Response Question TSW 460-504

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

April 15, 2008

Response Question

TSW 460-504

In Chapter 12, Teaching Poetry Writing, Beth Neman overviews various strategies of teaching poetry. I read this chapter in preparation for my unit lesson project, and I have the same question now that I did when I started the project. What is the best way to organize a poetry unit? I think there are basically two ways to organize a poetry unit. One, make a list of all the poetic techniques and conventions, like metaphor and rhyme schemes, and then pick out poems that express those techniques. Or two, you can choose a set of poems to teach first, and then teach the techniques as the come up in the poems. Which is more beneficial?

Response Question TSW 375-402

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

April 2, 2008

Chapter 10

In Chapter 10, Teaching the Rhetorical Analysis Neman discusses the topic of whether or not to teach students to include evaluative responses in analysis. The concept of evaluative comments is still a new one to me, and I have trouble distinguishing between evaluative and non- evaluative comments. Aren’t all comments evaluative to one degree or another? Neman only gives one example concerning The Scarlet Letter that I feel was very obvious. What strategies are there to teach our students to recognize evaluative comments that are more sophisticated than “I thought it was interesting”?

Response Question TSW 403-459

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

April 10, 2008

Response Question

Chapter Eleven

In Chapter Eleven, Teaching Narrative Writing, Neman overviews a variety of techniques and strategies to teach students. It would be impossible to teach all of that information in one unit without losing the students completely. There are two ways to handle the information. One, by choosing what you believe to be the most important, aspects of narrative writing and teaching those, probably through assigned readings which highlight one technique or another. Or two, assigning readings that cover as many of the different techniques and strategies as is appropriate for the unit, and cover the techniques used in the assignments in a close reading. Which technique would be better?

Response to TSW 318-374

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

March 28, 2008

TSW 318-374

There is a lot of good information in this chapter. One of the most useful things I learned from it are the note-taking techniques. I never thought of taking notes this way, but the benefits are obvious to me now, and I really think that I am going to start using note cards in my own research. I really think it would be a great time-saver and organizer. I hadn’t heard about taking notes in this way before, and that seems like a shame to me now. I have to say it seems odd that I wouldn’t have even heard about this before, and it makes me wonder what other helpful techniques are out there that I haven’t heard about yet.

I also thought the section on teaching quoting and paraphrasing was helpful, too. In the past, my teachers have let it be known whether or not they like to see quoting in their papers, and how much quoting. So I’ve never really had to develop a sense of when to quote or paraphrase because I’ve always gone by the teacher’s preference. Too, I’ve never thought of a literary essay as a research paper, so it was interesting to me to see it that way.

The most compelling part of the chapter is actually the beginning where Neman presents arguments first against, and then for, teaching the research paper. In my own experience I get a lot of assignments that read, “write a 1-2 page paper using at least one outside source” which has to be properly cited then. So while I don’t write a lot of what I would call research papers, I still get a lot of practice with in-text citing and works cited lists. So if I were to be assigned a research paper I’m familiar with the documentation methods.

Too, there is something about the arguments presented in favor of teaching the research paper that doesn’t ring true. She says something like that college freshman teachers dislike having to “re-teach” the research paper to their students, because they were taught the wrong way in high school. I disagree with this. I have never heard a professor say that they have had to re-educate their students because of something learned in high school; and I’ve asked.

Overall, I’m not entirely convinced that teaching a research paper is necessary, especially if students get practice with a documentation system, like MLA, in other ways. Becoming familiar with a documentation system is the key to being comfortable with writing a research paper. Of course, when a student learns how to make a works cited list and in-text citations, they’re also learning how to incorporate quotes and paraphrasing into their writing, so what is it about the “research paper” as defined in Neman, that make it important to teach it?

Response Question to TSW 278-316

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

March 6, 2008

TSW 278-316

In Chapter 8, Stylistic Problems from Nonstandard Dialects, of Beth Neman’s Teaching Students to Write, she reviews some of the problems that student’s who speak a nonstandard dialect of English, or those for whom English is a second language, have composing a paper. Neman discusses the idea that nonstandard speaking students thrive in the classroom when highly structured assignments are combined with highly individualized teaching. She discusses it only briefly. What exactly is meant, and how do we accomplish, highly individualized teaching with a highly structured program?

Response to TSW 194-229

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

March 6, 2008

TSW 194-229

Within the beginning paragraph of the chapter is the most comprehensible definition of style that I have ever come across. “Besides an understanding of structure – the ways of organizing their ideas – our students need to learn something about style, the ways of expressing their ideas” (194). Combined with another piece of definition on the next page, “content provides a passage with it explicit or denotative meaning; style, the way the content is expressed, provides the implicit or connotative meaning” (195). Together, the two excerpts create a workable definition of style, which I have never really understood before. I really feel like I understand what style is much better now.

