Engage in an online literature discussion group on our class blog. Please read the rest of the book and make four entries 1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss, 2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, 3) make connections to your work as a writer. 4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit
Please respond to one or more of your classmates’s entries in your study group.
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Pg 59 – “The National Commission on Teaching America’s Future makes the case more directly in a 1996 report: teacher expertise is the most significant factor in student success. IT cites studies showing that teacher qualifications account for 40 percent of the differences in overall student performance and that teacher quality is more powerful than a student’s socioeconomic background in student learning.” I would love to read more on this study. If this case study has been supported it means that we have a great tool to help our students meet and exceed the expectations that have been set for them by a huge external factor. By supporting and expanding teacher knowledge through a variety of in-service opportunities we can truly help to eliminate the underlying class system that exists in America, as it does in any part of the world with money. I think this translates to writing in a very sad way. There are very few teachers who are truly proficient at writing in their own lives, let alone helping others to become proficient in their writings. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs we ourselves must be self actualized before we can really turn around to teach others and bring them up.
I was a big fan of the line on pf 64 that says: “Most principals understand that teachers have good reason to be suspicious of the expertise of an outside professionals consultant who may not have been near a classroom in years. As NWP founder James Gray says, “We believed that if school reform was to be effective, in-service programs must be conducted by the folks on the ground.” We have all been to the hours of in-service and walked out knowing that the person who was giving the in-service had not been near a classroom in so many years that it was painfully obvious. I think to have effective and meaningful growth we all should be providing in-services on an area of our strength at faculty meetings. This would not only make them more interesting but provide for more dissemination of ideas, knowledge and teaching power. It seems that we have all been shuttled off to committees where we talk with people who already know what they are doing. These committees need to offer more to the rest of the district. I think this would improve not only writing but also many other skills, or at least give a teacher more options for ways of presenting information and lessons.
Becky, I also noticed that phrase on page 64. I experienced a similar situation this Friday. The second grade teachers and I were being trained to administer the DRA-2 which is new to my district. The presenter was a consultant from Pearson. Throughout the training, teachers would ask her questions pertinent to our specific district that she was not able to answer. Furthermore, she retired a while back. She was talking to us about how to use the DRA-2 to guide our instruction for students, but we really wanted to understand how to administer it. She didn’t seem to understand that the students’ scores on this assessment determine if they will have to go to summer school or not. This assessment now has a writing component which is relevant to our book, Because Writing Matters. It’s clear that school systems are looking for more ways to incorporate and assess students’ writing abilities.
In Because Writing Matters, rubrics for assessing writing were emphasized. They must be linked to standards, clearly defined and appropriate for the type of writing being assessed. Rubrics that are well developed can be very helpful in understanding where students’ writing abilities fall across the content areas. Nagin (2006) found, “School administrators and teachers can exercise some control over the issues of assessment in two ways. First, they can establish clear goals for assessing student work” (76). This relates to my integrated unit because I will need to be clear and specific about what I expect from my students on writing assignments related to seeds and plants. I haven’t developed many rubrics before, so I think this unit will provide good practice for me in this area. After reading the second part of this book, I understand the importance of rubrics that are appropriate and well-designed.
Because Writing Matters focuses a lot on the importance of professional development and in-service opportunities on writing in school districts. A big question I have is what do schools and teachers do in districts where additional professional development opportunities are not readily available or where there are no funds for additional workshops? We have three pre-determined professional development days at my school. We do not have money for teachers to take extra days to pursue an area of interest. Very rarely have I had an in-service on writing. I would like to participate in one after reading this book. I think I would benefit from more training to refine my teaching of writing skills. I especially like the idea of teachers writing together at staff meetings. The teachers who wrote together like this “were in a much better position to develop standards for assessment” (89) because they had been writers themselves and knew what they were looking for from their students.
