Entry #13: Crossing the Finish Line

I have to say, at the beginning of the semester, I did not think I would ever be a blogger. Although this blog may have been utilized for academic purposes, I could see myself potentially becoming an "educational blogger" down the road. I have read several education blogs myself, and it is neat to witness how talented teachers are sharing their expertise with the rest of the world.

When looking back at the "Student Learning Outcomes" listed in the syllabus, I noticed that this blogging experience hit almost all of the outcomes. The first Learning Outcome states that I will "gain knowledge and competency with regards to the variety of modes, genres, and formats for reading and writing." These blogs provided an opportunity to use "writing to learn" about the different genres we studied in this course. Furthermore, these blogs gave me a chance to be creative in the sense of multimodal writing. I was able to experiment with embedded links, photographs, and fonts. 

I think my favorite of all the Learning Outcomes that I achieved through blogging was the second outcome in which I learned about "the role of purpose and audience in writing and reading and the elements of author's craft used to address the desired purpose(s) and audience(s)." As I explored different articles and mentor texts this semester, my voice was able to shine through in this informal genre of writing as I used writing to learn more about the texts I read. I was able to develop my own thoughts and understanding in the moment without worrying about whether I fully understood the concept. I was able to navigate course content in a low-stakes environment, all the while sharing my thoughts with and learning from my peers. 

Through my extended study of the Tierney and Pearson (1983) article regarding the writing and reading process (Blog Entry #1), I was able to build my knowledge of the "cognitive processes and strategies of reading and writing." I found that because this blog showed my "in the moment thinking," I did not do as much planning and revising as I did for my Genre Pieces Project. However, these blogs allowed me to deepen my understanding of the theoretical framework so I could begin to apply this knowledge as I embarked on the Genre Pieces Project. 

I would also say that these blogs allowed me to deepen my understanding of the readings we completed related to the "iterative nature of the composition and comprehension processes" (Learning Outcome #4) as well as "the role of metacognition in writing proficiency and reading comprehension" (Learning Outcome #5). With most of these blogs, I naturally engaged in reflection, which made me aware of my own thought processes. One metacognitive strategy that Tompkins (2012) outlined was questioning (p. 35). I found that I did quite a bit of questioning while writing my blogs as evidenced particularly in the following blog posts: Entry #4, Entry #7, and Entry #9. If you haven't checked these posts out yet, feel free to click the link and take a look at how I used questioning while developing my blogs! 

One component that was not outlined in the Student Learning Outcomes that I developed through these blogs is learning from my colleagues. Part of the ILA standards includes collaboration with colleagues, and the "Bless, Address, and Press" blogs allowed me to do so. I learned about my peers' thinking which helped me develop my own. Check out my "Bless, Address, and Press" entries to see how I learned from my brilliant colleagues (Entry #8, Entry #10).

Readers: Thank you for journeying with me through these blogs this semester! I may be "crossing the finish line" as a blogger, but I will take away so much from this experience. I am excited to engage in blogging with my future students!

References

Tierney, R. & Pearson, P. D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading. Language Arts, 60(5), 568-

        580.

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

Entry #12: What I Knew Then, and What I Know Now

"There's an endless variety of text and digital genres, but too often the choices are limited to stories, poems, and reports. Instead, students need to experiment with a wide variety of genres and explore the purposes and formats of each." 

~Tompkins, 2012 (p. 7)

Before this class, I thought I had a decent understanding of each genre, however, I actually had a fairly limited understanding of some genres. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many of my writing pieces in the past have been limited to stories and reports as Tompkins (2012) describes in the quote above. Two genres in particular that I thought I knew well but actually did not were biographical and descriptive writing. Through the Genre Expert Presentations, I was able to deepen my understanding of each of these genres and expand on the background knowledge I brought with me to this class.

When I originally heard the word “biography,” I immediately thought of informational texts about a significant person that are written by someone else. I had this broad definition in my mind, but knew very little about the sub-genres of biography. Naturally, I was aware of “autobiographies,” texts about a person’s life written by that person, but I did not connect personal narratives and memoirs to my biographical writing schema. Through my Genre Expert project research, I learned how to tease apart the differences between the sub-genres of biographies. The puzzle piece visual that I created for our group’s materials for the presentation was the most helpful tool for me. 

