Chapter 9 - Developing Language Skills in the Writing Classroom

1 - I was aware of vocabulary at a young age. My mother forced me to watch an off brand of Hooked on Phonics every weekend (maybe not every weekend, but it felt like it). Coming from a southern family means I encountered the southern drawl and subsequent slang on a regular basis. My mom didn't want that linguistic distinction for me. She was my first English teacher and still corrects me to this day.

2 - I've always enjoyed English classes and knowledge in general. I developed my academic skills because my interests are vast. For example, I can watch Sumo wrestling, Rugby, and an international independent movie all in one day! Because I haven't pigeoned holed myself into one "interest box," I have been able to accelerate my learning connections. My professional reading and writing skills developed with the EXTENSIVE amount of meetings/trainings teachers are required to attend.

3 - L2 students need to read more in the language that they want to learn or become more proficient in. L2 students should also challenge themselves to learn how to constantly manipulate their knowledge of the non-native language. As an L1 student, I'm doing this by attending graduate school. L2 students can do the same if they challenge themselves to become fully immersed in the language on a higher academic level (i.e., coming to America for college). Immersion into a language requires on to have some level of comfort in the culture of that language. For example, my brother-in-law lived in Costa Rica to expand his knowledge of Spanish. He's now fluent!

4 - I feel confident in providing linguistic knowledge of writing to my students. Although I've only taught for three years, I've had a number of experiences with students from all over the world. For example, I had a class of twelve where three of the students were first generation Pakistani-American. Three doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a fourth of my class! Altogether they had some level of understanding in Urdu (mother tongue), but none of them were fluent. This brings me to my biggest concern and a topic one of my Vietnamese students brought to my attention. What does a teacher do when the student is not fluent in their mother tongue (in her case Vietnamese) or the targeted new language (in her case English and Spanish)?

Chapter 8 - Improving Accuracy in Student Writing

1 - Linguistic accuracy comes into play as I'm typing a written piece. I have to write my responses on paper first before I type anything. It takes A LOT of time, but is the only way I know how to function. I write all over the place, so I can let the creativity flow. If I'm unable to write first, I'll still spend the bulk of my writing time drafting only to erase it and start over just before the assignment is due. My grammatical knowledge was developed in middle school and high school. I thought I had a good handle on it until my composition professor told me otherwise - I was a senior at UNT. I've been self-conscience about it ever since.

2 - I am a procrastinator. My brain and ideas just flow better with a true deadline looming. With that being said, I'm not sure if my approach to editing is at all effective. I have to edit as I'm going. If I'm really distracted, I will read it aloud to see if everything makes sense. It doesn't always catch the grammar mistakes though (see answer from #1).

3 - Word choice is the easiest to explain to students. One's vocabulary can never be too big, so there's always room for growth. I like words, so it's also fun for me to explain this part! Spelling can be improved, but there are times when it's just not going to be that much better. Mechanics like capitalization and simplistic formatting are easier to model and talk through. Capitalization can be tricky. Some rules seem a bit obscure like capitalizing only important words in a title, except for the prepositions - well, some of the prepositions. It seems this rule is based on aesthetic pleasure rather than logic. Grammar is just all around difficult. For every definite rule, there's at least two other rules that have exceptions or contradictions. I've had in depth conversations about where commas go in a sentence. I don't want to spend fifteen minutes on that!

4 - I think the editing process for L2 students is developed through modeling. The students will have to start by reading proficient writing out loud then doing the same with their own writing. I think there's something cognitively beneficial or stimulating when someone reads their work aloud. Perhaps, in an ideal world, I could provide my students with models every time they are to write a major essay.

Chapter 7 - Response to Student Writing

1 - My 10th grade English teacher nominated me to read for a writing competition. It was the one event my mother couldn't attend, so my German teacher stood in her place. That moment gave me the confidence I needed to later become published in the literary magazine Parrallax at Richland College in Dallas. Much of that has been diluted because academic writing is more prevalent in my life these days. The only problems I've faced in regards to feedback was because the teacher didn't bother to value me or build a rapport. In turn, I didn't put much stock in his opinions.

