Learning Log Entry #5

Dear Dr. Jones,

Class is going very well for me! How is class going for you? I am learning so much about writing and technology. I love it! I like having time to write during class and the genre project is exciting to me because we were able to choose our own topics. I chose to write about becoming a stepmother. It is the newest role I have taken on in my life and there is plenty I have to learn about this new role. I think it is wonderful we are learning to write by using technology. The number of tools available is amazing compared to just a few years ago. Are you learning a lot about technology from teaching this course?

Since starting this class I have a deeper understanding of the connections between reading and writing. In Eckhoff’s (1983) study of the connection between reading and writing, there was evidence students model their writing after the structure of what they read. I now understand the importance of exposing struggling readers to texts with more complex vocabulary and sentence structures because the texts students are reading is used as the model for what they write.  

Furr (2003) also discussed the connections between reading and writing in his article about struggling writers. Furr discusses a student who is upset about her writing because “her work doesn’t sound like the writing she’s heard, and with its multiple spelling errors and grammatical snafus, neither does it look the part” (p. 520). This student is disappointed because her written work does not have the same appearance as the models she sees when reading. Furr also discusses the idea that students are more comfortable writing expository text because of their experience with guided reading. If students are given a certain type of genre repeatedly, it makes sense to me that students would feel most comfortable writing in that specific genre. In this case, the expository genre acts as a model for students to draw specific grammar usage and spelling from. It also gives students a bank of vocabulary words to draw from.

I spend about four hours a week writing for this class. Of the four hours I spend writing, I would estimate half is spent fully transacting with the text. Fully transacting with a text, thinking when I am writing, is most easily done in my blog. I think the blog’s space feels more open and free for me to write and learn. I find when bogging the writing flows more easily because there are less restrictions placed on that type of writing. I think when I engage in other types of writing, I am too concerned about following the requirements to really think about what I am learning. The writing in my blogs demonstrates a high degree of interaction with the text and shows more learning than any other writing I complete (for any class).

I think in order to fully engage while writing, the reading/writing habit I need to change is focus. While reading for this class, I am preparing in my head the blog I will later write. I begin to have questions and ideas “churning” in my head. When I sit down to write I am able to focus on what I learned through the reading and refine, question, clarify, synthesize, and reconsider my thinking. If I engaged in that type of “reading/writing thinking” and focus all the time, I would more fully engage while writing. When I am fully transacting with a text, I learn more and have a deeper understanding of the content.

From this class I have learned the importance of explicitly teaching and modeling writing skills for students. As discussed in an earlier post, I plan on introducing science journals in my classroom. I have learned that as I introduce the journals, I must support students by explicitly modeling writing pieces for their journals. Furr (2003) found students need foundational skills, such as planning, drafting, revising, and editing, before beginning to writing on their own. I think it will be crucial to explicitly teach my students what to write and how to structure their journal entries before expecting them to write independently. I think this instructional strategy also increases confidence in students as writers. I also plan on using the card strategy discussed in Kucer and Rhodes’s (1986) article. This is another strategy that builds confidence in students as writers. Providing students a list of major ideas to write about, and allowing them to modify and collaborate about those ideas, students can focus on the meaning of their writing, opposed to the mechanics. Learning about digital writing workshops has been beneficial to my work as a literacy teacher. I understand the importance of teaching students not only about new literacies but also through new literacies. Learning about blogs, wikis, RSS readers, social bookmarking sites, digital videos, and photo essays has enhanced my understanding of the changing nature of literacy.

The biggest struggle I am having with this class is finding enough time to complete the assignments. I think the solution is better time management and sticking to the schedule I create each week. Another struggle I am encountering is finding books for my genre project. I need some help locating a few genres. I will come to your office hours for help with that. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter! Talk to you soon:)

Thanks!!!

Liz LaPierre

One of your fav 618 students

Eckhoff, B. (1983).  How reading affects children’s writing.  Language Arts, 60(5), 607-616.

Furr, D. (2003). Struggling readers get hooked on writing.  The Reading Teacher, 56(6),  518-525.

Kucer, S. B. & Rhodes, L. K. (1986).  Counterpart strategies:  Fine tuning language with language.  The Reading Teacher, 40(2),186-193.