The second half of the book outlines how portfolios can be used to encourage student ownership and improvement of writing. Last year, I used portfolios with a few of my special education students. They really liked picking their best work to add to the portfolio. It is a motivator for students to write multiple drafts. Portfolios are a great way to assess a student’s progress over a period of time. Especially for writing, it is easy to see the improvement that the student has made. I really liked the example of the Bilingual Elementary School on page 80. The fifth grade teacher predetermined major projects that the students would be doing over the course of the year. All the projects were very relevant to real-world application. Also, the students knew that their work would be exhibited at the end of the year for younger students, as well as parents and community members, to see. While it makes sense that students would be more motivated knowing that their work would be on display, there is a quote that says “If teachers know that their students are going to present their work so publicly, they’re less likely to while away the days assigning meaningless worksheets” (81) So the nature of these projects and the pending exhibit was beneficial to teachers’ motivation as well!
For the most part, I enjoy writing. Every night before bed, I write in a journal. In school, I enjoyed conveying my thoughts on a topic through writing. This book emphasizes that a teacher’s feelings towards writing impacts her instruction of writing. I believe that’s true because a teacher who enjoys writing may be more comfortable teaching it. Though, despite the fact that I enjoy writing, I feel that I could definitely improve on teaching it. This may be another reason why I like the idea of writing at staff meetings. I think teachers just need opportunities to write more often. Since I am taking classes this semester, I write papers and reflections all the time. Many older teachers who are done with their masters, don’t have any reason to practice their writing. This book really suggests that administrators should be creating these writing opportunities for teachers. If it will improve students’ writing and how teachers teach writing, then it is worth the time and effort.
"In order to prepare each child for successful employment and productive citizenship in the 21st century, teachers must know their subject areas deeply, understand how children learn, be able to use that knowledge to teach well, use modern learning technologies effectively, and work closely with their colleagues to create rich learning environments. (pg.59)
The part of this quote that says the teachers must know their subject area deeply is almost impossible for elementary teachers. We have to be experts in all 5 subjects then. Elementary teachers cover it all and there are naturally some areas that you feel more confident in than others. I think that is why writing sometimes takes a back seat because it is so hard and time consuming to teach.
This is why I like the program I am teaching now. I only teach Reading to grades 1, 2, & 3. Another teacher teachers Math and another teachers Writing. It has been hard but when you separate the subjects like this, I can solely concentrate on the child's reading abilities and add in content at the same time.
The rest of the quote I agree with and feel that all teachers need to adopt those views in all grade levels to be effective.
Becky and Jessica,
I was reading through your comments about the quote from pg. 64. I completely agree with the both of you. Jessica, the part where you spoke about the woman from Pearson presenting about the DRA 2 is such a good example. So many people our districts hire for prof. dev. are such a waste of money and undermine the intelligence of the teachers in the school. That lady hadn't even studied the specifics of your district yet she was being paid good money to professionally develop all of you guys on giving the DRA 2. How can you use it for your instruction if you're not sure how to administer it?
There are a lot of things I don't like about my district but I can say one good thing about it regarding this topic. Almost every Thursday is a half day for us now because we get together as a staff and do various kinds of prof. dev. Just last Thursday the first grade teachers got together and shared with each other what they do for centers with the students. We got some good ideas from each other and we all felt valued. The principal was the one leading it. This is the kind of inservice that is helpful to me and relevant to my job. Our district also had an $11 million budget cut so they are kind of looking for ways to save money on prof. dev.!!!!
A repeated theme in this book has been the issue of the importance of writing in the content areas. As elementary teachers who teach every subject we understand the idea of integrating writing into other content areas, partly because if we can cover two areas at the same time and fit it all into a day's work of teaching, we'll figure out how to do it. But it seems that at the high school level, the teachers are slowly starting to realize the importance of including writing in the areas of Math and Science. English and Social Studies always seemed to be the only subjects where writing was a component of the class. If this integrated writing trend is slowly making its way to the high school level, than it is even more important that I provide my students with multiple opportunities to write across the content areas. One of the biggest changes I made to the Science unit I am using for the Integrated LA Unit is the element of content area writing. I want to provide my students with various forms of writing opportunities around the topic of Matter. Journal responses to experiments, reports on a specific topic of Matter, response to science literature, writing through the scientific process are ways I can help my students become prepared for the kind of writing they will hopefully have to do in middle and high school.
