Wednesday, April 27, 2011

9 Rights Of Every Writer_Chapter 3 & 4


In Chapters 3 & 4 Spandel firmly establishes her beliefs about the rights of a "student writer" in the classroom to deviate off from assigned prompts/topics and to personalize the writing process in a way that makes sense for their writing style.

Writers need a classroom culture that supports writing, a culture in which everyone, including the teacher, is part of a writing community. They need a supportive environment in which they feel safe. Safe to try new things, to share their writing, to take risks, and to feel free from the compulsive need for perfection. (p. 41)

Our attitude should be, "If you can come up with a better idea (and oh, how we hope you can), go for it." It's arrogant to assume that we can come up with better topics for our student writers than they can think up for themselves. And even if we could, they need the opportunity to seek out those personal topics, for that is one cornerstone of good writing. (p. 31)

As an educator what strengths & challenges do you face in establishing a writing community that honors "student writers"? And in the truest spirit of these two chapters - feel free to deviate from this scripted "prompt" because as Spandel puts it best ...writers do not wander off topic, but rather onto their real topics. (p. 35)

21 comments:

  1. Spandel Chapters 3&4 Going Off/Into a Topic

    Whew! I just finished two “rounds” of using mentor text with my 6th grade classes. One was a character sketch, the other a persuasive piece, an editorial by Joe Nocera on unfair rulings by the NCAA. I have to say I had doubts about whether they could do it, but they got their hands dirty with text analysis, identifying the mortar moves and tone, and did they take it on! I was so pleased to see that they varied in length so much, but that each piece still was a whole, had a clear point or comparison, had clear and voiceful commentary, and the kids were really proud and empowered by what they’d done.

    When I did a quick reflective survey, by far they said they’d never ever be able to “write like that” on their own, but with the support of the mentor text, a possibility of moves and a sense of the whole piece’s “grammar” (rhetoric) they did it! The loved having some attitude, they loved our first discussions about ethos, logos, pathos and kairos, again and again I’m so convinced that when you provide a schema and serious personal choice, they can write amazing things.

    Many went off the map and came back, only one “Think about it! What would you do?” is busy revising this weekend, and I can only believe that this kind of work really empowers them as writers. Reading like writers, writing and thinking like writers, if it’s all a recursive, revision messy process, freedom must be part of it. Freedom is the power in it, and they are really emboldened; which is the goal for me.

    It takes guts to take a stand, to carve out a moral space with language, and they’re doing it. Writing helps construct identity, and how can we diminish those freedoms?

    Here’s the link to Nocera:
    < http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/opinion/09nocera.html>

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  2. Teaching Kindergarten, you can imagine that there are some struggles with the actual physical action of writing, however, I'm looking past that and to the struggles that my students face creating topics. I have been using mentor texts with my students. We are now writing our fourth published book from the mentor text, The Important Book. After looking at what the author was doing, where and why there is repetition, and the objects in which he chose to talk about, I faced my students with the task to choose something they wanted to write "important" things about. In my mind, I had already thought of what to expect them to come up with, who might struggle with coming up with their own topic, how I might need to pull the idea out of them. I was pleasantly surprised that ALL of my students were able to come up with their own topic they wanted to write about (some more unique/stronger than others, but they all worked). The one I was most shocked about came from one of my average students. He chose to write about the important thing about your name. Now, this was very unique in that I expected more typical nouns like, the important thing about an orange, a pencil, a tree, a car, etc. His piece went like this:

    The important thing about your name is it never changes. Everyone has one. Your name is only yours. The important thing about your name is it never changes.

    The fact is, I learned something from my little Owen. Not to expect the typical when students are given the freedom to choose their own topics because I know if I were to have picked their topics, I would have chosen the orange, the pencil, the tree, the car, etc. I need to honor students, even Kinders, as writers.