2 - I think critiques for an L2 learner should focus on content and form. The teacher must be aware of their linguistic abilities as well as their ability to effectively communicate the assignment. L2 writers should receive the same critiques as L1 learners - that does not mean they will receive the same numerical grade. Instead, the teacher can make adjustments as needed, similar to the way we can for Special Education or 504 students. Expectations should not be altered for L2 learners, but students shouldn't be penalized for their linguistic shortcomings in the grade book.

3 - I have facilitated several student conferences because it was a key requirement in Richardson ISD. I was always nervous that I didn't provide enough critiques for each student. We were pressed for time. We had approximately 3-5 minutes with each student and we usually started with the middle of the road or borderline C/B students. In my last conference, I think I was more relaxed because I remembered this is all a process. Not every student will become master writers in middle school. And, that's okay. Unlike math, where students have to master a certain set of concrete applications, writing allows looser reigns for children to explore. I helped as much as I could and tried to focus on the main issue in their paper.

4 - Peer feedback occurred frequently and was sometimes helpful in grades 7-11 writing experiences (12th grade was just passing the time until graduation. I don't remember much about the learning experiences)! I can't remember how this process was modeled to us. Honestly, I'm not sure if peer evaluations were modeled to us. With that in mind, I would like to develop a system to respectfully praise and grow students on a peer-to-peer level. An L2 may benefit from a student with a similar linguistic background. If this is not possible, a small group with me or another instructor would be helpful.

Chapter 6 - Classroom Assessment of Writing Assessment

1 - Instructors used rubrics to assess and score my writing assessments. The rubrics were explicit and increasingly broad as the courses became more difficult. I never questioned whether or not the rubrics were appropriate because I generally earned favorable grades in English courses. Typically speaking, instructors allowed the class to draft assignments before the final. This allowed for clarifications about the requirements for the essay.

2 - Scores without feedback are not useful. If a professor provides a rubric, especially one that is vague, and only gives a numerical grade, the learner has little chance to improve. My class and I failed our British Literature midterm - a rhetorical analysis essay. The idea of earning an overall unfavorable grade motivated me more than the improvement of my writing or analytical skills. My professor's rubric was broad, but contained exhaustive underlying expectations. As a non-English major, a senior level course required writing skills I hadn't developed. Therefore, the score on the midterm did not assist with my level of mastery. Instead, it motivated me to ask for assistance earlier rather than later when I was unfamiliar with how to develop an assignment.

3 - Grading writing can be extremely difficult. I find myself arguing over minute details (with myself). In these instances, I tend to give my students the benefit of the doubt. The toughest aspect of assessing written composition is defending my choices to the students. Sometimes characteristics of an essay simply don't feel right and there is no other way for me to explain that.

4 - Formal assessments should be employed as a benchmark of learning after several informal assessments. Grading essays is daunting. It is also time consuming. With that being said, I find it most advantageous to grade a large writing assignment after smaller opportunities for learning. For example, I could teach mini-lessons on complex sentences, comma rules, and topic sentences. The final essay would have to demonstrate an understanding of these topics. Students would already have experience with these before asked to include them in the essay. It provides a less subjective aspect to the grading process.

5 - I attended Richardson ISD schools and later taught there for two years. They have a portfolio system that is designed to exhibit growth. It was designed to follow you throughout your time in secondary education in Richardson. So, I had a folder packed with writing from 7th-11th grade.
Obviously, my portfolio contained assignments I no longer cared about and surely didn't enjoy reading. As a teacher, they were a pain to maintain. I couldn't convince my students they were beneficial because no one ever explained that to me. Although I have extensive exposure to the use of portfolios, I have never understand their value in the classroom.

Chapter 5 - Course Design and Instructional Planning

1 - I print the syllabi and reference materials for each of my classes - both in undergraduate and graduate studies. It doesn't matter if I am in an online or face-to-face course, I must have all pre-assignment materials printed and readily accessible. The most valuable aspect of the syllabi is the calendar or description of assignments. I use these to determine my busiest times of the week and therefore when I can plan for extracurricular fun! I enjoy the self-paced learning style the best and as a result have thrived in online courses. I can handle face-to-face, but one can only take so many 3-4 hour classes before they become trite.