Having gone through the Central Connecticut Writing Project, the vignette on page. 89 supported how I changed as a writer and as a teacher of writing after going through the institute. The principal who had gone through the Bay Area N.W.P. had his teachers write during faculty meetings. This changed the way they viewed their students' writing and their own instruction. "And we were regularly reminded of what it is that we ask our students to do when we require them to write...but later when we looked at our students work, we were in a much better position to develop standards for assessment because we had been writers ourselves." (pg. 89)
I felt it was so necessary for me to experience the stages of writing as an adult and put myself in my students' shoes to feel the anxiety, frustration, and accomplishment that they feel as they go through the writing process. It is so easy for us to tell them to write and even give them some ideas to write about. But until you have to do what you are asking the students to do, you truly do not understand the complexity of the task and the emotions that effect the outcome. When you are asked to do it yourself, you find out what helps you as a writer and you can draw on other people's experiences to develop ways to improve your instruction and assessment of writing.
Coming from a school where there are a lot of negative teachers who complain about many of the things we are asked to do, I have often struggled with this issue: "School-wide improvement of writing requires collective buy-in - the willingness of teachers, administrators, and the community to comprehend and support the rationale for change." (pg. 93)
My question to you guys has two parts:
1)Is it the culture at your school that teachers write often and discuss writing with each other?
2)If not, what are some ways to create this kind of a culture among teachers, especially those who are resistant to change and self-reflection?
Meg.. I was reading your comment about saving money on Prof. Dev. I come from a catholic school where our Prof. Dev. is fairly predetermined. We have two conferences early in the year and the rest is up to the individual school. This is nice but just like Jessica, the people who get up to speak have no clue what their talking about for our district. The other problem we run into is that since our district is comprised of every grade level (Pre-k 3 to High School) the presenter is stuck. We had one earlier this year that was on math, it was nice but since the presenter had such a wide variety of teachers in front of her, she didn’t know where to go with her presentation. She tried, but the information and the examples she was giving were way to high for elementary students. My principal has been trying her best to make sure we get relevant workshops brought into school for our Prof. Dev. but even then, it is hard to really find something useful to take back to class, or what we are being presented is something that is now required by the principal. I don’t feel that there is enough Prof. Dev. that really speaks to what we need in our own school or rooms. I would like to make the suggestion to my principal that we be the Prof. Dev. for each other, but it is difficult to bring that up with her. I am hoping that since she is now just beginning to do that, I can encourage and bring up more ways we can help each other out. I especially would like to bring up the suggestion of writing in the faculty meetings. I really feel that it would bring our school closer together and we could support each in our writings. I also think it would help to bridge the gap between the lower floor (K – 2) and the upper floor (3 – 5). Any suggestions on how we could achieve this even if the principal doesn’t approve?
As I am reading through this book, especially the last few chapters, I am reminded again of how much I would like my principal to read this book. There are so many great suggestions on how to promote writing in our schools. After reading this book I find that I feel it is even more important now. I have always been big on writing, and more importantly writing across disciplines, but have not always made the time for it. Now I feel that it is vitally important that we do. I teach first grade and as the book is talking about high school students not knowing how to write, I understand that it is in part due to what happens in the first grade. I would like my principal to share this understanding of the importance and how to support the teachers in finding their footing on road to better writing. I would really love for her to read the quote on pg 67 “Teachers are … not seen as the source of the problem but as the principal resource for the solution.” I would like for her to understand that we are competent in teaching and can be instrumental in solving the issues that might arise. As the teacher, we know first hand what is going on in our classrooms, and have the best understanding of the issues we are seeing with writing. We can also help the other teachers, by sharing what we have learned about specific students and their writing styles. Last year I had a student who was very bright, spoke eloquently, but hated to write. I found that by giving him half a sheet of paper at a time he would write more freely and much more prolifically than if I gave him a full sheet of paper. It was just too daunting for him. This is a great tip for the next teacher to know, but with out the opportunity to share these discoveries, the child is set back in his chances to write.
