Week+3

__**Week 3**__ Our class focused on two different aspects of teaching writing. First, drawing upon Chapters 1&2 of Roorbach, we examined Roorbach's approach to writing, specifically memoir writing. Second, we examined the qualities of effective/useful feedback on student writing grounding our discussion in the articles by Sommers and Elbow. Here is a summary of what we discussed:

__**Part 1 -- Roorbach**__ The class had the opportunity to try out one of Roorbach's exercises in the first 15 minutes of class. We then came back as a group and talked about what it was like completing this type of writing and how we thought our students would react to completing a similar exercise. //As teachers, how can we create these moments of writing for writing's sake? How can we encourage our students to practice writing and not just write for an assignment and/or grade?//
 * Several students mentioned that before completing the time line exercise, they thought it would be hard to remember specific events from their life, but while completing the exercise, they realized how the exercise itself helped them to remember these events.
 * Most students found the exercise they chose to complete easy to start and saw how the exercise itself helped them to be a more careful and detailed observer and writer. Building upon Week 2's discussion of authentic writing assignments, a student mentioned how giving a student a choice of an exercise as well as the nature of the exercise itself made the writing and task more authentic. Another student echoed this point and said that it became writing for writing's sake and provided an opportunity to practice writing.
 * When thinking about our own students, the class consensus was that Roorbach's exercises could be used in the classroom for several purposes: 1) as a prewriting technique to help students discover what they want to write about for a larger assignment; 2) as an enjoyable writing moment where students are free to explore; and 3) as a moment to build self-confidence begin to see themselves as writers.

We then shifted our discussion slightly to talk about our general reactions to the first two chapters of Roorbach and any comments on what we learned about Roorbach's approach to memoir, genre, and his writing philosophy. //How do you create a classroom environment where students feel safe, comfortable, and valued enough that they are willing to experiment with their writing and try out new approaches to writing? If we as readers placed our trust in Roorbach, could excerpts from Roorbach in addition to his exercises be brought into the classroom to help students trust his approach?// //How do you right the wrongs that// //have already been done? Meaning, how can a teacher encourage students to take a different approach to writing than what students have encountered throughout their entire school careers? How can we motivate our students to want to write? How can we create a safe and comfortable writing atmosphere where students feel comfortable sharing their writing? How can we show students that they have something important to say and that their life and experiences are interesting?//
 * One student commented on how she enjoyed the writing style of Roorbach and his use of dashes, ellipses, humor, etc.
 * Another student mentioned specific exercises that seemed beneficial to writers (and students): "The Generic Disclaimer" and "First Lines"
 * An important question came up about trust. One student mentioned that she found herself trusting Roorbach and being willing to complete his exercises and try out his approach to writing. This same student wondered, however, whether our students would be willing to trust their teachers.
 * A practical concern came up during discussion about how to motivate the reluctant writer, the student who stares at the blank page and refuses to write. Our discussion revealed that the reluctant writer could be of varying levels of ability and that there could be many reasons for this reluctance to write that may not be apparent on the surface. We brainstormed the following suggestions for helping these reluctant writers: 1)prewriting techniques; 2) implementing Roorbach's exercises or creating your own similar exercises; 3) talking to the student/getting to know the student to determine the cause of the reluctance to write; and 4) creating an environment of safety.

__**Part 2 -- Feedback on Student Writing**__ During this class session, we attempted to tackle the trickiness of giving feedback on student writing. Using the suggestions of Sommers and Elbow as a guideline, we had 10 minutes to respond to a sample student writing piece entitled "Tribute." We then met in small groups to compare our feedback to the feedback of our classmates as well as a composition scholar's feedback on the same student writing sample. We then talked about strategies for giving effective feedback. //Assuming that as teachers it is not our intention to offend or hurt our students, how can we know when a comment may be perceived by the student as hurtful and not possessing the tact that we hope it would? How can we find the balance in our comments between positive feedback and offering constructive criticism that will encourage revisions?//
 * Several students brought up the importance of having "tact" when writing your comments.
 * We discussed the importance of teaching students (and perhaps even reminding teachers) of the differences between the "revising" and "editing" stages of the writing process. One student suggested (based on a model observed in her placement) that punctuation comments be saved for the third or fourth draft rather than the first or second.
 * Students mentioned that they enjoyed Sommers' recommendation to read the entire piece first and then provide feedback during the second pass at reading.
 * Another student warned (echoing the thoughts of Elbow and Sommers) not to take away ownership from the students and to make sure that the feedback suggested areas for revision but did not demand that these revisions be done.

And our feedback conversations will continue as we prepare for our peer review session next week.