For my personal book, I read Leaving a Trace, by Alexandra Johnson.
Some ideas she mentioned in the latter chapters of the book:
1. Keep a journal for the sole reason to have a resource for future writing. Think of it as a data collection device. She suggests keeping journals for different reasons, and to keep information separate and organized.
2. Journals can be great springboards for fiction, especially. As an exercise, she suggests going to a cafe, picking out three people, and trying to describe in detail one mannerism that they display. Virginia Woolf kept numerous journals and later used them as source material for her novels.
3. She writes at length about the places that people write or pre-write. She walks the streets of New York and "writes" as she goes, then later transfers her thoughts to her journal. She often carries a purse-sized journal to keep it handy.
The introductory chapter set the tone: the author had read the journal of a woman who had lived in the late 19th century and had recorded her daily life in a journal, though wrote in it from time to time that her life was mundane. The author's discovery of the journal set her on a journey to collect more journals, and to commit herself to journaling. Every life, she says, is worth remembering.
I would recommend this book to both of my parents. They have lives unrecorded. I would like to see them journal. Not for my sake, nor for my siblings. But for themselves. Neither one are reflective individuals. Perhaps if they kept a journal, they might find themselves free of past burdens.
Gallery Walk I. A. Keeping a journal keeps the mind engaged in recording a life, helps the writer to keep the craft alive, and provides a place for reflection, meditation and sheer pleasure. B. Tell the Censor Inside to go to hell.
Gallery Walk II.
The next book I will read with be either Writing Down the Bones, or Writing Toward Home, both of which seem to be extensions of the kind of reading I am currently engaged in.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Top Ten Ideas for Revision
Revision feeds the perfectionist in me
Revision helps me see what is central, what is peripheral
Revision allows me the freedom to salvage material that belongs elsewhere
Revision is like throwing ballast overboard so my piece can sail on
Revision gives me an excuse to keep writing
Revision forces me to slow down
Revision forces me to look more closely at the details
Revision forces me to untangle tangled language
Revision forces me to wax poetic
Revision is FUN!!!
Revision helps me see what is central, what is peripheral
Revision allows me the freedom to salvage material that belongs elsewhere
Revision is like throwing ballast overboard so my piece can sail on
Revision gives me an excuse to keep writing
Revision forces me to slow down
Revision forces me to look more closely at the details
Revision forces me to untangle tangled language
Revision forces me to wax poetic
Revision is FUN!!!
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Sticking Place
We must grasp at every chance to engage our students with the public: author's teas, guest speakers, contest entries, projects that necessitate community input and response. Evaluators we have to be able to see that these are acceptable and viable means of assessment. "Going public" with a piece of writing is ever so much more difficult than stealthily handing it in to the teacher for a single reading and meaningless grade. Having the courage to stand behind your words is a huge lesson. Learning it is a sign of growth.
The line in bold type should stand out to us: students (and all writers) need to stand behind or beside their words.
The Chinese character for "sincerity" is formed by two radicals, one for man, and the other for word. Thus, the Chinese idea of sincerity is a man standing by his word. Perhaps we are not sincere enough.
Perhaps we don't demand enough of our students in this regard. Perhaps we need to be more demanding of sincerity in their writing. Perhaps we too easily accept work that is not entirely honest, written to get a grade rather than to be real.
When students know they will have a live audience, such as at a poetry slam or even a school assembly, perhaps they will reconsider the purpose and quality of their own writing. Perhaps if they know they are communicating to real people, perhaps they will be more real.
Further, perhaps the writing that teachers produce is also insincere. Perhaps we are not writing honestly ourselves, not standing by our words.
Perhaps we need to get real in order to set an example for our students.
Yeah, perhaps we need to just get real.
The line in bold type should stand out to us: students (and all writers) need to stand behind or beside their words.
The Chinese character for "sincerity" is formed by two radicals, one for man, and the other for word. Thus, the Chinese idea of sincerity is a man standing by his word. Perhaps we are not sincere enough.
