Sunday, July 15, 2007

Mozartians, Beethovians, and the Teaching of Writing

Mozartians, Beethovians, and the Teaching of Writing

I love this idea of different methods of writing. I'm afraid that I, too have tried too often to make all my students Mozartians. I have worked very diligently to avoid formulaic writing instruction, but this article gives me several new ideas of ways to help and inspire all kinds of writers. I also very much see the need to silence the critic and let the creator work first.

Skeletons Out of the Closet: The Case of the Missing 162%
By Bob Pressnall
Like these students, mine also need work on revision. I appreciate all of the strategies we are learning and will use skeletons in my classroom this year. It is just one more way to help students teach themselves to write.


Getting Real: Authenticity in Writing Prompts
By Patricia Slagle
I have wanted to provide more authentic writing experience, but wasn't really sure how to go about it. Most AP prompts don't really lend themselves to this, but I think I could find a few persuasive prompts that we could use to work for change. My juniors write a major researched argument paper each year on a social issue that they find compelling. I will work to make that assignment more authentic by having them send their ideas to appropriate governmental or organizational leaders who work with their specific issue.

The Parallel Universes of Theory and Practice: One Teacher's Journey
By Beverly Paesano
This phrase is particularly meaningful to me:
.....writing in this process as “an instrument of investigation and discovery
I want to teach writing this way. I want to make my classroom more of a community of learners than a lecture hall.

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