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  3. I believe in adopting the attitude of “If you can come up with a better idea…go for it.” Because even, as several of the young writers at the end of chapter 4 showed us, it can be frustrating to try to come up with a topic. Unfortunately, so many of the rubrics that we use to assess student writing place a significant emphasis on the students’ ability to address the prompt (up to a third of their grade, in some instances). These necessarily lowered scores, when students do dare to venture off topic (as in the instance described about the teacher with a stack of endangered species stories) can only be slightly mitigated by extra points in the Organization and Focus category, for example, by the banalized “use of voice” (when the prompt, by very nature of its presence, perhaps, did not truly allow for theirs to shine though. This is of particular concern when students didn’t have a choice even AMONG prompts. It is disturbing that for the particular rubric in question, in order to earn the extra POINT (yes, single point—out of 12) for use of voice, the student must have met all the other indicators in the category, including adherence to the prompt in order to be eligible for that point.

    Why are we so rigid, then, as educators? Why must our concept of success, as we help to develop writers be so tied to use of our prompt? Can we truly ever help our students be better writers when all we value the “use of voice” is about 8% of their total grade—meanwhile adherence to MY prompt will net you a cool 33%? How do we get the state and districts to see how stifling the prompt to rubric writing process is? Where is the true process??

    I loved the idea that one of the best coaches that Bob Ornstein was able to locate was his roommate—a peer. Yet he was led to believe that he was a fine writer throughout his academic career, no doubt, due at least in part, to the regurgitation of information that was specifically engineered to snow his “pushover” AP teachers, who were certainly party to the “prompt nobility” Should students really have to wait till they come against their own Mr. Levine to find out that they have never truly received any valuable feedback either—except for maybe where to “place the commas?”

    Writing is so much more than language conventions. I loved the idea of making the teacher a part of the writing community. I appreciated the concept of having the teacher sweat out how to begin writing—what does the brainstorming process look like for her? How does it differ from your process? How about when she is confronted with a prompt that she has never seen or heard of, but is expected to write to? How does that look? How does she overcome it, and still let her voice shine through. In the absence of any true ability to develop ones voice, while we are still slaves to the prompt, perhaps the strength comes in empowering students to tweak the uninspiring into something that not only inspires them to…well, write; but instead to write, well. There must be talent in doing our own Garrison Keillor routine, and somehow bringing it back around to the prompt in the end. Perhaps the skill is in the tweaking. Maybe our job is just to teach our students how to “work that prompt” so that it works for them. Their own experiences become exemplars. How better to be an expert and, indeed show voice? But the devil is in the detail of making it seem like the prompt inspired the tangent. Herein lies the true snow job. Just that? And some periods and commas! Cinchy. That, I can teach.

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  4. “A draft is never an inflated version of your research; it’s a tiny fragment of what’s best or most interesting (Sneed B. Collard, p 60).” When I read this line, the first thing that raced through my mind was my students don’t think this way. Then it dawned on me, neither do I, at least not when I am teaching.
    I’ve spent the past two weeks conferencing with my students on persuasive essays and telling two out of every three that, while their position is clear, they need to find facts to support their claims. I’m not convinced, for example, that students will talk less in class if they have gum in their mouths, get better grades if they can listen to iPods, or listen to what I am saying and receive texts at the same time. I find myself asking, “What evidence have you found to support this claim?” time and time again. There’s a big difference between supporting the claim that smoking is bad for your health with, “Many people die from smoking,” or “According to the Center for Disease Control, cigarette smoking causes 1 out of every 5 deaths in the U.S. each year.” It’s an important conversation to have and the students’ essays are slowly becoming more persuasive. That said, why are we having this conversation after the students have drafted their essays?
    In the weeks leading up to this writing unit, we analyzed persuasive articles, broke out the highlighters to highlight supporting examples, and used the same mentor text to practice citing sources. What the students did not see, however, was their teacher choosing his own topic and trying to learn as much as he could about it. In short, I modeled the writing craft, but not the creative, messy, sometimes frustrating process of “real world research” (p 60). It seems it’s time to stop going through the motions of choosing a topic and showing students how to conduct research. Instead, I need to let them see me choose my own topic, research and write about it.

