At Canton City Schools, we have been mandated to implement the Collins Writing Program for the past two years. I wonder if anyone has had experience with this program and/or has any insights into its effectiveness?
I have many opinions and thoughts, but not a lot of research-based input.
http://www.collinseducationassociates.com/cwp.htm
Sunday, February 28, 2010
slam poetry
We watched a clip regarding slam poetry in class last week, and it brought back a lot of fun memories for me. I was able to be a participant observer of a high school slam poetry team for over a year and complete a research project on their identity formation as individuals and as a group throughout that time.
For my own 'easy access' availability, and for anyone who needs to have slam poetry defined. Here's a good clip that introduces the idea.
For my own 'easy access' availability, and for anyone who needs to have slam poetry defined. Here's a good clip that introduces the idea.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
What is the purpose of school instruction?
Ok, so I know that this question is pretty big, but I've been struggling with it for a long time. In Albertinti's chapter 24, Teaching of Writing and Diversity, he says, "The research reviewed in this chapter has demonstrated that achievement, access to instruction, and identity development as a writer often relate to ethnicity, race, gender, and disability." and "As we have seen, learning to write convincingly in accpetable discourses, is extremely difficult for students marginalized by ethnicity, race, class, gender identity, or disability."
If we believe that these "diverse" groups have discourses that are meaningful and powerful within their own community, I struggle with why we have to change all that just to acclimate them to the majority, middle class, American (US) culture. Of course I want diverse students to have success, but at what point do we perpetuate the problem by reinforcing its power in school?
If we believe that these "diverse" groups have discourses that are meaningful and powerful within their own community, I struggle with why we have to change all that just to acclimate them to the majority, middle class, American (US) culture. Of course I want diverse students to have success, but at what point do we perpetuate the problem by reinforcing its power in school?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Understanding Literacy as Social Practice
As it is with many of these types of books, I find the first few chapters of Local Literacies to be the most engaging on a theoretical level. Because I've been interested in these kinds of studies for a long time, I've found so much to ponder in the chapter 1 "Understanding Literacy as Social Practice".
(Now, in my mind, my knowledge of academic discourse wants me to disclaim that although I'm writing about chapter 1, I have read the rest of the book. I'm just choosing the ponder on points from chapter 1. :)
The following two quotes stick out to me because of my recent job experiences.
"People are active in what they do, and literacy practices are purposeful and embedded in broader social goals and cultural practices" (p. 11).
"Literacy practices are culturally constructed, and, like all cultural phenomena, they have their roots in the past. To understand contemporary literacy it is necessary to document the ways in which literacy is historically situated: literacy practices are as fluid, dynamic and changing as the lives and societies of which they are a part" (p. 13).
In class when we talked about the variety of Discourse communities we participate in, I thought a lot about my difficulties adjusting to the middle school teachers in our district. I've had continual struggles speaking with them, which I didn't expect. It's so intangible I can't quite explain it, but my high school teaching/grad student mentality just doesn't work for them. They don't like ambiguity; I believe that decisions should be constructed as a group and that might take time and complexity. They believe their students need strict rules to writing and reading; I maintain these skills are more fluid and multi-faceted. It has been a continual struggle in my job, but I've realized that part of the problem is also understanding how other curriculum specialists have communicated with these middle school teachers in the past. Once I tried to understand those communication patterns, I have been better at 'bridging' the middle school teachers from their historical discourse into possibly a more critical way of talking about literacy and pedagogy.
Of course, this is just my opinion, and they are nice folks. They might be nodding and smiling while they think I'm a idiot.
I understand that the quotes I took from the book are more about broader cultures and communities; however, reading and reflecting on them has brought some clarity to this area of confusion that I face.
(Now, in my mind, my knowledge of academic discourse wants me to disclaim that although I'm writing about chapter 1, I have read the rest of the book. I'm just choosing the ponder on points from chapter 1. :)
The following two quotes stick out to me because of my recent job experiences.
"People are active in what they do, and literacy practices are purposeful and embedded in broader social goals and cultural practices" (p. 11).
"Literacy practices are culturally constructed, and, like all cultural phenomena, they have their roots in the past. To understand contemporary literacy it is necessary to document the ways in which literacy is historically situated: literacy practices are as fluid, dynamic and changing as the lives and societies of which they are a part" (p. 13).
In class when we talked about the variety of Discourse communities we participate in, I thought a lot about my difficulties adjusting to the middle school teachers in our district. I've had continual struggles speaking with them, which I didn't expect. It's so intangible I can't quite explain it, but my high school teaching/grad student mentality just doesn't work for them. They don't like ambiguity; I believe that decisions should be constructed as a group and that might take time and complexity. They believe their students need strict rules to writing and reading; I maintain these skills are more fluid and multi-faceted. It has been a continual struggle in my job, but I've realized that part of the problem is also understanding how other curriculum specialists have communicated with these middle school teachers in the past. Once I tried to understand those communication patterns, I have been better at 'bridging' the middle school teachers from their historical discourse into possibly a more critical way of talking about literacy and pedagogy.
