READING WRITING CONNECTION

The ideas around reading and writing were taught to most of us as separate entities without any real connection between them, this was a philosophy that continued for me until I entered A Level where I was first exposed to the idea that reading and writing were interconnected acts. That we read what others have wrote and that writers write in order so that they may capture the attention of prospective readers. Still then the text wasn’t seen to be as dynamic as it is to be now and I hadn’t yet fully understood the full potential of the reading –writing connection, for I saw writing and reading as solely an effort to respond to each other instead of viewing it as a potential to create new worlds that were as distinct as the original.

The ideas from this center around the ability to create student writers who are actually approaching the craft in the frame of dedicated writers rather disinterested individuals , also that students can employ basic techniques such as journaling, graphic organizers and reading logs that assist in the active cognitive process of being writers . They can also be researchers who critically approach the material through the use of what is commonly termed journalism questions (who, what, when, where, why and how) whilst reading. For instance if reading a story about tourists describing their stay in St Lucia and be critical and question the material, where did they visit , how long did they stay , why do their ideas of what appears to be interesting about our island differ from us , what race are there , what was their reason for coming to St Lucia ? All these questions should percolate the mind of the writer whilst reading in preparation of the writing project. If we are effective it is that we ensure that they are writing with a specific audience in mind, not to mimic what they have seen but to create new, distinct worlds for their readers to explore with satisfaction. Therefore reading and writing are done with a purpose, to rationalize the worlds and situations around them and to act as a sort of scaffolding for each other to help build the students’ progress

The obstacles that lay in this view of reading and writing is that it still remains a more complex ideal of an idea that can be utilized in the schools because it is still a bit abstract for us teachers who have not thought of writing and reading as being such intricate critical cognitive activities . we also like our students have not yet learnt to approach writing as a writer in the vain that we usually view language register word choice and other conventions as more important than will anyone read this , who will buy this and can I get this published, questions that actual writers engage with. The only weapon against this is the introduction of this philosophy to students and teachers at the beginning of their school journey at quite possibly the elementary level through a series of workshops and specially crafted lessons that will erase the many fallacies hat we have of reading and writing.

Planning For Writing is it possible?

As writers in the school system we have always been taught that our exam productions are the more importance pieces of writing so if I ever attempted any prewriting exercise it was during that period that I took the need to become consciously aware of the fact that I should be investing in a prewriting strategy. Now what is pre writing you may query? Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process, typically followed by drafting, revision, editing and publishing. Elements of prewriting may include planning, research, outlining, diagramming, storyboarding or clustering. but to me it is more than just that it is thinking about writing being cognizant of the fact that you are not just undertaking a random task but are actively involved in creating something new and distinct, that is uniquely you.

I used to have poor prewriting skills, I brainstormed mine you but it seemed more like a 100 meter dash than the marathon that it should have been as I always had this eagerness to write and fear that I would never be able to finish on time which had been justified from time to time especially for English centered exams. So I usually ended with pieces that though had wonderful stories and components of a good piece but were continually hampered by poor mechanics because I never took the time to revise or properly structure what I was doing because I felt that I was competing with the clock. That I feel is a problem I feel that is wrong with our English classrooms where students are expected to work against a clock in class and out of class so that their main focus becomes not the craft that they attempting to learn but rather beating the clock.

One of the strategies that I enjoyed reading about as free writing , and I would recommend us as teachers going on practice to take the opportunity at least once to utilize this in the classroom , for I suppose if I had been introduced to this whilst at high school I might have been a more competent writer myself the focus is not on mimicking proper grammar and other conventions of writing but rather getting students into the mood of writing where they can generate a central theme or idea about the topic that there writing on or on the writing craft.

