Grammar Article...

The article I read was Responding to Student Writing by Vivian Zamel, and was found in the English Journal. This article beared a lot of resemblance to the Red Pen article we had looked at previously in the fact that it debates whether or not teachers are encouraging prodictive writing when they edit harshly. One thing I found interesting is that a lot of the things we brought up in classroom discussion were included in this excerpt. Zamel points out the fact that teachers often give vague instructions or indecipherable comments that only mean something to the person who is grading it and makes it nearly impossible for the student to know what went wrong or how to fix their paper, this was right along the lines of points we as students made in class. This was just one of the many points brought up in this article that closely related to the comments we made in class. The article suggested rethinking the overzealous marking of a students writing because, as Zamel was trying to emphasize, what we as teachers view as constructive to the writing process, actually can discourage and defeat a student. Meanwhile, their original work with the students fresh point of view becomes lost in trying to please the teacher.

Image Grammar

When I got the assignment to read twelve pages in the grammar book, I was sort of dreading it expecting it to be incredibly boring..but I really actually enjoyed it. I loved the way it encouraged you to look at the writer as an artist "painting images of life with specific and identifiable brush strokes." (pg.1). That image was something totally different than I had thought of writing before. I really appreciated the way the book encouraged the writer to use an "artists eye" when painting their picture with words. The five brush strokes is definitley a teaching concept I had never heard of but would be a really neat concept to use in my classroom. I felt like it made me think of my own writing in a whole new way so I can imagine that it could help a high school student tremendously.

Indy Teach ROUGH Outline

*The important ideas my individual teaching will center on are; How can we use nature to enrich the writing experience and what are the different ways nature can inspire creativity in the classroom?

* The activity the book focuses on is one large activity in which students track the moon through its 28 day cycle and then create journal entries involving various creative works (poetry, sketches, prose, etc). Since our classroom will not have 28 days to create a journal, I am thinking that our activities will be something involving creative writing involving nature. One thing we can definitley do is look at works done by other authors on the topic.

Helpful Links..

Helpful website for teachers who are just starting out; INSPIRING TEACHERS
Also for lesson plans help, Dr. Allen's Website

Red Pen Response

As someone who has had one of those professors who tore up every square inch of their paper, I can be sympathetic to the fact that the red pen marks, although meant to be productive, can also feel counterproductive. I can relate to the feelings of defeat when looking at a paper covered in red pen, and the discouraging effect it can have on a student. However, I do know that some of those red pen comments were helpful in future writing assignments, they also helped me to produce some of my best pieces of writing.
I would have to say that the best and most productive english teacher should not spend all of his or her time nit picking her students assignments and tearing them apart with their red pen, but should try and find a way to use constructive criticism. There is nothing wrong with helping a student understand grammatical and structural errors while showing them your appreciation for their content. Positive feedback can make a huge differences in the way that students will respond and handle their corrections that need to be made.

I AM FROM

I Am From..

I am from treehouses
Jump ropes
Campouts and sleepovers

I am from neighbordhood bike rides
hide and go seek
and "Marco Polo!"

I am from dress up
Dancing to Janet Jackson
and picking on my brother
just to get a reaction

I am from side yard football
Sprinklers
And Grass on bare feet

I am from pepperoni pizza
Backyard barbecues
Tree forts, and truth or dare

I am from Scott, Karissa
And a huge family tree
I am from love
And thats what makes me

Best Practice Response...

*After reading Chapter 1 of the Daniels and Bizar text, my interpretation of "best practice" teaching is finding a way to combine a healthy balance of student driven participation and creative thought with traditional instructional teaching. Best Practice teaching encourages students to be creative with the learning process and become more experimental. It produces an enviroment in which students and the teacher work together in the learning process, as opposed to the teacher demanding certain things with no room for flexibility. Best Practice teaching does not however mean that there is no room for lecture or seat work based learning, it encourages teachers to find a balance between the differing types of teaching.

*What Best Practice Learning attempts to do is discourage classroom settings that are driven solely by the teacher standing at the front of the class lecturing continually while students are sitting unengaged. This type of classroom setting leads to student disinterest and boredom, which is ineffective when it comes to grasping key concepts. It also discourages "busy work" that rewards students based on how quietly they can sit in their seats and complete worksheets. It also frowns on pulling students out of the classroom for special programs, due to the fact that it singles out certain students who may be struggling and can be looked at like a form of punishment.

* Some ways that Best Practice learning could be incorporated in the English classroom would be in class poetry writing in reading in which students could be encouraged to get creative and write on any topic they feel passionate about, and then be encouraged to share with one another. This would be a way for students to learn mechanics and basics of poetry while still feeling like they are taking a hands on approach and giving them the freedom to make choices on their writing topics. Another example would be letting students group up and choose a book to read from a selection, that each group could present to the class. This way the students would be working together and once again be given some freedoms when choosing what to present on.

*According to Murray, being a writer means exploring your personal thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Murray emphasizes the importance of writing as a cathartic experience, as a means of escape from everyday life, and as a way to find yourself. Murray looked at being a writer as a talent that needs to be constantly exercised and expanded upon. Being a writer is a way to share and relate to the people around you.
* In Murray's introduction, he writes about how he uses writing as a way to defeat what he is most afraid of. He uses a quote by Donald Barthelme stating, "Write about what you're most afraid of" (pg. 5). I liked this passage by Murray because I think that writing is one of the most useful ways to combat anxiety and fears. It was interesting to me the way he described the way that writing keeps his "dark shadows" at bay. I thought that this passage was an interesting and valuable way to show how writing can be a form of catharsis for those who suffer with anxiety and depression.