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  5. I have been feeling more empowered than ever in my teaching career to encourage “writing that matters to the writer.” I have found half of the battle to writing: personal interest and intrinsic motivation. My students have never been so excited and proud of their writing samples. Last week, instead of telling them to choose from a list of topics, I tapped into their intimate thoughts and asked them to share an experience when they were emotional. They were so delighted to express themselves that their writing samples were by far better than previous prompt-enforced writing.

    I used to wonder, how hard is it to put your thoughts down on paper? To me, if my students could tell me something, then they should also be able to write it. What I neglected to understand was that I had expected my students to write unauthentic thoughts. I demanded specific sentence structures and sometimes even on specific topics. I figured if we discussed the topic, posted key words for reference, and model a few sentences, it would be easy. But Spandel quickly clarifies my misunderstanding by stating, “If we truly believe writing is thinking, then we must let our writers go where their thinking leads them…” I appreciate this insight as well as the few open-ended question prompts that she provided. I will be sure to routinely offer “free-thinking writing” from now on.

    Now that I have discovered ways to motivate creative, personal, meaningful writing, I can’t help but to wonder how to balance student writing autonomy with academic standards. Beyond the love for writing, I still have the duty to teach mechanics, style, and purpose, just to name a few. I believe Spandel will address this interest further in the book for she does comment, “Students should know what we want, what we’re hoping for, what we value…”

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  6. The writing community begins in kindergarten. As emergent writers they come to me eager to find out how to put all of those many, often random, thoughts on paper. Sometimes for the first time in their short lives someone is asking what they say. I have to guide them through the process of believing that they can write about anything they want in their writing. Often they cling to the framed sentences that we used to teach them how to structure the beginning sentences. So I spent all of that time showing them how to form it and now I am trying to take them beyond them to anything they want. As the end of the year rapidly approaches, a few of my students are starting to get it. They write complex sentences and when they do write “I like” sentences, they are now adding “because.”
    Our environment is saturated with text and talking is becoming more and more prevalent. (I am slowly learning how to do this effectively!) Many say what they think I want them to say and then eagerly look to make sure I heard. Other sit there and pick at their shoes, their pants or, let’s be honest, their nose. How do you get kids to care about what they think and help them transfer that into their writing?
    When I do have the students write to a specific topic (for assessment), they are still in the writing stage where they like to label everything in their picture. During the sharing time we celebrate the stories that make our minds start to imagine and we verbally tell the rest of the story that the author might add the next time they decide to write…if their emergent minds remember they wrote about a certain topic the day before.

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  7. It is challenging to create writing assignments that allow students to go off topic. When teaching history, there are certain topics, events, and concepts that I must teach. I believe that getting students to write about historical topics is one of the most effective ways to get them to critically think about that topic. However, this often results in a summary or descriptive piece of writing that does not involve a great deal of creativity. So, the challenge is to some how incorporate the necessary historical content within an assignment that grants students the liberty to write creatively and with a personal voice - this is challenging.

    However, when I'm able to design writing lessons like this I have witnessed tremendous success. When given the freedom to be creative writing becomes stronger and more alive. There seems to a passion that is unleashed that is refreshing. The structure may not be perfect and the thoughts may sometimes get a bit confused, but this creative writing seems more real.

    Recently, I designed a straightforward, rather simple, writing assignment that addressed vocabulary related to Medieval Feudalism. I asked students to write a Medieval fairytale that was appropriate for, and would impress a 4 yr. old - My son was going to listen to the fairytales and decide which stories he enjoyed the best. The objective was to have students gain a better comprehension of difficult vocabulary. The result was incredibly creative stories that not only included the vocabulary, but extended the use of these words into realms of creative and critical thinking.

