ELA-A FIRST GLANCE

Now that EDCI 302 has come to a close, I must consider the impact the class had on my ELA evolution, from my first blog to this final entry. The strategies I have been introduced to through class discussions, presentations, the NCTE journal articles, Nacy Atwell’s Into the Middle, Sharon Creech’s Love that Dog and the guidance I have received from the IRPs will all play a significant role as I begin my adventure in building an ELA repertoire for both oral and written language. My hope is that this adventure will never end, because it is important to me I continue to learn new strategies that will engage, delight and ignite a passion for language arts in my students, long into my teaching years.

The Final Three

In this final blog, I would like to discuss three elements from EDCI 302 I will use in my classroom to engage students in both oracy and writing.  First, presenting to students a context they can relate to is crucial in prompting students to represent, whether it be through vocalizing or writing. This means students need to feel connected to their work. Second, providing for students a variety of strategies and opportunities so they can discover what they are good at and what inspires them needs to be executed if I want students to feel comfortable to at least try. Finally, organization, having clear guidelines and expectations set out for my students will be a fundamental element in nurturing students’ growth and progression in Language Arts.

Relatedness and Technology

Tom Roman, the author of “The Importance of Choice and Writing From the Inside”, suggests teachers must connect writers to their passions. Similarly, Nancy Atwell writes that school should reflect the nature of the kids. Students need to feel connected to their work. One way that this can be executed, is integrating technology into the classroom. Technology vehicles such as using youtube clips for topic hooks, creating voicethreads, and podcasts, or letting students explore video recording, blogging and other social media avenues are all state-of-the-art ways for students to engage in Language Arts. Middle School kids are up-to-date with these types of technologies. They use them on a daily bases and are excited to show their mastery skills in such areas. I look forward to trying out the technology methods my students will know more about than myself.

The Importance of Giving Students Variety

Today’s ELA classroom will be a very diverse environment. Student will range immensely in ability and cultural differences. This being the case, equal opportunity of success for each student is unattainable if students are presented only one option for writing and representing. The opportunities for oracy and writing cannot be convergent. Rather, as the teacher, I need to present to my students divergent possibilities. The BC IRP for English Languages Arts acknowledges diversity in the classroom, and for this reason, the IRP can act as a valuable resource. I will quickly draw attention to the Learning Principles presented in the IRP, which clearly state, “learning occurs in a variety of ways and different rates”. Recognizing and understanding diversity in the classroom helps to develop an environment that allows safe-participation from students. Students will be attracted to an assortment of genres and writing strategies. Atwell recommends introducing students to various genres and authors.  In class we often discussed the break-through of graphic novels and their popularity with kids these days. Offer students an opportunity to write their own graphic novel. Giving students variety in the way they write and vocalize will further their interest and in doing so create opportunity for growth and progression in Language Arts.

Organization and Student Improvement

Finally, being an organized teacher is essential to supporting the improvement of my future students. When I say this, I refer to the organization and layout of each lesson plan, which I learnt through the strategy assignment. I am also referring to the layout of the classroom and organization of materials accessible to students. Atwell begins organizing her classroom in August. The classroom she compares to an art studio. She also creates folders for her students to organize their work. Constructing individual reading records, writing records, reading surveys, and writing surveys, journals, hanging files of information and other various organizers. I think by being organized like Atwell will not only help a class run smoothly, but most importantly, it will aid in students further improvement. This form of “keeping track” of students’ exploration in ELA allows for teachers like myself to clearly point out the areas that need improvement or extra attention. Attention can now be given to these areas. Another aspect of organization is clearly outlining the expectations and criteria for students to follow. Students can pair-up the guidelines with their own work and point out where they didn’t meet expectations, where they met expectations and where they exceeded expectations. In doing so, students can keep track of themselves and improve upon specific areas. Students are now able to establish self-determination and self-management, which in the end will lead to their improvement and progression.

