Wormeli said that summative assessment is referred to as “post learning… the final decoration”, which shows that more attention should be paid on formative assessment.

I feel really loaded and over loaded with a lot of information and strategies that would help me in being a better teacher. More so, I have learnt what a classroom should look like, and how a teacher should be advocates for his/her students. It was really a great food for thought for me.

INTRODUCING WRITING BETWEEN LANGUAGE WITH THE USE OF MULTIPLE LITERACIES FOR ALL STUDENTS

Reading Pahl and Rowsell’s writing on “Conceptualizing Artifactual Literacies: A Framework” made me realize that students should be exposed not only to the literacy in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom. Pahl and Rowsell writes, “the literacy found in school is actually just one kind of literacy. Thinking about literacy in homes… gives a different feel for literacy”. As a teacher, combining these two domains of practice (School and Home) in the curricula, I believe would improve the motivation of my students to write. Also, moving from one Literacy to multiple Literacies would make learning more diverse in the classroom. Although I really don’t understand how “memories of objects are powerful pulls on identity”, and this is one question I would love to ask Pahl and Rowsell if I was to meet with them. I fully agree with the fact that drawing out objects from students “opens up their home experience and enables teachers to access communities that may not be visible within schools. I find myself involving my students in the use of artifacts in literacy learning, because I believe it would help to improve their mastery in the two domain of literacy practices, and also improve their writing skills.

Among the qualities that Pahl and Rowsell listed which defines Artifacts, I am more inclined to the third quality, “Embodies people, stories, thoughts, communities, identities, and experiences” because it is a clear definition of what a social-cultural classroom entails. The students are allowed to express who they are, what they like and express their language and culture. The example of the child who loves toy cars, which eventually spills into a story about cars reminds me of one my senior student who was asked to write a poem on any topic that interests him. At first, he had no idea on a topic to write about. But as we started discussing about his dream and what he wants to be in life, he expressed his love for cars and his dream is to be a mechanic. He then decided to write a poem on his love for cars, and he eventually was able to produce ten stanzas poem, which made him surprised and happy.

Encouraging the use of artifacts in essay/narrative writing is really a good way to make students engaged in the learning process, and also improve their writing skills. I remember when we visited Doc. Becky Shipe, at the visual arts studio, I was stunned to see that her dissertation had a mixture of artifacts and words in it, which made it look so unique and creative. The first thing that came to my mind when she was going over her dissertation was one of my students who finds it difficult to write an essay or narrative with lots of paragraphs, but she loves to draw. She draws to communicate how she is feeling, and she once told me that drawing is her best friend. I started thinking of how to bring out the creativity in her by introducing her to the multimodality literacy practice. Now, I am more confident that introducing this literacy practice could make this student more engaged and derive joy in her writing.

I think Pahl and Rowsell’s idea of introducing Artifacts to a Writing classroom is linked to Danling Fu’s book on “Writing between Languages”, although Fu, D is more concerned about the ELL students who are already writers in their first language and are learning to become proficient writers in English. She believes that “What they (ELL students) need while learning English is to make the transition from their first-language writing to English and from writing personal narrative to more formal academic writing” (pg. 5). She claims that ELL teachers need to provide their instruction with extra scaffolding for each student’s writing according to their literacy development level. More so, developing their first language as they learn English as a second language is a way to make the learning process faster. Danling Fu’s claims affirms Professor Rachel Toncelli teaching on how to make ELL students better learners and writers in the classroom, and also for teachers to realize that students first-language writing skills is a stepping stone to learning English.

Accepting the first language of the ELL students and introducing the Artifactual Literacy in the classroom boils down to creating a conducive environment that allows for voice and choice. This is what I as a teacher needs to understand and take to my classroom every day, in order for my students to achieve mastery in writing and all-round literacy. I feel equipped as a teacher with the necessary tools needed to develop my students in all aspects. Although, it is still overwhelming for me as a first time teacher, but it takes one step at a time to be the teacher who not only teach but care for the students.

  

KEEPING IT R.E.A.L IN THE CLASSROOM AND ITS CONNECTION TO STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE

Reading Stewart’s chapter one, I think that the central message to draw out is that every teacher should develop a positive relationship with all of their students, regardless of race or color. Also, providing a conducive environment for learning in the classroom, by accommodating and collaborating with the students through the learning process. Our students are the reason why we teach, so they should be our top priority.  