    The directions were to include a handful of vocabulary words and each definition in a Medieval fairytale. After the stories were written each student was to record their fairytale with the iPod, in their best story- teller voice. They were encouraged to listen to the story and alter it, they so desired. I read them an example I had written the night before and then I gave them a good chunk of time to write in class. I let them listen to music (that I have selected - some new tunes, some historic tunes) on the iPods with headphones as they write. Sometimes I have them listen to historic music to set the mood before writing, sometimes I let them listen while they are writing. I have found that, for some students, the combination of music with writing is powerful. If they find the music distracting the simply don't listen and can work quietly. Nevertheless, many of the stories that were produced from this simple assignment were quite astounding.

    I credit this burst of creativity to the flexibility of this assignment - there was no set prompt. My initial goal was to get students to learn the vocabulary. Every student did this with ease, the impressive part was the content, characters, and imagination that came from my students that overshadowed my initial goals. My son loved the stories. The stories he selected were not perfectly organized or grammatically correct - they were humorous and fantastical. I recorded my son reviewing each story and why he enjoyed their writing. I played the short videos for my students. It was a big hit.

    This is a long response that is basically explaining my agreement with Spandel - Students should be allowed to go off topic and make writing personal. I just think it is hard to design assignments that cover required content while allowing for creativity. But, if it is done the learning is effective and the rewards are evident,

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  8. Honoring student writers is impossible unless we demonstrate to them that we believe in them. As educators we have to take ourselves off center stage and allow our students the freedom to succeed, or fail. It is a difficult step. High stakes testing leaves many of us unwilling to take chances and try new things. Instead of exploration and experimentation many of us stick to the methods that brought us to where we are.
    Unfortunately, I haven’t enjoyed writing in years. Reading through Chapters 3 and 4, I couldn’t help compare the possibilities with the reality of my experiences. Class writing assignments were a predictable pattern of responding to reading assignments and answering questions in 250-500 word answers. There were always a few 1,000 word essays per class. This was the way we were assessed to make sure learning was taking place. Then, to keep things interesting, a Power Point presentation was added in.
    It’s no wonder that many teachers teach writing in much the same way with a message that- this is academic writing. It’s not fun or creative. The other message I got was that my view, experience, or opinion was not important. Bob Ornstein’s experiences were not unlike my own. One of my professors so caringly told me that I don’t think right and that I should think more esoterically. Perhaps if he had life experiences like mine he would not think right either. I changed majors, because people in the art department weren’t like that Literature professor.
    Fortunately my experiences with artists taught me many lessons that transfer over to writing. First, literature is also art. It is not just an assessment tool. The reasons for making art are broad and varied, and so are the reasons for writing.

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  9. I love that we can deviate from the prompt because I was building my response as I read the chapter on prompts! I am pleased that our writing curriculum allows for choice within the genre that is being taught. However, the writing prompt done three times a year is just awful. It is exactly that pet prompt they explained. AND, we do the same one three times per year. By the end of it, I don't feel like there is much else we can do with it!

    I find myself justifying student writing levels at conference times when I show the prompt. For example, I will indicate a child is above grade level and show them a piece of writing that has been evaluated. Then, show them the writing assessment and say, "This is not the best prompt to show their above grade level writing because it lends itself so much to pattern sentences" and put it away quickly. My above grade level writers are very average on the writing prompt. If I put it away so quickly, it makes me wonder why I take two full writing sessions three times a year to assess their writing with this prompt. There must be a better, more authentic way of assessing writing. Can I use the rubrics from the end of unit assessments instead or would it be worthwhile to have a prompt like the book suggests, "Write about something that matters to you."? Would that be too vague? It is funny because this prompt has been on my list of "things to do (fix)" for some time, and I am glad the chapter brought it back to the top of my list!