Of course, this is just my opinion, and they are nice folks. They might be nodding and smiling while they think I'm a idiot.
I understand that the quotes I took from the book are more about broader cultures and communities; however, reading and reflecting on them has brought some clarity to this area of confusion that I face.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Where did composition studies come from?
I've been taking several weeks to get through this article by Nystrand, Greene, and Wiemelt (1993) because there is so much to digest. I feel like you could take a course in just following the different ideologies and their scholars. In the abstract of the article, it says, "...the authors argue that the development of composition studies needs to be understood as part of a broader intellectual history affecting linguistics and literary stueis, as well as composition" (p. 267).
This is why the article has been so helpful to me.
In most of my courses, I've concentrated on reading. Of course while studying reading history, we have touched on many of the historical influences these authors cite. I also took a course in Sociolinguistics, which revealed some of these influences as well. In addition, throughout my general ed "Curriculum" courses, we have studied some of these broader historical movements. Finally, through my own research, I've been subtly trying to wrap my head around Bakhtin's theories. This article has helped me understand the history in not only composition studies, but also the historical influences in all four of these areas.
It's interesting how some articles just pull things together, and this one certainly fills in many blanks for me. I really do like the section on Bakhtin and Dialogism. I've read information about dialogism before, but I think by reading the history leading up to this idea helped me understand it more fully. This quote stuck out to me, "For Bakhtin, as for contemporary language scholars, it is the relationship between the individual psyche and the forces of social ideology and interpretive convention that focuses our efforts to characterize meaning in discourse" (p. 295).
As I study Bakhtin's influence in identity theory, connecting his views to Halliday (1978) has also helped me.
While this article is dense; it will be a resource to return to in the future.
This is why the article has been so helpful to me.
In most of my courses, I've concentrated on reading. Of course while studying reading history, we have touched on many of the historical influences these authors cite. I also took a course in Sociolinguistics, which revealed some of these influences as well. In addition, throughout my general ed "Curriculum" courses, we have studied some of these broader historical movements. Finally, through my own research, I've been subtly trying to wrap my head around Bakhtin's theories. This article has helped me understand the history in not only composition studies, but also the historical influences in all four of these areas.
It's interesting how some articles just pull things together, and this one certainly fills in many blanks for me. I really do like the section on Bakhtin and Dialogism. I've read information about dialogism before, but I think by reading the history leading up to this idea helped me understand it more fully. This quote stuck out to me, "For Bakhtin, as for contemporary language scholars, it is the relationship between the individual psyche and the forces of social ideology and interpretive convention that focuses our efforts to characterize meaning in discourse" (p. 295).
As I study Bakhtin's influence in identity theory, connecting his views to Halliday (1978) has also helped me.
While this article is dense; it will be a resource to return to in the future.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
"Local Literacies" and American Consumerism
While I wasn't able to attend our class on Monday, I did read quite a lot from the book, Local Literacies while on my trip. My husband and I had many conversations regarding globalism (especially American consumerism) and its impact on local literacies. As I read the chapter dealing with Mumtaz, the multilingual study participant, I thought back to our conversations.
The quote on pg. 186 really connected with my thoughts while in Costa Rica, "The different literacies in Mumtaz's life partly represent tensions and a mixing of values in forging new identities and reconciling conflicts about changing values...."
As the many Costa Rican natives cared for our every wish/need, I was struck by the identity bifercation that might be at play in their lives. Clearly, they were taught how Americans wanted their food prepared and served, how Americans (and Canadians) wanted their rooms cleaned, and how they wanted to be treated while on vacation. I couldn't help but wonder about how much the natives had to change their way of speaking and interacting. Of course, becoming conversant in English was the main characteristic of this; however, it went much deeper.
As I watched the buses bringing the workers from their small towns and communities into our area, I was struck by the 'classes' that existed within the ranks of workers, in many ways based on literacy acquisition. The housekeeping workers couldn't speak much English at all; however, the guest service workers were almost completely bilingual. The waiters and waitresses fell somewhere in-between. It was fascinating to observe.
So many questions...I wanted to stay and ask, "How much of your literacy activities have changed since you've begun working at this hotel/resort?" "Do your new/different literacies bring tension into your life in your town or family? In what way?" "How do you use English in different ways than you use Spanish?"