Hearing the story of Valerie, and how she escaped El Salvador to come to America with her younger sister for a better life, reminds me of the students I have in my class. The ELL students, who come from different part of the country, some with their parents, some alone. One could the see zeal they have in them to understand English, and be able to write fluently in it. I remember one of my special education student who is an ELL student. She always tells me how frustrated she feels when in her English class, and is asked to write an essay, but doesn’t know what to write. She is so good in Math, but she dreads English. This is why I continue to ask myself, ‘what other modification and specialized instruction should I put in place for a student like that? Obviously, it’s not all about translating the instructions and questions to their native language. But I think Stewart answered that question with his statement, “Keep it R.E.A.L”.

What are the R.E.A.L Instructions? According to Stewart, the full meaning of R.E.A.L is “relevant, engaging, and affirming literacy”. How do we as teachers provide the curriculum that is relevant to the students in order to make them engaging in the classroom, at the same time setting high expectations for the students? Understanding and incorporating students’ “surface culture and deep culture” and also involving the students in choosing the text that is to be read in the classroom. This is something I find strange to do, but I know as a student, if my teacher asked allowed me to voice my opinion in the planning process, I would be more engaged. As a teacher, knowing my students individually, their lives, their race, their culture is a way of creating that bond between them, which in line creates a conducive environment for the students.

Setting high expectation for my students, especially the ELL students who are still finding it difficult to get their way through English seems difficult. Danny Martinez in his writing, “Imagining a Language of Solidarity for Black and Latinx Youth in English Language Arts Classroom” talked about the bad experiences his parents had in school as ELL students. He used that to spell out the “physical and linguistic violence” against ELL students, which as a result makes these students attribute their “lack of knowledge …to their use of stigmatized language” (pg. 183). I agree with Martinez that it really hurts. Being a teacher with a different articulation, it hurts when you hear someone laugh at the way you speak or express yourself in English. I won’t want my students to feel that way, or feel that they are not smart or that their language is unwanted which means that their culture is unwanted as well. According to Martinez, teachers should embrace the language of these students and use that as a base to their learning English and having mastery in literacy.

I think Stewart and Martinez’s writing on how to teach our students, boils down to having a collaborative and cultural based classroom. Also, understanding who your students are, and what they bring with them to the classroom. Creating a good relationship with them. Stewart said “we (as teachers) need to ensure that we are learners of our students and their lives” (chapter 2, pg. 33). He also outlined sample rules and patterns that makes the classroom a conducive environment for both the teacher and the students. I love the sample rule 1, “I Learn, You Learn”, and I believe it’s the umbrella for the three other samples. Students also being the teacher in class makes the learning process more engaging for them. I also believe it brings out the rigor in them. I would make use of these five samples in my classroom, and see the reaction of my students to it. I am sure they would love it.

     

AUTHENTICITY OF DIGITAL LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM

Troy Hicks and Kristen H Turner’s “No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait” speaks directly to me, and how committed I am as a teacher in making sure that my students engage effectively in technology. “How far have we come? What have we changed? How are digital literacies really being taught, if at all? I think this are questions we in the school community have to keep on asking ourselves if we really want the students to achieve mastery in digital literacy.

The technology integration in Exodus Elementary School due to lack of funds is truthfully something teachers have no control over. “Wireless is unreliable, the single laptop is never maintained and one LCD projected must be shared among teachers.” This reminds me of when I was a high student in Nigeria. We don’t have enough computers to go round a class. The few computers we had in the school was found in the library, and the Principal’s office. Students only have access to the computer in the library a week before the School Examination, which is towards the end of the school year. This is just to practice for Computer Practical Exams. It is truly frustrating for the teachers and the students, and the only way out is to stick to methods that “do not imbed technology into literacy instruction.”

It is true that technology in the classroom cannot be viewed as an add-on, but must instead be used to cultivate distinctly digital literacies, which is in line with what Danah Boyd is encouraging us to teach our kids. She said that Technology should be part of life, and allows one to connect to people around the globe. Boyd also commented on the one fabulous thing that happens because of social media, “you understand yourself to be a part of a network”. This is one thing I want my students to get to know. But the only way they can, is by exposing them to digital literacy and building their skill in it. It’s our job as teachers to enlighten our students, because “they don’t understand how information is architected. They don’t necessarily understand the broader media landscape, the kinds of propaganda that go on”, which is why they need adults.  It’s not all about having students work in the computer/chromebooks, the students need to be able to use the technology to “consume texts in critical, creative ways.”

