Regular & Enjoyable
In Routman’s book she discusses how writing needs to happen on a regular basis. In addition, writing needs be completed in varying contexts. This can be a writing response, a free write, writing for another subject and so on. Something in this past week’s reading that stuck with me was how Routman explained that students need plenty of time practicing reading without being tested, and the same goes for their writing. Students need to have plenty of practice writing without it being graded. This was a major aha moment for me. I was under the impression that every piece of writing needed to be checked or graded; in the past this frustrated me when teachers did not follow through on this. Now, I understand that students need to practice without the pressure that they are being graded. Granted, students still need to practice good writing skills and the writing process even though the piece may not be completely checked. As for enjoyable, if writing is more regular I believe students will come to love writing. Additionally, if students are given options during their regular writing, they may find an outlet of writing they love. Celebrated student writing is also more likely to help students enjoy writing!
Worth it
In my observations, and my time as an elementary student, student writing is rarely celebrated or published in some way. Writings are usually published at least twice a year. Students need to have a sense that their writing is important and that it is worth it. I believe with worthwhile assignments, many opportunities for publishing and still more opportunities for celebration of writing will help students to feel like writing is worth it. In the end, this too will improve student writing.
The opportunity to practice writing for a "real" audience (rather just the teacher) is one of the reasons that a lot of teachers are having students blog. There's a class in New Mexico, for example that regularly exchanges blog posts with New Zealand, and first grades in a small town in Canada who blog and regularly get comments (all moderated by the teacher) from all over the world.
ReplyDeleteThese teachers have found that the kids work much harder to write "well" when they know that their writing will be read by others and that their writing actually communicates with others instead of just being a school assignment.
Those are the sort of uses of tech that aren't about the "tech" but about richer learning for kids.
How interesting that you picked up on the repetition of those three ideas: regular, enjoyable, and worth it. I will make an effort to listen for those concepts in subsequent courses because they have so much to do with student motivation.
ReplyDeleteIn my dyad placement, the master teacher was frustrated by her math students' level of engagement (or disengagement rather) and she said, "Here's the million dollar question: How do you get kids to learn when they don't want to and don't care?" I think your concepts, Kristin, address part of my dyad teacher's question. If the students believed math (or reading or writing) was regular, enjoyable, and worth it, then perhaps they would be motivated to learn the subject matter.
On a side note, I LOVED your digital story! It's a poignant tear-jerker and I thank you for sharing it with us.
Regular, enjoyable, and worth it--I may need to borrow this phrase for future cohorts (source will be cited, of course!).
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