Monday, June 8, 2015

Blog #1 How's It Going?

Give a quick overview of how you feel the first two days have gone, what you've learned, any quick successes or worries, and a general sense of how the MWP mentality is fitting in with your thinking about teaching writing. Blog by Tuesday night at midnight; respond to at 2-3 classmates by Wednesday at midnight.

20 comments:

  1. I have learned so much just in the first two days of MWP. I feel like everything I'm learning is going to be awesome resources to use as a first year teacher especially since I will be teaching a grade level I have never worked with. I feel like I am going to be more prepared for teaching writing in the middle school setting with some of the things we have learned. I really like working with mentor text sets because it is familiar to me since we use a lot of books as teaching tools in the elementary setting. At the beginning of this week I felt worried just because this is something new to me and I only took three courses in literacy but after the first two weeks I feel completely comfortable. I look forward to each day and what new knowledge I will obtain from my peers. I am getting more excited now to teach middle school language arts and I think I'm going to enjoy it especially with the new techniques and ideas I have picked up.

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    1. I think it's great that you are becoming excited to begin teaching middle school language arts and I think your students are really going to benefit from your excitement. I also enjoyed your comment about becoming more prepared for teaching writing. Writing is something that nobody is simply born with. Rather, it is something that has to be nurtured and taught in order for the individual to not only engage in the craft, but to also enjoy the process of writing.

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  2. I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class the last two days on a personal level as well as a professional level. Everyone has intelligent ideas and successes that they've used in the classroom, and I've loved getting to share those ideas in the class.
    The MWP has made me extremely excited to implement writing in my class and to improve upon my own writing. I really like theidea of using mentor texts as models for lessons, and found poetry has always interested me. I think any techer could use found poetry cross-content and in any subject with any textbook. It could really get students excited to write, especially if they were able to do it Ina different subject creatively.
    I think we can all use writing to build community and a safe space in our classes. It helps students have a creative mindset, think critically about other major world's issues, and express themselves in positive and constructive ways.

    So far, this has been a wonderful class and very beneficial to me as a teacher and writer.

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    1. I also feel the same way in regards to enjoying the process of getting to know everybody. Jonah Lehrer wrote a book called "Image" in which he describes the creativity process as one that involves being influenced by others. After meeting everybody and learning new things about each other everyday, I think we are all going to greatly benefit from listening to everyone's ideas and implementing the strengths of their craft into our own.

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  3. Though I'm a day behind everyone else (thanks so much, all, for being understanding about my random June illness!), I can already tell this class is going to be a great experience. As I wrote in my freewriting last night, though I've been an English teacher for nine years, I still don't feel like I'm a "writer," and this summer session is already moving me more towards adding “writer” to part of my identity—both professional and personal. Since I try to use my limited time efficiently, I almost always use my writing time/energy for work which will get me somewhere professionally. However, I’ve decided to give myself permission for these four weeks to work on creative work instead. Naturally, this makes me worry that I am “wasting time,” but I already feel successful after getting down a page of pretty decent writing today. I’m looking forward to hearing critique from my colleagues, and hopefully I will be able to publish a creative piece to a wider readership at some point. That’d be my end goal. The strategies we’ve already talked about fit perfectly into my teaching philosophy, and I’m excited to teach my own round table to add some of my favorite strategies to the pile.

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    1. Christy-

      I know you're going to make an awesome member in our writing group. I'm really excited that we have you in our group because you have a lot of experience and wisdom as a professional that Leanne, Taylour, and I lack. You've already been a great addition and contribution to our team.
      I think whatever you choose to write, professional or creative, you will not be "wasting time."

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    2. Christy, you are such a talented writer! Don't sell yourself short. I enjoyed listening to your memoir today and can't wait to read the finished piece. I appreciate all the wonderful feedback you have been giving me as well. I think we will all grow as writers by the end of these four weeks!

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    3. You guys are so sweet! Thank you for your kind comments. I look forward to hearing more of your work in our writing group! I'm enjoying our writing time a LOT.

      See you Monday! I'm going to work some more on my memoir this weekend, and I'm excited to share it with you all.