In a situation where the technology is scarcely available, teachers obviously need to work extremely hard to make sure that their students are given equitable opportunities to develop their literacies, just like other students form the district that have access to technology. Although, there is nothing the teachers can do in regards to the provision of the technology, but I think being an advocate and speaking out, which is one out of the three ideas Hicks and Turner gave to help teachers develop and improve students digital literacy. According to Hicks and Turner, “Digital literacy allows us to advocate and we can individually add our voices to the professional and political conversation.”

To build my students’ digital know-how, I need to “develop (my) digital literacy, engage in a larger conversation about digital literacy in education”, thereby supporting and building the skills of my students in digital literacy, which will be beneficial to them not just in school, but in the society at large. I can’t wait to build and develop digital literacies in my students, by putting myself out there, and being a model for my students to follow. This blog being my first attempt, makes me want to try more of this.

FIRING UP STUDENTS TO WRITE BRILLIANT ESSAY

I ask myself the same question in Christensen’s writing, “How do we get students to care enough about their writing so that they stay up all night? How do we make them so proud of their work that they don’t pitch their papers in the garbage can instead of treasuring them as masterpiece?”(pg. 121). When I give students an assignment to take home, it’s like you’re punishing them. This is why I agree with Christensen on the fact that connecting the topic to students’ lives and examining students’ models alongside other professional writers gives them the zeal to write more in order to improve their writing skill and “to write fire essays more often.

As a teacher, I think of it as something that will consume a lot of time for planning. Obviously, it’s a lot of work for the teacher, but I remember what Dr. Johnson said to me after co-teaching a lesson; she said that the priority of a teacher is always the students. You might plan your lesson within a set time, but it doesn’t matter if you get to finish the lesson, all that matters is the understanding of the students. Are your students following along? If after teaching my lesson, students still feel they don’t know what to write or how to go about putting down their ideas on paper, then, I know that I need to reteach!  No teacher would want to teach their students how to write an essay and still leave their students wondering, “How do I do this? What do I do?”

Christensen provides us with steps needed to develop, modify and improve our students’ writing skills. Choosing topics in the curriculum that links with the lives of students steers up their curiosity and eagerness to participate. According to her, teachers determine through their curriculum, who counts and who doesn’t, “whose stories are important and whose aren’t” (pg. 155). Christensen gave an instance of when “hurricane Katrina exploded across the South”, and left in its wake thousands of victims. She decided to include that in her curriculum to teach her students about society deals with these types of tragedies. She also allows her students to analyze the events and come up with a claim and counter-claim. This makes me to think about the incident that happened in one of the public schools at Providence. The shooting that took place in front of PCTA, which killed a student. I remember working with my students in class the next morning, and all they cared about was the tragedy that happened. They were all talking about it, and recognizing the victim as someone they know. Although, we held a moment of silence for the student that passed away, we could have discussed it more, allowing students to analyze the incident and talk about the aftermath of the tragedy. We could have asked them to write an essay discussing how the incident links to their lives, as well as their high school. Peers. This would have provided students with a greater opportunity for student voice and agency.

When I give a writing assignment my students often ask, “What comes first? What comes after? How do you end your essay?” When I work with them, I usually give them a graphic organizer with questions, as well as sentence starters for each of the paragraphs. Now, I realize that before giving students an essay to write, sharing different examples of introductions, evidence paragraphs, and conclusions from different brilliant essay writers, can help boost their confidence before starting the essay. Furthermore, introducing the “Think/Pair/Share”, allows students to share their draft with their peers as they write.  As Christensen said, “when students share their snappy openings, they feed off each other, and their playful shouts-outs of admiration and applause benefit both the nimble writers… as well as the struggling writers…” I tried this once with two of my students, and it worked. They both read their essay to each other, and you could see them correcting and adding what was missing in each of their essays.

I believe that all of my students can write, and always have something to say. All it takes is for me (the teacher), to bring out that skill in them. Obviously, it requires spending more time with the students, and “immersing them in curriculum that matters, getting them fired up about the content so they care about their writing, and then letting them go” (pg. 132).     

ACHIEVING MASTERY IN THE CLASSROOM

Watching the video on Rick Wormeli’s “Defining Mastery”, got me thinking on how I improve the creativity of my students, at the same time having high expectations for my students. Yes, as teachers we need to use the Common Core Standards as toolbox to make sure our students have mastery, and are prepared and ready for the next grade/college. Rick Wormeli said, “so many times standards and outcomes are really generalized” which I understand to mean that the standard is not specific on what evidence the students need to provide to show mastery of the content. The students can actually identify, create and revise “facts or opinion” to make it more “factual or opinionated”.

