Language for Academic Writing Reflections
It was interesting to read this chapter on academic writing right after the short practicum because I actually used one of the techniques Zwiers suggested in one of my classes. At the beginning of the second week of my practicum, my sponsor teacher gave me the opportunity to help my Science 10’s carry out a lab. Since it was their first lab of the year, I felt it was necessary to spend some time before the lab to remind them on how to write a lab report. After brainstorming for some time on how I would carry out my lesson, I decided to develop a lab report template for my students to follow. On the lab report template, I listed headings for six sections I wanted them to include in their lab report (title, purpose, procedural diagram, observations and data, analysis and conclusion). Underneath each section heading, I provided short descriptions (around 1-2 sentences) to help guide my students on how to complete each section. I even labeled where I want them to write in their name, their partner’s name, and which block they were in.
However, I did not believe just handing out a copy of the template would be enough for my students to truly understand how to complete it. As Zwiers mentioned in this chapter, it is important for teachers to model how to write within each content area (219). After handing the templates out, I spent the next five minutes going over the entire template describing in more detail what I expected in each section. I even turned on the overhead projector to show my students how I would represent the collected data in tables and graphs under the ‘Observations and Data’ section. Hopefully by setting an example for my students to follow, they would encounter fewer problems when completing their lab reports at home.