Our goals are to connect grads and current students, share ideas and advice, and be inspired. #ElonEd chat brings together experienced teachers and novice teachers to discuss best practices. We see our chat as a way to mentor future teachers who are students at Elon, and anyone who wants to join us in that effort is welcome.
Welcome to the #ElonEd chat! Our goals are to connect grads, current students, fac/staff, and other educators, to share ideas and advice, and to be inspired.
The #ElonEd moderators this evening are @profpatch, @jzinchuk, and @courtintheclass. We are looking forward to the conversation! Our topic is Supporting Student Writers.
I'm Paula Patch, Senior Lecturer in English and Coordinator of College Writing, the first-year writing program @elonuniversity. I'm one of your three moderators this evening. #ElonEd
Jeff Carpenter, teacher educator, former high school English teacher, trying to also get kids bathed and in bed 🛏 so apologies for inconsistent participation #eloned
A1 have them write about something they care about. I find that students write the best or have more detail when writing about something they created #eloned
A1: Supportive emotionally and academically. Writing can get personal quickly. The class has to be able to learn together and be a safe space for difficult conversation. Students have to be honest, but kind. #eloned
A1: A compilation of facts can help students in the writing journies, including playing into students interests and strengths, relating writing to the "real world," creating a culture of error where it's okay to mess up and revise, etc. #eloned
A1 having access to a variety of books, reading for pleasure, being read to, being able to choose their own reading, no book reports, journaling #ElonEd
I was terribly afraid of showing my parents my writing until recently! I think starting positive feedback loops at a young age helps negate this anxiety. #ElonEd
In reply to
@MsConesTweets, @jeffpcarpenter, @profpatch, @Seesaw
Have them build paper minecraft scenes and write about an adventure. Even have them make characters that can travel through what they have built #ElonEd
Q2: People are motivated to write--and to write well--when they know that writing has a real purpose and real audience. What are some ways we can create writing opportunities that do real work in the community and world? #ElonEd
In addition to good books, students need to learn that good writers think like readers; the audience always influences tone and content. Good writers are good readers and vice versa. #ElonEd
YESSSS! Love the scene idea. Right now he's loving the primary rule notebooks so he can draw a scene and, for now, narrate it so I write it down. Slowly he's learning to do the writing himself #ElonEd
In reply to
@nathan_stevens, @MsConesTweets, @profpatch
A2: Practice a mini TED Talk at your school for research, have the journalism class accepts submissions for a literary magazine and newsletter, perform poetry and other creative pieces, and try podcasting! The possibilities are endless! #ElonEd
Q2: People are motivated to write--and to write well--when they know that writing has a real purpose and real audience. What are some ways we can create writing opportunities that do real work in the community and world? #ElonEd
A2 tools like @KidblogDotOrg and @Seesaw provide opportunities to connect locally and globally, @nightzookeeper is an awesome tool for writers to keep on writing and receiving appropriate feedback #ElonEd
A2: I believe it begins with finding a cause or experience that students are interested in. Just got back from DC with 5th graders who now want to write letters to congressman about the statues that represent our state in the Capital Building. #ElonEd
A2: By the time they get to us in the first year of college, students are highly motivated by grades. But we know that writing that has a real purpose can be motivating, too. Are there some types of writing that get students beyond thinking about the grade? #ElonEd
Also, recognize that writing happens in every discipline. Cooperate with science and history teachers throughout the writing process. Writing instruction does not belong only to English teachers! #eloned
A2 have them write on @instructables that share with the world. Or create a google site. We must have students create pieces outside of an LMS to share when applying for college or career #eloned
As @msabigailpeel mentioned, my 10th grade ELA teacher had us write TED talks that we shared with the class, We also had to write a letter to someone we knew to convince them of something using the tools of rhetoric #eloned
I've found this effective with first-year college students as well - they often haven't become civically-engaged yet, but as new voters they need to! #ElonEd
A2. Engage students in work that matters to them. Ask them to discuss and read and write about topics of relevance in *their* real world, not just *the* real world. Spoken word goes a long way toward uncovering some of those topics well. So do YPAR projects. #ElonEd
Having some flexibility to give students opportunities to write in response to current events is important, right? Saving space in the curriculum for writing that arises in the moment is critical #ElonEd
