Group items tagged

Profess Groff, at MIT, took on the topic of classroom technology and the classroom environment. It is an older article, but she looked at the integration into the learning processes of student and the ways to judge a successful device in the learning process. One point, is that instructors need to assess the effects of a device early-on, so that an effective integration plan could be implemented before the likelihood of it hindering the learning process. I would agree that in the past this was a simple solution even though there seemed to be a lag in the educational system to integrate these devices. Now, however, the rate of development of new devices seems to be making the lag even more of an issue. The end of the article details the main obstacles to learning, the classroom and new technology in the classroom; and they mostly relate to the teacher. Students have no problem keeping up with the newest device available. This then brings me back to the idea that an effect plan in the school and teacher training needs to be employed.

The article written by ERIC (The Educational Resources Information Center) which I must assume is a part of George Washington Univ. Washington DC. Graduate School of Education and Human Development is a broken down "checklist" of sorts. It addresses six different concerns with grading student's writing. One such concern is one I think we all might have asked ourselves at one point in time, "Why do professors need to construct effective writing assignments?"(3). The answer given to the question was interesting in that it pushed hard for effective peer reviews. While some peer review is helpful the article did address the fact that most students are unaware of how to give effective peer review. The basics of the article concerning peer review are that professors need to help students learn by example and explanation. I thought it interesting as well that the article addressed how professors can avoid giving a grade that they will have to defend after the fact, a problem for professors who grade writing without a series of rewriting stages. The solution offered is, that's right, stages of rewrites with the professor holding off giving a grade for as long as possible. One important idea brought up in the article is that "…the writing assignment should include necessary information about audience and purpose, the two pillars of writing."(3) I often wonder how we focus on the first and not the second. As the article states one of the pillars of writing is purpose, yet we seem to habitually focus on the audience and not give student's a purpose for their writing.

This article focuses on the relationship between students and teachers and how students feel about the way their teachers act. They gathered information by conducting surveys and focus-groups in an effort to truly understand how what students think about their teachers, and how their relationships effected the students' achievement in school. They collected information from three different sources: special education, general education, and honors education. The results for all three were incredibly similar with some slight differences in what the students focused on. In general, the students responded very amiably to teachers who demonstrated respect and caring for their students and conveyed high expectations of them. It became clear that students were very aware of the amount of effort teachers put in to connecting with their students and the amount of work the teachers put in to the class. In many cases when the teachers told stories, demonstrated respect, and tried to relate to their students on a personal level, treating them as humans and peers rather than subordinates, the students were not only more engaged in the assignments but they admitted that they grew fond of those teachers and their classes. The article was incredibly interesting to me because of the fact that they focused on the students' perceptions rather than the teachers'. I've read many studies that interview teachers and discuss what the teachers think they've effectively conveyed to their students but it is rare to really see how students feel and think, though it seems to me that the students' opinions should be a larger focus because they're the ones who are trying to learn. This article has made me realize that what a teacher says is not always the most important aspect of effectively teaching information, but instead, what really matters, is the way they say it and the way they make their students feel.

This article by John Bitchener, Stuart Young, and Denise Cameron of the Auckland University of Technology explores the value of grammar-related feedback in ESL writing. They found a combination of explicit written and oral feedback to be the most effective method to enact change. However, the change in grammar accuracy did't always last. The authors suggest prolonged exposure to this kind of feedback would show a more consistent result. 

A collaborative article of Patricia McCarthy, Scott Meier and Regina Rinderer, this article explores the idea of self-efficacy, or rather a student's perception of their own self-efficacy, in relation to writing competency at the college level.They explain that students who estimate their writing abilities and effectiveness to be quite high perform accordingly, and that this holds also for students who estimate their abilities to be quite low (the Pygmalion Effect in action). While this comes as a surprise to few, these authors further explain that of a few key factors, namely perceived self-efficacy, anxiety, locus of control, and cognitive processing methods, while all affect the quality of writing produced by students, self-efficacy proved to be the strongest predictor of student performance regardless of the other conditions in their studies. Students who become used to a process of accurate and frequent self-evaluation, both of the final product AND of their abilities separate from the product, may develop a more accurate and more proactive view of their writing competence and their later work may reflect this.