Furthermore, I never really thought to question the information presented in biographies because in my mind, they were nonfiction texts that only contained facts. Although it may be true that biographies contain facts, reading Marshall’s (2019) article allowed me to expand my ability to think critically about biographies. Marshall (2019) drew my attention to the idea that biographies typically tell the story of an exceptional individual who overcomes adversity. As I search for mentor texts when teaching biographical writing in the future, I will certainly think about the script of the text. I will aim to find texts that tell both the stories of everyday heroes and tell celebratory stories that do not include an exceptional individual overcoming adversity. Muhammad (2020) would approve of these counter-narratives as they connect to students' joy!

These texts illustrate my shift in thinking regarding biography mentor texts.

Marshall (2019) also offered several examples of mentor texts that offer a counter narrative, one being Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming (which I read as one of my mentor texts). In addition to providing a counter-narrative, this mentor text also illustrated how a memoir could be told powerfully through verse. I never associated poetry and biographies, but now I know that many genres intertwine with biographical writing.

This is the activity from the Descriptive Genre
Expert Presentation. I described a picture from
David Wiesner's Flotsam.

Another genre that intermixes with biographical writing is descriptive writing. Before reading Tompkins’ (2012) chapter and being involved in my peers' Genre Expert presentation, I thought of descriptive writing as simply adding lots of adjectives to my writing. I deepened my appreciation for descriptive writing through this course as now I understand that a writer must be clever and careful when choosing words in the descriptive genre. Too many or too few adjectives may impact the effectiveness of the writing piece. During the Descriptive Genre Expert Project, I had the chance to write a descriptive piece based on a picture in a wordless picture book. Not only did this activity boost my confidence as a descriptive writer, but also allowed me to hone in on word choice by using sensory details AND comparisons (simile and metaphor). This is an activity that I would love to do with students in the future.

The mentor texts that I read for the biography genre
(as described above) and the letter genre were the most powerful for me. Personally, I had thought that the letter genre was quite simple, but reading Dear Mr. Henshaw allowed me to see how I could spice up my letter writing, particularly with clever closings like “Your annoyed pen-pal.” This helped me immensely when writing my first genre piece which combines elements of the narrative genre and letter writing. If the mentor texts were this valuable for me, I can only imagine that they will be helpful for students too!

Overall, my biggest takeaway from examining different genres and reading various mentor texts is that many genres overlap. There may be elements of the narrative genre combined with biographies and combined with descriptive writing. There are no bounds when it comes to creative writing, and this work in 618 allowed me to explore my creative side. As I read texts with students and by myself in the future, I will continue to think of elements of author’s craft that pertain to each genre.

References

Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. Harper Trophy.

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178.

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically 

responsive literacy. Scholastic.

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

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books.

Entry #11: Why Writers Should Consider Point of View

One element of narrative writing that I wish to revisit and reflect upon is point of view. Before reading this chapter and before the Narrative Genre Expert Group presented, I had only thought of point of view as first-person (I), second-person (you), and third person (he/she/they).  I had heard of an omniscient narrator, but I couldn't exactly explain what an omniscient narrator was. 

After reviewing the descriptions in Tompkins' (2012) and the narrative genre presentation, I now understand that the omniscient viewpoint is when the author is able to see and know everything about each character (p. 187). The limited omniscient viewpoint uses third person point of view to hear the thoughts of one character without knowing everything. Then, objective viewpoint is similar to a movie in that readers only learn from "what can be seen or heard" and do not dive as deeply into characters' thoughts and feelings (p. 187).

Brown Girl Dreaming
(Woodson, 2014)

Reviewing these different points of view led me to wonder: Is there one point of view that is more powerful than another? Perhaps this depends on the purpose and audience for the particular piece. When thinking of the article I gathered for my group's biography presentation, Marshall (2019) emphasized the need for autobiographies when teaching biographical counter-narratives as first-person point of view is more powerful when writing for this purpose.  For example, she mentioned Jacqueline Woodson's (2014) Brown Girl Dreaming which is a memoir in verse of Woodson's childhood. I read this text for one of my biography mentor texts, and personally I believe this text would not have been nearly as powerful if it was written from a point of view other than first-person.

Story told from the
Wolf's Point of View

I appreciate that Tompkins (2012) mentions a mini-lesson/guided practice activity in which students can experiment with how "an author's viewpoint can slant a story" (p. 192). Tompkins (2012) suggest that students could tell the same story (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood) from the perspective of each character in the story. With this experiment, students learn what is important to include for some characters but not others. Although this is a fairly popular example, this changing of viewpoints could be modeled with the original version of The Three Little Pigs versus The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Scieszka, 1989). 