Q3: How do you provide feedback to student writers in a constructive manner? In other words, how can you talk to students in a way that feeds forward? #ElonEd
K-2 teachers do a fantastic job of this because there are no grades! When we reach 3rd, writing vanishes for the most part because of the grade stigma. I am with you, how do we change that from such an early age? #ElonEd
I can agree with this but struggle with losing all paper/pencil written responses because our students lose basic skills needed after they leave us! #ElonEd
I have my students submit rubrics for their projects--their individual projects, not a whole-class project. It gives them some control and allows me to be objective. And the grades aren't much different from when I'm solely in charge of the rubric. #ElonEd
A3: Mini conferences throughout the writing process saves on the red ink and makes the writing process more personal (and easier to differentiate). Once you model a session, have students conduct workshops with the same demeanor and focus on growth. #ElonEd
There's a great section in this open access textbook, Bad Ideas about Writing, that explains why formative teacher and peer feedback is better than summative feedback with a grade. https://t.co/4tDOrxKqtX#ElonEd
Belated intro... Kim Pyne, Elon teacher educator & Elon Academy staffer. Ducking in and out of a RL gathering to participate a bit. Great topic! #ElonEd
A3: Another way to think about this: what type of feedback do you use to support students writers’ ongoing development AND keep them motivated? #ElonEd
A#: A strategy that I have seen educators use effectively is teaching Ss to peer-edit. This helps Ss see that writing is a process, learn how to evaluate what they are writing, notice areas of strength or places that need improvement, and teaches them valuable skills. #eloned
I'm moving away from the (red) pen entirely & using conferences. Makes it more of a conversation/negotiation of understanding, rather than having me as an arbitrator of correctness #ElonEd
Good point that peer editing/reviewing has to be taught--it's not natural for most students. A workshop on how to be a good peer reviewer is essential. Checklists and worksheets help, too. #ElonEd
I totally agree! I think talking through ideas needs to be part of this peer editing process. In high school we just gave written feedback anonymously and kids would rip each other apart #ElonEd
Having some flexibility to give students opportunities to write in response to current events is important, right? Saving space in the curriculum for writing that arises in the moment is critical #ElonEd
A3 (cont.): You will often hear from students “I am a bad writer.” Always respond with growth in mind. Ex: “You are not a bad writer. You are a baby (or inexperienced) writer. We have to walk before we can run.” #ElonEd
And this is partly because you were competing for good grades on the same assignment. Going way back to Q1, giving students some choice in topic and/or genre keeps the competition at bay and peers can read as readers, not as competitors. #ElonEd
This is goes to show that everything that we do is reliant on classroom environment. As a teacher, if you make cruelty unacceptable, it will only happen occasionally. When cruelty does happen, you will be able to squash it quickly so that all Ss learn. #ElonEd
A4: I always start my courses with a background survey asking questions about where they've lived, languages they use, perceived strengths and weaknesses in writing, and what they love/hate to do. The answers always surprise me in some way #ElonEd
Good point that peer editing/reviewing has to be taught--it's not natural for most students. A workshop on how to be a good peer reviewer is essential. Checklists and worksheets help, too. #ElonEd
Yes so many teachers are scared of this. Really intrigued to see answers here as to how I can help my teachers better facilitate writing in their classrooms! #ElonEd
I agree. Guiding students through peer revisions is important. One teacher gave Ss pens and highlighters. Told Ss: "highlight your partner's thesis and topic sentences, circle evidence, underline analysis..." It helped Ss learn to see exactly what they could improve upon #eloned
And one other thing on peer review: Start by teaching writers to ask for the help they need on the draft. This helps them maintain agency during peer review and practice asking for help from teachers and writing center consultants. #ElonEd
A4. Because writing instruction is so all over the place you typically will have students with very different strengths and areas for improvement #eloned
A5: I have to model a lot of perseverance with my kinders when it comes to writing. It can be a frustrating process and I don't want that to be the reason they stop. I get "frustrated" and we talk through it, come up with solutions, and move forward #ElonEd
Very true. It helps to give them opportunities to tell you about themselves and their writing experiences. Short surveys (Google Forms are great!), quick one-on-one conferences work well for this. #ElonEd
And the inviting language: Ren suggested..., Ren resolved...