A Last Comment

 EDCI 302 was my introduction to ELA strategies. It lasted a mere three months. In conclusion, there is much more for me to learn before I can truly create a vision for my ELA classroom. I am sure things will change and the more I am exposed to different strategies and philosophies, the better my chances are of being successful. The journey must continue and like my future students, I must be exposed to as much as possible in regards to strategies that will engage, delight and ignite a passion for oracy and writing. Thus far I have decided that as long as I can relate to students, provide divergent opportunities, and remain organized in every aspect, I will have a strong repertoire to lay the foundation in the vision for my classroom and furthermore, initiate the second leg of this journey.

Steffi knew of a million insightful and intriguing ways she might answer the essay prompt; the paper she handed to her teacher didn’t show evidence of any one of them. Instead it contained a collection of ideas discussed in class, and exactly what she knew the teacher wanted her to write. Steffi could care less about that paper. Really, the fact that her name was written at the top of the page was the only thing the two had in common.

The Writing Dilemma

How often do wondrous and intelligent thoughts fight for their freedom? Students like Steffi, will choose to hold inside their feelings, ideas and opinions because they fear the only way to do well in writing is to reproduce the teacher’s ideas, putting them above their own. This conflict was illustrated in the case study of Page’s in Structure and Freedom: Achieving a Balanced Writing Curriculum:

“feeling she must choose between writing what she wanted to write, enjoying writing it, and getting a bad grade or writing what the teacher wanted, hating writing it, and getting a good grade.”

The article stated as students hit their intermediate years into high school, “essays are written to please the teacher, reflecting the teacher’s ideas, never the students.” Another reason students don’t search within themselves to produce truly personal work is because for many students conveying thoughts into words becomes too much of a struggle. Sometimes writing cannot keep-up with thinking. Atwell looks to teachers to help students who struggle with this conflict. She write that students

“ need teachers who will guide them to the meaning they don’t know yet by showing them how to build on what they do know and can do. Student writers need response while the words are churning out, in the midst of the messy, tentative act of drafting meaning.”

Atwell suggests that when specific problems arise in student drafts, more direct approaches are needed. For the many issues surrounding writing, Atwell chooses to address them through minilessons, writing conferences and workshops. Her strategies in the classroom have proved to be successful.

The reality of the writing dilemma is if a student is capable of writing, they have no option-out. Meaning that in every school subject at some point the student will have to write. They will have no other alternative form of representing. Writing has been and will continue to be an indispensable facet of our world. I believe this because applying for a job, submitting any sort of commentary to a newspaper or town council, leaving friends and family important notifications, working towards a degree, and taking-part in social media networks like blogger, facebook, and twitter, to name a few, all require people to be able to write. Under these terms exist specific necessities of writing, more a tool of survival than anything else. For this reason, writing conventions such as syntax, spelling, and sentence structure, are paramount to teach young writers. Many other avenues accompany writing, and when a student cannot find the words to write, value in other forms of representation such as music, drama, artwork, dance, graphic novels, podcasts and voice threads, shouldn’t be ignored. After all, “art” takes a rightful place in teaching English Language Arts.

Teaching what’s important

What then is important to teach students about writing and representing? Three teaching focuses are crucial for developing writing and representing in students: the power of art in language arts, the conventions of writing, and the requisition for opportunity to let students be original writers.

Language Arts

Writing time and again takes the front seat in a Language Arts class, as it is generally the most frequently required vehicle of representation. This makes perfect sense when we see the vital necessity of writing in school curricula. Every school subject calls for students to demonstrate their writing skills. Nonetheless, in English language arts, writing does not stand alone as the only vehicle for students to express themselves. Teachers need to explore the other vehicles with their students. The BC ministry of education acknowledges the many avenues of representation.

 “The expanded definition of “text” in the IRP acknowledges the diverse range of materials with which we interact and from which we construct meaning/”text” in the IRP is used to describe oral, visual, or written forms including electronic media.”   

