More in-class Wiley Resonse

Wiley is arguing against relying on a pre-planned outline for writing essays, and ignoring personal development of an individual’s essay. It limits literary growth in the student and hinders focus on content. He criticizes this method because, “The primary  emphasis on achieving the proper format in the Schaffer method renders content a kind of afterthought,” (Wiley, p. 64). He also says on page 64, “The exclusive focus on format does not encourage teachers to help students explore a literary work and come up with alternative interpretations.”

There are potential benefits that Wiley says in writing formulas. Students have the opportunity to, “...learn how to separate fact from opinion,” however, people learn this skill independent of weather or not they use formulaic writing. He suggests that we used them as one technique among many that we can choose to utilize or not utilize as writers. He deems it appropriate to use if, at the end of writing, a student is still finding organizing his/her essay difficult. 

Don’t use “weak verbs”: Is, Are, Was, Were, Have, Has, Had

Thesis, support, analysis, conclusion

Have many drafts

Brainstorm first

No contractions

Shaffer-paper quick write

The “Schaffer-paper,” as I like to call it, is not the best way to formulate an essay.  As Wiley describes it, “When we teach this ...process... we are telling the students that each writing task... is essentially the same.”

To teach the Schaffer method is to emphasize structure rather than content. It releases the student from having to think creatively and also critically on his or her own, and erases all personality from an essay. The Schaffer method is a skeleton of an essay (a pre-determined outline) of a topic sentence, then concrete detail #1, the two commentaries, concrete detail #2, another two commentaries, then a concluding sentence. Those who believe fully in the, “Schaffer-paper,” as I like to call it, believe that every paragraph of every essay should be structured in this same pattern. There are benefits to this process, but in my opinion, they are outweighed by the disadvantages faced when teaching this method to students. If at all, it should be used as a last resort if organization for an essay is difficult to find.

This article, “Co-Authoring Classroom Texts: Shifting Participant Roles in Writing Activity,” by Joanne Larson and Maryrita Maier includes authorship as an important part of literacy. So, in addition to teaching students how to read and write, educators should also show children how to be an author. Learning how to be an author requires different skills than solely learning how to write letters, spell words, create sentence, format paragraphs and then from there, papers. I agree that authorship is important to teach. Having said that, the best aspect about books are their variety in genres. So, I would be careful in teaching authorship concerning limiting uniqueness. 

As with everything else that were learn, authorship not only needs to be taught, but also practiced in order to be fully understood. Before putting knowledge into physical form, the concepts are still abstract and hypothetical, and possibly less valid/ valuable.  In Maryrita Maier’s first grade class is used as a model for teaching and learning literacy as well as authorship. Maier encourages her students to learn these skills in action. She takes her students from reading about five to six books in a period of time to reading ten to twelve books in that same period of time. Her students’ success is impressive and is a valid model for future teachers.

Maier also transforms her classroom into a community, which, among other things, creates an environment of trust, communication, support, and , thus, progression in education and personal growth. As a future teacher, I will try to imitate this technique in my future classroom. I hope to utilize this technique because having this trust and support enables children to take risks in their writing, expand their ideas, and not be afraid to make mistakes. The last aspect is the most important reason for me in creating a community-classroom because we learn much more from our errors than staying meek and worrying about making mistakes/ being “wrong”. Creating a community within the classroom naturally means that the teacher must participate as much as possible as a model. So, I will share my experiences so that the students will feel comfortable sharing their experiences in their writing. Hopefully, this will encourage students to write more passionately about things they are truly interested and care about. This is important so that children want to practice their writing. As stated before, by myself and by many others, including in this article, practice is the most important part of learning.

Quick Write 2/14

I agree with M. Nystrand that information is not as valuable until it is put in practice. Although individuals have their own preference in learning styles, I believe that active learning is key in truly understanding a concept. For example, I took a class in lifeguarding in which we learned how to perform CPR and First Aid. We would start out in a classroom and the instructor would describe to us the steps and precautions to take when carrying out these duties. However, when we went out to the pool and practiced these techniques, the concepts sunk in and I fully understood how to perform the life-saving duties and felt more confident and capable as a Lifeguard. Muscle memory comes into play, too, which is helpful when an emergency situation arises and one doesn’t have much time to think out a process. 

Readicide

Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

“Readicide” is the term used when educators attempt to raise reading test scores, but ‘kill’ a person’s innate love of reading. This happens especially in elementary school settings. 

I chose this topic because I agree that passion dies when one stops doing something because they love it and begin focusing solely on achieving certain goals. I also believe that reading can be the most enjoyable part of a person’s day and taking that away from a child would be a shame. As a future teacher, it is important for me to know how to set goals for myself and students while also evolving relationship with reading and learning. I hope that I learn these skills and more from reading this book.

Dewey and Wells

“Outcomes are both aimed for and emergent”

Dewey more or less mocks the theory that if students just listen in their desks, the levels of their knowledge and skill will be all nicely equal and beneficial. He speaks negatively about the old methodology in which, “There is next to no opportunity for adjustment to varying capacities and demands. There is a certain amount-a fixed quantity-of ready-made results and accomplishments to be acquired by all children alike in a given time”. I can’t imagine putting in place a lesson plan with definite outcomes. If anyone has seen a day in the classroom, they would know that flexibility on everyone’s part is key.

Wells has accepted the fact that outcomes are never certain, especially in the classroom; and we shouldn’t even expect them. Wells states, “Outcomes of activity cannot be completely known or prescribed in advance; although there may be prior agreement about the goal to be aimed for...” Although it is essential to have goals and valid reasons for preparing activities, it is equally as essential to let the situation produce other positive results not previously anticipated.

"Ethnography of Literacy"

This post is based off of my interpreted reading of "Ethnography of Literacy," by John F. Szwed. Some points that were mentioned really caught my attention like literacy causes poverty, what the function(s) literacy is (are), and how to test a student's skills.

First of all, I was surprised that Szwed mentioned that, “illiteracy has been singled out as a root cause of poverty,” because I aways assumed that poverty was the main cause of illiteracy, not the other way around. I can imagine that both affect the other mutually. I have always seen literacy as of a means of measuring the development of a country, and I’m glad the question was asked if literacy relates to the level of civilization. 

I like the idea proposed in the side notes of page 422 that says to ask students what they use reading and writing for. Since basic reading and writing skills are used almost constantly every single day, every student would be able to participate and think about whatever it is that they find interesting in this activity. I bet students would love brainstorming lists of fun things that literacy is necessary to do. For example, students can sit on the rug and volunteer some of their favorite activities and how they use reading and/or writing during that activity. “Going to a baseball game,” could be one activity and being able to read the scoreboard that tells you the stats of the game and the background of players makes the experience more entertaining and meaningful.  Even students who only like playing video games and nothing else can be participate in the activity because they need to be able to read what is on the screen to figure out how to play. 

I agree that the way to test a student’s ability in literacy should be in his or her real life, not by his/ her score on a Standardized Test. What about asking students to evaluate themselves? Asking students how long it usually takes them to read a chapter in a book of their choice or if they get frustrated easily when they need to follow a recipe might be good types of questions to evaluate how well a student can use their literacy skills in real life. I agree with Szwed that as educators, we should focus on, “the social meaning of literacy: that is, the roles [literacy] play[s] in social life.”

John F. Szwed makes some very fair and legitimate claims about what literacy means to our society and   how we should evaluate it. I agree especially that the function of literacy for students should be dictated by the students and we should ask them when they use reading and writing most.