Week 3

Questions to Reflect on for Week 3 (Chapter 6, 7, 8)

• These chapters describe the CCSS’ focus on writing, a big shift from writing’s near nonexistence in the previous NCLB reforms. Schools have often approached writing instruction in a number of ways;for example, some provide about an hour every day for process writing instruction, others turn narrative writing into “creative writing” that only some students take as an elective. How does our school (or different grade levels in our district) currently approach writing instruction? How do these align with or conflict with what may be necessary for students to meet CCSS expectations?

Students take notes from reading, notes from lessons/lectures, lists, notes from small group discussions, brainstorming, brief descriptions of thought processes and problem-solving approaches, free writing, mapping/webbing/first attempts at organizing, developing questions, journal writing, prompt writing, and more.  These are all casual writing that is not easily assessed and typically don't support the standards. Our students need to make writing a habit by doing it even more often. We do teach students to plan, revise, edit and rewrite, however, our students need a planned, sequential, explicit writing program with explicit feedback.. Students will benefit from explicit instruction, practice, feedback, assessment based instruction and spiral curriculum. Well crafted, structured writing is a challenge for my students. I do see CCSS’s progression in writing steps as a plan to improve my students writing and allow them a tool they can apply to any genre

 

• In what ways will we need to rethink time, curriculum, and professional development?

The key to a smooth transition is purposeful, pragmatic professional development for educators. Districts need to help teachers master the new standards and use them to guide instruction.  These standards require a whole new level of collaboration among grade level teachers. The key to this integrated instruction approach are regular meetings where teachers work together to share their understanding of the content and how to teach it so that students can learn the material.  Where to find the time and the mindshare to effectively make the shift? Unfortunately, our school district did not take this into account. Teachers are excited about the standards but overwhelmed with the planning of new curriculum in every area.  Some teacher teams in my school have asked for professional days to plan an area such as math or language arts. Others are meeting regularly at plan/lunch time to discuss expectations for the following week. Teachers in our district are not impressed with the lack of time given to learn and plan the CCSS.

 

• What does writing across the curriculum look like currently in our school (or district)?

So much has changed in the last 16 years of my teaching with writing across the curriculum.  What has changed and what continues to change is our expectations of high school graduates. Less time has been spent on writing, low writing test scores, teachers have received little instruction in how to teach writing, are a few of the reasons writing is in need of reform. Writing across the curriculum needs to be a strategic integration of carefully designed writing tasks that serve the ends of learning, authentic communication, personal engagement and reflective authorship. Do we do this in our school?   I think most do short in class writing such as exit slips that summarize what the students did in class, reading responses to literature, or self assessment on projects going on in class. Teacher use notebooks in each subject where students explain how they get the answer to concepts and give insight to their understanding of the content taught. Some teachers have free write or journals that students can creatively write in, others have blogs or websites where students update their understanding of a particular area of learning. Having pen pals is a great way to provide an authentic context for communication.

• These chapters look in depth at the three types of writing described in the writing standards. What are your reflections on each type?

Narrative Writing is a starting point for studying Common Core standards. As students get structure with narrative writing, a teacher can use it throughout the curriculum because it is the essential component in almost every kind of writing.

 Persuasive/Opinion writing expectations are high. This will eventually lead to students refuting counterarguments.  To do this, students will need to use sources that they evaluate and analyze to formulate arguments. This is an area of weakness and will need to be addressed using best teaching practices and student assessments. They need repeated practice writing their opinions and then supporting those opinions with reasons.

 Informative writing includes a wide variety of genres. The skill that this type of writing takes includes tools for logical informed thinking. Students need to learn to sort, categorize and elaborate on information. We need to use universal expectations for this genre where teachers can collaborate on expectations.  Students need to understand the structures of this genre in order to support more developed writing.