Other mediums, like picture books are prime examples that invite students to explore a deeper understanding of a story. Chris Riddell states "we punish young people who can read by taking away pictures in their books.”(quote from In The Power of Picture Books) This observation takes into account the common attitudes towards picture books as juvenile stories that don’t hold strong academic value. The authors suggest these attitudes are misguided and rather picture books are extremely valuable because they allow young readers to search for deeper meanings in the story. Graphic novels often require a skill to read and are another form of engaging representation.

Paintings, drawing, sculpture, and photographs, are also examples of mediums that serve the purpose of representing. Technology tools such as podcasts and voice threads are appealing 21^st century mediums, which promote both informative and highly creative work that can be shared on a global level. Students like Page might be motivated to care more about the quality of their work if they are striving to see it published on the net. If students are encouraged and applauded for all forms of representing, their creativity and intellect might prove beyond what sole writing confines them to. The diversity of students in our classrooms establishes the ideal environment for remarkable production in all art forms. Some students are painters, others might be actors, and there might even be students who are ignited through interpretive dance. Whatever the art form, each plays a role in developing students’ learning. Teachers should let their students explore their options and not limit them to the obvious-writing with a pen and paper.

The Conventions of Writing

The most important element in writing is the conventions that establish the framework for understanding. Proper grammar and effective syntax are vital skills that need to be nurtured for students by their teachers. Students may rarely grasp the importance or the reason for this skill, so rarely do they dedicate serious efforts to its development. If as teachers, we take the time to explain the reasons for all the rules of writing, maybe our students will understand that the rules matter. What they want to say, in the way they want it said, won’t make sense to anyone else but themselves unless they follow the rules. Atwell makes a point of how:

“awkwardness and error distracts readers and interferes with meaning. There needs to be a focus on conventions (p.250)/we do our students a big favor by approaching rules and forms not as minutiae to be mastered, but as a means of helping them make their writing look and sound as they wish it to and in order that readers will engage with a text and take it seriously” (p.185)

Teaching the indispensible conventions in writing gives our students the tools to write. Really, the rest is up to them.

Opportunity to be original writers

Right off the bat young writers need self-agency. They also need support and direction from their teacher because the student, like everyone else is going to run into a problem of some sort in their writing. A teacher can’t just give a student a blank piece of paper with a pen and say, “go! Write whatever you want. There are no rules.” Our students need guidance, they need the scaffold and they need to be provided with the opportunities to try-out the many avenues of writing and representing, to explore the colossuses of genres: non-fiction, fiction, poetry, biographies, journal entries, personal reflections, creative writing, factual writing, the list could go on. Robin Kital suggests: “genre should be unlimited”. Once students connect to a genre, they connect to a way to express themselves. Teachers need to provide their students with a variety of opportunity. Whether it is inviting famous authors into the classroom, letting the kids explore a library of different approaches to writing and genres, or introducing the various forms of representation, teachers provoke their students to at least try-which is always the first step. The ELA IRP defines the purpose in ELA is giving student opportunities. It is important for teachers to show their students that the opportunities in writing and representing are unlimited as long as you’re willing to try new things. Atwell presents her minilessons on literary craft where she will focus on different genres. She exposes her kids to web pages, young adult literature, letters of all kinds, plays and skits, books reviews, songs, standardized writing assessments, political ads, resumes and vitae, petitions, and parodies.

The Writer’s Voice

First our students need the chance to find what gets them writing and representing. Next they need to be given the opportunity to speak their mind and get passionate. Tom Romano writes: “words resonate when they are from the heart.” I believe this to be true. Students will write when they are allowed to speak from the heart, when they feel what they have to say is important, and when they choose to share their work with a wider audience. For instance, publishing work on a blog post, or in a book that will be put in the school library. Atwell writes, “when student believe that what they have to say is important, they care about how their words go down on the page.” (p.250) This is why teachers should embrace students’ ideas and opinions, especially when they differ from their own. This open-minded practice I believe will make me a better teacher because it will expand my point of view and enrich my understanding of what writing is for other people and not just myself. I see writing as a personal endeavor, and when personality is allowed to show in students writing, it often produces thoughtful and heartfelt work written by proud young original writers. 

