This article, by Mary B. Nicolini, represents what we're trying to do through this blog: use writing to learn rather than to show learning. Even though it focused on a specific high school, "Making Writing Visible" emphasized some of tenets that define our approach in tutoring:
1. "Writers need to get it down before they worry about getting it right." That's why fluency comes first for our lab-based students. I know some of these students have been initially frustrated that we haven't emphasized grammar and punctuation in that first week or two of the semester. But discovering what one has to say must take priority. Also, one of our former tutors pointed out that once she found her writer's "voice," she became a lot more invested in taking care of mechanical issues.
2. John Mayher was cited in Nicolini's article: "Teaching writing as a process can either lead to anti-writing in its commonsense domesticated version where the attention still remains focused on producing 'essays,' or it can lead into thickets of discovery." I like this distinction, and I suspect these "thickets of discovery" can and do occur during our tutoring sessions.
3. "Students learn to write by writing." To a certain extent, we need to get out of their way so they can charge into those aforementioned "thickets of discovery" without us as barriers. Of course, it can be a struggle to find that fine line between offering needed guidance and giving student writers the room they need.
What ideas did you take from the article? What fresh insights--or important reminders--did you glean from it?
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I loved the third quote that you used from the article. I think so many people show up and expect something to just click so that they're writing beautiful prose. If you've never practiced something, you're not going to just magically have the ability to do it. I think that our lab based students are great examples of this. It's great to watch them improve over the course of the semester just by sheer practice and getting feedback.
ReplyDeleteWith the first quote, I often think that the hardest part of writing is the blank page. If I can get a paragraph down, it makes it so much easier to write the paper, but if I worry too much about getting right the first time than I find it nearly impossible to write the paper.
The quote, "(T)eachers do not teach writing. Students learn to write by writing." really stuck out to me. I agree with Francis, sometimes it's hard to get out of the way, and let the student write. For me at least, it is often hard to watch the tutee struggle, but that is where learning happens.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the way that the writing center in the article was described. I hope that one day we will have enough room to have more of those same resources for our writing center. =]
I agree with Cassie, the quote "In fact, teachers do not teach writing. Students learn to write by writing" stuck out for me as well. I really need to work on getting that right when working. I need to let the students do most of the work while I guide them through the thinking process.
ReplyDeleteI liked reading the part where Harvey Hurst said "Every time I use it I hear students who never talk in class." If using these "on-line, real-time synchronous chatrooms" really gets every student participating, then I think that is great. I would have never considered that as an effective way to teach, I actually would have thought the opposite. I guess students have become so technology based that it makes sense that they would enjoy this type of learning.
What I liked most about this article is what the author said in the fourth paragraph: "He [the principal] did not want to make writing the center of the curriculum; he wanted to make thinking the center." Critical thinking skills are the single most important thing one must gain from college because the ability to think critically is the most important life-skill one can have.
ReplyDeleteI think that thinking and writing are mutually necessary processes--learning how to think makes one a better writer and learning how to write makes one a better thinker. This is why I love English (my major...) so much, through reading and writing, one learns how to think and reason and communicate with others.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my colleagues :*)
ReplyDeleteJohn, you are absolutely right on: "...thinking and writing are mutually necessary processes for growth of our students." Research has found speaking and writing to be equally important.
In other words, reading and listening are essentially inclusive to the equation, as are writing and speaking. Without these two exercises of thought, we would not experience the titillating thrill of hearing our own thoughts whether written or spoken.
Regarding technology, I just keep going forward with the times and look forward to be considered as an integral part of on-line tutoring. It certainly can have its pluses and evenutally, who knows, we may have a tutoring chat line for the students.
Lynette-Lean Cuisine