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  4. 2nd Draft

    I will begin first by stating that one of the main ideas that I have taken away from the Missouri Writing Project is the idea that your 1st draft is mostly likely not your final draft (especially if it ends up lost in internet land as my previous comment was). Actually, the mindset that is beginning to sink in is that writing is something that we all need to make time for, even if its simply for an hour per night. This process is vital in my opinion as it allows us to explore our hidden thoughts that lie just below the surface.

    I have really been enjoyed the past two days getting to know everyone and learning how everyone approaches the same prompt, yet ends up in vastly different places. Here's to traveling to the unexpected!

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    1. Jim-
      Like I said today, you've got a really keen knack for connecting concrete and abstract ideas and intermingling the two in your writing and teaching process. I think that is something that is going to be great for you in your fellowship year. Maybe that could be something that you focus on for your roundtable (if you don't already have an idea in mind).
      I completely agree with you that writing is something that we all need to make time for, even if it's just a small amount of time. It can free us. And the more we practice it, the better we become at it. I like what you said about exploring "hidden thoughts that lie just below the surface." Maybe some of us (or our students) don't quite know how to dig up those thoughts, but with practice and some slight prompting, we can help give our students the tools to dig up those thoughts.

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    2. Jim, I agree that we need to set time aside to write every night. I'm beginning to see the benefits of writing every night. It has been nice getting to know everyone and knowing their craft as a writer. You are very good with your word choice which is something that I want to work on. I can't wait to read your finished piece!

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    3. Jim,
      I'm so impressed with your writing. In awe of it, really. I want to read more!

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  5. Though only two classes in, I've learned more about myself as a writer and teacher of writers in this class more than most classes I have taken during my time at Mizzou. I have always enjoyed the art of writing, but have never taken the time to think about the practice of it, who I consider myself to be as a writer and what I like to write about most. Knowing my theories and ideas behind these questions is what will best help me teach my students not only how to write, but how to discover what kind of writers they are and want to be. I firmly believe that most students, no matter the age, gender or ability, can find something that he/she is passionate writing (or reading) about. However, through fieldwork and my own experience as a student, I've noticed that writing is taught in a very formulaic way, which I believe is a big reason as to why so many fear or dislike writing. Though I will not be able to reach every single one of my students, this class and the readings so far have encouraged me to create a goal for myself as a teacher, which is that I want each student that walks into my classroom to learn to love some sort of piece of writing. They may not master their preferred form of writing right away, but each student has a voice. Teaching students how to find that voice and put it down on paper is what will be the tricky part. However, I can already tell that this class is what will best prepare me to tackle that difficulty in my classroom.

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    1. Leanne,

      What I love most about your writing is that you are able to do so many different types of writing. I love that you are working on a book blog and an opinion piece and a poem all at once. Look forward to hearing more!

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  6. A big reason why I chose to do the Fellows program was because of the camaraderie among like-minded people, and that is definitely true for the MWP as well. I am big on vocalizing thoughts and ideas because it truly helps my thinking process and allows me to find a direction, so being around people who are willing to not only listen but to steer me in the right direction is such a blessing already. Although I claim to a be a very weak writer, simply having other people have some confidence in me is already allowing me some more freedom of expression which is something I haven't felt with other writing groups (classes) before. I am also really enjoying the class structure. I don't feel like any one lesson goes on too long and the timing for our writing groups (which I LOVE) is perfect. I am so excited to also be able to do a book share and a round table because obviously I love to teach! It will also be cool to see all of our interests and learn more about each others teaching styles. Something I try to do in my classes as much as possible is student collaboration and I feel like that is being modeled very well, so I am a fan of that! I honestly don't think I will ever get over the fear of being harshly critiqued or having bad work, but I am starting to accept that part of this process may just be me writing crappy things and learning to simply improve it, if anything. And that's OK! Loving it so far, am really glad I did this and not some online crap!

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    1. Ali, I can relate to your instinct to put up your defenses if someone critiques your work a bit harshly. Part of my biggest takeaway from this past year is to be humble, realize I don't know everything (or much at all, really), and people who critique me are trying to help. I just need to be willing to accept their help. That's something important to set up with students, as well. Many of them, I found, simply look at their grade on a paper then toss it without even seeing written comments we may have made. Deep down, they're scared of not measuring up. I made it a point to tell them that if they were already great writers, they wouldn't need to come to school. However, we have some work to do, and that starts with recognizing our weaknesses.

