My Definition of Writing

Writing as I know it after nine weeks of class is a process. This process has many steps and should be thought out thoroughly, over and over again. We don't often know where our thoughts, and our stored memories, and feelings and emotions, will take us until they come out of our heads and out of our mouths and onto paper. That's why writing is always changing and as a writer we are always learning. Writing cannot just simply be taught as instruction, instead we have to teach ourselves based off of the support and responses we receive from others about our writing, but most importantly our internal thoughts and development from ourselves.

The implications of this definition implies that as a future teacher I will help students learn that writing takes time and should not be done in one sitting. I will have my students (3rd graders) write a paper about something they like, and then have them revise it a few times throughout the year to see how well their writing develops by the time they do a final draft. It might sound like a lot for a nine year old but I think a page of something fun to them shouldn't be that hard. Plus they wrtie pretty big still so it should fill up the page pretty fast! :) I think if you show them at a young age that their writing changes as they discover internal and external ideas, they will keep this practice in minda s they advance through school.

Responding to Alyssa's Assignment

Alyssa's assignment was very helpful. Although my paper is nearly finished, I was able to think again about my main ideas, write them down, and then go back to my paper to validate that these ideas were clear. It even helped me to think of a new idea since it has been awhile since I last looked at my paper. Her assignment would also be beneficial for those who are not as far as I am in my writing. Without looking at notes, outlines, drafts, etc. the assignment really has you thinking about what you now know about your topic and also about what you think your paper is addressing. This is a good assignment because it takes us away from all the research and revision and editing and allows us to just reflect on our topics/arguments to make sure they are still entact with the points we are trying to make. I'll have to remember to do this once more before the end of the semester.

Revision Plan

The biggest thing I need to work on when I revise my paper is to finish it! I still need to talk about solutions to the issues I present. Then I will need to wrap up my paper with a good conclusion. Finally, I need to develop my thesis statement!! I had one, kind of, but I hated it. I changed it over and over again because I want to make sure it covers exactly what I am talking about and not just bits and pieces. The last thing I am going to do is go through the entire paper and make sure it is not boring. This is my chance to write a good paper about something that interests me and not worry about getting a bad grade for using bad grammar, or a coma in the wrong place. I can focus on the issue and not the actual writing.

Trial Assignment for You

Comparing Your Writing to Others of the Same Topic

This assignment will help you to see your arguing topic from a different perspective and help you develop new ideas.

1. Look at different professional examples of writing within the realm of your topic.
2. Look at articles that do not agree with your argument. That is, search for the exact opposite of the point you are trying to make.
3. Of the articles that do not agree with your point, pull out 3-5 main ideas that their article is attempting to argue. Then answer the following questions:
*Of these other main ideas, how many of them do you counter or address in your own writing?
*If there are ideas that are not currently addressed in your writing, how can you incorporate at least one of these?
4. If you are struggling with your thesis, compare the theses of the opposing articles to yours, then write your thesis to be the exact opposite of these articles.

Thinking Towards a Revision Plan

All I have left to do with my paper is the thesis, the solutions, and the conclusion. Then I will go through and make sure my paper isn't dry and dull.

• Am I clear about my argument? Can I state it as a thesis statement?

This is one of the last things I need to do. I have to get my thesis statement together so that it fits with the rest of my paper. My argument is clear, but I still don't have a thesis.

• Does my writing offer well-supported and accurate evidence for each of my claims?

Yes, the evidence I have is valid and it supports my argument.

• Is my writing fair and respectful toward the differing positions one could take on my arguments?

Yes, I am only providing facts and just arguing who/what is to blame for the issue. Some may argue that other things are to blame, but they wouldn't think my paper was unfair.

• Will my readers understand the purpose of each paragraph?

I think my paper flows well so yes, each paragraph has a reason and is in the right place (in my opinion).

• Can I say why my paragraphs are ordered as they are? Can I describe the steps of my argument?

Yes, it is pretty clear to see how my paper is orgnazied. It starts with all the problems of my issues, or causes, then ends with solutions to the problems.

• Will my writing engage readers?

Another thing I need to do is, once I am finished with the remaining paragraphs, is go back through a few times and make sure that it isn't boring. I don't want it to seem like a research paper so I have to make sure my voice shines through and that it is interesting to read.

• Does my introduction engage readers with my argument and initial concerns?

I'm pretty happy with my intro, I just need to work on the thesis. Other than that, I have a good quote and I really talk aobut what my paper is all about.