Perhaps we don't demand enough of our students in this regard. Perhaps we need to be more demanding of sincerity in their writing. Perhaps we too easily accept work that is not entirely honest, written to get a grade rather than to be real.
When students know they will have a live audience, such as at a poetry slam or even a school assembly, perhaps they will reconsider the purpose and quality of their own writing. Perhaps if they know they are communicating to real people, perhaps they will be more real.
Further, perhaps the writing that teachers produce is also insincere. Perhaps we are not writing honestly ourselves, not standing by our words.
Perhaps we need to get real in order to set an example for our students.
Yeah, perhaps we need to just get real.
I Don't Grade Papers Anymore
"When students are not constantly exposed to the process of being judged, they are more likely to develop and trust their own standards and those of their peers."
This sounds true. I know it is true. Why do I know it is true?
I don't have to look any further than myself and my own writing to know that this is true. I came into teaching out of a career in which I was paid to write (for newspapers and magazines). My writing was never "graded" or judged. Certainly, it was edited in some part, but never judged the way we are tempted to judge student writing. In the world of professional writing, the pressure to meet deadlines was greater than that to be "perfect." Read any newspaper any day of the week and you'll see what I mean. Especially in the dailies, there is a level of perfection that one never expects journalists to achieve. In some regard, we expect more of high school students than we do reporters. But I digress.
When young writers are no longer writing for a grade (some are satisfied with a C--they just want to get by), but for the sheer pleasure of writing, they tend to be motivated to write for writing's sake, to explore, experiment, play. I have had students like that, though some sarcastically referred to them as "overachievers," or "suck-ups." No, not really. They merely loved to write. Grades were secondary or even inconsequential.
More importantly, they learn to trust their instincts. You can see the evidence of this assumption in their revisions. They are making writers' choices--they're moving whole blocks of text around, using stronger verbs, adding more details, paring down a sentence, etc. Of course, not all of our students operate at that level, but many do. And if I as a teacher can take off the pressure of grades in order to encourage them to write for the sheer pleasure of writing, I will have done my job well.
"I have a dream...."
This sounds true. I know it is true. Why do I know it is true?
I don't have to look any further than myself and my own writing to know that this is true. I came into teaching out of a career in which I was paid to write (for newspapers and magazines). My writing was never "graded" or judged. Certainly, it was edited in some part, but never judged the way we are tempted to judge student writing. In the world of professional writing, the pressure to meet deadlines was greater than that to be "perfect." Read any newspaper any day of the week and you'll see what I mean. Especially in the dailies, there is a level of perfection that one never expects journalists to achieve. In some regard, we expect more of high school students than we do reporters. But I digress.
When young writers are no longer writing for a grade (some are satisfied with a C--they just want to get by), but for the sheer pleasure of writing, they tend to be motivated to write for writing's sake, to explore, experiment, play. I have had students like that, though some sarcastically referred to them as "overachievers," or "suck-ups." No, not really. They merely loved to write. Grades were secondary or even inconsequential.
More importantly, they learn to trust their instincts. You can see the evidence of this assumption in their revisions. They are making writers' choices--they're moving whole blocks of text around, using stronger verbs, adding more details, paring down a sentence, etc. Of course, not all of our students operate at that level, but many do. And if I as a teacher can take off the pressure of grades in order to encourage them to write for the sheer pleasure of writing, I will have done my job well.
"I have a dream...."
Portfolios
In the section, "Setting up writing portfolios," the writer gives a practical outline for structuring the portfolio. In this particular model, the portfolio has a dual purpose: 1) to keep track of a student's progress; and 2) to encourage a final product. Thus, the brochure goes on to suggest weighting the grade heavily toward the former, and less toward the latter category. This makes sense to me and sounds fairly easy to manage, though time consuming.
The questions for me would be: How many pieces of writing would I expect my students to produce? What specific expectations would I have for each paper?
The questions for me would be: How many pieces of writing would I expect my students to produce? What specific expectations would I have for each paper?