Steffi and Page are discouraged because they feel they have no voice in their writing. As young developing writers, these girls cannot find their voices alone. They need their teachers to step up and guide them to a place where they can be confident and reclaim their writing voices.

Voice Threads

I checked out the voice thread website too see what they are all about!.. they are pretty darn awesome, I think. This collaborative multimedia slideshow is an incredibly versatile application and I can most definitely see teachers utilizing the handful of features the voice thread offers.

My favourite feature is the ability for voice threads to be embedded.  This feature enables voice threads to be exported and embedded into other websites, or exported to Mp3 players and DVDs. Exporting does cost 2.99$ a voice thread, or 10 for 20.00$. All the characteristics of the voice thread are downloaded: doodle, and all methods of commenting. What I think is so great about the embedded feature is how the voice thread then becomes something that can be archived.

The comment feature is another awesome aspect of voice threads. Students are able to comment in a variety of ways, through the telephone, microphone, text, audio file, or video. I think this feature encourages public discourse. Public discourse can be a difficult thing for many students to take part in. The voice thread however, promotes students to think about what they want to say and take their time to take part in the "conversation". When students are just beginning to break free of the things that hold them back when wanting to put in their two cents so to speak, the voice thread allows a protective shield because it is not face to face and detrimentally upfront. Even though it isn't upfront and face to face (which at some point will need to be addressed), their is still a sense of thoughtfulness and intimacy that technology sometimes tends to miss out on.

The whole idea of the voice thread has a sense of performance about it. I still remember being a kid in middle school and getting excited about the projects we would be working on if there was a goal like   performance. Also, I think the voice thread is a way to make everyday projects special. Which is important, because when students feel their work is special, they naturally are likely to put in that special effort.

IRPs: the good and the bad.

BC's Integrated Resource Package, commonly referred to as the IRP is a helpful resource, but if I choose to follow it to a 't' it is quite possible that I will get lost in the rules and needs of the BC curriculum instead of responding to the needs of my students.  Atwell says we need to "let school reflect the nature of the kids". I could not agree more. So I ask myself, does the IRP truly service the students or does it merely service the teacher? 

I think the principles of learning, and the key concepts outlined in the IRP: oral language, reading and viewing, and writing and representing, as well as the focuses of each concept: purpose, strategies, thinking and features, are great guidelines in regards to new teachers trying to organize their ELA lesson plans. I don't feel as confident about the PLO's... "prescribed learning outcomes are mandated by the School Act; they are legally required, not optional". To put in perspective, there are twenty-two pages of PLO's for grade 8 students in ELA, which highlight the nitty-gritty things about English Language Arts, and I don't understand why it needs to be broken down in such a fashion. The thing is, IRPs are too long, and as a new teacher, the enormous booklet of information and required curriculum to get through per class is a tad bit intimidating. It would be better if they were shorter. I also can't seem to ignore the out-datedness of the IRP. This year we celebrate 2012, yet the ELA IRP is from 2007. Should teachers really be basing their lessons on resources from five years ago?  On the other hand, I think the cross-over elements in the IRPs are effective because they create a foundation for progression and a sense of continuity from grades 7 through 12, putting everybody on the same page. Progression and continuity in learning between grades enables students to acquire skills and continue to develop their skills, such as being effective speakers in public discourse.