Asking students to “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well- structured event sequences” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3), is generalized because it did not say the exact technique and also if a student decides to write a narrative by creating his/her technique, would it be wrong? Giving room for students to be in control of their own work, and setting an example with a text model to show what elements is needed in their writing (just as Christensen said in her writing)  produces better outcome. Students will actually derive joy in their writing and achieving mastery at the same time. This affirms what Rick said, “grading is all about communication” and not bargain, having a conversation with the students to determine what would be tolerated as an evidence for mastery and gaining an A in the content/concept. Also, modeling what is expected of the students and making the students know they can do it, make them actually create their own masterpiece, create their own narrative on a life experience accompanied with imagination, just as Moshin Hamid, who his novel “Exit West” with a combination of his life experience and imagination of what the future would be like.  This is really a food for thought for me as a new teacher in the Providence Public School district.

As a teacher, my first attempt with the Common Core Standards, made me think, “so every students in my class has to have mastery in the grade level standards to move up to the next grade, and that is all that is to be done.” Then, being in the classroom with different diversity and needs of the students, I began to wonder the ‘what’ and ‘how’. What do I have to do and how do I accommodate the different needs of the students in the classroom and at the same time having high expectations for them? I also ask myself the same question Rick asked, How do you unpack or unwrap standards” to make my students have mastery in their learning process? Having read Michelle Kenney’s “The Politics of the Paragraph and reading Christensen’s Teaching for Joy and Justice, gave me the tool that can help my students not only derive joy in their work, but also achieve mastery of content.

The Standards, which Kenney described as “Formulas” doesn’t give enough room for students to be creative and express their thoughts. I am actually impressed with the NCTE 10 that stated, “Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English Language”, because that’s the only they can learn, which is what I practice with my EL students. I can also say that listening to Wormeli’s talk, also made me realize that to achieve mastery, I need to discuss with my students and make up the standards alongside the CC Standards on what the expectations are, thereby making the students part of the curriculum and grading . It is believed that student in the said grade level should be on the same knowledge level, which as a teacher in public school, I see opposite of that. They’re a lot of barriers that affect students, and not been able to recognize that and consider that is what makes the standard faulty.

I believe that promoting authentic collaboration among teacher and students is what it takes to achieve mastery. This occurs when students are applying knowledge or skills to solve problem, jointly analyzing or evaluating each other’s work, or creating a product, can actually help all students to build and improve their skill and mastery, as they work together as peers and also with the teacher. This is characterized by the teacher involving and accommodating the different diversity and needs of the students, showing one or more models to let students know what is expected to achieve mastery, and students exchanging points of view, persisting to question each other and understand versus acquiescing, contributing original ideas and completing assignments that reflect their thinking and ownership.

BRINGING OUT THE JOY OF WRITING FROM MY STUDENTS

          After reading Michelle Kenney’s “The Politics of the Paragraph and chapter 2 of Linda Christensen’s “Teaching for Joy and Justice”, I could see the similarities between these writings. They both focused on improving students writing by making room for them to write on their own pace and derive joy from their writing. More so, the standards for writing set for students prevents them from expressing their thoughts and believing they are not good writers. The Politics of the Paragraph is a tale of a high school English teacher’s journey into and out of formulaic writing programs as her school struggles with high-stakes exams. We could see Erica in Michelle’s class, who felt that she is a crappy writer because she was trying to incorporate all her ideas into the five paragraph that limits the writer to three ideas, which is how she learnt it based on the standard/formula. Michelle assuring her to “trust (her) own ideas and (her) own judgement”, is just letting me understand that as a teacher of writing we need to make our classroom a “social justice classroom (where) narrative is the heart of the class. Students’ stories build community and connect their lives to the curriculum” (Christensen 61).

          The only way this can be achieved, is by allowing students to write with their heart with limited formulas put in place. According to Michelle, these Formulas that is packaged in form of an easy-to-remember acronym (such as TEETH, TISAS, PEA and also Jane Schaffer’s formula), are systems that “encourage students to produce shallow, fast-food versions of paragraphs that don’t allow much elbow room for creativity or critical thinking, yet lend themselves to speed grading by a standardized test scorer…” In as much as we need the standards for an organized way of writing, students should be allowed to be in charge of their writing, while the teachers become facilitators that guide them through as they write.