Another quite reasonable and useable idea in our local classroom is that visual representation of our ideas in an organized unit that we term graphic organizers. Theses I believe would allow for the teacher to facilitate the student in becoming better organizers so that there essays and compositions don’t read like the plot of a movie that is trying to convince you of hoe smart they are with all their twists and turns and flashback when all they do is turn something that was enjoyable and simple into caricature of itself. Through the use of pre writing strategies whilst at this institution SALCC I was able to transition from a reader who wrote into a writer who wrote with a purpose in mind, who am I writing for, will these be of interest to them am I writing to shock or inform? Am I writing solely to feed my ego as a writer, do I even recognize the people on the page, am I too attached to the characters that I can’t portray them anyway but positively are all questions that floated through my head . And I believe that if we are effective as teachers who are utilizing these pre writing strategies in our Language classrooms we can have our students trained in that approach where the approach writing as a writer first and as a reader second.it is through the pre-writing stage that we first gain a sense between our reading and writing and there is also the scaffolding necessary for students to critically examine the role as a writer and the text in that they realize it is healthy for self-criticism and diagnosis of their own work.

The purpose of these strategies are not just for fun but to ensure that our students employ them habitual and involuntary actions when they engage in the craft of writing, where background knowledge is activated so they see themselves as not writing in a vaccum as the Self - Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD preaches.Whilst the Cognitive Strategy Instruction (CSI): promotes the development of cognitive skills and processes to foster the learning of writing, it is a strategy that preaches a more independent and self reliant form of learning.

Evaluation of The Faceless Teacher 1999, Dennis Gardner

Based on the six traits of writing ‘The Faceless Teacher’ appears to be a rather fair piece of writing , though almost nearing on information overload the piece did provide stimulating sources of evidence to support his ideas and there was a consistent flow whilst reading .The organization of the piece was well constructed though there was some level of clutter felt because it was such a dense piece examining a serious issue that it was a bit too compact and could have been better organized. Gardner speaks in an almost forceful authoritarian voice that drapes over the entire piece, as if he were literally speaking to you. Alongside his rather impeccable grammar and use of the various language conventions such as punctuation, capitalization etc. he was clear and concise in the words that he chose to use which were quite appropriate for the subject and messages he aimed to convey whilst creating a rather somber mood through the woods making the piece rather good reading.

Writers Purpose in the Expository piece The Faceless Teacher 1999, by Dennis Gardner

The purpose of this piece is to illustrate how pervasive and dangerous the computer has become that it has seeped into our everyday lives as learners and warns that it shouldn’t serve as a replacement for our daily interactions with teachers. He warns of the dangers of setting young students out into a “phantom resource,” where the ideas and content spouted are done by anonymous voices and the students are faced with the choice of sink or swim dependent on the field of information they mine. He focuses on the theme of faceless teacher in that we are unaware of who is presenting the facts that many of us take in dogmatically without taking a critical eye as to their qualifications and intentions behind the information. Whereas with the teacher in the class room there is a ‘face’ behind the words , an expert that he student can validate has the expertise to speak on an issue. Students he illustrates need the warmth and interaction that takes place in the normal classroom , the jousting of natural competition and the medium of transference that is so severely lacking in the interaction with the ‘faceless teacher’.

Rhetorical Modes

Description

Purpose

Descriptive prose is used to express what a thing looks like, smells like or tastes like. In short, it

portrays how we perceive the world through our five senses (Sight, Hearing ,Smell, Touch, and

Taste).

Audience

Reader- to help create a mental picture of what is being written about.

Content

It answers the question ‘what’.

For example: What is it like? What is he/she like?

What does the food taste like?

What did he sound like?

Style

Explicit use of adjectives,

data that appeals to sensory faculties

and descriptive sequence

Voice

Description uses details that appeals to the senses

(sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch).

Organization

The organising principle of description is spatial

as it creates a virtual image in the minds of readers.

Narration

Purpose

It recounts a personal or fictional experience or tells a story. Narration is concerned with actions in a temporal sequence, with life in motion. It seeks to present an event to the reader, a sense of witnessing an action.

Audience

Reader- to recreate an incident for readers rather than to simply tell them about it.

Content

This mode answers the question of what.

For example: what happened?

Style

Apparent use of action or dynamic verbs, dialogue. The point of view if the narrator is usually first or third person narrator. It should include story conventions such as plot, setting, characters, climax and resolution.

Voice

To convey a particular mood (feeling) or to make an incident come alive,

narratives employ the use of the first person or “I” narration

and the third person or he/she/it persona.