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  10. As a second grade teacher in Poway Unified, our primary writing focus is on personal narratives. It’s relatively easy to teach the format, but I have a writer who is really struggling with the notion of what happened to him vs. what he saw happen. It’s funny, because as I was reading chapter three, I couldn’t help but think of him. Just the other day he wrote about what happened in the movie Polar Express. He included a beginning, middle, and an end. He had great word choice. He included many details. He had a variety of sentence lengths. He utilized all that I teach in my mini-lessons, BUT, it was essentially a retell of a movie instead of a personal narrative. It was a good piece of writing, but it did not adhere to the prompt. I was able to redirect him towards writing about a recent homerun in an alley baseball game, but now I regret not letting him keep his topic while adding elements of a personal experience…

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  11. Chapter 3 & 4

    In discussions with other educators it has been expressed that we do not allow our students to become critical thinkers when we put all our focus on the test scores. As I was reading these two chapters I was encouraged that we do have a place to allow students to think in a critical manner, if we allow them to have choice in their own writing.

    As my students and I returned from spring break we began a new journal to write about ourselves. We begin each class period with a 5-minute writing activity based on an open-ended question. Students are able to write anything they feel or think on the subject presented. We have discussed that these writings are a starting place for the memoir work we will complete by the end of the school year. I was pleased with the thoughtfulness that went into each students writing this past week, because they are taking charge of their own thoughts and expressing themselves on the page.

    In the message of this weeks reading I realize that I need to become transparent. I too need to write with my students, not only to model, but to show them that even a teacher may struggle to get the perfect sentences on the page. I have begun to write with my students. My fear was that if I did not monitor them, many would choose not to write, but to my surprise (and I should have more faith in my students) they all wrote and as I stated earlier, thoughtfully. Of course they need more coaching but the ideas are coming forth and with that will come the mechanics to make them proficient writers.

    I have struggled with best practices in writing and am beginning to feel more confident. If we allow our students to express themselves in a personal way they will become accomplished writers using critical thinking to write about things that interest them and have relevance to their lives.

    Holly French

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  12. How I wish I could deviate from the topic and tell you all about our dance performance May, 8th at the Vi & Joe Jacobs center at 4 p.m. Haha, shameless plug and explanation for my tardiness. Making costumes and rehearsing has very much devoured every speck of spare time as well as preparing to "fly" on a vertical Ferris wheel, but I deviate, yet I don't entirely.

    I've noticed a couple general truths about students and it is that they want to be heard and they love it when somebody is proud of them and they are successful. At the end of Chapter 3 something struck me about quality writing education as Bob Ornstein talks about not being prepared to write a university level paper. As we allow students the opportunity to be heard and pose and answer their own questions, I think Spandel put it very well when she said of students, "...we can provide them with some process fundamentals that will enable them to become independent travelers..." (41). As a lower grade teacher I think we do a bit of teaching to these fundamentals and it provides initial guidance for their success. Although each child is unique the scaffolding we provide and then take away to watch them fly on their own takes different time frames as Spandel also points out and is contingent on several factors including interest and genre.

    About a month ago my 2nd graderes took a theme test in which they had to write about a time they were helpful to a family member. Some of my best writers came up with trite writings about helping clean the bathroom or cooking a meal. Then a weeks later I allowed my students to write their own story about the Tsunami in Japan. They thought it would be a good exercise to put themselves in the Japaneses people's shoes and we were going to send a "care package" to one of my friends that lives there so it became very real to them. The end result was a truly empathetic and compassionate look at how children think and feel. Some of their images were amazing to me, the students were eager to share their thoughts and their writing, and the scaffolding I had provided all year was gone. They were in charge of their own stories. This was their own writing and it went very well. Sometimes when we let them go and try out those wings that we've strengthened up with the "process fundamentals", they truly will fly.

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  13. The more I read the less I really know about teaching young writers how to write.

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  14. We teach in a time of conflict. Do more, but with less support. Teach to all your learners, but do it in as little time as you can. It does not surprise me then, that writing instruction, does not mirror Spandel's methodology...although most teachers might agree with her. It is hard not to. It's just hard to do. It is in direct conflict with how we were taught to write, or assess.

    One quote that stuck with me when I read this section was "Oh writer, prompt thyself." I love this. Not only would I be completely amused by the responses I would get, no doubt I would be impressed as well. The only problem lies in this: how do students pick a topic that speaks to them? I am all for assessment that reflects voice, passion, and skill all at the same time. But how can students get there?