          In Christensen’s book, she points out that rigor and high expectations need not be the sacrificial lambs on the altar of literacy development. She built her students’ confidence in writing by going through series of text, and linking it to their own life experience and the society at large, thereby the students and the teacher “gain glimpses of the kind of society (they) could live in…” and students in turn learn the academic and critical skills needed to make it come to life. Students write narratives of their own experience using the text as a model. More so, she makes the students mark with different color highlighter, the elements in each of the text (like the use of setting, flashbacks, blocking, figurative language etc.), and thereby giving them “their own criteria for their essays based on the examination of the authentic models”. Furthermore, Christensen discovered that when students share their writings among their peers, they care more on how their writing will be perceived by their fellow peers when giving feedback. This reminds me of Peter Elbow’s “Sharing and Responding”, which shows that peer response can play a significant role in the writing process, especially if both writers and respondents are engaged. Receiving feedback from their peers in turn help develop their skill in writing. Also, the students use color highlighter to mark all the elements that is in their writing to see if they used “all the writing tools”. This is a way of giving the students the opportunity to determine where they need to revise and make their writing better before giving it to the teacher for feedback.

          As a new teacher in the Providence School District, I feel like our students haven’t been given the opportunity to explore their own imagination and experience and produce an essay or narrative based on their imagination or experience. We tend to strictly follow the standards and rubrics, without considering the voice of our students as part of the teaching process, and trusting in their judgement, in line with the standards. One thing I would love to introduce to my students, is the use of text as a model to enable them write with confidence, while knowing what is expected of them. Also, allowing the students to be in control of their own writing, and collaborate with my students in creating the writing criteria/rubric that their writing will be graded on. Lastly, I want to end with this statement by Michelle Kenney, which is something that we need to keep in mind as teachers, and school district;

“I look forward to the day when all teachers can banish the canned formulas and have discussions about schoolwide writing programs based on their shared knowledge, experience, and expertise as professional educators.”    

POEM AS AN EXPERIENCE

          Jen McConnel, “The Teacher/Poet in V parts and Kati Macaluso’s “Finding the Poems that Hide: Why Students Should Write Poetry”, made me realize that Poetry is not just about reading and analyzing. I remember teaching the poem, “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats to my SS 2 students (in U.S it is called the 11^th Grade) and students looking bored and tired, and stating that they don’t like poetry. I asked one of my student why they don’t like poetry as much as prose. This student replied, “…..poems are complex and boring, I don’t like it. I don’t see the importance of us doing it and its usefulness to us…..” This is in line with what Jen McConel said in her writing that students should be allowed to approach Poetry creatively; to be not just the reader, but also the poet. Poems mustn’t always be works by Aristotle and other famous poets, it can also be poems by the students. In Kati’s writing, she writes a poem called “Forgotten Items”, which is about her experience at the grocery store, and how she ended up being a companion to an elderly woman who has been forgotten ‘by the one she loves most’. More so, Naomi Shihab Nye’s spoken poem, “Gate A-4”, talks about her experience at the airport; how helping an Arabic old woman who felt helpless due to her inability to understand English, and also the sharing of the ‘homemade mammal cookies’ made her realize the world she wants to live in, ‘the shared world’.

          These poems, written through one’s experience makes me wonder why the Common Core State Standards doesn’t make mention of writing poetry. Teachers of course has to follow these standards to the letter (which can be said to be the Dominant discourse that is being followed in the classroom), which makes the classroom to be more traditional. I believe that incorporating, ‘writing poetry’ to the curriculum will allow the students to come alive and get involved in the study of poetry, just as Kati stated, “While some might rightly make the case that writing poetry sharpens students’ linguistic awareness or knowledge of genre, I’d like to reflect on how writing poetry,…..might serve as an invitation to students to “live” as Nye says, in a particular way”.

          Poet Charles Simic, in his explanation of poetry says that the “labor of poetry is finding ways through language to point to what cannot be put into words.” This is the reason why students see poetry as a complicated work of art, because it is written so the reader would not fully understand it. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser counters Charles explanation of poetry in his book, ‘The Poetry Home Repair’ by saying that, “once a writer begins to work in the spaces between language and experience, the way she sees the world is forever altered.” I agree with Poet Laureate on his argument. I believe writing a poem about one’s experience doesn’t require the use of complex and abstract words in order for it to be authentic. Poetry should be a work of art that can be read and understood by the readers, and the readers should be able to link it to reality. This we clearly see in Naomi’s spoken poem, and also in Jen and Kati’s poem.