This article discusses the differences between the passive and active literary voice, choosing an appropriate tone, and effective usage of verbiage; however, it is written in a very instructively, concise manner and is easy to comprehend. There are recommendations for when to appropriately use the passive or active voice, as well as recognizing the certain challenges each voice contains. In total there are 16 steps to "improve your voice" and each step consists of sub-steps. There is also advice for establishing concise, precise, and simplistically, effective writing for your reader to grasp and enjoy. Although the article is rather short, it is very instructive and can be utilized as a beneficial source to enhance not only our writing, but also the students we are helping. It would make a great source to share and/or even post on blackboard learn under the ENGL 130 forum (for those of us in the workshop); or those mentoring anywhere else on campus.

The article describes language teacher preparation in the use of learning technologies. Three focus group interviews were held with 28 pre-service teachers; 9 in-service teachers were interviewed, and a post focus group interview was held with student teachers after they completed their field teaching experience. The article continues on by describing teacher response to technology in the classroom. In correlation to that idea is that of the effect of technology to the students of ESL classroom. This article demonstrated that if a teacher is not adequately in the technology at hand then they will not use it. If a teacher is not using it the neither will the students. To prepare a teacher is to prepare the teacher to prepare the students. It has a cyclical effect.

In "Exploring the Impact of a High-Stakes Direct Writing Assessment in Two High School Classrooms," Ketter and Pool (2001) use a case study to examine the effects of standardized direct writing assessments on instruction and on student affect. They used surveys, interviews, student work, case notes, and curriculum plans to closely examine how teachers and students in two Maryland high school classrooms were impacted by the state's high-stakes writing assessment. The two classes were designed for students who had previously failed the Maryland Writing Test, with the specific intention of helping those students to pass the direct writing test, which is required for high school graduation. Over half of the students in the two classes were identified as members of families of low socio-economic status. Ketter & Pool found that the primary factor negatively influencing instructional methodologies and student and teacher affect is the failure of instruction and assessment to address "how differences in discourse styles embedded in communities have a powerful effect on how children see their world and communicate about it with others" (369). In this way, students from non-mainstream culture are marginalized by the school system. Ketter & Pool recommend that school and community stakeholders work together to devise teaching and assessment practices that "take into consideration the rich variety of American culture and the complexity of literacy instruction that result[s] in a student's ability to make meaning" (386).

The link I've included is to the stable URL, which only displays the first page. Sorry -- you will have to log in to JSTOR to read the entire article.

This is an article by Frank Mcguire on (obviously) different strategies that are supposed to empower students and build confidence in their writing. The article starts out with the quote that we have all heard before, "It's so hard to put my thoughts on paper." The strategies listed include how to effectively implement a writing journal, the structure of assignments, discussions, positive feedback, peer tutoring, etc. The author goes through specific ways to make each of the strategies work, in order to create an effective and fun classroom environment.

After much searching, I was able to find a book that was written by an educator from England about her varying experiences with excellent writers that had a difficult time adapting their writing style to the expectations the West. Helen Fox, author of "Listening to the World: Cultural Issues in Academic Writing, analyzes the effects of culture and the problems this cultural influence causes when students try to adapt their writing styles and personas to that of Western academia. Problems include; focusing on a group instead of emphasis on self, a mindset geared toward a focus on the past instead of a focus on the future and a circular approach to writing instead of a linear approach. Fox investigates these issues and other cultural effects on the writing process.

This article explains one way to help students explore materials when students need to develop an effective thesis for their profile essay. The professor asks students to do general everyday freewriting related to the topic (an unusual place). Although the author doesn't show all students' freewritings, the only example shown in the article shows a developmental track of how a student explores his/her ideas and write the thesis. It is a process that the student finds and writes the thesis, and it takes time to complete the process. The author posts an invention to help students start essay writing in academic environment. There is no formal rigid writing pattern but a way to help students get into the topic and object; students will use writing as a thinking tool to think and critique the object when they get more information about it. My question is that this invention strategy can be considered as a project for a teacher but an activity in writing process for students. It takes time for teachers to think and design and for students to really do it. There should be more unpredictable problems, so teachers should pay more attention on this strategy.

This article contains a variety of helpful recommendations in assisting others with essays, and beneficial of extensive methods in establishing coherence. There are also intriguing statistics about illiteracy and each section, as well as the subcategory within is very specific and unified. Essentially, the article revolves around the diversified nature of everyone's unique interpretation of writing and is magnified towards all students. There's also information such as: informing others, consulting others, approaching the students, entertaining them, acquiring the knowledge of their materials, appropriately responding, and using moderate persuasion. All in all, there are a total of seven recommendations with very concise explanations of writing instruction, analytical approaches, and assessing the quality of literary works. This article is applicable to our instructive endeavors within our micro, or macro, aggregates of situated learning. The content within this particular article will elucidate the path to molding students into strategic writers, capturing and sustaining motivation, and substantiating an enjoyable environment. So please give it a read! I'm sure you'll find it quite pertinent to our weekly scenarios of peripheral participation and consultative interactions.