    Previously, she discussed in Chapter 2 how to find personally important topics. In 4, she takes a step further to look at how at personalizing the writing process. I appreciate how she sees the necessity for building a community of writers in the classroom. It is difficult to accomplish anything with out the buy-in of participants. And then there it is again....conflict. Dun, dun, dun....

    What do you need to build community? Time. What do teachers lack the most of? Time. However, depending on the teacher, "a writing community" can be built easily. With just the right amount of flexibility, respect, patience, environment, and instruction, writers can flourish. That's what I get from Spandel; good ideas and a sense that good writing is accessible in any classroom.

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  15. From Holley~ Well my first write was on chapter 3, sorry. I guess on our road trip I got carried away.

    This time I will be commenting on Chapter 4. I would first like to thank Kim who is another kindergarten teacher. As a kindergarten teacher, we are the first ones who get to truly introduce classroom writing and reading to children. I am of course biased, but to me this is a magical year. Kinders come to school excited about everything and ready to learn. Kim mentioned that she wasn’t sure her students would be able to come up with a topic. I was pleased to readthat this was not a problem.

    I am completing my second year of using a variety of the “The Writing Projects” ways and continue to learn more about the Writing Project,. (Can’t wait for the summer) I have found that reading and studying good literature to the students, has supported my students with their own writing. Whether we as a class are working on mentor text, book making, interactive writing or other types of techniques, all has supported the development of the students writing.

    The author talks about routine and the structured part of writing. I have found this to be quite challenging. This year I have worked hard at being consistent with “their” writing time. This is the time when they get to create their own books without interruptions. At this time of the year 45 minutes to 1 hour flies by for most of the students. They manage their book making with aides such as their pocket seat covers along with box folders, and file folders. Often during choice time, about 1/3 of the students are writing, either making books, writing notes to each other and or drawing pictures. This is our classroom culture, one that is supported by each other, and their families.

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  16. The right to perseverate – or should I should I say, perseverate to write? This idea has been swirling around my brain, more so now that I have read chapters three and four in Spandel. Perseveration is the intense focus on a singular topic. Perseveration is spending time, precious and uninterrupted time, pondering life and its many challenges and rewards. Perseveration is the percolation of ideas. Perseveration is the construction of meaning and the creation of something new and exciting. Yet, perseveration is not embraced nor encouraged in schools. During a time when information is delivered instantaneously, when responses are valued and assessed by the quickness with which they are delivered, and when providing students with a prompt is more important than prompting students to write, perseveration is what schools need to promote to help our students become more thoughtful and reflective.
    Spandel states clearly that “It is simply not possible to come up with one writing prompt that fits all.” I wonder, then, when did the focus in writing assessment become effectiveness of responding to prompt, and not how students identify and make a point that they feel is pertinent, relevant, and meaningful to them, decide what it is they want to say about that point, and support that point in the most effective manner that gets their point across? Too much of what we do as teachers of writing relies on a stimulus-response model whereby we establish what makes writing “good,” create a set of criteria without much student input, provide a stimulus (the prompt), and then evaluate the quality of writing without feedback. Good writing is rewarded, poor writing is punished. While assessment and quality are important aspects of writing instruction, their over-emphasis and misplacement have hindered students. According to Spandel, “This is the sort of floaty conjecturing that leads to voiceless writing.” And – as far as I can tell – responding to a prompt is not one of the new Common Core Standards. “We should teach students that writing is successful not when it responds to the prompt in a literal , confined, and unimaginative way, but when it stands on its own, so that a reader doesn’t need to know the assignment or prompt in order for the message to make sense” (Spandel 35). We want to promote thinking and writing, and praise the quality of writing, not the ability to answer a prompt.