           As a teacher, I would incorporate writing poetry into the curriculum, and would follow the guidelines by Jen McConnel on ‘What I’d do now’. Approaching poetry not only through analysis, but allowing my students to write poems describing a character of their choice in a text, or allowing the students to write poems based on their personal experience. I believe this is a way to not only teach poetry, but to also develop the students’ skills in writing, just as Kati stated in her writing,

“…..I have tremendous faith in what poetry writing can and will do for these students’ linguistic dexterity, knowledge of form, and other technical knowledge. But I also wholeheartedly believe that the opportunity to work in the gaps between language and experience, like my own experience listening for and writing “Forgotten Items,” will serve as an invitation to live in a particular way: to seek out poems by becoming more fully present to the details and people that might otherwise go unnoticed.”    

RESPONDING TO JESSE HAGOPIAN’S STUDENT ATHLETES KNEEL TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD AND CHRYANTHIUS LATHAN’S DEAR WHITE TEACHER

Jesse’s writing on the students’ football team kneeling during the national anthem to protest against the “crisis of police terror in Black communities across the country…” in support of Colin Kaepernick who also knelt down during the national anthem, shows the power of youths in fighting for justice.  The Garfield High School football team and other high schools across the country taking a kneel is a way of making their voices heard as young kids, just as Garfield football player Jelani Howard said, “It really affected people and we showed that kids can actually make a difference in the world.” Also, Kaepernick told the Seattle Times, “We have a younger generation that sees these issues and want to be able to correct them… I think that’s amazing. I think it shows the strength, the character, and the courage of our youth. Ultimately, they’re going to be needed to help make this change.” I think I am in support of his statement in regards to the youths needed to help make a change. I remember as a youth in my Secondary School, my Business Studies teacher always reminds us of the saying that, “We are the future and the leaders of tomorrow”. This is her only way of making us to realize that we can help make the nation a better place.

It is really amazing to see these students give their voice out in their own little way to show that they are also part of the nation and are also affected by the injustice. The only way we can encourage them and make the youths know that they are accepted and are heard, is by telling the story of these youths who were courageous enough to stand for what is right, just as Jesse said in her final statement, “And let us not forget to tell the story of our youth today who, at great personal risk, are fighting to level the playing field by taking a knee in the struggle for Black lives.”

I think that the statement, “fighting to level the playing field…” is just a way of saying that there should be “equality for all regardless of the race, gender, class, social standing, and /or sexual orientation-both in and out of the classroom as well as the community.” As a teacher, I can say that this applies to our classroom. A traditional classroom doesn’t allow for equality among all the students, because the non-English speakers feel marginalized, which makes them to start having a feeling of social injustice. Also, the kids that have special needs, especially the special education students who feel less than other peers because of their difficulty in carrying along or understanding the concept. The only way that can be prevented, is by creating a cultural classroom that accommodates the needs of every students, thereby making the classroom a conducive place for all students to learn.

Chrysanthius Lathan’s “Dear White Teacher”, tells a story of a black teacher who isn’t happy with the white teachers who are always sending the colored students that are acting out to her for timeout or asking her to call the colored parents because they don’t know how to address them. She also expresses her confusion on why her son’s teacher (who is a white man), who teaches on the same floor as her, did not let her know that her son wasn’t acting right in his class until she got a discipline referral. According to her, when she confronted the teacher, he said he doesn’t “want to interrupt (her) teaching or use (her) as a crutch,”

To Lathan, she suspects that the white teachers are been defeated by fear of black and brown students. She affirms her suspicions when she sent an invitation to all the black students that have always been sent to her, to know why they don’t behave well in those classes. Out of all the reasons that the kids gave, I can agree with them on the statement they made that beats me, “You’re not scared of us. We are scared of you, though. Just kidding. I mean, scared in a good way. We’re scared to disappoint you.” This sounds familiar to me because I had a conversation with one of my student who is always acting out in class, and the teacher always wants me to pull the student out to the learning center. The student says to me, “Ms Eze, that teacher is always scared of me and always believes that I can’t act right….. I don’t want to be in her class.” I remember in the last class, Dr. Johnson taught the position that suits a teacher when standing in front of the classroom in order to have control over the class and also a way to get students to listen to you because students knows when a teacher is not confident when standing in class. More so, Lathan’s guidelines on how to converse with parents is a food for thought and I think following that recommendation makes for a good relationship with the parents.

