IMPROVING WRITING INSTRUCTION
- 1. 1 IMPROVINGWRITINGINSTRUCTION Improving Writing Instruction Within Limited State Standards Katherine Smith Eastern Kentucky University ETL 801 Fall 2015 IMPROVINGWRITINGSTANDARDS
- 2. 2 Introduction and Identification of Problem IdentificationofProblem I have substitute taughtatall the schoolswithinthisdistrict.One thingthatI’ve noticedthat crops up acrossthe boardis that moststudentshave little ornoenthusiasmforwriting.Of all the days, schools,andgradesI’ve subbedinIhave onlyencounteredahandful of studentswhoare excitedfor writingorwho doso voluntarily.Thismade me wonderwhy.I’ve alwayshadapassionforreadingand love topass that love forreadingonto students.Observingthisregardingwritingmade me wonderif we couldbe encouraginga love of writinginmuchthe same way that we do forreading.Writingalsoisa formof recreation,of expression,andafavorite past-time amongmany.Sowhydomanystudentsmeet the subjectwithsuchdread? In researchingIcame upon a partial explanation.The KentuckyState standardsforwritingare veryformal,focusingonthe dynamicsof writing,orforwritingresponsestocontent-basedquestions. There islittle tono focuson teachingmotivational, orcreative writing,andtherefore,manyteachersdo not have the time to include suchareasintheirwritinginstruction. Descriptionof School School grade:1st – 5th Size: Students:495; Teachers:34 Location:Rural Studentdemographics: o By race: 83% white,6.5% AfricanAmerican,4.8% Hispanic o By lunchstatus:53.3% free,6.9% reduced o Average attendance:458 of 495 Achievement: o Overall score:66.1 o PercentileinKY:55 RedOak Elementaryschool ismyfavorite school inwhichtosubstitute teach.Itis a relativelynewschool andmanyof the teachersare youngteachersveryexcitedtobe there.It
- 3. 3 alwaysfeelslikeafun,butproductive atmosphere.TheirMondaymeetingsinclude funteacher gamesfeaturingthe teachersincompetitionssuchasminute-to-win-itactivitiesthatfuel the energyof the school and boostsstudent-teacherrapport. Change Principles and My School School Policies, Practices, and Context State Influences PoliciesComparedto Practice Evidence of CurrentStatus Problem Model Inputs and Resources Activitiesand Participants Outcomesand Evidence Assumptionsand External Factors
- 4. 4 Name: Katherine Smith PROBLEM MODEL (EXISTINGPROBLEM LOGIC MODEL) Inputs Outputs Outcomes -- Impact Activities Participation Short Measurements Medium What is invested, specifics of program No time to cover everything and include w riting in each lesson. Focus on short answ er type w riting. No enthusiasm for w riting. No starting point for teachers. Specifics of what we do (teach, meet after school) Teach short- answ er w riting Little experience w ith w riting for fun No visible focus on w riting. Who is doing the actions to the left (teachers, administrators, students) Teachers Students Administrator s short term results Students w rite to answ er short answ er questions only. Students never excited for w riting. Students view w riting as means to answ er questions, not to express creatively. Teachers unsure how to fit fun w riting time into a day. Ways to measure resultto the left- quantitative Student w rite answ er responses but stuckon more creative prompts. Students describe w riting as “boring” or “no fun” Some attempts at incorporating fun w riting time has been made, student enthusiasm is still very low . Longer student outcomes (up to one year) Slow er at achieving w riting skills. Low writing test scores Feelings of frustration in regards to w riting. Assumptions: I believe a big assumption students have regarding w riting is that it is boring, or hard w ork. Most of their experiences with w riting is formulating responses to questions in content areas. They have not fully been able to see how w riting can be a means to express themselves and to be creative. External Factors Policies, practices, requirements. External factors greatly influence this problem. State policies mandate that students w rite to sufficiently answer test related questions, and little else. Students are therefore taught how to formulate w ellwritten responsesto open ended questions, usually pertaining to a subject matter, such as science. While w riting quality responses to subject area questions is not a bad thing, in fact, students need to learn to do just this, it leaves little time or flexibility how ever, to w rite for the joy of w riting.
- 5. 5 Inputs: The main issue contributing to the problem is the state standards for writing. Because all the writing standards focus on writing that is very formal many students don’t fully know the joys of writing for fun. A very large percentage of the writing students are taught is that of formulating great answers to open response questions, usually focusing on a content area. Because of this, students form writing pieces on things that don’t always interest them, at best, or that frustrate them at worst. This quickly leads to students equating writing with work, or even punishment; the same as they would with reading if reading were misused, such as using it as a punishment, or forcing students to read only content area books, etc. Another input that goes into this is that due to time constraints and other restrictions, it is very difficult for teachers to find the time to fit more creative writing into the day; they don’t have a starting point of things to go to or ideas to use. Actions: As stated before, what goes into writing right now is mainly regarding formal pieces. The teachers do practice short answer questions, teach them how to properly organize paragraphs within a paper, etc. While I have seen administrators at the school very excited for learning in general, for reading, for the students themselves, I have never seen an administrator focus on writing. Being a substitute, there are days that I am not at this school, and could have missed golden moments when an administrator encouraged creative writing, but as for it being a common occurrence, I don’t believe it is. My hope is to create a resource guide to help teachers to have a jumping off point of ideas to incorporate creative writing times with their students and may help the administrators to show as much enthusiasm for writing as they do for other areas. Parents are another player in this issue. While changing household routines and such is a long-term goal, parents can also be encouraged to help their children develop their creative writing talents. Parents and teachers may be encouraged to share writings that they have done
- 6. 6 and may even have many different avenues of writing. Some may introduce journals, others may introduce poetry or creating comic-strips, even others may show how to create photo- albums and include descriptions of the events being preserved and why they were so special. All of these things may give children a much more well-rounded view of writing for fun. Outcomes: The results of the issue as it stands now is that students write to answer content questions in a formal manner, not to express themselves. Teachers truly care about their students and wish to instill a love of learning, or reading, and writing, but feel trapped by the demands of the content they must teach and the limited time they have. The worst outcome, however, is that students lose their love for writing. They are never enthusiastic for writing time to begin, they don’t see it as a way to express themselves. Assumptions: In this case I don’t assume that students aren’t motivated or that teachers aren’t motivated or anything like that. On the contrary, I have seen how passionate the teachers are for their students and how much they go the extra mile to see their students succeed. I do assume that this is to a small degree contributing to the problem. Being passionate about your students’ success is critical to a great teacher, but teachers are having to teach the students what they are tested over so that they can succeed, not what will help them to become writers. External Factors: I have talked a lot about the state policies that contribute to my area of concern. Improving these policies would be a much bigger, long-term goal. And it is not to be forgotten that the policies themselves aren’t bad. It is good and necessary for students to learn how to organize a paper well, how to write to share information, how to give directions, etc. What I am focusing on, however, is another type of writing that is just as important and yet not talked about in the state standards. While more formal writing is the foundation of the state writing standards, incorporating more creative and fun writing into a school day is a doable goal.
- 7. 7 Resources Kentucky Department of Education (: Kentucky Academic Standards) http://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Pages/default.aspx
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