Formulaic Writing

              A teacher could approach reading and writing in many different ways to create meaningful experiences for their students in order to meet the Common Core Standards. One way to create these experiences would be to construct lessons or activities that are really hands on for the students. I think when students are really interacting with each other is when they learn reading and writing in an easy, fun way. I remember in elementary school we used to read in partners and we would set up two chairs, with the corners touching and facing each other, while we read. This has always stuck with me because it was a way for us to interact with each other while we read to one another. This made writing a fun activity for us. After students read something and they have to write about it, teachers tend to make the writing assignment very typical or boring. Teachers could open up the students’ minds about what they just read and really get them to divulge into the story. They could do something to get them to visualize what they just read and this would help them understand it a little bit more. For me at least, when I was in elementary school through today, I respond well to seeing visual representations of what I am reading or just learning in general. It helps me understand what I am trying to learn much easier.

            Wiley is warning us that “formulaic writing” could prevent students from becoming really creative with their writing and further their writing abilities. He states that this type of writing, “sends the wrong message to students and uninformed teachers about what writing really is (Wiley, 5).” He goes on to say, “To develop as writers, students must develop a repertoire of strategies for dealing effectively with various writing tasks presented to them in different situations (Wiley, 5).” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. When I was a freshman in high school my English teacher taught us that building our own “strategies” would help us with future writing assignments in high school. I still think about some of the things he told us that year. I think writing should be an expression of one’s creativity. This style of writing will prevent students from advancing as writers and showing their creative side through words.

            In the past I have experienced this type of writing task. During my time in high school I had some great English teachers, like I explained above with my freshman English teacher, but I also had teachers that in the end didn’t help me advance as a writer. During my senior year I took a British Literature English class that was offered at my high school. I could tell my teacher was passionate about teaching us the material, however he didn’t really give us writing topics that got me thinking beyond what the prompt was. Wiley says, “Consider that in Schaffer’s approach the goal of writing is to produce an essay of requisite length that contains the correct ratio of detail to commentary (Wiley, 5).” I remember turning in papers that had just this; enough information for me to get my point out, but it wasn’t getting me to think beyond the assignment. I felt that this teacher I had senior year just gave us writing assignments because he had to. That year I really didn’t know who I was as a writer, so this type of writing had a bad effect on me. Since then in college I have had some great English classes that have really opened my mind and I feel that I sort of understand who I am as a writer now. 

Larson/ Maier Response

This image above of multiple children’s books correlates with the image of the classroom full of books. I think it’s a great idea that Maier would send children home with a set of books each night. I can relate to this because at my elementary school when I was attending it they had something called “Book In A Bag.” Once or twice a month we would all meet in the multi-purpose room and each grade had a different color bag filled with books that we would take home and read. Maier does this but takes it a little further by putting a comment form that the parents have to write and sign on. This is a great concept because it has the children reading at least one book each day. They can read it with their parents, siblings, etc. Like at my elementary school she would make sure that the children were reading at their appropriate reading level. 

I thought this picture above was a relevant point to talk about because Maier’s classroom is a place she wants her students to feel comfortable and a safe place to be. Maier wanted to get to know her students while they also get to know her. In addition to this she wanted her students to be comfortable with each other. When I was in a classroom in elementary school where I felt comfortable I was able to ask questions in front of all the other students because I felt that no one would judge me. Many of my teachers did make the classroom a comfortable environment, like Maier has, and I plan on doing that when I have a classroom of my own.

The idea of this next image, which shows the classroom full of books, really caught my eye while I was reading. In her classroom, Maier has a lot of different options for her students. I really like this because it promotes students to read what they want to read and not have it seem so forced. “Students read alone, they read to one another, and they read to any person, adult, or child who spent time in their classroom.” Maier shows the importance of having literature in a classroom for the students. Additionally she allowed students to take books home by checking them out from the classroom. This got students to read what they want to read outside of the classroom as well. I think the way she promotes literacy gets the kids wanting to read, not just reading because their teacher says they have to. 