Being in control of your classroom makes a teacher to know more about all their kid, thereby strategizing a way to meet all the needs of the kids in the classroom. This in line, makes the kids feel among irrespective of the race, gender, or sexuality. Jesse’s words that, “student athletes kneel to level the playing field” and Lathan’s words on, “care enough about this student to build and fortify your own special relationship with them” sends a central message on how to build a relationship with your students. In Jesse’s writing, the students are asking for equality in and out of the classroom, and in Lathan’s writing, the students are asking to be cared for.

Responding to Peter Elbow’s “Sharing and Responding”

“Sharing and Responding” is actually a pamphlet extract from a larger textbook, “A community of Writers”. The goal of this writing was to help “writers become comfortable and skilled at asking for feedback and giving it. I believe this is very important to know as writers because most writers feel pushed back in allowing other readers give them feedback or respond to their work, which could be as a result of fear of responders giving bad feedback or making their work look bad. Bringing out these 11 techniques of asking for response to one’s writing will make writers and also students confident, by choosing which of the response they would want from their readers. Also, students (readers) who are asked to respond feel reluctant to judge or evaluate their fellow classmate’s writing and give advice on how to improve the writing. According to Peter, writers do not need an evaluator, they need a thoughtful, interested audience rather than “advice-givers”. The techniques go from quicker to more time-consuming, easier to harder and from safer to riskier. Although, I understand the techniques and how it makes the writer develop confidence and trust with the responder, but I see no difference in applying the techniques of responding and asking for evaluation of the writing. This is unless if the writer wants to use the 1^st technique, “Sharing: No Response”, where the writer asks the reader to just read his/her work as a “form of communication or celebration” with no feedback needed. The rest of the technique, especially the 7^th technique, “Movies of the Reader’s Mind”, seems to be ranking the writing. The writer ask the reader to tell him/her “honestly and in detail what is going on in their minds as they read (his/her) words”, which according to Peter is the richest and most valuable form of response, which requires the writer to feel confidence in himself/herself, because when getting the response from the readers, they may say they don’t like the writing or be angry with it. What if the writer gets embarrassed or angry? This is a topic that I would like to discuss with the authors if I am to meet with them. I believe as a writer and responder, what is needed is trust between them, which is going to drive the objective feedback and the writer not feeling bad about it. Also, making the responder realize that criticizing or giving feedback to the work is not criticizing the writer, it is all about telling the writer what he needs to hear to make the writing better. 

Considering Peter Elbow’s “Writing without Teachers” and Kenneth Bruffee’s work on Collaboration and Writing, there is no doubt that peer response can play a significant role in the writing process, especially if both writers and respondents are engaged. In Bruffee’s foundational article, “Collaborative Learning and the Conversation of Mankind”, Bruffee makes clear that students are working “collaboratively on their writing not when students write or edit or, least of all, proofread, but instead when students (1) converse, (2) talk about the subject and about the assignment, and (3)talk through the writer’s understanding of the subject (645)”. Also, in the summary of Daniel Starch and Edward Elliot’s 1913 School Review articles in Kirschenbaum, Simon and Napier 254-59, they tell us what it is like to evaluate or rank someone’s writing, “We know the same thing from literary criticism and theory. If the best critics’ can’t agree about what a text means, how can we be surprised that nothing in literary or philosophical theory gives us any agreed-upon rules for settling such disputes.” This is also something to consider when a student hand in his writing to two different teachers for grading. The teachers will obviously give different grades because they don’t see it in the same light, which supports Peter’s writing about giving a non-judgmental feedback. Although, composition theorists are critical of Peter’s writing, arguing that it fails to empower students to effect change through language. These critics argue that Elbow’s theory “hides the social nature of language” (Faigley 531) and teaches students how to “assert a private vision, a vision which, despite its uniqueness, finally represents humankind’s best nature” (Berlin 487).