Seems silly, but the language matters.
Also mimics the way more experienced writers collaborate on writing.
#ElonEd
A5: We, as teachers, need to keep our writing visible. Present your poetry, keep a collection of your writing (even your particularly bad pieces to show growth) available to students, and write with them. Model passion for writing in your classroom! #ElonEd
I've been writing with my students this semester--doing the same process activities. I display my actions on the screen while they write on theirs. Not only do they see me writing, I get a feel for how hard it is! #ElonEd
A5: Before starting a unit where we look at a new type of writing, Ss can read something they have written (especially if they have more than one draft of it). We can also work through our writing with students, giving examples of sentences and asking Ss for revisions #eloned
A6: Language diversity is a normal part of life for most people. Jamila Lyiscott (@BlackRelevance) asks us to consider language difference & authenticity https://t.co/VOnODLTjOv
I always go back to @NCTE_CCCC statement on Students' Right to Their Own Language, created in 1974(!) and reaffirmed several times since. There's a handy bibliography included with the statement at this link: https://t.co/iSUsUGDRRi
I always go back to @NCTE_CCCC statement on Students' Right to Their Own Language, created in 1974(!) and reaffirmed several times since. There's a handy bibliography included with the statement at this link: https://t.co/iSUsUGDRRi
A6: Lemme try this again (#ElonEd) - Language diversity is a normal part of life for most people. Jamila Lyiscott (@BlackRelevance) asks us to consider language difference & authenticity https://t.co/VOnODLTjOv
A6: Make students aware of how their grammar changes with situation. Explain how context and audience affect grammar. Provide a variety of writing spaces: letters, academic essays, poetry, etc. Don’t demean, but teach academic skills/context while validating identity! #ElonEd
I kept my writing notebook out to model that I’m working on the same projects and to allow students to look through it, see my planning, my changes, my process. It was also helpful for support teachers to see it and get a quick idea of what we were working on. #ElonEd
Q7: So, how about another way of thinking about language? Because of social media, people are writing more than ever. True or False: Writing for social media is making students better writers. #ElonEd
A6: Allow students to practice writing in multiple langs. "At bats," a @TeachLikeAChamp strat, explains if you want Ss to improve a skill, they need opps to practice. We may not be able to give ample feedback, but just writing will help Ss improve, regardless of the lang.#eloned
Teachers need to be slightly less obsessed with what is “proper” and allow room for writing that is effective even if it may have a few technical issues #eloned
Teachers need to be slightly less obsessed with what is “proper” and allow room for writing that is effective even if it may have a few technical issues #eloned
The more I'm learning about writing across contexts, writing has ALWAYS been casual! Often, the goal is simply communication and building relationships #eloned
A7: Social media is a genre unto itself. I don’t write a tweet the same way I write a paper. Social media gives students practice with writing, but only in the social media context. Students have to learn multiple ways of writing. Practice is awesome, but so is variety. #ElonEd
Q8: Students report that they enjoy writing until about middle school. What happens in middle and high school and college that makes students enjoy writing less? How can we prevent that from happening? #ElonEd
A7: While writing for social media may present a decrease in grammar and what is "proper," I think Ss are becoing stronger communicators, which in my opinion, is more important #eloned
I thinks so, too. And writing that happens more quickly than formal writing. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Getting ideas out there while they are fresh and your attention is on them is important #ElonEd