Organization

The organization principle of narration is temporal in nature

meaning that its events are sequential.

Exposition

Purpose

This discourse is concerned with making an idea clear, analyzing a situation,

defining a term, giving instructions and the like.

Its primary function is to inform and explain.

Audience

Reader- conveys information to the reader so that a level of understanding can be achieved.

Content

This mode has the types of questions that a piece of expository may answer.

Some of these are: How does it work?

What are the constituent parts? What is its importance?

Style

The distinguishing features and style of exposition incorporates the following functions:

analysis, classification, definition, illustration, cause and effect,

comparison and contrast and analogy

Voice

In exposition, the writing is engaging and reflective of the writer’s

underlying commitment to the topic.

Organization

There is not one single method of organising exposition but rather a variety, with majority being

based on logic: analysis, clarification, definition, illustration, cause and effect, comparison and

contrast and sometimes analogy. The method chosen dictates the organization of the piece as

each method has its own distinguishing characteristics.

Argument

Purpose

An argument is an attempt to convince or persuade an audience that a claim

is true by means of appeals to reason or to emotion

Audience

Reader- It moves the readers to take an action or to form or change an opinion.

Content

Answers the question why is this so?

Style

For the presentation of evidence, arguments use facts, authoritative opinion,

and personal experience for its development whilst the rebuttal

or refuting side uses persuasion in the form of repetition,

rhetorical questions and emotional appeals.

Voice

The voice of argument has a strong and definite position on an

issue from the beginning of the piece and has enthusiasm from start to finish.

Organization

Argument is organized by way of formal elements and logic.

The formal elements include at least two claims, the first of which being the conclusion

and the other, the remaining claim or claims that are the grounds

which support or justify the conclusion

Experiences as a product and process writer

There are two distinct approaches to writing that are diametrically opposed to each other, product and process writing, that have become staples in the English classroom and continue to provide debate as to which approach is more appropriate for use in teaching writing.

Considered a by-product of the Behaviorist model of teaching, product writing involves the attempt by students to mimic an 'expert piece' of writing and reproduce it as closely as humanly possible in style and structure. However, its natural rival process writing, which follows a more constructivist model, focuses more on the cognitive processes of getting to the product by using strategies such as Drafting, Revising, Brainstorming and Editing.

As a student at Soufriere Comprehensive, I was rooted more in the traditional product approach to writing that preached an immediate output and focused on the style and structure of the piece of writing rather than anything substantive in it. I had no problems with it at the time because I always felt the need to rush headlong into writing, with my brainstorming being fast and spontaneous as I was rather eager to get into the task. I was not that an efficient planner nor did I ever hold much stock in planning an essay as I was convinced that doing so would impair my abilities to complete tasks. I was a slow-paced writer, not a struggling writer mind you, who was always distracted whilst writing and could never stay on a writing task for a prolonged period even during exams so I always felt this rush to complete instead of taking the time to be cognizant of the cognitive processes. However even whilst being enamored with the product method/approach to writing I was always aware of the fact that I had some structural deficiencies in my writing due to my lack of planning and drafting but felt that there was no real reason to panic or change my philosophy on life. In addition, I felt that this particular mode of writing was something that was innate in me and could not be ‘fixed’, not that I saw it, as something that I needed to fix, I also gained a slight false concept of how effective my writing was because I maintained rather good grades in English despite my inadequacies.

My transition to A-Level @ Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School Campus B was a rather difficult one as it attempted to jolt me from my complacent attitude about writing and gave me my first exposure to the much vaunted and accepted process approach to writing that I still experience difficulties with on occasion. I was always urged to plan and use that plan to implement my essays, to be cognitive in my thinking, always draft, and revisit my work at varying stages of writing to ensure a superior product. My sometimes ADD wondering of the mind whilst writing still continued so despite the best efforts of my Literature lecturer and some concerned friends I had to abandon planning and on some levels drafting as part of my modus operandi because it continually meant missed deadlines ,pleas for extensions or the inevitable unfinished exams. My struggles continued but with much more nuanced and student friendly practice available I was able to bring most of my inadequacies as a writer under control and write

effectively enough to survive both my GP and English Literature exams with good grades. This pushed my thinking again into believing that I could past my deficiencies as a writer when I needed to the most and that it would be smooth sailing from then on. However, it did not escape me that during my periods of self-reflection that my supposed philosophy and my writing patterns did not fuse together properly. During moments of creative writing, that was not school related, moments of extreme frustration were rather prevalent, as my vivid imagination could not stand the intense drive for perfection that seemed to permeate each attempt without allowing it the chance to breathe. This is probably why I do not write anymore!