I first encountered this article when taking 470 course, and this week I have looked it through thoroughly, as it seems to me that it contains some significant information concerning the nature of bilingual writing. Losey affirms that written codeswitching is significant for bilingual students as it provides opportunity for them to fully express themselves. According to the author, the writing identity of a bilingual is constructed by the constant correlation of the two language worlds; therefore, it is not only natural but also necessary for him / her to codeswitch in order to express his / her individuality. This idea correlates with the article "Heritage Language Literacy: Theory and Practice" by Chevalier, where the author considers that bilinguals do not possess the whole range of written registers because they codeswitch in the situation when monolinguals change their writing style. However, Losey does not see codeswitching as disadvantage like Chevalier does. His point of view is closer to another article "Writing back and forth: the interplay of form and situation in heritage learners' composition" that I reviewed during the previous week. The author of that article explains that the productive writing in bilingual schools implies shifts between two cultures and languages in order to create a new non-standard way of expressing one's thoughts. Losey goes even further. He does not only considers codeswitching possible in the classroom settings ("an unsurpassed opportunity for bilinguals", "a successful strategy for enhancing communication, promoting natural literacy acquisition in both languages, valuing students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds", though "its use in the classroom runs counter to linguistic and cultural norms and must be guided by an informed and sensitive instructor"), but, after analyzing writing patterns of the 47 personal letters exchanged between young individuals, he also determines the form and functions of the written codeswitching

Thinking of invention in chapter two of our text lead me to think about the ways in which we write to express self. This article discusses how the world of texting, instant messaging, blogging and other such types of writing help to open our minds to our inner thoughts. We are free from the rules and regulations of a stereotypical classroom and are also allowed to share and respond to others writing. The internet and cell phones have opened up a huge new space for writing. Some think it's hindering and destroying language, while others believe its radically changing it for the better. I want to start my journey here and reach my own personal conclusion through further research and discussions.

This study occurs over a period of eight years and follows 55 secondary teachers as they take part in professional development in cognitive strategies approach to reading and writing and then implement those strategies in their classrooms. The cognitive strategies approach, an intervention program developed by the UCI Writing Project, focuses on how readers and writers construct meaning from and with texts. This approach suggests that teachers provide systematic and explicit guidance in the cognitive strategies that are utilized by effective readers and writers. The authors state that the "aim of the project was to help students develop the academic literacy necessary to succeed in advanced educational settings," (275). Students were placed into two groups, the "Pathway students" who received cognitive strategies interventions and the control group. According to the study "pathway students not only grew more from pre- to post-test, but also wrote better essays on the post-test and received higher scores than their counterparts in the control classes," (289). http://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/sh/ebcc6b46-f96b-4912-adfe-880d00e4c81e/2b3ed2a99dda281a4071c0fc3d20b990

This is quite a small article, but it presents a certain interest as it connects writing with other social practices. I guess this assumption is crucial for teaching because it presupposes writing in the classroom with real-life purposes. The article also mentions interculturality and constant interaction of two languages, which is important when teaching writing to ESL students. The author is concerned about the specifics of effective transfer of literacy skills in bilinguals and heritage speakers. According to Martinez, as a result of traditional teaching, bilingual students tend to write with "conformity to rhetorical traditions in the dominant language" ("backwards literacy"), which creates certain problems with style, thoughts expression, choice of words and sentence patterns (i.e., mechanical transfer of the dominant language features into L2 writing). Therefore, it is necessary to develop "forward literacy", which accepts a non-standard way of writing ("writers carve out their own transcultural paths of expression"). In other words, writing of a bilingual or heritage learner implies constant shifts (transfers) between languages and cultures, and using the multiple resources of both languages in order to create an original pattern. The instructor's task is: (1) to identify multiple literacies (i.e. writing practices) that students possess and / or should possess in their heritage language and their dominant language; (2) to teach the students how to shift without mixing two languages. E.g. in early works of Spanish heritage learners, English norms penetrate Spanish writing: estoy the acuerdo instead of estoy de acuerdo. The shift should concern rhetorical strategies, which reflect cultural and aesthetical values of the two languages worlds, but not grammar or writing vocabulary; (3) teaching writing in the context of multiple social practices and contents While teaching writing, it is important to distinguish between positive transfer of skills already acqu

Wow, i like your article. It state purposely on how to help ESL student to write English better.