Williams Article Response

        When I read Williams' article, "Another opening, another show," I was really interested in his "70 different identities" that a teacher holds. He states, “We face problems as teachers when we try to either (a) perform an identity that is incomprehensible or inconsistent for our students or (b) inhabit an identity that we know our students believe a teacher should have but that doesn’t work for us.”I instantly started thinking of teachers I have had in the past that have demonstrated these qualities. When I think of identities teachers possess I think of when they try to be the students’ friend. When I was in high school I saw this come up a lot. There were many times when teachers, especially young ones, would really try and be a “cool” person the students could look up to. In a way I think this could be harmless but sometimes teachers just looked sort of tongue-tied trying to think of something funny to say. I think Williams puts it best, “I believe in being friendly to students, but I’m not convinced I can be their friend. Trying to perform that role does not make issues of power in student-teacher relationships disappear. A friend is not usually a person who has the power to grade, control behavior, and bring down institutional sanctions the way a teacher does.”This is also where a stand up comedian comes into play that Williams talks about.

         I have also had teachers that play more of a motivator role. I had a math teacher when I was in 8^th grade named Mr. Ballok. I can honestly say he is one of, if not the, best teacher I have had before I came to college. Mr. Ballok was very focused and strived for his students to do well. I remember getting B’s on his tests and him telling me to come into his classroom at lunch to work on math problems because he knew I could get those up to A’s. He encouraged all of his students in such a positive way that it really made us students want to do better. Having a teacher like Mr. Ballok was a huge benefit to me at that age. That one math class really changed the way I looked at learning, studying, and working hard. He opened our eyes to our full potential and I could never thank him enough for that. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago when I was in high school. I attended his funeral service with one of my good friends and who would have thought, but the whole town showed up. Many times when I am struggling on something in school, whether it be math or not, I think of him and how he would still be encouraging me and mentoring me if I needed him help. Just as he would be to any student that wanted some extra help. 

Book Club Choice

The book I chose to read for the book club is called Don't Forget to Write, for the Elementary Grades.  This book provides 50 creative writing lesson plans from the highly acclaimed 826 National writing labs. This nonprofit organization was founded by Dave Eggers. When I read that Dave Eggers was a part of this book I really became interested. I have read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and I really enjoyed it so I thought this book could also really interest me like Zeitoun had. Another reason I wanted to read this book is that the lessons included are linked to the Common Core State Standards. All different people contributed to writing the lessons in the book. For example, the lessons were written by experts, favorite novelists, actors and even some celebrities. The way the lessons are written are also fun for the students which you don't always see. This book was created to reach all students, even the students that are the most reluctant to do creative writing. There are lessons about science, music and even sports. This book also includes rubrics to guide grading, and also outlines, handouts and examples for the lesson plans. Another thing that struck me as interesting is that one review of the book said there are tips in the book that keep prep and supplies a minimum in the classroom. I am excited to start reading this and to be able to talk to other people in our class about it because I think it will really help us when we are teachers in the future. 

9/5/13 Class Quickwrite

          After reading the article, "The Achievement of Desire," by Richard Rodriguez, I started thinking a lot about how it was for me at home with my parents when I was younger. I remember my parents helping me with my homework a lot when I was growing up. Sometimes I would be doing math homework that focussed on percentages and my dad would help me with it. I noticed that his was his strong suit. He enjoyed helping me with it and would constantly ask me questions like, "What is 20% of 36?!" wherever we went. Him and I still speak of this today and how him giving me that extra knowledge really excelled me in that area of math. I still thank him when I am sitting in a restaurant and can calculate the tip pretty quickly. 

         On the other hand, my mom has always been interested in helping me with the subject English in school. She always wanted to know what ‘great novel’ I was reading in high school and we would always have conversations when we were both home about a part of the book I had just finished. Another example was last semester when I took a Humanities class here at CSU Chico. My mom is very interested in the arts and when I told her I was taking this course she immediately asked what material I would be reading. When I told her I was reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, she told me she had it in her bookshelf at home and wanted to re-read it while I was reading it for class.

         Both of my parents have always supported my education and I really thank them for that. Both of them went to college and they expected me to do the same. My mom has worked in child-care for over 15 years and I think that is where I get the interest of working with children. 

