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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Entry 3: My First Entry Continued


There are many core principles which I value and would like to enact in my own classroom.  I strongly believe in creating a community of writers.  I think students learn best when they feel safe and can collaborate with others to further their learning.  As an educator, I find it imperative to look at my students as individuals rather than one large group.  In order to know my students (their background, strengths/ weaknesses in writing, etc.), I will set aside time to confer with them; as a result, I can build my literacy instructions around their needs, interest and learning profiles.  To achieve this practice in my future classroom, I will set aside time weekly to meet with each of my students and keep a log on our conversations.  I want them to feel safe and view me as a support in their literacy learning experiences.

Writing is an integral part of a student's education.  Throughout my experiences in the classroom, I constantly work with students on their writing no matter the grade I am teaching.  There is always room for development and growth; the more you write, the better writer you become.  As a result, I want to utilize writing practices across the curriculum to support my students not only in their learning, but as developing writers.

There are a variety of ways to assist my students in their writing that go beyond using pen and paper.  Technology is rapidly developing and becoming more widely accepted in schools.  I believe it is my professional responsibility to become educated on these new technologies (word processors, digital and audio editors, blogs, wikis, etc.) in order to better relate to my students and implement digital writing workshops in the classroom.  I anticipate some challenges because I am not “tech-savvy”; however as an educator, I believe it is important to take risks and step outside your comfort zone.  Collaboration is integral component of being a teacher; in my future placement, I will work with my colleagues to familiarize myself with new technologies and come up with exciting ways to incorporate them into the classroom.

Through taking this class (Reading Improvement Through Written Expression) I am developing a deeper understanding of technology and how it supports students in their writing.  Reflecting on our reading in Hicks (2009), I feel more comfortable implementing a digital writing workshop in my future classroom.  I enjoy that students are allowed to choose their own topics to write about and have a wider audience to publish their work to.  As a result, they will feel more comfortable writing because they have the opportunity to explore their own interest and let their voice be heard.  In the end, my goal is for students to enjoy writing and experiment with different outlets to express their creative ideas.

References
Hicks, T.  (2009).  The Digital Writing Workshop.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann  

2 comments:

  1. Kelly, you cover a lot of ground in this entry. It is clear you have a solid foundation regarding your understanding of teaching writing and the writing process. In your future entries, I want to encourage you to try and push yourself beyond what you know well to explore what you still want to know. What questions do you still have? What issues do the readings raise that you had yet to fully consider or realize in your own teachings?

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  2. Dr. Jones, after reading through my blog again and your comments, I agree I need to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I need to think deeper and more critically about the issues raised in the readings in order to develop my writing as a graduate student.

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