I have never used rubrics before. I found the chapter on Standards and Assessments for Writing to be extremely informative. I know that I will be referencing this chapter many times as I am creating my rubrics for my integrated unit. I was a particularly big fan of pg 85. It gave such detail of what a rubric could cover that I really understood what I could use on a rubric. I also felt that the section on appropriate rubrics was important to me as a first-timer in this new realm. It impressed on me that I could only grade what I had put on the rubric. So even if the spelling on the page was terrible, if it was not a category on my rubric, I could not mark down for it. This chapter also helped to wrap my mind around the different topics that should be on a rubric and that a different rubric can be used for the many drafts of a paper. I liked that I would not be locked into a certain rubric for each assignment, no matter the number of drafts. I really feel much more comfortable with the concept of a rubric now that I have read this chapter.
In response to Jessica's comment about professional development, I agree that time devoted to professional development for writing is important, yet often underfunded. I think the case of New York City's District 2 is an excellent example of what professional development should look like. One aspect of their reform strategy is that much of the learning comes from teachers teaching teachers. I especially liked the use of professional develpment labortories. Because Writing Matters describes this model as a way for teachers to observe experienced practitioners and then take part in supervised practice in the resident teacher's classroom. As Becky and Jessica both noted, teachers will learn best from experts who know, not just the content of the professioanl development, but also the district and school expectations. Who better to learn from than a collegue who has the experience and expertise in a specific area of curriculum? I know that I would benefit more from watching a fellow teacher, who was very successful in teaching a certain subject, than I would listening to a consultant's lecture. Consultants are also expensive, and this model of learning from each other looks like a more inexpensive option for those districts that do not have the funding.
On pages 59-60 in Because Writing Matters, Nagin states, "In terms of work and competency requirements, the disparity between those for reading and those for writing is striking. Yet research shows that literacy is reading and writing and the two are learned best together." As I read about this connection between reading and writing, I began thinking about my students. I have noticed that my strong writers are most often my strong readers. My strong readers are not always also strong writers. I have always thought that good readers produce good writing. They model their writng after the higher level books they are reading, they have developed an extensive vocabulary through reading, and they usually read a lot, which gives them more exposure to the structure of stories and to the use of appropriate grammar. But now I am beginning to wonder about the effect of writing abilities on reading abilities. I can not think of a student I've had who was a strong writer and struggled with reading. Have any of you noticed this in your classrooms? I know the two are linked, and I can understand how reading helps students become better writers, but I don't think I really understand how being a strong writer helps students become better readers.
As I read about the various writing assessments outlined in Chapter 5, I began to think about how difficult it is to assess writing. My question for all of you is: how do you think writing should be assessed? We are teaching at a time where we need quantifiable data for everything: students need to be pretested, student progress must be tracked with progress monitoring, and students must show that they have made necessary growth in each subject area. I know how to track my students’ progress in reading and math, but it is much more difficult to do so in writing. The only type of quantifiable assessment data we use is the 45 minute timed writing prompt, which I’m sure all of you use as well as a way to prepare students for the CMT writing prompt. I find it hard to use a writing prompt score to judge my students’ progress. I agree with Because Writing Matters that assessments such as extended writing samples or appropriate rubrics offer a better understanding of who a student is as a writer. If writing is a process, how can we use a writing piece that must be completed in 45 minutes to assess a student’s writing abilities? I do believe that writing on demand is a skill that is necessary for success in college and the working world and it should be taught, but I don’t think it should be the primary method of assessing our students.
Initially, I had not planned to use a portfolio as an assessment piece with my integrated unit. However, I’m beginning to think about how it can serve as an assessment piece. I really like the idea of having students select their best work to include in their portfolio. I feel like the students will have a stronger investment in their work if they know it will become part of a finished product. I also like the point the author made about how professional writers work in the very same way; they choose their best work for their final product. This will encourage students to review and revisit their work samples, revising them until they are content with the final product. I agree with the book that, “for the student, using a portfolio creates an opportunity to be more actively engaged in the assessment process.”
“Professional development in writing is needed because it takes time to build a successful writing program.” I think that is a wonderful statement by Donald H. Graves (page 60) because a writing program cannot be built in one day. You need resources and time to launch any new program, especially one involving writing. I think professional development in writing should be one of the top priorities in my school district. As a new teacher to this school district I always feel I am doing a disservice to my students because I have never been formally trained in the Lucy Calkins writing program. I would love to attend one of her trainings or seminars.
