Hi, Jim This is a good post. Thanks Can we talk about improving writing skills at a TB? Thanks Janet Dr. J. Nepkie Professor of Music And Music Industry Music Department State University College Oneonta, NY 13820 tele: (607) 436 3425 fax: 607 436 2718 [log in to unmask] > From: Jim Greenberg <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:53:01 -0400 > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Conversation: Eleven Things You Could Start Doing Today for the Benefit of > Your Students' Writing - Posted to TB by Jim Greenberg > Subject: Eleven Things You Could Start Doing Today for the Benefit of Your > Students' Writing - Posted to TB by Jim Greenberg > > Tbers, > > The posting below describes a list of simple practices that, if even one > were implemented, might transform the way a professor assigns, discusses, > and responds to student writing. Originally created as a faculty development > resource for use in workshops on teaching writing, it is co-authored by Jane > Kokernak, M.A., Writing Center Supervisor, Mount Ida College and Lowry Pei, > Ph.D., Professor of English, Simmons College. > > > Eleven Things You Could Start Doing Today for the Benefit of Your Students' > Writing > > The spread of the writing process and writing across the curriculum > movements means that today's faculty who teach or use writing in their > courses understand that it is both a process and discipline-based. Still, > our experience with colleagues tells us that teachers continue to look for > new strategies to engage student writers and boost their own teaching > effectiveness. We've put together a list of practices that are doable and > "no-tech," yet each has the potential to transform the ways you assign, > discuss, and comment on student work. > > 1. Give writing assignments in written form, not just word of mouth. > > Your student will be able to carry away your actual words about the > assignment, not just a vague memory of them, and when she wonders at 1 a.m. > what she's really supposed to do, she'll refer to your handout. For many > students, puzzling over an assignment sheet becomes the first step in doing > the writing. And for you, the act of writing down the assignment will help > clarify its connection to your course goals. > > 2. During classroom discussions of student writing, hand out copies of the > writing being discussed. > > You want students to talk about both what has been said in the writing, and > how. Both require students to discuss the written text, not their personal > recall of hearing it read aloud by the writer. It is impossible to have a > discussion of writing at the sentence level, where much of the crucial > action takes place, without having the written text to refer to. Also, the > presence of the physical text reminds students that you're asking them to > work with the writing, not work on the student who wrote it. > > 3. Insist on a classroom with seminar-style seating or moveable desks, so > that teacher and students can face each other in discussions. > > By giving feedback to another writer, guided by a more experienced writer > (the teacher), students learn to recognize and talk helpfully about a text's > various qualities. Over time, students gradually internalize these > discussions; they learn how to put into words their own use of written > language. It is this that will leave them with a greater feeling of control > over their future writing. > > 4. Get your students to write weekly in some form, whether it's a draft, > informal response, or free write. > > Habits are powerful things, and the ability to generate written text at will > is crucial. Weekly practice in small doses flexes a student's writing > muscles regularly and gives her more material (e.g., her own concerns about > the course material) when it comes time to draft an essay. As Courtney, a > first-year writing student, once remarked, "By having us write short > assignments every week, it made the research paper less scary when it came > time to do it." > > 5. In class, write when your students are writing. > > You are what you teach. If you want your students to write, be a writer in > a way visible to them. Embody the writing way of life. If, for example, > you ask students during a charged dialogue to pause and reflect in writing > for 10 minutes, your joining them displays a commitment to writing as a way > to struggle deeply with hard questions. > > 6. Only grade finished products, not drafts or informal writing. > > Drafts and informal writing are, by definition, not completed work. The > whole point of assigning them is to move students away from trying to write > the finished product on the first try. The act of grading a draft, response > paper, or journal entry sends a contradictory message by implying that it > can be judged by standards applicable to completed work. The power of > making room in the course for process will be lost if students believe that > their "draft" should look finished. > > 7. Give students' writing back within 1 week. Adjust level of feedback to > time available. > > Work returned soon with a little feedback, from the teacher or from a > structured peer review, beats work returned later with a lot of feedback. A > teacher's few sentences penciled on a student's informal response paper or > another student's questions jotted on his classmate's draft will prompt more > thinking and writing. Timing matters: The student needs to feel he is in a > live exchange of ideas. > > 8. The first time you read a batch of student work, do so without a pencil > in hand. Just read to get a sense of it; make no comments. Second time, read > closely and make comments. > > This method makes use of the power of your mind to process what you've read > in its own quiet way. If you read the first time simply as a reader, not as > a commentator or editor, then let the reading sink in, you can arrive at a > basic idea of what your student is up to with surprisingly little effort. > By the time you return to the stack, your brain will have invisibly > processed, for example, that one student has sorted out the chronology of > her ideas while most of the class still grapples with ordering their > paragraphs. (Skeptical? Try this once; it works.) > > 9. On each piece of writing you respond to, make at least 1 mark per page. > Easiest technique is to underline what's promising, worth pursuing, well > said. > > This is the basic practical way of creating a feeling of ongoing dialogue > between writer and reader. Never underestimate the power of a student's > knowing that you are paying attention to him. Underlining promising things > is quick and communicative; it becomes a way of cultivating your own > perception of the student's potential, as well as guiding and encouraging > the student to become aware of it. And don't forget to tell your students > what the underlines, and your other marks, mean. > > 10. Retire the red pen; stop copy-editing your students' work. Point out no > more than 2 patterns of error, and leave it to the student to find a way to > resolve the errors. > > When you copy-edit a student's work, many students will look at the > marked-up copy and think "Oh, that's been taken care of for me." Rather > than encouraging learning, it sends the message that correcting those things > is the teacher's job. If a student can see that she regularly makes errors > of a certain type, based on a misunderstanding of the underlying principle, > and then correct that misunderstanding, lasting learning could take place. > > 11. Commenting on the first draft of a full-fledged paper is your best > opportunity to bring about learning. On the draft, make no more than 3 major > suggestions. > > Only the strongest students -- who are likely to be the best writers already > -- will read the commentary on a graded paper, extract general principles > from the comments, and carry them over to their next writing assignment. > The others will simply zero in on the grade. However, when your comments on > a first draft go back to a student who knows she will be writing a second > version, those comments stand the best chance of being applied. As for > limiting your suggestions, both you and the student will benefit if you make > your task, and subsequently the student's, more manageable. > > Here are some aspects of a student's work you might consider when responding > to it: > > * assignment (degree of completion); > * form (appropriateness for assignment); > * focus (the paper's main idea, thesis, guiding question); > * organization (order of paragraphs, central idea of each paragraph); > * evidence (data, examples, quotations, illustrations, personal experience); > * language (appropriate to the topic, assignment, discipline); > * discussion (establishing connections between focus, evidence, and writer's > own ideas); > * gaps (missing evidence, discussion, connection); > * sources (selection of relevant ones, presentation in formal style); > * the writer's personal voice; and > * other aspects relevant to your discipline. > > For more discussion about commenting on student drafts and resources on > using writing in your teaching go to > http://my.simmons.edu/academics/asc/wac/teachingwriting/ > > Mr. James B. Greenberg > Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center > Milne Library > SUNY College at Oneonta > Oneonta, New York 13820 > > blog: The 32nd Square at http://aristotle.oneonta.edu/37_the_32nd_square > email: [log in to unmask] > phone: 607-436-2701 > fax: 607-436-3081 > IM: oneontatltc > > "Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"