Resources from the Short History of Writing InstructionNewsweek's 1975 article, "Why Johnny Can't Write"
"Your Kindergartner's Writing Under Common Core" from Greatschools.org ILA, NCTE, etc. "Standards for Middle and High School Literacy Coaches" In the comments, please feel free to read one or more of the resources linked here and write a response to get the conversation going!
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Spectacular Things Happen Along the WayFor your reference: the book Alyson mentioned, Spectacular Things Happened Along the Way: Lessons from an Urban Classroom (2008), Bryan D. Schultz. Something you might want to check out! Review are very positive. Thank for sharing Alyson!
From the description: "What happens when a teacher resists the pressures of ''teaching to the test'' and creates a curriculum based on student needs, wants, and desires? Brian Schultz did just that when he challenged his students from a housing project in Chicago to name a problem in their community that they wanted to solve. When the students unanimously focus on replacing their dilapidated school building, an unforgettable journey is put into motion. As his students examine the conditions of their blighted school and research the deeper causes of decay, they set off on a mission of remedy and repair. It is finally their own questions and activities that power their profound self-transformations. This moving story is a tribute to what determined teachers are able to achieve in the current stifling environment of high-stakes testing and standardization. Anyone who has faith in creativity, commitment, and the deep potential of inner-city children and youth will want to read this book." What do standardized writing assessments tell us?Assessing writing through standardized tests affirms our beliefs that complex writing skills are an important.
But what do those scores tell us? What are some of the issues with these standardized assessments? How could they be better? Have a browse through this New York Times Debate on the question: Can Writing on a College Entrance Exam Be Properly Assessed? Respond in the comments with your thoughts--what resonates or surprises you in these perspectives? What do you think of standardized writing assessments? What is critical to making them maximally effective? "Stop Humiliating Teachers"This 2016 commentary in the New Yorker addresses the pervasive tendency to blame school teachers for all social ills. The author, David Denby, references a book I mentioned in class, The Teacher Wars.
Denby works through several specific entities blamed for perpetuating bad teachers and teaching, and dismisses them. He argues that the real problem is much more difficult to tackle, so teachers become a kind of scape goat: "[Teachers] are being assaulted because they can be assaulted. The real problem is persistent poverty." Have a read through his short commentary here. What do you think about this perspective? How can we change it as educators and citizens? What are some quotations from the piece that resonate with you? Nanci Atwell on Literacy and Teaching TodayNancie Atwell is a well-known middle school teacher researcher. We'll be reading some of her work on assessing student writing through portfolios later this semester. Atwell recently won an international teaching prize for her approach to literacy learning, described in her book In the Middle. Have a read over this brief article covering her award-winning approach. Atwell also shares some concerns about the current climate of teaching in this short video about her award. What do you think about her approach? About her comments about teaching today? |
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April 2017
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Dr.Hannah Rule | [email protected] | Humanities Office Building 203 | University of South Carolina |