2 - Social and cultural features are important to the learning environment. If a teacher negates these essential elements - that are present in every student in ever classroom - then, the learning environment could become uncomfortable. Students, especially those who do not speak the native language, can feel unsafe because of a disregard to their background.

All students can learn and it's up to the teacher to determine how to ignite that learning. Course should be planned in a manner that is respectful of multiple learning modalities, cultural backgrounds, and linguistic accommodations.

3 - Composition courses demand the learner to communicate a synthesis of ideas. This means there is no set formula or timeline for a student to follow like in other disciplines. As a result, many students find tremendous discomfort when writing because there is no safety net. Writing is subjective. Composition courses involve some level of criticism, students have to learn how to comprehend suggestions and acknowledge that sometimes outside opinions are not helpful. These aspects are unlike those in many other courses at the K-12 level. Once a student reaches sophomore level collegiate courses, the argument could be made that other disciplines require just as much as composition courses.

4 - I need a challenge and engagement. My best collegiate learning experiences were at Richland College (a community college in Dallas). My professors were passionate and excited about their fields and wanted to engage students in that same excitement. I had a Chemistry professor who described concepts using volunteers in the classroom. She brought Chemistry to life and as a result I took Organic Chemistry as an elective the next semester. That class, which is designed for Science majors, was one of the hardest classes on campus, but I loved every minute of it! I tend to check out, but still earn an A, if the instructor is dismissive about learning or the assignments are unfulfilling.

Lessons should be designed in the following manner: activate prior knowledge; build on that knowledge; and, push students past that knowledge. For example, when assigning the task of composing a persuasive essay, ask students if they have ever tried to get money from a friend/family member. This activates a foundation for the lesson. Then, ask them to think of how adults may persuade one another (election years are always helpful with this one). Finally, challenge students to communicate their wants in a persuasive essay. This should be relevant to them and not something arbitrary. This process is helpful because students can connect with the content on a deeper level.

5 - The hallmarks of a productive classroom boil down to two features: being prepared and knowing your students. A highly prepared and intelligent teacher will soon fail if they are unable to connect with their students. Conversely, a teacher who has a great connection with his/her students, but is ill-prepared for class will undoubtedly become one of their "friends" instead of their instructor. There should be a balance when teaching. I like when my voice is heard and valued in a classroom. I realized this late in high school after a memorable incident with a teacher playing favorites. I never wanted my students to feel that.

Classroom management starts with classroom expectations and consistency with rules. This combined with the aforementioned hallmarks of a productive classroom are the foundation for a positive learning environment.

Chapter 4 - Reading, Genre Awareness, and Task Design

1 - In the past three years I have mainly read for the purposes of teaching. Rarely is there a time when I can read for pleasure and then apply that reading to my personal writing. I did not read much in high school and definitely not much in middle (I don't remember much about reading in K-6). With that being said, it's incredibly difficult for me to read anything without thinking about my students or how I can blend the information to my teaching style.

As an L1 reader I never thought much about the correlation between my reading and writing skills. Now, as a teacher, I can appreciate why reading and writing courses should be taught in tandem. My campus has reading and writing separated for 7th graders. Students compartmentalize the two subjects and generally struggle with one, if not both. Reading and writing should be taught together, so students are able to see words/phrases in "action," rather than some arbitrary lesson.

2 - As an academic reader I encounter non-fiction texts that are highly dense and contain a plethora of research based facts. As a non-academic reader (very rare these days), I encounter young adult fiction (Ms. Marvel and Serafina's Promise) and some literary non-fiction text (Between the World and Me). I have learned cultural sensitivity and the ability to deeply investigate viewpoints that are unlike my own. The new Ms. Marvel is about a girl named Kamala Khan who becomes the superhero, while simultaneously coping with teenage angst and being a first generation American. Serafina's Promise discusses education and society in Haiti through the eyes of Serafina. Lastly, Between the World and Me is a sociological quest about race relations in America. I'm not sure how these impact my writing, but they definitely impact my approach with the world at large.