These are just a few.... It was so interesting to think about this while reading Local Literacies...(of course, I struggled with the guilt of being the American consumer, the perpetrator of parts of the problem... but that's for another blog at another time.... :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Paradox
Ch. 18 Olson (2008) “Modern schools are mass institutions, instruments of a mass industrial society modeled on the factory and the military. The class, not the individual, becomes the primary unit of instruction “ (p. 285).
Before I read this chapter, I was reading the chapter by Ball & Ellis which focused on the Identity and Writing of Diverse Students. So much of the conclusions they discussed has to do with allowing diverse students to interweave their cultural and home identities into their writing identities into schooling so for a healthy identity to grow. I continually hear that high school and middle school teachers must differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs in their classrooms.
These two quotes seem to equal a difficult paradox to overcome. How do I tell my English teachers, who may instruct up to 150 students on a daily basis, to differentiate their instruction in meaningful ways? School itself, according to Olson (2008) wasn’t even created to accommodate such a mandate. The military and/or factory don’t do this. How can this gulf of intention and need be overcome?
This same problem can be applied to our conversation about writing assessments and the weaknesses of rubrics. How can a teacher, realistically, grade massive amounts of writing without some type of standardized instrument? (Is this question showing that I have structuralist tendencies, or just that I've been working in the district curriculum department for too long??)
Before I read this chapter, I was reading the chapter by Ball & Ellis which focused on the Identity and Writing of Diverse Students. So much of the conclusions they discussed has to do with allowing diverse students to interweave their cultural and home identities into their writing identities into schooling so for a healthy identity to grow. I continually hear that high school and middle school teachers must differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs in their classrooms.
These two quotes seem to equal a difficult paradox to overcome. How do I tell my English teachers, who may instruct up to 150 students on a daily basis, to differentiate their instruction in meaningful ways? School itself, according to Olson (2008) wasn’t even created to accommodate such a mandate. The military and/or factory don’t do this. How can this gulf of intention and need be overcome?
This same problem can be applied to our conversation about writing assessments and the weaknesses of rubrics. How can a teacher, realistically, grade massive amounts of writing without some type of standardized instrument? (Is this question showing that I have structuralist tendencies, or just that I've been working in the district curriculum department for too long??)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Reelate(ing) stories
Here is an interesting group in Stark County that teaches people how to use video to tell local stories. The group just celebrated the first round of movies last Friday evening in Canton, Ohio. It's a great example of writing, storytelling, local literacies, and identity.
http://www.reelate.org
Two great movies to watch are The Real BOLD BADMEN and Kim Ann's Short Film Night.
You will find links to the movies from the Reelate site.
(And, yes, I'm biased and proud. The idea was birthed and executed by my husband and two other friends. It's been a pretty interesting journey...)
http://www.reelate.org
Two great movies to watch are The Real BOLD BADMEN and Kim Ann's Short Film Night.
You will find links to the movies from the Reelate site.
(And, yes, I'm biased and proud. The idea was birthed and executed by my husband and two other friends. It's been a pretty interesting journey...)
Writing and Katrina
I found this great video connecting writing, identity, and Katrina survivors. There are some fantastic quotes and thoughts about literacies in general.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Writing and Identity
I've just been reading Howard's chapter on History of Writing in the Community and found it interestingly connected to my interest on identity. I'm trying to tie what I read back to theories of identities, especially those of Holland, Bahktin, and Gee. This chapter is a pretty easy connection on many levels. The beginning of the setion "The 20th Century: Change and Continuity" claims that not all writing communities viewed more compulsory education as a healthy addition and inclusion into their practices. A quote that really hit me was toward the end of the chapter. "Despite the availability of formal, postcompulsory education, many prefer independent, informal learning and literacy practices" (p. 251).
This entire chapter focuses on how communities used writing, in many ways to build, share, and perserve identity of individuals, organizations, families, etc.. Writing was often self-taught when this preservation or communication felt important and desirable. I think it's fascinating that the 'schooling', both compulsory and postcompulsory, was not necessarily always linked to writing in a favorable way. In face the quote tells me that many still prefer their independedent and informal literacy practices.
I especially love to study this topic with adolescents. We addressed this a little bit in class when we talked about texting. Adolescents today are reading and writing and constructing meaning and identity all the time, but schools ban many of these practices and force-feed the 5 paragraph essay. We teach the "Collins" writing program, whose structure introduces the ideas of multiple purposes for writing; however, we still won't allow anything other than full sentences written with pen and paper to constitute "school writing". (Sometimes, if the teacher is lucking enough to beat the race to the computer lab, students can actually use a computer for print too.)
I consistently struggle with how middle and high schools can let students use the form of literacies (writing here, specifically) that make sense to them to think and mean meaning in schools. It's a topic I wrestle with in my grad classes and in many conversations I have with my English teachers all over the district. This article, again, historically, points out the need for our perspectives to widen and pedagogy to become more flexible.
