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.