The discussion on audience is pretty good, but not complete. For example, if I were to write two letters about the same subject, say the condition of the roads; one to the mayor of Port Clinton, and one to a friend of mine. The two audiences of the letters are very different, and the content and language of the two letters would differ just as much. In other words, there will be real and quantifiable differences in my letters based on who my audience is. There is no discussion in the book about such differences, and how using these differences can help students see why thinking about a target audience is important.

One exercise I think would be particularly useful in the classroom would involve picking a topic about school, like how long the breaks between classes are. Then, as a class, we would write all the different reasons they have for changing the length of breaks between classes. Then , we would be able to separate them into two different papers; one to convince other students that longer breaks between classes are better, one to convince the school board that longer breaks between classes would work better. Students and administrators would need very different reasons to convince them that longer breaks are better. Students wouldn’t care about how much it costs, and administrators wouldn’t care about socializing time. A discussion about why one reason works for one audience but not another would make sense to students who want to know why audience matters.

Of course, I’m all for providing a real audience for student papers whenever possible. Take the exercise in the preceding paragraph. If I were to use that exercise as the basis for a paper I would see if I could find a school board member, or members, that would take some time to read the papers and make a few comments. If they wrote to convince other students then I would see if there was another English class that could look at them.

Denotative meaning and connotative meaning are, I believe, very important in student writing. It’s important for students to be aware of connotative meanings that don’t agree with the denotative meanings. For example, the word “shrewd” has a negative connotative meaning to some Jewish people. The image of a white dove has a powerful connotative meaning as a symbol of peace. And it just goes on. An exercise examining the slang that students use would be a good one for teaching students about connotative meaning.

One of the things I don’t like about this book is the word rhetoric. I was never taught rhetoric in school. I was taught how to write persuasively, to write an essay, to write an argument of fact, and so forth. I am really big on using words accurately, and when I think of rhetoric I think of Greek sophists, most of whom couldn’t be trusted. Again, this is something I’ve come across a lot this semester. If I am teaching my students how to write a persuasive essay, then I should be taught how to teach a persuasive essay, not a rhetoric. It causes a disconnect between what I think it means when I look at it, and what it actually means. I just want some consistency, I suppose. Just like, to me, a genre has to do with content, not form. We need to be using the same language in all our classrooms. This way, not only do I have to learn how to teach effectively, I have to learn an entirely new vocabulary, one that doesn’t agree with my current vocabulary at that.

Response to Write in the Middle Workshop 8

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

February 24, 2008

Write in the Middle

Workshop 8

Linda talks about revision as ‘have I said what I wanted to say in the best way possible?’ I think that is a really good way to think about it. Of course, you’d have to deal with technical difficulties separately then. But I think it makes the process less intimidating for that age group. It’s changing the thinking from ‘I have to fix what is wrong with my paper,’ to ‘I need to improve the good things that are already in my paper’ and I think that’s a good thing.

Jack touches on another subject I agree with. I think it’s really important that the student understands that what they wrote in their first draft is not ‘written in stone’ so to speak. I think that sort of flexibility in writing is important to being a good writer.

I notice that the teachers ask a lot of questions instead of making statements about the papers. I think it’s a really good technique. You’re not saying this is what you should do, you’re asking them if that’s what they meant to do. Again, it forces the students to articulate what they mean, and then see if what they answer matches up with what’s in the paper. Also, questions help students develop their ideas further if they are struggling with that in their papers.

What I haven’t seen in the video is what to do when normal revision prompting doesn’t work. What do you do with the exceptionally struggling child? If your normal techniques aren’t working, what do you do then?

Jack is really good at telling the students what he expects from them. He guides them through discussion, but he’s firm, too, which is good. He teaches fifth graders, so I feel like a little extra firmness is required to keep them on task.

There is one thing that I don’t like about these Write in the Middle videos is the long unbroken times when you’re just watching them teach. I think it’s valuable to see, but I want to hear them talk about teaching more than I want to watch it. I start to lose interest after a while. I’d like to hear more from the discussions between the teachers.

Response Question to Write in the Middle Workshop 7

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

February 24, 2008

Write in the Middle

Workshop seven of Write in the Middle focuses on peer to peer responses to writing. I know from my own past experience that I feel uncomfortable doing peer reviews because I feel like I have no authority to criticize their papers because I’m not the teacher. What types of things can you teach students so they feel more comfortable critiquing each other’s papers?