• Have I given appropriate stylistic emphasis to the main parts of my arguments?

Another thing I need to work on. Again, I have to make sure my paper isn't a boring research paper full of dull statistics. I have to make sure I show emotion and my voice so that it actually has a meaning.

• Do my transitions help readers move from one paragraph to the next?

Again, it flows well. It moves from one fact to the next without being too dry. I think any reader would understand where I'm going with my paper.

• Does my conclusion sum up my argument and end memorably for readers?

I still have to work on my conclusion, but I have some good ideas that will really wrap up my argument.

Bartholomae

David Bartholomae´s main ideas in ¨Writing Assignments: Where Writing Begins" all have to do with the best way to teach students to compose, by starting with the process of composing. One big idea is that students should be free to discover topics of interest on their own and not just be assigned to write. Another idea of his is that writers develop their ideas after writing has begun; they can't just come up with something to write about, or find their point or arguement, until they begin to write. The point of this is that you don't always know how you really feel about something until after you have started to talk or write about it. Another big idea is that students constantly need support and that writing is a constant, on-going process that cannot just be done once for a grade. Students need assistance and interference while developing their writing.

Bartholomae wants writers to learn is that writing requires a repeated and on-going effort (quoting him here) and that writing cannot simply be taught, only the process of writing.

Nothing is really odd or surprising in what he writes, but I think I need to work on developing some ideas on how I can teach this way to my future students. How can I make them think about writing, or  the process, in this way? That will be somewhat of a challenge, but one I am willing to accept. I also need to take what I've learned from Bartholomae and apply it to my paper. We have pretty much followed his ideas throughout the semester and have been taking the composing process one piece at a time. What I need to do is make sure that my paper includes my own thoughts and ideas about the subject matter.

In Class Discussion-Midterm Reflection

I now think of the composing process as just that, a process. Writing should take time and we should take it one piece at a time. In order to get the best out of your writing, it should be spread out over a long period of time. Cramming everything into a writing a day or two before it is due will be the worst thing you've ever written. Up until now, I feel like this is how I wrote everything in high school and even college. All I wanted was a decent grade and I was happy. Now I see that anyone can be a good writer if they just take the time in what they are writing.

The readings and discussions have been very helpful in establishing what good writing is and what it can be. As I said, writing has always just been work to me, school work. Writing at work is different in that I dont have to hand it "perfect" essays or research papers. However, after this class I will have better feelings about writing and I can also use different techniques now to teach my students about writing, and make it something they are interested in, when I become a teacher.

The process is easy, some of it you may already even know:

-Start with brainstorming, pre-writing. Just get your ideas on paper
-Try to write a couple of paragraphs
-Try to write a few more
-Again, a few more
-Add a conclusion
-Have someone else now read your rough draft (ta-da! you have a rough draft!!)
-Any questions? Thoughts? Concerns? Ask them!!
-With the revised versions and answers from peers and teacher, go back and re-write what you have
-Change any or all of it
-Never stop looking for resources; if you can't find what you're looking for in the sources you already have, look for new ones..you can never have too many
-Read about what others have to say about writing, and the composing process
-Finally, at some point you will have another rough draft
-Have someone read it again
-Turn it into your final draft

The Revision I Did for Elizabeth and Alyssa

I decided that I would check their blogs first to see what kind of feedback they were looking for, questions they had, etc. From there I read their paper from start to finish once, and then read it again with comments. At the end, I answered any questions they had, gave them some feedback on how well I think they did or things they could work on. Overall, however, I let their own voices shine and didn't criticize too much on their own ideas. I did not focus on grammatical errors or sentence structure at all. Just the overall idea and flow, and then answered any questions they had. Both had very good styles of writing and even gave me some ideas on my own paper, even though we were not covering the same topics/argument.

My Response to Fellow Writers

After reading Faigley and Harris’ article about revision, I have some general ideas on how I will respond to the writings of my classmates:

·         I will have an open mind to the fact that the writer has their own voice and their own style of writing and that it is different than my own

·         I will only provide suggestions to organization and flow, but not be too critical as the writer may have their own ideas about what works best for their writing

·         I will provide punctuation and spelling corrections to only obvious mistakes, not certain grammar that is there for the purpose of making a point

·         I will attempt to provide additional thoughts/ideas they could use for their writing if they find it useful

·         Finally, I will be honest and open about my thoughts, without being offensive or too critical

Faigley/Harris and Revision

Had a very hard time reading Faigley’s article…yikes!! Spent way too much time than I’d like to admit trying to understand where the article was going. Again, it is another article talking about history and writing and compares it to modern times. But basically, he talks about writers using a kind of voice that is their own and that it might be harder for teacher to assess or grade based on this. Writers as students should write as an autobiographical type so that it shows “self”.