At the end of page 62, the text mentions “study techniques” for staff meetings. I thought all of these techniques were wonderful ideas. I will definitely be sharing some of these ideas with my first grade team. My favorite study techniques were: visiting other schools, attending conferences workshops, and sharing observation and notes, inviting guest speakers with expertise in a selected area of study, and collaborating on teaching plans for a new course of study. If my school district would implement some of these techniques I believe our writing program would become stronger.
As stated on page 79, “A portfolio can give the teacher a powerful developmental picture of how a student is progressing.” I thought that was a wonderful statement because writing portfolios are so helpful and are an easy way to assess a student. By collecting the student writings throughout the year (especially in first grade) you can notice if a student is progressing in his or her writing skills. You can also find strengths and weaknesses in his or her writing. It also helps guide your instruction and goals for each student.
A key phrase that was mentioned by Betty Jane Wagner was student ownership. Having the students select their favorite writing pieces is definitely a simple way to show student ownership. I have used this strategy in second grade, but not first grade. However, I think first graders would enjoy picking out their favorite writing pieces. I am definitely going to incorporate this into my writing activities.
To my group members: page 78 discussed appropriate rubrics for assessment. What types of rubrics do you use for writing? I do exactly what the text tells you not to do and that is to assess spelling and grammar. Does anyone know any good websites for the primary grades (K-3) rubrics?
After reading this book I feel the way I am teaching writing needs a big boost. I would love to attend more professional development workshops on writing. I also wish I had more time to discuss writing with my co-teachers and administrators. It would also be great if I could improve upon my own writing skills. As I work on my integrated unit I am definitely making it a priority to include writing across the curriculum. Writing is a very important part of the learning experiences.
This book does emphasize how a teacher's feelings about writing affect his or her feelings about teaching writing. Jessica noted this earlier and I completely agree. I, however, do not write for personal enjoyment. I write for class, for my students and for anything else work related. It's not that I don't enjoy writing, it's just that I don't feel like I have the time. Just as I love reading, but the only times I sit down and read a book for enjoyment are times when I am on vacation and I can relax. I think NWP is right on target when they say, "one form of participation above all others is expected at NWP staff development: writing teachers must write. This expectation grounds NWP inservice in the actual practice of writing. Teachers are doing what they require their students to do."
This is clearly a model of professional development that teachers like myself would benefit from. I always tell my students that they are real authors writing for real audiences, and I try to develop writing units and lessons that encourage them to think of themselves as writers. I don't think of myself as a "writer" and I'm sure many other teachers feel the same way. That may be an area that we need to work on personally, but it is also an area that can be targeted through professional development that focuses on teaching teachers to write.
I remember a staff meeting that my principal held last year. She wanted to stress the importance of writing and speaking with correct grammar when communicating with students, parents and staff. She gave us a handout with sentences that were written with grammatical erros and we were asked to edit the sentences. We talked about each grammar mistake and the reason why it was wrong, and many of us did not know what was wrong with the sentence or how to fix it. It's kind of scary how we are expected to teach things that we don't completely understand ourselves.
Jessica, in your blog you mentioned that there is not enough funding for professional development. This is something I experienced a couple of years ago. I wanted to attend a writing workshop, but the school had no money. Thus, I had to pay to go to the workshop on my own. The workshop was great and I was able to learn new writing strategies. Out of all four years of teaching in both first and second grades, I have only attended one writing workshop. I would definitely like to have more training in writing, especially the Lucy Calkins series.
Megan Zaba, in your blog you mentioned elementary teachers teaching all subject areas but feeling more confident in certain subjects. I feel the most confident teaching mathematics because math is so concrete and there is always an answer for a problem. Writing is a weakness in my teaching because I have not received good training or had good personal writing experiences. I also agree with you that writing is a very hard subject to teach and extremely time consuming, especially in the primary grades. I would love to team-teach with another first grade teacher. She loves teaching writing and hates math. I love teaching math and hate teaching writing. If we could work together our students would be super mathematicians and writers.
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