Landing here at Teacher Education has brought me face to face with the realization that the product approach to writing is not an effective manner of writing. I would not go quietly as I fought every outline, summary, draft , revision and editing of my work that I could either quietly or vocally to those around me. I finally came through when I saw that it worked it allowed for more cognitive thinking, more idea sharing, it created a wonderful social environment and off course better pieces of work with fewer errors. I must call process writing a fundamental innovation, much needed for teachers. Thank you!!!!!!

Views and Attitudes on the NCTE principles on Writing

The foremost recognized body of English teachers the NCTE , born out of the frustration over the highly impractical levels that colleges placed on college entrance exams and its devastating effect on the standard of English in schools. Dedicated to the development and improvement of the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education, the NCTE has certain principles about writing that it adheres to and these will be examined in this blog post.

One of the preeminent principles advocated by the NCTE is the belief that every one has the capacity to write an idea that I supported albeit for the wrong reasons. I once believed that the ability to write was as innate a skill to the human being as speaking was and therefore expected my students to be not gifted writers but at least adequate writers by the time I came across them in Form 3.So as an untrained teacher I had extreme difficulties in understanding how much of a struggle it was for them to manifest good writing wen my fellow teachers had instilled in them some flawed techniques and ides about what writing was and should be!

Two other principles that were addressed in my reading was that to develop good writers much practice is needed and also that writing was a cognitive process. These ideas created some level of confusion for me as I reflected on past experiences as both a student and a teacher.Most of my colleagues would agree that we were bred into the school of product writing and not the much refined and suitable option of process writing.Through years of school and in my practice as a teacher it was expected of students to jump from the Brainstorming stage straight into the immediate production of work , skipping stages such as planning, drafting , editing and revising. Writing was never seen as something to be shared for an audience rather it was seen as 'work' to be corrected by the teacher without any effort to illustrate that it is a cognitive rationalization of their thoughts and experiences , which was a skill that off course needed to be taught with much precision and care.Writing back then was viewed as a promotion of quantity over quality with the negative effects of that affecting several generations of writers up till today despite the attempts to remedy the problem.

It is my hope that upon my return into the school system that I can be a vehicle for change and becoming a more effective and critical teacher of writing than I have been in times past.It must be imperative that we shape and fashion a whole new generation of writers that think and understand what writing is and that it is a never ending transaction between them and their readers.I also want to create the idea that writing is not only for completing tasks or assignments but is a lifelong tool that is needed in everyday situations.

Nothing is more important from learning this course but using it to change the ideas and attitudes amongst our fellow teachers and making the NCTE beliefs about writing the key component of the writing class ,it will be an undoubtedly difficult transition with much reluctance from all quarters but is a necessary measure if we are to affect change. If by speaking alone we are not able to convince them of the need to transition then perhaps we must illustrate through practical means and conduct a side by side study in order to ascertain which is more effective the new methods or the traditional views.

The fourth and final principle I would like to address in this blog is their promotion of the reading - writing connection.I used to believe that the child's understanding of a text was not directly attached to his being able to write about it,as with speaking sometimes you understood a concept but couldn't articulate it for anyone to comprehend.However my experiences as an A level student and as a teacher illustrate to me that writing is the only process that allows the teacher to assess whether the student has gained some level of understanding regarding the concepts taught.Broadening that view to encompass not only the English teachers but every other teacher into becoming a reading writing connector would assist greatly and facilitate better students and therefore better individuals.

My fellow colleagues the choice is yours to seize the wealth of information that the NCTE advocates and move into the business of developing well rounded ,efficient writers for today and the coming future.!