Harris was easier to read…way easier. She talks about the necessity of going through all steps of writing. She basically is taking the same steps we are taking in class right now. From pre-writing to different goals set along the way. Writing should be a process and not just a paper to be graded. She also mentions that the teacher should be a coach and help them resolve issues that they may run into. Writing should be a complete work, with focus on every part of it, and revision until it is the best writing, but to the writer and not anyone else.

For Those Revising My Paper

I'm hoping you can help me decide if my paper is arranged in a way that makes the most sense (does it flow?). Also, I don't have the solutions added to my paper yet but they should be pretty straight-forward and will be right before the conclusion.

Also, after yesterday's class I think I have a solid thesis statement that I have to add...so if it's obvious that I don't have one (because it should be pretty obvious), that's why. Just hoping my intro paragraph makes sense so far and fits with where I'm going with the rest of the paper.

Finally, please be brutally honest...if it makes you fall asleep, let me know. I'm really trying to make this not just another research paper and something I can actually hold on to and be proud of. If this is the case, though, what could I do to keep you interested?!

Thanks guys!! :)

Steph

What Does My Audience Already Agree with Me on? What Do They Not? How Do I Convince Them?

The audience already knows that there are achievement gaps between different ethnicities and they have to agree with it because it is a fact. What they may not agree with is the fact that the causes for the gap really have little to do with their ethnic background and more to do with what happens in school. They may not agree that unequity is still prevelant in school.
I will have to give them facts, facts about why children of different ethnicities, social classes,  cultures don't do as well as white middle-class kids. I also have to show them ways to fix it so that all children have the same chance.

This is the heuristic approach. And the A to B, B to C, A to C model.

Student or Expeerienced Writer?

Based merely on the content given in Sommer's pieces, I would call myself an experienced writer, and I'm hardly an expert at anything. I call myself an experienced writer, however, because I don't do the things that she says a student writer does. I know that revising is bigger than just replacing bad words with better ones. I am able to look at my writing as a whole and change some parts or all parts once I realize what I need to do to get my point across. I see the bigger picture, the pattern, the design I'm going for. I know that my first draft is never my final, and that I am going to change it several times before I am satisfied.
I also agree with Sommers and her idea of an experienced writer, but to say that I am one, to me that is a little far-fetched (even though I just did). My friends and family and even classmates, before learning about Sommer's definition would never read my writing and call me an expert. They would probably think the opposite! Experienced writing is having a passion for it and using all kinds of different techniques to get the writing to shine above the rest. My writing is average; it's student writing in my own definition. I follow the rules I've learned in school and hardly go above and beyond.

Revision and Sommers

Sommers explains in her article that there are student and experienced writers who have different perceptions of revision. Student writers see revising and removing and adding better words to make there papers sound more professional. Experienced writers see revising as rewriting, restructuring, and really developing a clearer, more acceptable finished product. Some experienced writers get rid of paragraphs and even pages altogether and replace them with new ideas they didn't think of at first. Students, on the other hand, think revising is about grammar only.
I will make sure that I look at my paper from an experienced writers perspective, which I already think I am doing. I have been working on my second draft all weekend and I have spent about three hours just changing the content that I already had. I still haven't continued my paper, just focused on and adjusted what was already there. So I am re-reading and re-writing and reorganizing as I see fit. I haven't really focused any time on changing different words or using different grammar, so I believe that I can call myself "experienced".

Revision

Revising a writing is reading it over yourself and having someone else read it if possible, and allowing yourself and others to change it for the better. Your initial thoughts may have sounded good at first, but reading it again will help you develop new ideas, whether it's changing the arrangement of the paper altogether, adding additional thoughts or content, or eliminating content.

