I really enjoyed reading Chapter 7 in Gallagher’s text. Throughout my experience in an education program, little time was spent on how to actually grade writing. So far this semester, we have followed his model of forming “rubrics” with students. During our narrative assignment, we chose important ideas and topics to assess and shared them with the group. After discussing the criteria with the class, we were assessed on what we chose with Dr. Johnson’s help. What confused me about this chapter was the notion that rubrics should be geared toward individual students. While this is good in theory and seems to work in his classroom, I do not know how well this works in all classrooms. I think the graphic organizers he provides students works well, along with the files Christensen keeps of student error. If a student does not have any added criteria, would it make it seem like you were favoring one student of the other? In other words, would the student with fewer criterions feel like he is being cheated out of points? Would the student who has the added criterion feel as if there is too much opportunity for points to be taken away?

            I also found the driver’s education blog to very important. I have never made the analogy before! When teenagers learn how to drive, they are going to make mistakes, all do. But their confidence in driving is effected by how the teacher reacts to their errors. In writing, the same occurs. People of all ages make mistakes when writing. If they are scared and belittled by the red pen, their confidence drops and they may never look at writing positively. They feel like the “writing expert” does not like their work and that there is no point in trying again if they are going to get the same results. These actions can be deadly to both driver’s education and writing students. If they are not treated like individuals who need to practice to enhance their skill, they will not get better and may, possibly, grow worse.

            I really enjoyed the readings this week, especially the chapters from Writing Between Languages! I felt that these chapters are extremely important with the numbers of ESL students increasing in the classroom. What really stuck me was the section that described the idea that one of the issues with student writing is that they are forced to think in English while writing in English. When students are forced to think in a language other than their native one, they have to try to distinguish what the appropriate vocabulary and conventions are. Because their English is not completely well formed, so much focus is placed on just trying to find the right ideas. Their writing becomes choppy because they focus on using the simplest vocabulary and conventions to get their ideas across. It is important to teach students that it is ok to think in their native language when writing. If they write in Spanish, for example, then translate to English they can get their ideas out on paper. Although time consuming, ELLs can use dictionaries and learn more English as well as the relationship between their native language and English.

            When I was in second grade, my best friend was a new student and came from France. She moved to the United States at age 5 and, as a result, spent two years in a French-American school where she learned the bulk of her studies in a mix of French and English. It was not until the end of middle school that her writing began to improve. She, like the students described in the book, felt that she had to think in English while writing. At age 21, she thinks in French during all aspects of her day, unless she has to write. At this moment, she switches to English and stumbles over her words, even though she speaks English better than many native speakers. What I find interesting about her case is that her verbal English is beyond perfect. I asked her why she thinks this is and she said that although she speaks English, she thinks in French and subconsciously translates! This validates Fu’s argument even more and demonstrates how important a student’s natural language is to their education.

Teachers in my experience have never put much emphasis on revision. If they asked us to do it, it was never looked at as detrimental. If we didn’t bring a revised copy in, there were no penalties, no talk of revision, nothing. As a result, many students, like Gallagher mentioned, simply did a quick spell check and punctuation check. To this day, I still struggle with revising my own writing. As a future teacher, this gives me conflicting feelings. If I see the importance of revision and value it in my classroom, shouldn’t it be a skill I embrace in my writing. It wasn’t until this course that I have sat down, thought about my writing, and thoroughly revised it. Gallagher’s section on revision he gives examples of how to model good, deep revision. One of these strategies is getting students to get rid of “be” verbs and replacing them with stronger verbs. The example Gallagher gives is: “The clouds were in the sky” versus “The clouds hung in the sky” (68). The difference in these two sentences is strong: the later paints a picture while the former gives a basic statement.

I personally feel that this is an important skill to learn. The only time a teacher told me this and enforced it was during my second semester of college. Since then, I have noticed a change in my papers. I always try to make a point to look through my papers and find forms of “to be”. If I see them, I try my best to switch them with a stronger, more descriptive word. If my writing has become stronger from implementing this strategy, imagine how strong student writing would be if they became familiar with this strategy during their freshman or sophomore years of high school! When I have my own classroom, I will make sure I set time aside to teach revision strategies that develop student writing. Since I do not revise much, I will use my classroom as an outlet to learn and revise along with my students, modeling that not one piece of writing is perfect.

Macaluso’s blog post made me think about how I perceive poetry as both a student and a teacher. While in high school, I never really had much experience reading or writing poetry; basically, I had little poetry instruction in general. When we began a poetry unit, my teachers always rushed through the genres and literary conventions that makes poetry what it is. We were asked to read a poem, pick out metaphor, allusion, etc., then move onto the next one. Because we were basically thrown into poetry, I never grew comfortable listening or reading it. Unlike novels and short stories (which we read and wrote extensively), poetry was never connected with our lives. Macaluso’s assignment to listen for poetry in everyday places really made me think. She was able to write a poem based off of observations from a grocery store that altered how she perceived the world in her own way. If I was still in school, this assignment would have been very beneficial to my friends and I. Her professor made poetry’s accessibility known form the outset. Knowing that it can be found anywhere and everywhere would have allowed me to look at it in a different light and make connections with my own life.

I think these experiences are important to look at from a teacher perspective. As someone who is not comfortable with poetry, the idea of teaching it always frightened me. After reading Christensen, I discovered that there are easy ways to get students excited about poetry. While she teaches conventions and genre by having students write, she also instructs them to pick out symbol, emotion, etc. and see where they can find those in their own lives. For example, she uses a poem to get students thinking about where they come from, who they identify with, and who makes them the people they are today. I really enjoy the idea of pairing already written poetry with student work and I think it is a good way to allow students to view poetry as something good, rather than something evil. They can learn that poetry does not separate them from text, authors, and peers. Instead, they are on the path to understanding that poetry is the one thing we all have in common, it connects us and makes us more human. To me, the best way to encourage poetry in the classroom is to immediately implant these ideas into the minds of students.

I agree that the Internet is a very important tool for classrooms and social justices classrooms in particular. The internet allows students to explore the world like never before. Everything is on the internet: pictures, articles, videos, and most importantly, other people. In this instance, they are able to communicate with millions of people at a time through blogging, website building, and social media. This real time communication allows students to contact whomever they want to when and wherever they want to. As a result, ideas can become very widespread. Published in 2007, Morrell’s chapter illustrates the technological revolution at some of its earliest stages. Now, in 2016, technology is even more intense and booming. Each and everyday, students flood the hallways with smartphones that allow them to communicate and interact with the world faster and easier than 2007. As a result, almost all students have the technology and skills to be considered “cyberpunks”.

The question is, how do we allow students the opportunity to use technology in the classroom without distracting education? I think Morrell does a great job suggesting such social justice activities. One activity you can do is give students the opportunity to research an issue that is important to them (dress code, school transportation, poverty, etc.). Once all the research is done, the students can find a method of creating social awareness such as a website, petition, letter to a local politician, or a hashtag. This would ensure that students voice is heard and spread throughout the community and digital world. In a digital age, technological skills are highly important for success in everyday life. These activities not only show students that they can make a difference, they also teach important skills. While students learn how to conduct research and create media (in line with the standards), they also learn electronic communication which opens their world up to endless possibilities.