GROUP MEETING

Sunday at 7:00 p.m. work for everyone... if you cant make it or would like to change the time post a comment. Either I can meet with others individually or we can work something else out. I don't plan on the meeting taking very long, I'd just like to get some more ideas on paper and MAYBE outline some activities.

Also if anyone wants to go over their INDY teaches at all I'd be willing to help with that as well.

Grammar Homework

I found a very interesting article in the ERIC database on teaching grammar in secondary schools called Forgiving Ourselves and Forging Ahead: Teaching Grammar in a New Millennium by Susan Losse Nunan. This article explains a young Texas teacher's frustration when trying to teach her students a lesson about proper comma usage. The article goes on to explain her teaching tactics, which were mostly traditional diagramming, and how they failed. The author then goes on to discuss why grammar is important outlining the oft trumpeted ideas such as it makes for better, clearer writing, and it will allow the readers to take your ideas seriously. However, her best reason to support the teaching and studying of grammar is that through the understanding of more complex grammar students will be able to understand more complex thoughts, and will be able to apply this understanding in their writing.

She also talks about nontraditional ways of teaching grammar. She states "Rules without purpose are meaningless". I really liked this quote because to me it gets at the heart of the problem. Grammar rules are too often dished out with no real purpose behind them. It seems as though the lessons are to be learned simple because the teacher feels they are important, not for any practicable or applicable reason. Her suggestions for teaching grammar to students effectively rely on addressing students individually. She also stresses repetition. Teaching the lesson once and then forgetting about it doesn't usually work. Learning about a particular grammar rule in several different, and unique, ways will help the lesson stick in the students minds. Some examples she gives are using side walk chalk with grammar, and my favorite physical dramatization with grammar.

One of the most amazing ideas of this paper was the section where she talks about how students grammar will usually get worse as they learn something before it gets better. This is often because the students are trying to grasp this new concept and apply it in their own writing. Eventually, and with enough practice, patience, and persistence, the students will master the concept and be able to use it freely in their own lives.

Grammer Response

I will admit I have never been a huge fan of grammar. All through high school only one of my teachers had the courage to try and teach her students the fine points of the English Language. It was hard and grueling and tedious work but I did learn a lot only to forget most all of it by the beginning of my next year of school. It wasnt until last year in college while fullfilling my language requirement that I once again was forced, kicking and screaming, to relearn grammar. It was this second time around that I realized just how important it really is to understand grammar and how much it will help you when writing your papers. Since last year I have been much more dedicated to understanding grammar.
The first twelve pages of the Image Grammar brought back some not so fond memories of learning grammar in High School. However, once I got a few pages into the text I realized that the technique for teaching the grammar was through creative writing which I think is a brilliant idea. Grammar is usually seen as a bunch of rules that must be followed when writing an essay or a formal paper but isn't practicle in poetry or stories. By teaching grammar with creative writing that myth is easily dispelled. I for one love writing poetry and I have found that the quality of my writing has improved dramatically since I've relearned grammar. Plus by allowing the student to do creative writing with grammar it makes the grammar more fun and engaging.
I also liked the amount of examples and the stress on modeling and repetition of the techniques learned. Grammar is somehting that takes hard work and practice and practice and practice if you want it to stick.

INDY Teach

My Text: Slam Poetry

Main Ideas
- introduce students to slam poetry
-have students comfortable using slam poetry

Activities
-Model a Slam poem for students at the start of class
-have students define a slam poem
-get students to create their own slam poetry

Essential Questions
-How is Slam Poetry different from regular poetry
-How can Slam Poetry be used in the classroom???

Ideas I'm Still Debating
-Slam Poetry competition
-MadLibs slam poetry...
-short video clip of slam poets in action


This is subject to change significantly since I can't get my Book until this coming thursday

The English Teacher's Red Pen Response:

What a great article. I think every English teacher should read this. Bleeding all over every students paper doesn't help the student's and doesn't do the teachers any favors either (except maybe make them despair over how poorly they're teaching). I, like every other English student, have heard from their teachers as some point over the years, "you get five mistakes and after that your grade goes down X amount of points per mistake", or something along those lines. This places an unnecessary amount of pressure on the writers and to an extent on the teacher as well since it is they who have to spend the next month laboring tediously over each sentence looking for any and all errors. It also doesn't help if every error on a students paper is pointed out because the student is overloaded with corrections and becomes frustrated with not writing well enough. I also as a student can remember being told that having good ideas is great but that no one would take my writing seriously if I didn't use proper spelling and grammar all while I thought if my ideas were good enough and the paper was readable shouldn't that count for more then a C. Turns out the answer really is yes. And while that doesn't raise my GPA now it certainly is nice to know and will be helpful for when I start grading.
Thats not to say that correcting grammar and spelling has no place. But, it should be done in manageable pieces. Maybe work on comma usage one week, then paragraph structure the next week, and so on. Also the teacher needs to recognize things students do right in their papers at least just as much as they're criticized. Giving students bite size grammar will help them remain confident and will help them work on their grammar.
I also really liked the tone/style of the author in this chapter. The author gave many examples to explain and support their position and the ideas were very clear and straight forward.