Response to "Achievement of Desire" by Richard Rodriguez

            When Richard Rodriguez started his education, he was looked at as an outcast not only by his peers in school, but by his family members as well. Coming from a Hispanic background Richard Rodriguez could barely speak any English when he started in school. Throughout this article I really felt for Rodriguez. He took his education, reading, writing, etc. very seriously and kept to himself when he was working on them. His brothers and sisters were also dedicated to their education but they found it odd that Richard worked at it so often and was always isolated or alone. He described his experiences around reading as mainly negative. Richard quoted his brother once saying, “Hey, Four Eyes!” and laughing when he saw him struggling home with a stack of books from the library.

            Richard felt out of place when it came to his time at home. He felt that his parents could not help him in his school work because they hadn’t received the education he was receiving. His mother who was new to America had received her high school diploma but, “by teachers too careless or busy to notice that she hardly spoke English.” Richard’s mother practiced literacy when she learned how to type on her own. She even became employed in jobs where she needed to type. One quote I really liked that Richard told of his mother once saying was, “Get all the education you can; with an education you can do anything.” This was instantly where I saw Richard and his mother similarly in their appreciation for education and learning. Richard described his father saying he “never verbally encouraged his children’s academic success. Nor did he even praise us.” His literacy background consisted of going to school until he stopped when he was eight years old to “apprentice” for an uncle of his. Later on in his life when he came to America he went to night school with Richard’s mother for about two years and then stopped going to school again. Once when he asked his father for help with math homework, Richard watched his father struggle with what the homework was asking. He ended up taking the book out of his father’s hands and saying, “I’ll try to figure it out some more by myself.” It took him a really long time to realize that becoming a student changed him and separated him from the life he previously knew and enjoyed.

            Richard used vocabulary that almost jumped off the page to me. He had vocabulary that exceeded that of his parents all of his life. The way he wrote this piece expressed how he felt and how he was affected in these situations. “It is myself (as a boy) I see as she faces me now (a man in my thirties). Another quote that came up a lot that stood out to me was, “Your parents must be very proud…” However Richard felt that his parents might have been proud but also a little humiliated to have their children get older and “come home to challenge ideas both of them had…” Coming home from college Richard still felt that he couldn’t tell them about the term paper he had just finished on “Shakespeare’s appeal.” He would go on to only mention little things going on in his life. “We tried to make our conversation seem like more than an interview.”

Response to Szwed's "The Ethnography of Literacy"

            In this article it seems as though Szwed is trying to define reading and writing as a whole in as simple terms as possible. For me I feel that reading and writing should be about an escape in a fictitious book, an informational topic you want to learn more about, a current event affecting the world we live in, etc. The purpose of my reading and writing is to further my knowledge or as a recreational, fun purpose. Szwed said, “A quick beginning inventory of reading contexts would include bedside reading, coffee-break and lunch-time reading, vacation reading, reading to children…” I very much agree with this. I love to read in my free time, especially on a trip or vacation. He also brings up the fact that people read for memorization purposes. I have been doing this probably since late elementary school or early middle school when studying for classes really became critical. An example of this in college was taking CMST 132 and memorizing speeches I had to write for myself. This was a nerve-racking reading and writing period in my life.

            I think Szwed wanted to display the different types of reading and writing in all forms. He states that there are, “out dated models of literacy inherited from nineteenth-century upper class Europe,” but also many ways to study the different types. For example, studying the observations of writing and reading activities in natural settings, or obtaining autobiographies of reading and writing. Szwed goes on to say, “Throughout, the focus should be on the school and the relation to the community’s needs and wishes…”Szwed also states there is a possibility of difference between private and public literacy.

             I thought it was interesting when he stated, “Educators often assume that reading and writing form a single standard set of skills to be acquired and used as a whole by individuals who acquire them in a progression of steps which cannot be varied or avoided in learning.” However it leads me to wonder what he means when he says, “It is entirely possible that teachers are able to teach reading and writing as abstract skills, but do not know what reading and writing are for in the lives and futures of their students.” Is he saying here that teachers need to make reading and writing more fun, interesting, etc. to their students? This statement was confusing to me.