Chapter 10~ Best Practices in Promoting Motivation for Writing January 24, 2009

Motivation is is the set of reasons that determines one to engage in a particular behavior.  Writing is the representation of  language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols.  So how do we connect the two?

How do we get students to feel able to engage in a task such as writing?   This is a question I have been asking myself for several years now when teaching writing and reading.  Like the author said learning tasks that are percieved by the students as relevant to personal objectives seem to get them motivated better.  How do we as teachers tune into our students to motivate them.  Chapter 10 says, “lack of motivation to write can also be conceptualized in terms of attitudes and beliefs that develop through school years as the result of repeated writing experiences” This is true! Children in kindergarten and 1st grade are excited to write and draw and make connections.  However as they go through their school career writing becomes unattractive due to writing assignments or critical teachers.  Chapter 10 says that with their beliefs about writing students also develop self-perception.  Students who are motivated are willing to use their writings as a way to express themselves for their own self.  Children who are truly motivated to write understand that writing is important whether they enjoy what they are writing about.  I believe that motivating students to write and read go hand and hand.  Teachers should model, model, model for their students and provide lots of examples.  This year I have felt my children were truly not motivated to write about anything and were not engaged during our writing block.  However, after reading and being motivated myself about writing,  I have begun to share this with my students.  Students are truly motivated to write, share or commuicate when they can share something that is dear to them -something they connect with. 

Having an interest or an emotional connection to something does not nessarily mean that you will enjoy writing about it.  Expressing your interest and the reasons for your interest may be rather hard to do through writing.  However, it can be a beginning point for our students.  Just like we created our authority lists.  We can take these lists and maybe not explain why we like a certain object, book, hobby but we can describe it.  this is writing.  this is a beginning a place to start for some of our students. 

Communication can be done in so may ways today. The Web allows us to interact with so many people and connect in so many ways.  As educators we need to engage our learners not just in communicating through written form but through working collaboratively with others.  Children truly need to be exposed to and how to work in groups to discuss and analyze topics, assist one another and determine outcomes.  They need to be “allowed” to communicate through email, blogging, communication boards, etc.  These things are the new form of communication much quicker, easier.  These different ways of communication will motivate our learners in new ways and provoke new interests.  Blogging has done that for me.  It is a new way of communication.  It is a new way to see people’s perspectives and to share my own. 

I do strive to make my writing lessons worthwhile and meaningful.  I want my students to be engaged in writing.  Writing can be integrated through many areas.  I often assign my children tasks of which they have to work collabortively.  Each person in the group has a role or a task.  One child writes, another draws, another reports to the class and another leads.  It is neat to see the students communicate with each other and share ideas about their assignment.  They learn so much from one another.  I feel that when children work with others whether, pairs or in groups they learn so much from one another.  I often like to ask children to take their writings and stand up, put their hand up and pair up with someone in the class and share their writing.

In Graves article he says children should write from their own experiences and to express themselves.  Graves says that we as teachers must show our children that we too have authentic voices, motivation and that we too are learners and to embrace writing unafraid.  Graves says that children write about what they are interested in or what they want to know.  Chapter 10 says that your interests don’t always make an interesting writing topic.  It says that we as teachers must motivate our students to write.  I agree with both of these articles.  I believe that children will write if we let them and allow them to express themselves.  I also feel that when they see our excitement and motivation they will be motivated themselves.

Writers Notebooks Ch.1 and Response to article by Ralph FLetcher January 21, 2009

After reading Notebook Know How, I had an “ah ha” moment when she said that she was doing more work than her students were. The goal is to get the students interested and make them work, not creating more work for the teacher. Last week I was so inspired from class that I asked my first graders to make a list of things that they liked(kinda like the heart map). I told them to decorate their lists and then I stapled them into their writing folders. I explained to them that they can look back on their lists and always have a topic to write about.
I remember as a child writing in a journal during writing class or for morning work and I hated it! There was always a topic on the board and everyone always seemed to be able to get started right away ~all except me. I remember looking around the room for what seemed days wishing something would enter my brain. BUt I never had as much as what everyone else had. As a matter of fact this very thing caused me to not like writing. I never will forget my 7th grade teacher who put my writing sample up on the overhead and edited it before the class. I was mortified! I didn’t listen to anything that teacher was trying to say except does everyone know that is my paper with all those mistakes? I really hated writing and my self-esteem was in the dump. THen I entered 8th grade and my teacher helped me find my passion for writing. I can’t remember all the details of the way that she taught but she inspired me through literature. I remember her putting one of my writing samples up on the bulletin board and sharing it with the class. I was so proud and so encouraged. She allowed me to write about my own personal experience of white water rafting ~something I really enjoyed. I also had another professor in college who really encouraged me to write and to write about my passions. These two teachers did just that ~ they allowed their students to write using their background knowledge (their own experiences)

Throughout middle school, high school, college and occasionally now I keep a daily journal. SOmetimes I reflect on my day, hurts or feelings I may have. Sometimes I use this journal as a prayer log and write prayers about my life and others. I have kept most of the journals and it is very interesting to look back at them and laugh or cry. It is amazing when you write about your own experiences from the heart. I completely agree with both Mr. Fletcher and Ammiee Buckner. I want to create this enviornment in my classroom just like Mrs. Ball did for me in the 8th grade and like the professor did at LR.

Chapter 1: Writing Instruction in Effective and Engaging Elementary Settings January 18, 2009

After reading chapter 1 from the book Best Practices in Writing Instruction I feel that I am often the ineffective teacher during writing.  I often struggle with what or how to teach my kids to write.  I have been told to use this program or not use this or use all three of these at the same time.  I believe like the book said, “there is no packaged writing program that any teacher can introduce to his or her class by following scripted lessons.”  There is so much that I want to learn about teaching writing.  I have learned through Lucy Caulkins that when you allow your students to write about their own experiences they produce so much more.  How can you ask students to write about a certain topic or prompt if they truly do not understand the meaning.  An example of this would be a recent writing assessment that I was asked to administer to my students, ” Write about what you do in winter.” Some of my ESL students may not understand what winter is or they may confuse it with summer or spring because they are still learning the language.  I like the author of this chapter believe that students writing should be a process in which they complete drafts, revise, edit and then publish.  I believe that students should be able to look around the room and see examples of their work either in published books or on the walls.  I know that I have so much to learn about how to excite and teach my children to learn to write and I look forward to reading more about it in this book.  I believe that when writing instruction is truly effective students are engaged and never bored.  They take pride in their work samples and are excited to share.