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  17. Part 2

    In addition to students’ rights to go off topic, Spandel promotes the right of students to personalize their writing. Personalized writing is meaningful and has voice. Personalized writing helps students to discover what they are passionate about and what they want to say about it, if anything. And personalized writing does not have to be perfect or publicized. But it should have a balance of structure and freedom. Too much structure – a la Jane Shaffer – is counterproductive. But so is too much freedom. Spandel clearly asserts in chapter 4 that “they need a balance of structure and freedom, some things to depend on” (41). The structure to which she refers is not formulaic, but more one of consistency: establishing expectations about when, how much, and how long students will write (45).
    What struck me most about chapters 3 and 4, however, are Spandel’s suggestions for consistent guidelines. Some of these guidelines include:
    • Creating a style sheet
    • Making assessment consistent
    • Commenting on students writing in addition to using rubrics and checklists
    • Reading aloud from mentor texts as well as from each others’ writing
    • Providing students with opportunities to “linger or move ahead” (49)
    In reading aloud from mentor texts, they discover their own voice by identifying and hearing voice in others’ writing. From having their writing read aloud, they “gain a sense o f the power their own writing may yield” (47). It is this sort of criteria that I want to create in refining my summer project. I want to be more specific in my guidelines, provide students with time to interact with their thoughts and with the stimuli around them, and encourage writing.

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  18. Part 1

    The right to perseverate – or should I should I say, perseverate to write? This idea has been swirling around my brain, more so now that I have read chapters three and four in Spandel. Perseveration is the intense focus on a singular topic. Perseveration is spending time, precious and uninterrupted time, pondering life and its many challenges and rewards. Perseveration is the percolation of ideas. Perseveration is the construction of meaning and the creation of something new and exciting. Yet, perseveration is not embraced nor encouraged in schools. During a time when information is delivered instantaneously, when responses are valued and assessed by the quickness with which they are delivered, and when providing students with a prompt is more important than prompting students to write, perseveration is what schools need to promote to help our students become more thoughtful and reflective.
    Spandel states clearly that “It is simply not possible to come up with one writing prompt that fits all.” I wonder, then, when did the focus in writing assessment become effectiveness of responding to prompt, and not how students identify and make a point that they feel is pertinent, relevant, and meaningful to them, decide what it is they want to say about that point, and support that point in the most effective manner that gets their point across? Too much of what we do as teachers of writing relies on a stimulus-response model whereby we establish what makes writing “good,” create a set of criteria without much student input, provide a stimulus (the prompt), and then evaluate the quality of writing without feedback. Good writing is rewarded, poor writing is punished. While assessment and quality are important aspects of writing instruction, their over-emphasis and misplacement have hindered students. According to Spandel, “This is the sort of floaty conjecturing that leads to voiceless writing.” And – as far as I can tell – responding to a prompt is not one of the new Common Core Standards. “We should teach students that writing is successful not when it responds to the prompt in a literal , confined, and unimaginative way, but when it stands on its own, so that a reader doesn’t need to know the assignment or prompt in order for the message to make sense” (Spandel 35). We want to promote thinking and writing, and praise the quality of writing, not the ability to answer a prompt.

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  19. Part 2

    In addition to students’ rights to go off topic, Spandel promotes the right of students to personalize their writing. Personalized writing is meaningful and has voice. Personalized writing helps students to discover what they are passionate about and what they want to say about it, if anything. And personalized writing does not have to be perfect or publicized. But it should have a balance of structure and freedom. Too much structure – a la Jane Shaffer – is counterproductive. But so is too much freedom. Spandel clearly asserts in chapter 4 that “they need a balance of structure and freedom, some things to depend on” (41). The structure to which she refers is not formulaic, but more one of consistency: establishing expectations about when, how much, and how long students will write (45).
    What struck me most about chapters 3 and 4, however, are Spandel’s suggestions for consistent guidelines. Some of these guidelines include:
    • Creating a style sheet
    • Making assessment consistent
    • Commenting on students writing in addition to using rubrics and checklists
    • Reading aloud from mentor texts as well as from each others’ writing
    • Providing students with opportunities to “linger or move ahead” (49)
    In reading aloud from mentor texts, they discover their own voice by identifying and hearing voice in others’ writing. From having their writing read aloud, they “gain a sense o f the power their own writing may yield” (47). It is this sort of criteria that I want to create in refining my summer project. I want to be more specific in my guidelines, provide students with time to interact with their thoughts and with the stimuli around them, and encourage writing.