Response to Developing Writers: Workshop 6

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

February 24, 2008

Developing Writers

A lot of what the teachers are talking about sounds like good sense to me. You know, be aware that every student is different, every student responds differently to different techniques. It’s very plain on the video from the student comments. One says positive feedback helps the most, another says negative feedback; and there’s a lot of gray in between those, too. I suppose the best we can do is try to expose them to as many different strategies as possible so they can find what works for them.

When is the most effective time for feedback? This one teacher talks a lot about getting to the student very early in the writing process, but I disagree, to a point. I say to a point because this is just like everything else; it will be different for every student. Personally, a quick check-in early in the process and one more in-depth review very late in the process, like right before the final draft, works best for me. As long as I know I’m on the right track, I just want to be left alone until I’m done with it. That’s what works best for me, but I’m aware that it’s different for everybody. Professor Emery breaks his students up into groups

What about the fragility of the student? Yeah, don’t hold with that too much. I suppose, as a student, I resent being called fragile. However, I agree with one of teachers who says that we should tell our students the point of our comments. I would definitely say to my students that I’m here to help them develop their skills and to do that, they need to know where improvement is possible. How can I correct something unless I tell them it’s wrong to begin with? And that’s also something I would explain to them. I’m not saying that we should just write whatever criticism we see on a paper without thinking about how we word it so it doesn’t come off the wrong way. However, I don’t think holding back criticisms is helping the student either.

I totally agree with clearly stating what is expected of students in a class, for an assignment, etc. I really think it’s a stress reducer. If I don’t feel like I know exactly what’s expected of me, then I feel a constant low-level anxiety that I’m not living up to those expectations, or I’ve somehow missed the point of what I’m supposed to be doing. However, if a teacher has told me what is expected, then I feel much more confident that I can accomplish what I’m supposed to. Letting the student know what you expect can be done a lot of different ways. In discussion, by saying directly, ‘this is what I expect of your papers,’ or, less directly, ‘…and that’s something I’ll be looking for in your papers,’ or ,’here’s what I’ll be looking for.’ You can give them a checklist, or a list of goals, like ‘you should be looking particularly at…’ or ‘in your paper you should…’

One of the teachers said that students should “develop a thick skin” and I agree with him. Students should have an understanding that whatever they write, not everybody is going to like it, and that’s okay. You’re allowed to make mistakes, not like somebody else’s writing, and to have your own disliked.

Oh man, I don’t like group work. Any kind of group work, and my classrooms will probably reflect that. My own opinion is extreme. I would rather get it wrong on my own than get it right in a group. I think it’s hard to make group-work, work well.

Response to Write in the Middle, Workshop 6

Jessica Sumpter

English 484

February 22, 2008

Informal response

Write in the Middle

This video is focusing on how teachers respond to student writing. I’m hearing from the teachers that asking the right questions is really important. They use questions to draw out the students’ thoughts. I think it’s a really good technique. I think it works on a lot of levels. It gets the students to develop their thoughts more fully and articulate those thoughts to the teacher. Too, the teacher doesn’t take over the paper, the student retains full ownership.

Several of the teachers have talked about ways they work around their own biases. I think that’s great. Students react differently to teacher opinions, but rarely in a positive way. Some of them feel resentful, ignored, undervalued, but some of them latch on to what the teacher thinks, and that’s just as bad, just as limiting to student writing.

I really like the teacher in the first one-on-one conference. She does what the other teachers in the video do, but I feel like she’s more direct about it than they are. I appreciate directness. She asks a lot of questions, praises the student when she can, and, I don’t know, she’s firm about what the student decides. Also, I think students benefit from that type of directness. If a teacher is soft or vague about their questions, then students get confused about what the teacher is asking.

Several times after a teacher asks a question and a student hesitates, the teacher has been quick to tell the student what they’re not asking for. I think it’s a useful strategy because the student is probably thinking you’re asking for more than you really are.

The one teacher, I think his name is Jack, talks about how when he has students read their papers out loud one of the things he listens for are things that can be extrapolated to the whole class, he calls it teachable. I think that’s great. I love things that serve more than one purpose, that accomplish several things at once, especially if some of the learning is indirect.

There’s a lot of talk about having students read their papers out loud to one or more classmates, and I don’t know how much I like that. I’ve never come across a class that was comfortable reading their papers out loud, even in classes with lots of really good discussions.

It’s so hard to say ‘this is how you deal with students’ because there are so many different strategies, and each student is different and responds to different things in different ways.