January 12 2015

Reading Response: January 12th 2015

Nancy Atwell: Learning How to Teach Writing

       Atwell recounts her experience with one student in particular, though it seems to me that from my own personal experience, and the experience of my colleagues, “Jeff” exists in every classroom. There is going to be that student who learns things in a different and unique way in comparison to those of their fellow classmates, and their processes can sometimes easily be mistaken for lack of motivation, or as an exceptionality. In Nancy’s case with Jeff, she had a student that didn’t fit into her formula of writing tasks, who exhibited a process of writing that included drawing scenarios first before writing them out. In a situation like this, it is easy to see how a teacher could get frustrated. You’ve assigned a task to students, and expect them all to be active participants in the task at hand. Yet there is one student sitting there doodling away. It can thusly be interpreted that this article speaks to the importance of communication within a classroom community. 

In today’s generation, a classroom is a diverse place. Students are diagnosed with various exceptionalities, and education pedagogy has moved to encourage teachers to find ways to allow for all types of learners to thrive in the classroom. For this reason, it has become paramount for a teacher to keep a continuous and plentiful flow of conversation, between both students, parents and fellow teachers about a student’s learning process. Through communication and formative assessment, a student and teacher can determine what their learning process is, and how a student will best reach the desired results of the class. Here, one can observe how backward design can be applied to not only lesson and unit building, but also in teacher to student relationships. Through communication, a teacher can work with a student to determine what the desired goals and outcomes of the lessons are, and then employ backward design to determine how each particular student will work to obtain such educational goals. 

It is all to easy for a teacher to fall into the bad habit of thinking they know best. From Nancy’s experience, we can observe that had she communicated with Jeff in order to better understand his methods, she could have worked to encourage him and serve as a more positive resource for him. When it comes to assigned tasks, I have to agree with Jeff, where he argued to Ms. Atwell, so long as he got the work done, what did she care how he went about doing it. Teachers need to allow and encourage students to discover their own methods for writing; whether its through jotting notes, making drawings, concept maps, what ever, in order to allow them to produce a final product. If we look to backward design and apply it to our students, if they are successfully reaching the final goal of each lesson, or a unit, or an entire school year, and are able to communicate their knowledge and understanding, to showcase critical thinking skills, who are we as educators to say that it needs to be done in one particular way?