Entry 5: Dear Dr. Jones... writing ROCKS!

Dear Dr. Jones,

            Class is going great so far! Not just great - FANTASTIC! This is one of the most enjoyable classes I’ve ever taken. I have to tell you, I’m somewhat surprised by this realization. When I signed up for this class, I did it because I felt that I was weak in the area of teaching writing. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to learn. Did I think it would be interesting? Yes. Useful? Yes. But fun? No, I didn’t really think that. I am pleased as punch! This is why: I have never taken a course where I was given so much freedom to write, to explore and use writing in such a truly creative way and to use phrases such as “pleased as punch” and have it be OK. I have never been able to take time to study and appreciate and LEARN the author’s craft. I love it!

            Over the past few weeks I have learned A LOT. I am beginning to see more clearly the parallel between reading and writing because I’m consciously looking for it and experiencing it. The biggest turning point for me this semester so far has actually occurred over the past week when I was reading chapter four from Hicks (2009) and two and three from Tompkins (2012). My own definition of writing was revised after reading chapter four in Hicks (see my response: Challenging the definition of writing) and having this fuller appreciation of the creative, recursive and thoughtful processes that writers use has helped me see the connection between reading and writing.

Where I really see the connection (and the importance) is with the process of revision. “If readers are to develop some control over and a sense of discovery with the models of meaning they build, they must approach text with the same deliberation, time and reflection that a writer employs as she revises a text (Tierney & Pearson, 1983, p. 576). If readers understand how the revision process occurs with writing, meaning they understand that a good writer will go back to revise and edit as a text grows because the meaning of it will change as the piece is developed, students may be able to more easily grasp the idea that the meaning of text must also be revised. As one reads through a text, or rereads a text, the reader is exposed to new information that may change their initial understanding and assumptions constructed at the beginning, middle and end of the text. This action is necessary to ensure that the reader is fully transacting. Helping students see this connection by using writing as the more tangible example will help students develop this more tacit skill.

Over the past few weeks, in attempts to fulfill the goals of this class, you have required us to use writing as a mode of exploring, clarifying and learning new ideas. I use writing to do this on average once a week, for an extended period of time. I question if this is enough? I don’t think it is. Over the past two days (in attempts to leave a good quality response to the weekly reading question and craft well thought out blogs) I’ve had to create these texts in pieces, leaving them to complete some other task and coming back later to reread, revise and edit. I believe these breaks I took were beneficial because it allowed the ideas swirling in my head to incubate, and become more potent. I was able to come back to each piece with “fresh eyes” and a clearer goal in mind for my message. So even though I’ve had less time to do these revisions, I have used my time more appropriately and effectively. I do have to give you some credit as well! During our last class, while I don’t remember your specific words, you challenged us to think more critically about how we were using our reading and writing. I took this to heart and by doing so, I was able make some considerable changes.

The most significant change to my writing process is the amount of thinking I do, as well as how I go about doing it. I think it is safe to say that I’m always thinking when I write, but I have become more aware of what type of thinking I’m doing. I’ve realized that when I write, I spend very little time in the generating, narrowing and organizing stage. I spend most of my time in the monitoring, rereading and revising stage… which I have to do a lot of because I jump right into creating a text without a clear goal in mind. I’ve been able to get away with this for such a long time that it is difficult for me to consciously tell myself to stop and spend time to do those truly beneficial prewriting activities. This tendency to rush into the “writing” stage was revealed to me in the past two days, when I took the time to consciously pay attention to my inner voice (especially when I recognized I was having trouble). I deliberately kept figure 2-1 in Tompkins (2012, p. 35) open when completing the writing tasks over the past two days to help me recognize what writing strategy I was employing at a given time, taking care to consider when I was using it and why.

As of right now, forcing myself to generate, organize and narrow ideas is probably the most important writing habit I have to change. Like I said, this will be hard because my natural process is to jump right in. I have however seen an improvement by utilizing the prewriting strategies; the writing process has become more enjoyable and productive. As far as my reading habits, I need to continually remind myself of the importance of taking on the role as reviser as I read. When I mentioned about that truly understanding the revision connection between reading and writing would help students recognize this process with reading… that student was me! Keeping this idea in mind will be beneficial not only when I reread a text for myself, but also when I reflect on the comments made in our group forum or in our blogs; always remembering that the meaning of the text can change when exposed to additional perspectives and information.   

  

Overall, the realizations that I’ve wrote to you about in this letter are extremely useful in aiding me as a teacher of literacy. To actually experience and understand what the authors are talking about in the text we read gives me a deeper insight as to how I should go about teaching literacy. That being said, there are some specific strategies that we’ve been taught that I think will also be beneficial. First is the use of blogging. Giving my students a true audience and reason to create a well crafted text, letting them see how their text affects other as well as giving them the ability to receive real feedback and engage in discussion are all great ways to spur intrinsic motivation to write. Additionally, the Card Strategy (Kucer & Rhodes, 1986, p.189) activity was great because it causes writers to really engage in prewriting activities. I think my students would really like the Card Strategy because, like most teens, they would be interested in sharing why they think their way is the best but would probably still be (secretly) interested in seeing how their peers might arrange their ideas differently.

At the present time I don’t feel like I’m struggling. I was two days ago, but after spending some time doing some honest thinking, I believe I’ve sorted my confusions out. Don’t worry though, I know where to find you if I start have problems!

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                    Alyse Palumbo

Works Cited

Hicks, T. (2009).  The digital writing workshop.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (6^th ed.).

Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.

Kucer, S. B. & Rhodes, L. K. (1986).  Counterpart strategies:  Fine tuning language with

language.  The Reading Teacher, 40(2),186-193.

Tierney, R. & Pearson, P. D. (1983).  Toward a composing model of reading.  Language

Arts, 60(5), 568-580.