When writing in school, I usually revise while I'm still writing and then when I think I'm done, I'll read through it again and revise. I always have at least one other person read it as well and I will take their suggestions, tips or tricks, and revise again as needed. However, I don't always take others' advice if I don't agree with it, unless of course it is from the teacher! I often revise because after I read a writing, I often change my mind on how a sentence or paragraph is arranged. I also fill in places that need a little more "meat" and eliminate parts that don't turn out fitting like I wanted. I also revise to catch spelling and grammatical errors.

class reflection

The articles from this week helped me to think about my own writing. After reading them, I've decided that I am not going to focus so much on proper, perfect grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. (well, still spelling...I'm anal that way). Instead, I am going to focus more on my own voice, my own ideas, and make sure they shine throughout my paper. After tonight's class and getting to share some sentences/ideas from my rough rough draft with some of my classmates, I realized that my paper is really boring. I focused too much on actual data and facts rather than letting my own ideas, thoughts, feelings stand out and make the paper. With that being said, I'm more excited than I was to continue revising my paper.

Ehrenworth, Vinton, Micciche-Delivery

What I see the main point as being in both of this week’s readings is that grammar can be powerful. Ehrenworth and Vinton touched on the fact that the English language is a living breathing thing and is evolving just as much as we are, therefore we should evolve what grammar means and how it is taught. Micciche also compared grammar to having power, and I believe this is true. Knowing standard English-that is, being able to speak it, write it, recognize it-is important in America and has power behind it, from school to the economy and up. With that being said, writing pieces don’t necessarily always have to be in Standard English. With the world evolving so much, we need to be able to teach grammar in a way that still explains how and when to use proper punctuation, but that also does not devalue creative, unique styles of writing.

Culture was brought up in Micciche’s reading and I thought that was a very important concept. This connection between grammar and culture was also recently brought up in another class I am taking related to an intro to urban schools. ELL (English language learners) students are more prevalent today in America than any other time and will only continue to get greater in size. On top of that, you have the AAVE (African American Vernacular English) speaking students, who use their own kind of “Ebonics” in their culture and thus naturally bring it in the classroom (by the way, I looked this up before I referred to it as Ebonics and it is acceptable to call AAVE this…just so I don’t offend anyone!!). My point here is that English and grammar is constantly changing so to correct ELL or AAVE students is to attempt to assimilate them and to make them conform to society or the majority.

Both readings brought up great points to grammar and how to use it as a tool when writing that best fits in the classroom in present time. When I am in the classroom, I will make sure that I allow time for my students to use their own language and time to teach them standard English as a tool to develop a sense of power in language. Grammar will be something that I will teach, but I will make sure that I design criteria that will allow them to use their own creative voices to express their points, without straying too far away from appropriateness. As far as the paper I am writing for this class, I will make sure that I use my own voice but not stray too far from standard English (it IS a research paper, after all!).

Grammar and Mechanics

I pay attention to grammar and mechanics any time I write anything, even an email at work to a coworker. It's something that I consider both a strength and weakness of mine. A strength because I think it's important to write with proper grammar, and to use certain mechanics to make sure my writing is clear and in the format that is appropriate for the writing. It is a weakness of mine because I often spend way too much unnessesary time reading and re-reading and editting a simple writing. Grammar is anything from correct spelling, to using a comma in the right place, to structuring sentences correctly, and using standard english. Mechanics, to me, is using tools available to structure my writing into the format that fits best. It's kind of related to the style, in my opinion.

Statement of Purpose

My audience is going to be my classmates, who are, for the majority, future teachers like myself. My paper is going to blame public schools and their practices for the wide achievement gaps and the low success rate of minority children. I don't want it to be a boring paper to read, so I have to think of clever ways to get them to understand the points that I'm making. These points are facts and not my opinions, but some may think that schools have nothing to do with this gap and all to do with the child's background (family, culture, social class).

Minority students struggle the most in schooling, mostly public schooling, because they are set up for failure. From academic tracking to a self-fulfilling prophecy that, from day one, has a negative affect on children just stepping through those school doors. Teachers (everyone, actually) have innately negative views of people who are different from them just by witnessing one bad experience, or from hearing their families expressing their views for 20 years of their lives. What I will attempt to do is share many realities of public schooling and how the perception given is misleading, and even where that perception comes from.

To get my audience to understand the issue at hand, I'll have to give perspectives from both sides; the demographics of minorities who attend public schools, as well as what is happening within these public schools that continues to widen this gap. Not only do I want them to understand, I also hope to change the perspectives of these future teachers and hopefully convince them to be part of the solution, part of the change that will hopefully start to turn these schools around. I believe teachers can make all the difference in urban, public schools, they just have to know how. I have to get them to see how serious the issue is and make them want to be part of change.