 The article by Robert E. Probst argues the need for teaching students to take responsibility for their own discourse. He is right; in my eyes the need for authentic speech is so important, because that is what is judged in our world outside the classroom. Students today learn in a variety of ways and respond to a variety of teaching approaches. Atwell suggests that "middle school students look at school for what matters in life/not as the place to get ready for what matters in life. They come to school to work out their social needs." If this is the case then ELA needs to reflect what matters to the students. Students will learn when they feel that what matters to them is listened to, and when they feel their is a reason,a purpose to overcome what challenges them in school. I know that my classroom will be full of students who might all have opinions and ideas burning inside of them but the ability to express these ideas and opinions in an effective and educated manner isn't quite yet accessible. They need help in fostering this skill. Good writing, active reading, confident speaking, and critical thinking, are fundamental elements of ELA. Good teachers bring out these skills in students. They find a way to instill for their students reason to care about what they have to say, their ideas and opinions. These teachers bring undivided attention to what adolescents feel is important. Not all kids have the same opinion, the same growing-up experience, learning abilities and cultural backgrounds. All in all, not every kid is cut from the same cloth, so how as teachers are we supposed to follow a cookie-cutter outline? I think it is the IRPs "guideline" characteristics that make them valuable to teachers starting out as opposed to their mandatory cookie-cutter rules that hinder new teachers.

eyes to ears to be

Hello

I'm Laura-rose, my blog's title, "essay!!...what essay?", was inspired by the evolution of English Language Arts. No longer are we asked to write and hand in an essay in hard-copy or even deliver electronically. The times have changed and rather bloggers we must be: to blog reflections, ideas and understandings, comment, converse, connect and help construct a network of our creativity through blogging and viewing. Though I am a newbie blogger I embrace whole-heartedly the ever so cutting-edge blogosphere. So please, welcome to my blog! Here I will post a collage of reflections from our class, I also accept any comments or kind challenges :)

What I Expect English Language Arts to look like/sound like/ be like in the middle school classroom:

Off the top of my head, picturing a middle years English Language Arts classroom I go back to my grade 7 classroom at Queen of Angles School. Though I am trying to picture a new setting, I keep referring back to my own experience as a guide. I guess I don't imagine there to be much difference. Maybe the computer in the back of the classroom is a little more up-to-date? (maybe not) or maybe the computer is gone and hasn't been replaced. Perhaps the students' essays are on display on the bulletin board, and I propose the bookshelf in the back corner is over-flowing with novels, especially now that the Harry Potter heptalogy has been completed and every grade 7 girl can't get enough of the Twilight Series. Sure there are a few classic literary novels as well. (I wonder if kids read them these days?) The desks are placed in rows facing the front where the teacher stands and writes the lessons on the board. I hear chalkboards are on there way out, the whiteboards have made their break-though, but I am not convinced every school has been provided with the option-out of chalkboards, chalk, and brushes. Oh god, some poor kid's job is to clean the brushes by banging them together at the same time as holding their breath to prevent suffocation from chalk dust.
 Besides the sounds "smack smack... cough cough" echoing from outside, in an English Language Arts classroom I might hear the teacher lecturing about proper use of the semi colon. On the other hand, I might hear the sound of students practicing their public speaking, reading aloud, or rehearsing a speech. Silent reading time was always a favourite of mine, where I could just escape the classroom by reading a good story. The classroom might be silent though highly doubtful because of course there are those whispers between friends trying to converse low enough to escape the teacher's ears. At some point the silence will be completely broken and ideas and comments will be shot across the classroom, the students actively communicating and learning. Both setting and sounds of the classroom help create what it is like to be in a classroom.
 Personally, going back now as a student teacher, I think will be fun and eye-opening. As a grade 7 student, I used to know what it was like, but now not so much. What I do know is that every kid won't feel the same way about their experience in the classroom and not every kid will take the same experience with them when they leave. Obviously not every kid will be dancing to the same beat. Everyone's got their something and that's what makes the Language Arts classroom a great place to be. I think the classroom will be a collaboration of different ideas, emotions, learning abilities, personalities and endless possibilities.