Friday, July 24, 2009
Letter to the Editor
The days of common sense and equal treatment under the law are over.
Recently, I traded business for the public school classroom. To become a teacher, I took a series of exams, was fingerprinted and passed a background check, and provide proof of identity.
Between graduate school and being hired by a district, I was fingerprinted three times. I had to show I was competent, trustworthy and safe. That's why I provided my work history, college transcripts and other documents as proof.
Barack Obama, "Leader of the Free World,” is responsible for exponentially more than teachers: setting foreign, policy, commandeering the auto and health industries, solving global warming—not to mention commanding our armed forces with all their personnel, equipment, and weapons…
Nuclear weapons.
Yet, Obama was neither fingerprinted nor subject to one background check. Not only has he refused to show his college transcripts, he's hired numerous lawyers to keep them secret. He hasn’t produced his birth certificate. (Sorry, that posted on the Internet is widely agreed to be a digital forgery.) And while Congress deliberated on John McCain’s citizenship status, Obama’s remains shrouded in mystery (so much for transparency).
I’ll be fingerprinted again in the fall when I start teaching for another school district. They'll want my transcripts, resume and birth certificate. Meanwhile, Obama continues to stonewall America about his African roots and other personal facts.
Think: Obama is neither qualified nor authorized to teach in public school, yet he has been given the keys to the White House and the cipher code to one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
Has he provided sufficient proof he is competent, trustworthy or safe? Would we let him teach our children?
Yet he is leading our country to God knows where.
Equal treatment and common sense, anyone?
Recently, I traded business for the public school classroom. To become a teacher, I took a series of exams, was fingerprinted and passed a background check, and provide proof of identity.
Between graduate school and being hired by a district, I was fingerprinted three times. I had to show I was competent, trustworthy and safe. That's why I provided my work history, college transcripts and other documents as proof.
Barack Obama, "Leader of the Free World,” is responsible for exponentially more than teachers: setting foreign, policy, commandeering the auto and health industries, solving global warming—not to mention commanding our armed forces with all their personnel, equipment, and weapons…
Nuclear weapons.
Yet, Obama was neither fingerprinted nor subject to one background check. Not only has he refused to show his college transcripts, he's hired numerous lawyers to keep them secret. He hasn’t produced his birth certificate. (Sorry, that posted on the Internet is widely agreed to be a digital forgery.) And while Congress deliberated on John McCain’s citizenship status, Obama’s remains shrouded in mystery (so much for transparency).
I’ll be fingerprinted again in the fall when I start teaching for another school district. They'll want my transcripts, resume and birth certificate. Meanwhile, Obama continues to stonewall America about his African roots and other personal facts.
Think: Obama is neither qualified nor authorized to teach in public school, yet he has been given the keys to the White House and the cipher code to one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
Has he provided sufficient proof he is competent, trustworthy or safe? Would we let him teach our children?
Yet he is leading our country to God knows where.
Equal treatment and common sense, anyone?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Barry Lane, Ch. 14: "Befriending the Language" (on teaching grammar)
I am impressed by the ease with which I can adapt Lane's ideas to my own classroom. He has provided them in such a way that I can write succinct, focused lesson plans for a variety of objectives, especially in the area of grammar. His "Spinoffs" are truly nuts and bolts, the kinds of ideas I desperately needed during my first teaching year.
I also like the idea of contracting with my students to improve their own grammar, whether in their journals or for formal assignments. Only when they decide to take responsibility for their own grammar will they begin to improve.
This issue also leads to the idea of grading. Rather than grade students on the content of their writing, I see it beneficial for them if I grade them according to whether they are improving their own grammar through revision base on rubrics they have helped to create.
I also like the idea of contracting with my students to improve their own grammar, whether in their journals or for formal assignments. Only when they decide to take responsibility for their own grammar will they begin to improve.
This issue also leads to the idea of grading. Rather than grade students on the content of their writing, I see it beneficial for them if I grade them according to whether they are improving their own grammar through revision base on rubrics they have helped to create.
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