+ writer’s workshop: creating a writing culture central georgia technical college

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Writer’s Workshop: Creating a Writing Culture

Central Georgia Technical College

+Why Writer’s Workshop?

Student Retention

Adult Learner

Population

Professional Support for

Writing Tutors

Complexity of diverse range

of writing assignments

+Writing Research: What we now know

Dewey on the social context of writing in School and Society

“But it hardly needs to be said that language is primarily social, a means by which we give our experiences to others and get theirs again in return” (Chap. 2, p. 67)

“Since the language taught is unnatural, not growing out of the real devise, to not growing out of the real desire to communicative vital impressions and convictions, the freedom of children in its use gradually disappears, until finally the high school teacher has to invent all kinds of devices to assist in getting any spontaneous and full use of speech.” (Chap. 2, p. 67)


Vygotsky’s (1978) Thought and Language “Instead of being founded on the needs of children as they naturally

develop and on their own activity, writing is given to them from without, from the teacher’s hands. “piano-playing” (1978, p. 105)

“[Psychology] has paid remarkable little attention to the question of written language as such, that is, a particular system of symbols and signs whose mastery heralds a critical development of the child” (1978, p.106)

“written language consists of a system of signs that designate the sounds and words of spoken language, which, in turn are signs for real entities and relations” (p.106).

“It seems clear that mastery of such a complex sign system cannot be accomplished in a purely mechanical and external manner; rather it is the culmination of a long process of development of complex behavioral functions in the child. Only by understanding the entire history of sign development in the child and the place of writing in it can we approach a correct solution of the psychology of writing” (p. 106).


Hillocks’(1986) Conclusions “conclude emphatically that the teaching of grammar in

isolation does not improve writing and indeed may adversely affect students’ writing because of the tremendous allocations of time it consumes at the expense of instruction in actual writing.”

Smagorinsky (2011) on the teaching of writing Concludes that the teaching of writing is problematic

because of the contradictory and challenging situation of traditional grammar instruction in producing form-centered texts and a progressive model of teaching writing in the context of student writing resulting in the teacher [or tutor] in resolving the tensions in developing an approach to teaching writing and grammar.


NCTE (2010) “proposers pointed out that ample evidence from 50 years of

research has shown the teaching of grammar in isolation does not lead to improvement in students’ speaking and writing, and that in fact, it hinders development of students’ oral and written language” (1985; 2010).

National Writing Project Core Principals (2011) “Knowledge about the teaching of writing comes from many sources:

theory and research, the analysis of practice, and the experience of writing. Effective professional development programs provide frequent and ongoing opportunities for teachers to write and to examine theory, research, and practice together systematically.”

“There is no single right approach to teaching writing; however, some practices prove to be more effective than others. A reflective and informed community of practice is in the best position to design and develop comprehensive writing programs.”

+Developing a Writing Culture

Student As

Writer

Thinking is writing

Active role in the writing process

Becoming self-aware as a writer

Writing is not an

isolated activity

+CGTC Student Population:

Adult learners

Central Georgia Area

Experienced in the labor force

Non-traditional students

Focused on acquiring skills for particular program of study leading to a career

+Adult Learners and the Writing Process

Cleary’s (2011) Work with Adult Learner’s and Writing Workshop “Those who have studied adult composition confirm that

‘older students often use experiential writing to create for themselves a point of entry into a complex process’ of negotiating between lived cultures and academic knowledge” (p. 39).

“Writing Workshop, therefore, aims to scaffold students’ lifelong learning development as writers by building on what they know, expanding their understanding of writing process, and enhancing their self-assessment and metacognitive skills” (p. 39).

Teacher’s Tool Kit

+Language Variation: Assessing Student Writing and Metacognition

Clearly’s (2001) metacognition info “practice of mindfulness, or meta-cognition, to facilitate

positive transfer of learning…to develop these meta-cognitive skills through teaching students to assess their own writing as well as the genres, rhetorical contexts, and discourse communities for in which they are writing” (p. 45).

Language variation as a self-assessment tool for writing tutors and students (Charity Hudley & Mallinson, 2010) Using an understanding of Southern English and African

American English, common grammar and speech characteristics that affect student writing, to assess where the student is in his or her social experience with writing and how to “translate” into academic writing may prove significant to improving student self-assessment.

+Example of Translation Assessment: A tool from the writing classroom

My use of “home language” or Southern English I use from my social experience

Mary Elizabeth, I am fixin’ to git your britches if you don’t clean up them toys right now!

Academic Writing or Translation

Mary Elizabeth, you will have to go to time out if you don’t clean up your toys right now!


Example of Mixing up the two

Writing Sample: E-mail from a student—all names are changed

DIS IS FAKE NAME LETTING U NO DAT I AM WILLIN 2 LEARN AND 2 LET U NO IF U CAN SEND ME A NUMBER R SOMETHING BECAUSE I CANT AFORD 2 FELL ANOTHER CLASS BECAUSE I AM ON PROBATION SO I HAVE 2 PASS WITH A 2.0 THANK U AND NICE 2 MEET U...


Good Morning Ms. Claxton,

This is Fake Name, and I would like to let you know that I am willing to learn. So, may I have a contact number to reach you in case I have questions. Because I can’t afford to fail another class, I will work hard to pass. Currently, I am on academic probation, so I must pass all of my courses with a 2.0 this quarter. It is nice to meet you and I appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Fake Name

+The Writer’s Workshop Within the Writing Culture

Owl Perdue’s Muriel Harris (2001)

Tutorial Dialogue “The pedagogical tool is talk. The student is encouraged to

do most of the talking, sometimes responding to questions the tutor asks, sometimes explaining what the tutor doesn’t understand, or sometimes working through something the tutor suggests. This generative conversation helps the student formulate a better paper and often results in student evaluations that state something like ‘the tutor didn’t tell me what to write. She just helped me clarify what I want to write about.’ ”


Cleary’s (2011) criterion of a writer’s workshop Criterion 1: Can assess his or her own writing and address areas of

weakness “Students get immediate practice and coaching on how to be

realistic, comprehensive, and detailed in their self-assessments at the start of Writing Workshop” (p.44)

Criterion 2: Uses revision to produce significantly improved final drafts “Some of our students have never been introduced to the idea of

writing as process; others, resisted it. In doing their initial assessments, students are asked to think about what does and does not work in their writing process” (p.45)

Criterion 3: Demonstrates improvement in writing as documented in a writing portfolio “grounded in the work students were doing now, helping them to

understand what they knew about writing (or thought they knew)…and adapting that knowledge to the genres and purposes they currently faced” (p.45).


Cleary’s (2011) criterion of a writer’s workshop Criterion 4: Presents a plan for continuous, ongoing

improvement of writing “the requirement that these students also concurrently

seek existing support beyond the classroom, third-space support that is decentralized, is a crucial step for their sustainable success” (p.46)

+Praxis: Tutorial Dialogue

Praxis: Bergman (2008) on the Praxis of Writing Tutors and Teachers versus the Practice Instead of offering definitive answers to writing center issues,

Bergman emphasis is on “practical concerns and individual centers’ response to those

concerns, [who] draw on past research and theory and situate their own particular decisions in terms of praxis, not simple, expedient practice. This distinction is important, since praxis should be at the root of all serious faculty development efforts that move beyond the “banking model.” Faculty development initiatives that have the potential to transform educational practices in significant ways bring together research, theory, action, assessment, and reflection, and they allow for different kinds of implementation by faculty with different demands on their time” (p. 532).

+Wiki Discourse

Wiki Page: Creating a Writing Culture at CGTC

+ writer’s workshop: creating a writing culture central georgia technical college

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