Emerging Technologies Response:

I really enjoyed the opening story of this chapter. Doing assignments that are typically done on paper on Word doesn't necessarily count as progressive use of technology in the classroom. Unfortunately this is the closest many classes come to using technology. This chapter seemed to focus a lot on blogs and how to use them as means of communication and for assignments in the classroom. I really like the idea of giving students blogs and having them use those for different assignments because it will allow for greater creativity. "Talking about driving doesn't fit a paragraph the same way that it fits an image that follows me driving down the road." However, the inherent problem with using technology is that not all students (and not all schools) have access to the technology that would be useful in the classroom.
"This isn't about grading as much as it is an opportunity to hear students' connections, struggles, questions, and ideas." I really love this quote too. By not putting strict grades on students blogs they will feel more free to express themselves and there wont be as much fear of the technology.

Group Teach Rough Ideas

Essential Questions:

1. What is poetry?
2. What is the function of poetry?
3. Who can write poetry?
4. What's the difference between poetry and other forms of writing?

Goals:

1. Students should be able to recognize poetry and feel confident in writing poems.
2. Students should be able to peer edit other students work in a meaningful and constructive way
3. Students should be able to interpret poetry

Activities:
What is poetry question- everyone writes one line then is turned into a poem, read round robin.

Have students write a poem

Homework read 4 different poems of differing genres

Peer editing

Where I am From

I am from a warm kitchen in the middle of winter
A cozy hideout with fresh baked sweets that taste like Christmas morning
Our cookies for Santa and twelve pies for the rest of the family
Plus one extra small just for me

The sound of Chipmunks Christmas
Led by that trouble maker Alvin
Rings down the stairs
As I slip into wet boots and snow suit

I am from that cold blast that wakes up your face
As I step on to the icey porch
I hurry through the snow along the side of driveway
Trying to keep up with the snow blower

Just barely quick enough
to not get burried as I go
Blasted with snow
My body breaking its flow

Pretending I dont hear myself getting in trouble

Response to: Starting to Write

Everyone has something to write about. There is always a new story to tell or a new way to tell an old story. There were a lot of great ideas and examples in this chapter. One line I felt I could relate to was "Most writers do not have many fields to plow. My writing mostly comes from my going over and over and over again a few territories." I have found that the subject matter of my writting is the same. I seem to have a handful of ideas, emotions, and memories from which blooms a majority of my writing. I have many times tried to dig up new memories or force writing about differing topics and have for the most part found these pieces to be flat and uninspired. It is much easier to stick with what I know and what I can draw on.

One line from the text that I was unclear on was "I have no specific memory of this incident, but it is true now that I have wirtten it...." I'm not sure how a fiction can become a truth simple through the act of writting. I can write that I flew around the world and relate all sort of wonderful experiences and details but the fact that I have written it does not alter the reality that I have in fact never flown anywhere much less around the world. I through my writting can imagine what flying would be like and could write pages upon pages of ficticious experiences that I'd have on my travels but they may not be accurate and certianly wouldn't be true.

I love this monkey!

Response to: Why I Write

I found that I agreed to a large extent with many of Donald M. Murray's statements and suggestions for becoming a better writter and I also felt that many of his suggestions could be easily used in a classroom to motivate students to write.

Time and time again Donald Murray says that the best way to get yourself to write is by forcing yourself to sit in a seat and write. It doesn't necessarily matter what the subject of the writing is just so long that you are writing. He cites many colleagues and uses quotes from several famous writters from many different fields and of many differing eras. I did feel that he belabored his point a bit excessively; however, the many different examples and views of how one can write best did help generate many ideas for combating excuses to not write.

I agree with Donald Murray's assessment that writing is a necessary act that every person engages in and that the only real difference between people who write are the reasons they engage in writing and the benefits they recieve from writing. He includes many examples for writing such as: To lose myself in my work, to testify, to avoid boredom, to share, for revenge, to exercise my craft to slay my dragons, to discover who I am and several others. Each reason is unique in its own way and each reason demonstrates both the versatility and the necessity of writing in people's lives.

I couldn't help but draw connections to my own writings when I read the section about "Writers Who Don't Finish" and Writers Who Don't Submit For Publication". I, sadly, am guilty on both accounts. I have started and completed probably over a hundred pages of writing for my own personal reasons very little of it is "finished" and even less of it has ever been submitted to anyone for viewing. Instead it sits in a dusty folder locked safely away in the archives of my computer. But I would argue that not all of it has been writen for publication and, while I wont deny the that the idea of publishing some of my work has crossed my mind, I can't imagine someone else finding it much interesting or original. However, Donald Murray's devotion, enthusiasm, desire, and his love for writing have inspired my to once agian pick up the pen and "use the tounge as an eye".

Towards the end of the reading I began to fade the burdensome amount of examples began to wear on my mind and I started to tune out. I have a writing style and system of my own and hearing about others was interesting for awhile but soon couldn't hold my interest. I did finish the reading but by the time I reached "Talent Is Common; Energy Is Rare" my energy was scarce.

I enjoyed this article and I'm sure I'll be able to use many of the ideas is contains to motivate myself and my future students.