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    2. Couldn't agree more with you about being thankful that I didn't just do the online class. I also am really looking forward to continue sharing teaching ideas, I feel that I am learning so much from everyone in the group and it's fun to hear other people's philosophies on teaching come out. (Especially with you since we are teaching the same class!) The more I realize how much teaching is a team sport, the more I feel I chose the right profession.

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  7. So far, the Writing Project has affirmed what I believe as an English teacher to be true: that we all have stories to tell, and they matter. For as long as I remember, I've loved to compose, but teaching this past year proved to be incredibly draining for me, conjuring up lesson plans, convincing students to submit assignments, grading papers, etc. It was a taxing year on multiple levels. In the process, I neglected to write with my students or for myself, although I did copiously crank out academic papers, but most of them were painful to write. I spent too much time teaching formulaic writing, which I now regret. The writing project has brought me back to some roots of why I got into education in the first place. A mere two days have proven refreshing and rejuvenating for me. I think something I wrestled with this past year was knowing that student choice of writing topics is inherently motivating and fitting that understanding into the curriculum I was expected to administer. I had several ideas of how to do that, but my partner teacher had taught for twenty some years and was not willing to experiment with anything unfamiliar. Pressured to keep in step, I, especially at the beginning of the year, sacrificed what I knew to be true to cover the material expected. Towards the end of the year, as I gained confidence, I began to branch out. For me, the Barry Lane text has already challenged and encouraged me. In the introduction, Lane states, "Creativity, passion, and good humor will always be the motivating forces in learning, but these days it takes another quality to teach effectively: courage. Courage to teach in a way that you know is good for children no matter what you are being told from above; courage to create lessons that break the mold and teach your students to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears; courage to see that you don't always have to follow the state teaching standards. The standards can follow you." That is what I am building toward: to be so sure of what I am teaching that I will die on a hill defending students' rights to select topics about which they are passionate. In this era, when shallow thinking and conformity to popular opinion are celebrated while dissent is demonized, I want my students to savor words and language that make us connect to each other, help us understand one another, learn from each other, and inspire one another. That, I believe, is a cause to defend.

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  8. It's going great. Honestly, if you asked me to describe my ideal class, this is it. I love how big picture this class is in the sense that it's not meant to feel like a class. Overall, I feel that we are all really trying to become better writers and in turn, teachers of writers. Since a lot of the nit-picky things that kill learning for me aren't a part of this class, I feel genuine excitement about the fact that I believe I will emerge from this class as a stronger writer and teacher. That kind of stuff pumps me up. I also am excited because I have been humbled by the talent and gifts that I see in my peers in the class. By surrounding myself with strong thinkers, writers, and teachers I can literally feel my brain expanding, taking new ideas and refining old ones. And for that, I want to say thank you to all of you. Seriously. I feel like I'm cheating or something, gaining all of this insight into the classroom and thinking creatively for my own growth and for the sake of my soon to be students. You all make me better!

    I have learned that I am going to have to sift through all these ideas running around in my head and determine which ones will benefit my students the most. Afterall, this is all about them. There's been some activities that I save in a folder if we have kind of a free day where maybe we tested on Thursday and we want to fit something random in. But there are other activities that I may just not have time for this year, but I have to remember that I do have time to try all of these things I am so excited about right now. They may just not all fit in the first week :) I am also learning how much I enjoy collaboration (buzz word) and this is honestly a relief seeing as how I will be team teaching next year. I've already texted my teaching partner Ben a bunch of different ideas that have come directly from this class.

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    1. Amanda, I share your excitement from the project so far. After lunch today, I was thinking to myself that it felt like I had known all our members for months already, and it's only been three days. I think part of that may be because the average modern day human interaction is so shallow that we rarely dig beneath the surface to hear what the person's real thoughts, hopes, dreams, passions, loves, and fears are. In a short amount of time, I know quite a bit about the people in our writing group.

      It does feel good to add to our teaching repertoires. I know this past year I felt that I had so little to pull from on my own. Almost daily I would Google topics I needed/wanted to teach to find ideas to spice up bland lessons. Now, I have notes and books with practical lessons to teach that offer choice and explain foundational skills. My pet peeve in undergrad classes was always when teachers taught educational theory that was barely applicable to the reality of us standing in front of expecting students. The Writing Project is definitely light on the unrealistic stuff and heavy on the useful stuff.

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