Editing Tips and Spelling Mistakes

As I was searching for a good video on why writing mistakes are a good part of learning and to how to become a better writer, I was surprised to find nothing. I did however find this video, which explains five important points to pay attention to when you edit your paper. The first suggestion she makes is that when you edit your paper you should really pay attention to the spelling, regardless of what spell check might say, for you never know what spell check might miss. Also, look at your punctuation, capital letters, and really check your sentence structure and word usage. While she provides some important tips that are good for adult writers to pay attention too, it had me question what young students should be thinking about and questioning as they are learning to write. Should teachers strive to emphasize these tips in the classroom? What do you think? In our new book “Teaching Grammar in Context,” Weaver talks about how errors are a way for a writer to grow. And when teachers read students' papers, they should not go on an error hunt but instead try to understand what the child is writing about. Do you agree or disagree with this?

Technology Good or Bad?

Technology is affecting the way people think and behave in both positive and negative ways. Technology elicits a different type of interaction with written and oral language. This video brought up interesting facts about how technology has affected what and how people today read and write. For example the newspaper has always been a great source of information and was an everyday read for many, but with technology on the rise “newspaper circulation is down 7 million over the last 25 years.” Watching television is now more common. Cell phones are great for communication and helpful in many situations, but text messaging has taken away the formal letter writing, calling, and use of grammar and punctuation in writing. Over 2,272 text messages are sent by the average American in a month. Sixty-four percent of teens admit that the shortcuts and symbols commonly used in text messaging have appeared in their school assignments. Microsoft Word, Open Office, and many other common computer programs have spell check. Typing something on the computer becomes much easier for children, teens, and adults because everything from word usage to spelling is simply corrected for you. Technology has allowed information to be viewed simply by the click of a bottom. It takes a year to publish one million books and only an hour to digitally scan one thousand pages. Do you think it matters if a child is reading from computer screen or book? How about typing verse handwriting? What is your opinion on how technology is affecting the literacy skills of children? Should teachers be encouraging writing through the use of blogs, reading games, typing as a form of writing, etc.?

Choosing An Inspiring Author

Jennifer Montoya, a fourth grade teacher at Aguilar Elementary School created her own creative writing unit after noticing for years that students took no interest in writing because they had no motivation or inspiration. She states that her personal inspiration for creating this writing unit was derived from the award winning children's author Chris Van Allsburg. Chris Van Allsburg is most successfully noted for his two award winning books Jumanji and The Polar Express, which he both illustrated and wrote. Ms. Montoya's inspired creative writing unit demonstrates one of Routman's major overall points about teaching writing. It is essential to genuinely learn to love writing and demonstrate that towards students, so they can become enthusiastic about it as well. A wonderful way to begin to appreciate good writing is by relying on the reading/writing connection and simply reading books. Having an author that inspires them can assist teachers in become more enthusiastic about writing and cause them to gain a special appreciation for it. Ms. Montoya is obviously very passionate about Chris Van Allsburg's writing style and she brings that to her classroom by channeling the unique creative aspects of his stories into her lesson plans. This same principle can apply to students as well. Not only can having a favorite author make students want to read more, but it also effects different aspects of their writing. I remember some of my favorite authors as a child included Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, and Eric Carle because their writing styles and storytelling always engaged me. Students are more likely to become inspired to write when they see the value behind a particular author’s writing to create engaging stories that have true meaning within them. My final concluding discussion question are this: Do you think that all teachers should find an author that inspires them? How can having a favorite author be beneficial to students in learning to write? Who were your favorite childhood (K-12) authors and how do you think they have influenced your writing style to make it what it is today?

Making Every Minute Count

I have included a video on Erin Gruwell, the one who founded Freedom Writers Foundation, explaining a book that Freedom Writer Teachers have written. The Freedom Writer Teachers are many teachers who use the book called “The Freedom Writers Diary” in their classroom. Erin goes on to say how teaching is a very difficult and challenging profession. This relates to what Routman meant by teachers constantly asking the question of whether or not they are making the best use of the children’s time. In other words, they want to make sure that every minute counts. Routman goes on to offer advice in making a teachers job less stressful. I feel this video shows us that even though there will be many challenges in teaching, but that there will also be rewards. A reward could be the “a-ha” moment a child experiences and therefore validates your profession. Something to think about would be what are some of your ideas on how to make sure you as a teacher are making every minute count. Lastly, what is some advice you would give to teachers that are struggling with the workload that comes with their profession?

Research or you will be sucked into wasteful writing programs!

Routman tells us to be cautious about choosing writing programs to introduce in the classroom. I chose this video because this writing program called Excellence in Writing expressed online to be an effective writing program to boast students’ skills. As the program is introduced, the set comes with 9 DVDs and the first 6 are for the teacher, the rest are for the students to watch. This is TIME consuming. Why would teachers want to make their lives more complicated by wasting time watching videos instead of observing other teachers practices or talking amongst their colleagues to share ideas? This maybe a good program but it requires more out of the teacher. Routman illustrates a model that does not require hours of preparation and students watching videos. The optimal learning model is more engaging and the students will develop all the skills this writing program is trying to separate into different lessons. Are students really learning watching a video on how to write? How is that going to improve their writing? Why do you think teachers gravitate towards these writing programs without seeking their immediate resources first? If you were a teacher would you buy this program?