3 - When "auditioning text" for my classroom, I gravitate toward material that can provide me with a variety of opportunities to learn and teach. I need material that is rich in color - both literally and figuratively. Students are exposed to an array of material from traditional and social media. I want them to experience cultures in text using the reading skills for our class, while simultaneously making connections with unfamiliar territory. Ideally, I'd like cross-curricular material that will easily weave its way into multiple lessons. However, I'll settle for texts that offer more depth than breadth. Just because a text is lengthy and multicultural does not mean it is suitable for my students' needs.

4 - An L2 textbook should include a glossary of familiar or commonly used terms. The information should also be presented in a straightforward manner. This means there should not be an excess of digression in one way or the other. Students should be able to get in and out of the textbook without being lost in too many examples/anecdotes/unnecessary information.

5 - Teachers should augment materials when the given materials are unable to be reasonably understood by those learning the primary language. For example, if a student is reading assigned pages from and textbook then answering questions then, they should be able to reasonably locate definitions and piece together the necessary information. However, if a student is struggling with how to apply the definitions to the task at hand, then accommodations should be employed.

6 - Students should read and write in small segments to gain their confidence in the primary language. Students should be able to connect with text on a personal level at first. This is achieved through reading. Then, students can draft a response based on the mentor text. As time progresses, students should be given increasingly difficult tasks and readings. This allows students to establish a distance from the text that encourages objectivity and using evidence to support their claims/draw accurate conclusions.

Chapter 3 - Composition Pedagogies

1. I am a L1 learner. I was taught with a process-oriented methodology. As a student in a advance placement classes (grades 7-11), I vividly remember peer editing and evaluating my own writing before final submission. Generally speaking, we had multiple drafts of the same writing assignment and had to follow very specific teacher generated writing guidelines. Looking back, my teachers were motivated by developing our writing skills on a deeper level each year. It took us an extremely long amount of time to finish one essay. For example, my tenth grade teacher would provide a lesson about a thesis statement, then challenged us to write our own, and finally evaluate another student's before we submitting it for grading.

2. L1 rhetoric and composition focuses on humanity and the writers' response to a specific aspect of the human experience. Strategies are taught and are traditional in nature because most freshman are required to take a course in either rhetoric or composition. Applied Linguistics is focused on subjective observations and improving student's overall writing. Instructors teach methods that encourage students to express their observations to a specific audience.

3. I would like more information on how to analyze my student's psychological state while writing. Previously, I only focused on their stress level while writing, but that did not focus on their linguistic background. Students have a wide range of emotionally responses to writing. Although I can identify these, I am unable to accurately fix most of them. Generally, I'll give students a "pep talk" about education and a need to improve for the future, but that only goes so far. One would think students would be excited about expressing their opinions, but they generally want to write how they want which generally omits traditional writing conventions.

4. Expressivist writing wants the writer to discover their personal voice. The instructor provides the prompt of the catalyst for writing, but use a non-directive teaching methodology. Cognitivism is similar to expressive, in that both have a structure, but this approach focuses on a more objective writing outcome. Students are required to plan, formulate a response, and revise. Social Constructive writing is developed after the writer is exposed to a variety of disciplines in and outside of the classroom. New Rhetoric is the arrangement of an argument to fit the needs of the audience. It is heavily informed or influenced by the L1 rhetoric and composition courses.

5. The biggest difference with these theories is the objectives for the writer and the analysis of the product. Theories that are more closely aligned with the rhetoric and composition of L1 learners, acknowledge the process, but the writer is focused on formulating a response to the human experience. Theories that are more closely related to Applied Linguistics focus on the overall writing experience with specified writing tasks accompanying lessons.

6. I want to be a teacher that focuses on the social constructive writing style. With the political climate domestic and aboard, my students have a plethora of questions that I cannot or will not answer. They are already exposed to many disciplines outside of the classroom and I would like to provide them with an opportunity to formulate their responses in an academic manner. Since I am a reading teacher, I tend to forgo the development of ideas without an anchor text. With the social constructive method, students could respond in a cognitivism manner with social issues in mind.