When thinking of multiple perspectives/points of view, I can't help but think of Muhammad's (2020) work too. In both her intellectual and criticality pursuits, Muhammad (2020) encourages educators to provide opportunities to view issues from multiple perspectives. She writes, "Examining text and concepts through different perspectives and standpoints is an intellectual task" (p. 121). Not only does examining multiple points of view foster the ability to see multiple sides of a situation, but it also lends itself to rigorous and meaningful learning experiences. Perhaps another example of a text set to consider is multiple perspectives on the story of Christopher Columbus. Then, students can develop their intellect and criticality as they examine and analyze this story from multiple points of view.

As a future teacher of literacy, I will take this developing knowledge of point of view with me and consider this when teaching the narrative genre as well as the other genres that intertwine with narrative writing. Although my question of which point of view is the most powerful is still unanswered, I will continue to explore this question as I read narrative texts in the future.

References

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178. 

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Scieszka, J. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs! Puffin Books.

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

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books. 

Entry #10: Makayla Takes the Spotlight!

"I've always found revision so hard because you have to change what you originally wanted to say. When I revise, I tend to either skip the entire process or just make minor errors or adjustments. It is clear to me now that revising really means 'examining for mismatches between intended meaning and actual meaning' (Philippakos, 2017, p. 13). It's so much more than making those small final adjustments."

                                                                 ~Makayla Pierpont, Blog Entry #7

I have to say, my fellow blogger and dear friend Makayla is not alone with her thoughts on the revision component of the writing process. Like Makayla, I also find revision challenging, particularly when I am revising pieces without having a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria. In the end, I typically just make minor adjustments rather than looking at meaning and the piece holistically. 

Makayla's Blog Entry #7 (click the link and check it out!) inspired me to revisit Philippakos' (2017) article about feedback and revision. I know this is an area of weakness for myself, and I imagine that my future students would need explicit instruction on feedback and revision as well. As Philippakos (2017) suggests, I will first help students understand that revision is a process during which writers evaluate their work, identify areas that need improvement, and make larger changes to improve the meaning of their piece (p. 13). I will help students take on the perspective of their readers, because the readers must be able to make sense of the piece. I think this is my biggest challenge as a writer because when I read my piece - it obviously makes sense to me because I wrote it!

This leads me to the importance of feedback from people other than myself. Peers and teachers can offer a different lens when reading my pieces. I find that when I am at a roadblock, others can give me some really great ideas! As a future teacher, I also know that student must be taught how to give feedback to one another. Philippakos (2017) recommends that teachers work to develop a "community of writers" so students trust one another's feedback and consider making those changes to their pieces (p. 14). 

Philippakos (2017): Sample Rubric for Peer Review

Finally, my biggest takeaway from reviewing this article (thank you again, Makayla!) is that revision is easier when the guidelines and criteria for evaluation are clear (Philippakos, 2017, p. 15). Rubrics are especially useful when attempting to improve a draft of a piece. This led me to revisit the assignment criteria for our Genre Pieces assignment. I am having a really hard time with my pieces as I am just not quite sure where to go next or how to develop my ideas more fully. Looking at the assignment criteria, I was reminded that we will be graded on our purpose, audience, and voice as well as our demonstration of the characteristics of the particular genre. When I read that, I wondered, "Where can I find clear descriptions of essential characteristics of each genre?" My brain went "ding, ding, ding - Tompkins!" As I revise my pieces and even as I continue to draft, I will refer to relevant chapters in Tompkins that match each of my genres for my three pieces.

An Excerpt from the Genre Pieces Project Grading Criteria

As I consider teaching writing in the future, my main takeaways from Philippakos' (2017) article are: (1) explicitly teach what exactly revision is, (2) teach students how to provide valuable feedback to one another, and (3) provide clear grading criteria. Thank you once more to Makayla for encouraging me to revisit Philippakos' (2017) article and also reminding me to revisit Tompkins' (2012) chapters for grading checklists! Don't forget to go check out my amazing colleague Makayla's blog to learn more about reading and writing!

References

Philippakos, Z.A. (2017).  Giving feedback:  Preparing students for peer review and self-evaluation.  The Reading Teacher, 71(1), 13-22.  DOI: 10.1102/trtr.1568 

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