Respone to Monique

I feel as if this essay resonates some of the experiences I have faced as well as my colleagues. There is a huge struggle on how to raise the skill levels of students who have been labeled as "remedial" or "unteachable." They have been subjected to such treatment and thus do not believe in their own ability and yes they do lack motivation. At this point in my teaching career, I go by the saying "I teach them what they need to know through what they want to know." I choose books that first grab them because the themes within the books help them connect themselves to the characters, and since they become interested in the plight of these characters they become interested in themselves and where their lives are heading. For instance, I have two low level tenth grade classes... And I decided to "teach" the book Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas. This book covers the life of a teenager in Spanish Harlem and how he falls prey to the drugs, alcohol crime and jail time. It's controversial because the book's content is seen as inappropriate, but the student who tell me they hate reading, cannot put this book down. We have to build these students up in steps, they won't have an appreciation of Shakespeare if they deemed that all books are bad. So, first step is to want them to get to read a book. Then get them to have writing assignments based around this story. Next book would be Like Water for Chocolate, which is a more "appropriate" book because the content isn't as controversial but still has connections to Down These Mean Streets because it's about a female protagonist that lives in a household that has no father figure, a villainous mother and an evil sibling... which a lot of my student can relate to. So it's about progress in steps.

6:07:00 PM

Response to Daryl

I think that the idea of literary letters are great, and I think that plot summary is an important skill to have. It gives background information to their audience, but I see this as a rut that students on the high school level fall into. And many teachers label these students at "lazy" or "dumb." They can summarize in great detail, but they cannot analyze or cite evidence to support analysis. I think that summary is a great starting point so that students can develop their literary analysis. Under Bloom's taxonomy, summary is the first level, and is labeled as a basic skill. Teachers need to take steps so that students can develop from summary, so that they can be able to synthesize and evaluate the literature they've read.

Using the Collage for Collaborative Writing

Using the Collage for Collaborative Writing

Elbow, Peter. “Using the Collage for Collaborative Writing.” Teaching Developmental Writing. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2007. Print.
Teachers are hopeful for the potential collaborative learning holds for their students. Teachers are hoping for “increased communication among students, better problem solving, and better critical thinking skills” (260). But many students are usually not willing to collaborate with their peers and teachers try to revise their plans to better aid students to become comfortable with each other so that they will work effectively together. Usually when students write alone, they depend on their tacit knowledge. Our tacit knowledge is quick, and overrides out conscious and articulate knowledge. When a student writes with someone else, their partner may propose changes, and they have to negotiate with each other which “forces students to become more conscious and articulate about rhetorical decision making” (261). There are difficulties faced when students work in pairs or groups. Most students find it to be an unpleasant experience because it leads to disagreements. So student opt to write alone. The writing that is produced is usually not up to par because students “can only agree on lowest-common-denominator thinking” (262). Collaborative writing also “silences weaker, minority or marginal voices” (262). Peter Elbow suggests using “the collage” as a method to tackle student apprehension to collaborative work. First students will write individually, as much as they can about their own thoughts on the topic. Student can also write for 10 to 15 minutes and then switch their papers with their peer. This can prompt dialogue, because peers are responding to each other’s papers because it’s a “thought answering thought” (263). Secondly students are to individually go back over what they have written and choose the pieces of their writing that they like the most. Next, students are to share their writing by reading aloud or they can switch papers and silently read. Every member choose and agree on which pieces of writing should be used and everyone has to contribute a piece of writing. All group members must give feedback on all the pieces of writing chosen. Then all the pieces should be sequenced and then discussed because new ideas may come up, or figure something new needs to be added or something is missing. Then, individually write new pieces, or revise and fix-up the chosen pieces. Then everyone should look at what the group had produced and see if it’s finished or if it still needs more work. This bridges individual work into group work. Students are engaging in weak collaboration and strong collaboration. Weak collaboration is when peer’s influence each other’s thinking and writing by giving each other feedback on individual writings. This is an easy process for students because they do not have to agree or disagree on ideas. Strong collaboration group members have to agree on which pieces to use, what order to the pieces in, who revises, they need to agree is more revising is needed or is the product finished. This is more stressful on members because they have to agree or disagree and come to a consensus. The final product of the collaborative collage has all members be accountable for their writing, and since no voice is silenced the final product is not “weak or bland writing” but a “richer and more complex than most collaborative writing” (264). At the end of this collaboration “the final product contains multiple points of view, multiple voices, multiple styles- and as a result, more tension and energy Minority ideas and thinking have not been left out… The collaborative collage is a gathering of pieces each written from an “I” point of view- for the sake of a “we” enterprise” (264).
Peter Elbow suggest three additional methods for students who rather work alone to begin engaging in collaborative writing.
1- The student writes a draft, and then shares his or her draft with another peer and their peer is to write a response.
2- The student is to make a collage of quotations from readings or interviews, which is to “help students “place” their own thoughts and voices in authoritative dialogue with the voices of others” (265).
3- Students can work in pairs and engage in a dialogue by passing a sheet of paper back and forth to each other so each can write a response in turn. This is like passing notes in class.
These three additional methods are to help students make “good texts out of multiple thoughts and voices” (266).
Solo writing has the same issues that collaborative writing suffers from. Collaborative writing can be used to improve solo writing. We learn to do things by ourselves by internalizing what we learned to do socially with others.
QUESTIONS1- The collaborative collage is one way to engage students in working with each other to produce a final product. What type of activity would you have your students engage in so that they may become comfortable with each other so that they can work together for assignments?
2- What are some problems of the collaborative collage? What are some ideas that you can include to improve upon this method?

5 Basic Writing Resources

1- Purdue Online Writing Lab

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

This website is a quick reference to MLA and APA style. It gives descriptions and examples on how to cite, quote, paraphrase, and summarize properly.

2- Guide to Grammar and Writing

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

This website gives rules and examples for grammar use and rules and examples for writing. This site also gives quizzes for users to take so they may practice and test themselves.

3- How to read college texts

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/CollegeWriting/READSPEAKTHINK/READ/HowToRead.htm

This website gives college students a guide on how to read academic texts critically, what the structure of academic texts are like, how to skim and speed read, and how to read literature critically.

4-An Online Textbook for Basic Writing

http://webster.commnet.edu/sensen/

This online textbook gives students three approaches in becoming better writers by examining how sentences work, common errors that appear in written English, and suggesting how to develop ideas for writing.

5- Online Dictionary

http://dictionary.reference.com/

The online dictionary gives a quick look up for definitions, but it gives examples on how that word is used in various ways. It also has an online thesaurus, a translator for 50 languages into English or vice versa.