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  20. Response to chapters 3 and 4

    When I think about teaching English at City College, I feel pressure and responsibility. They have got to leave my class knowing how to write an academic paragraph or essay (depending on the course). They have to know how to read and respond to prompts. They have to write clearly and correctly. They have to organize their writing logically.

    They will be judged by their next writing teacher (my colleague), professors in other disciplines at City and eventually at SDSU and UCSD, and yes, probably by God. The buck has to stop with me. Doesn’t it?

    But, wait a minute, I never wanted to be a sheriff or a CEO.

    As I was in the process of composing this blog post, one of my colleagues posted this article on Facebook, “Death to high school English,” by Kim Brooks on salon.com (http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/05/10/death_to_high_school_english). The subtitle is “My college students don’t understand commas, far less how to write an essay. Is it time to rethink how we teach?” She frets that high school teachers seem more concerned with process and engaging students than with teaching them how to write an essay. She then considers the usefulness of teaching the classics, mechanics, and grammar points. In one moment of existential angst, she even wonders if there is any point to teaching writing at all.

    Her pain and frustration are palpable. She writes, “For years now, teaching composition at state universities and liberal arts colleges and community colleges as well, I've puzzled over these high-school graduates and their shocking deficits. I've sat at my desk, a stack of their two-to-three-page papers before me, and felt overwhelmed to the point of physical paralysis by all the things they don't know how to do when it comes to written communication in the English language, all the basic skills that surely they will need to master if they are to have a chance at succeeding in any post-secondary course of study.”

    I feel her, but this is not only a depressing view of students, it is, in my mind, a backward one. Sadly, this perception is commonplace among college professors.

    But clearly I am not immune… Note how I started this post. (written before I read the Facebook post by my colleague). I guess it isn’t any wonder that as I was reading the chapters by Spandel I was overwhelmed by the feeling that teaching college composition has narrowed me, boxed me in. I have been guilty of the reification of prompts and the depersonalization of the writing process. I shudder to imagine how students must feel. Now, I ask, how can I open the space be free find voice?

    First, I have to let go of a core belief: "If I teach structure and formulas, students will be able to write academic essays." Well, they may be able to get through—put down—an academic essay, but their writing likely won’t be inspired or personally meaningful.

    I want to learn how to free my students as they develop their skills as academic writers—yes skills of argument and structure and grammar. I also want them to value writing and their own writing process. Yes, I want it all.

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  21. I agree with many of you. I also apologize for the delayed response...however it is thematic to this prompt or lack there of....and that is time. When is there enough time in the day, in a class period, in a semester?

    Teaching in SD Unified with 55 minute class periods - there is hardly enough minutes to explain, model, garner interest, and then turn it over...there is no time for students to take immediate ownership...class is always left with a to-be-continued vibe...and yes class is always continued and the writing process is always on-going...however momentum is always at stake. It is this that leads me to believe that with block scheduling or a 4X4 schedule the belief of investment (that the investment and process of writing is worthwhile) would be prominent in the classroom. I may research this for my paper.

    I do a pretty good job for establishing class culture - but the unity I am looking for needs time - quality time. I tutor a student who attends Canyon Crest HS and he is a struggling writer. His work has improved tremendously because of his 4X4 schedule. He puts the effort into his work. He is able to concentrate on style, tone, voice, etc and he is able to receive quality feedback because there is time to do so.

    To wrap this up - as Spandel states - it is all about ownership. At the end of this school year my students reiterated - we want more personal narratives, we want more poetry, we want more US and we want to celebrate the uniqueness that is US. It was great to hear this - but now the goal is to incorporate this sentiment from the get-go...to build this trust and this voice and this belief early in the school year. I cannot wait to continue piecing together this intricate,, exciting and delicate methodology

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