As a teacher of writing, I believe that Peter’s writing is a powerful force in composition studies. Placing the power and authority for learning how to write squarely in the hands of students, makes them feel involved and they will derive joy in their writing. Using such techniques as free-writing, open-ended writing, and other forms of private writing, students are encouraged to tap their own ideas over the academic community. So, the students will be in control of their writing. The teacher just leads them along, and their fellow classmates becomes the readers and responders. Also, as the teacher, before we begin the groups formally, the class looks at something I'm working on. I read it aloud; they read it silently. Then I encourage everyone to give a response. I let them see how the "I" statements work. ("I was with you there; I saw exactly what you were talking about.") The statements makes editors to tell the truth and keep authors from feeling like they're being attacked. I model the appropriate non-defensive author behavior that includes taking notes and responding gratefully to helpful comments. I listen, nod, and say little but, "Thanks." This is great fun for me, prodding them to take my writing to task, which eventually my students would have helped me immensely with my article. Then, I allow them to take charge of theirs. This affirms Peter’s writing on Sharing and Responding aims to help bring about a productive environment for group work. The activities featured in his writing moves from nonjudgmental kinds of responding to criticism to help build students’ confidence and trust.

My Response to Le Guin's "Operating Instructions"

“Literature is the operating instructions. The best manual we have. The most useful guide to the country we’re visiting, life.” (Brain Pickings, Maria Popova) This is an affirmation of the the writing of Le Guin’s “The Operating Instructions”. In her writing about words, Le Guin writes, “Words are the wings both intellect and imagination fly on”. This is a very strong statement to show the link between imagination and words. Words are needed to express one’s imagination and bring it to life. “The Operating Instructions” is a wonderful read which explores the question of art, storytelling, freedom and dignity.

In her work, Le Guin writes about children being taught to “co hear and learn the central literature of their people, or, in literate cultures, to read and understand it”.  This draws me back to my homeland where we have what are called African folktales, stories passed across too children by word of mouth, usually at the evening time when the moon is out ( which is why it is commonly called “Tales by moonlight”). As children, we are made to understand that all of these folktales are true life stories and that if we don’t learn a lesson from these stories, it might lead to serious consequences. But, as we grow, we come to understand that they are all fiction, told to teach us about our culture, values, and also how to grow to be a more successful and better person.

As a young child, I remember imagining and creating stories in my head, and that widened my imagination. I began to think beyond the stories and created new ideas, imagining what the future would be like. Thus, I can completely relate to one of the statements in Le Guin’s work where she writes, “their imagination is getting a very large part of the exercise it needs”. I believe that imagination is a key to every innovation that has been made in the past and present. For instance, Benjamin Franklin came up with an idea that electricity had positive and negative elements and also experimented with a kite to prove his ideas. Franklin’s ideas motivated others scientists to study electricity and eventually, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, and our world has been brighter ever since. As a result of the imagination of some people, who dared to turn what some thought were absurd ideas, into reality, electricity was discovered. Every technology and invention are due to imagination.

The dictionary meaning of Imagination is:

·         The faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.

·         The ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful.

Thus, Imagination allows one to be creative. It leads to elaborate theories, dreams and inventions in any profession, including education. Le Guin observes that like a tool, imagination requires that we first learn how to use it, and that storytelling and reading books serve as the sandbox in which we turn imagination into reality. If I could have a discussion with the author, I would want to discuss extensively on this point. School should be a place where children have the opportunity to use their imagination and experiment.

In her writing, Virginia Woolf considered memory as “the seamstress that thread our lives together...but it is our inner storytelling that orders memory into a coherent thread”.  Susan Sontag also says that “if imagination is memorably observed, it can reduce the spread and simultaneity of everything to something linear, a path.” Our life paths are paved with stories, the story we tell ourselves about what happened to us, why it happened, and how it made us who we are.

I think there’s a lot of benefits of Le Guin’s approach to teaching writing. There’s a strong quote from her writing in which she states, “The essential function of human community is to arrive at some agreement on what we need, what life ought to be, what we want our children to learn and then to collaborate in learning and teaching so that we and they can go on the way we think is the right way”. This applies also in the classroom. Young writers do not improve their writing skills simply because teachers require them to write (Englert, 1992). All writing is collaborative, just the same as Le Guin’s idea of “home” being something imaginary not one’s family or house. She says, “Home imagined comes to be. It is real, realer than any other place, but you can’t get to it unless your people show you how to imagine it.....”

I believe learning is not only about reading books, but also the teacher’s ability to lead students to widen their imagination through writing. As an English teacher and a teacher of writing, to be effective is to collaborate with students and create apprenticeships for them through guided practice. Therefore, writing instruction should include explicit teaching in which a teacher steps in to model and prompt, and then steps back to encourage students to make decisions and solve problems through their writing. Effective reading and writing prompts the expansion of students’ oral language skills, and helps them with the application of these competencies to understand and construct texts within a variety of genres.