Post #3
My confidence as a writer has grown with the passing of time. As a youth I was frequently complimented on my writing, yet, there still remained in me a lack of confidence. I often found myself expressing thoughts and feelings through a variety of medium including journal writing, rough sketches and wood working. While I rarely felt my work was of a superior nature, I continued to write, draw and carve throughout middle and high school. Expression for me today largely consists of personal entries, not necessarily in a formal journal, but on scraps of paper likely to be discarded. It is on these scraps that I find an outlet for the inner workings of my mind and emotions. I believe the enjoyment I reap from such an activity can be recreated, to a small degree, within the classroom by giving students the independence to choose their topic of interest.
The most gratifying writing assignments I experienced in my secondary education were those where I chose the topic. I remember specifically a research paper in which I was allowed to argue whether the existence of Camelot was fiction or fact. The enjoyment I found in completing that paper was due largely to the subject which was something that interested me at the time. On the other end of the spectrum I have often felt the drudgery of completing a paper whose subject was not of interest. As I prepare to enter the field of education I understand that not all writing assignment topics can be left to student choice. That being the case, I feel students will feel the same type of empowerment by giving them as many options as possible. By letting them choose the perspective, voice and manner of presentation, I feel my students will reap a greater amount of enjoyment while still engaging the disciplines material.
I like that you included wood working as a medium for expressing yourself. I never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. I also like that you addressed the fact that not every assignment is going to spark a students interest, but that it is a worthy effort to make them have a say in what they are researching and learning about. It really does help them to have a say. I observed an end of trimester project where students presented on a topic that they chose and then had the opportunity to read a fiction or nonfiction novel to go along with the research. They were all really interested and felt strongly about what they were speaking on.
ReplyDeleteI think you raise an important point--you may not give students free-range choices in what they write ALL of the time, but you can give them at least some choices of what they write MOST of the time. I like how you think of giving them choices in regards to genre and format. That's a great way to encourage variety even when students are all writing on the same topic.
ReplyDeleteVery neat that you carve wood--I didn't know that. I think that also raises an important point that students have different outlets, and that you can assess through other mediums as well. Even photo essays could be a powerful method of assessment in history, depending on the topic.