This entire chapter focuses on how communities used writing, in many ways to build, share, and perserve identity of individuals, organizations, families, etc.. Writing was often self-taught when this preservation or communication felt important and desirable. I think it's fascinating that the 'schooling', both compulsory and postcompulsory, was not necessarily always linked to writing in a favorable way. In face the quote tells me that many still prefer their independedent and informal literacy practices.
I especially love to study this topic with adolescents. We addressed this a little bit in class when we talked about texting. Adolescents today are reading and writing and constructing meaning and identity all the time, but schools ban many of these practices and force-feed the 5 paragraph essay. We teach the "Collins" writing program, whose structure introduces the ideas of multiple purposes for writing; however, we still won't allow anything other than full sentences written with pen and paper to constitute "school writing". (Sometimes, if the teacher is lucking enough to beat the race to the computer lab, students can actually use a computer for print too.)
I consistently struggle with how middle and high schools can let students use the form of literacies (writing here, specifically) that make sense to them to think and mean meaning in schools. It's a topic I wrestle with in my grad classes and in many conversations I have with my English teachers all over the district. This article, again, historically, points out the need for our perspectives to widen and pedagogy to become more flexible.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Examining Internet use among low-income students
The citation for the article I mentioned is
Greenhow, C; Walker, J.D. & Seongdok, K. (2009/2010). Millennial leaners and net-savvy teens? Examining internet use among low-income students. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 26 (2), p. 63-68.
Greenhow, C; Walker, J.D. & Seongdok, K. (2009/2010). Millennial leaners and net-savvy teens? Examining internet use among low-income students. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 26 (2), p. 63-68.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Equal access vs. the market
I've been making my way through the Bazerman & Rogers chapter on "Knowledge Within Modern European Institutions". Two different quotes stuck out to me toward the end of the chapter.
1. "Economic inequalities of nations that do not support the conditions necessary for the production of knowledge also challenge full participation in and access to knowledge" (Canagarajah, 2002) p.172. I realize that within the context of this chapter, the authors are talking about the availability of research journals and 'printed knowledge' that is available in developing worlds. However, I was struck by the quote because just this week I read an article (which is at school and I can't get the citation) that talked about how students from neighborhoods and schools of poverty differ in their Internet use from more suburban or middle/upper class students. While students in poverty spend time on the Internet, their habits are different than their higher SES peers, mostly due to the time the Internet is available to them and due to the tasks they use the Internet for. Knowing this information makes the above quote even more challenging to a democratic, education institution (school in the US) because our students from high-poverty areas are not gaining equal access to knowledge.
2. "The electronic revolution has also increased the incorporation of graphic, audio, and other data, including dynamically accessible databases within research publications" (Kostelnick & Hassett, 2003)p. 172. As anyone who read my 'thoughts and summaries' tonight in class, I was struck by the way Bill introduced his PowerPoint. He said, "Are you ready to watch my lecture?" Our ways of communicating knowledge have changed so drastically! HOWEVER, we also had the discussion about the very perscriptive ways dissertations are outlined. Even though this quote about the incorporation of technology may be true on many levels, the 'old standard' of the dissertation format is still very much cemented, at least in our college.
Very interesting...
1. "Economic inequalities of nations that do not support the conditions necessary for the production of knowledge also challenge full participation in and access to knowledge" (Canagarajah, 2002) p.172. I realize that within the context of this chapter, the authors are talking about the availability of research journals and 'printed knowledge' that is available in developing worlds. However, I was struck by the quote because just this week I read an article (which is at school and I can't get the citation) that talked about how students from neighborhoods and schools of poverty differ in their Internet use from more suburban or middle/upper class students. While students in poverty spend time on the Internet, their habits are different than their higher SES peers, mostly due to the time the Internet is available to them and due to the tasks they use the Internet for. Knowing this information makes the above quote even more challenging to a democratic, education institution (school in the US) because our students from high-poverty areas are not gaining equal access to knowledge.
2. "The electronic revolution has also increased the incorporation of graphic, audio, and other data, including dynamically accessible databases within research publications" (Kostelnick & Hassett, 2003)p. 172. As anyone who read my 'thoughts and summaries' tonight in class, I was struck by the way Bill introduced his PowerPoint. He said, "Are you ready to watch my lecture?" Our ways of communicating knowledge have changed so drastically! HOWEVER, we also had the discussion about the very perscriptive ways dissertations are outlined. Even though this quote about the incorporation of technology may be true on many levels, the 'old standard' of the dissertation format is still very much cemented, at least in our college.
Very interesting...
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