Author: R. Vining

Throughout the class, but particularly after reading Zwiers Chapter 8, I have been wondering about the kinds of writing I should be cultivating and asking students to complete in my discipline of Home Economics. Writing probably will play a more prominent role in Family Studies and Psychology classes. However, what kind of writing will depend on the learning objectives and context of the classroom. For example, at my practicum school, the priorities of the Psychology class are student engagement and developing social-emotional health strategies and life skills. No form of writing is an explicit prescribed learning outcome, but Chapter 8 helped me see how the writing process is formative rather than strictly summative assessment. As a student writes, they explore their own ideas more fully, and a written product allows the teacher to give richer feedback.

As I struggle with the writing process myself, I tend to hesitate making writing a large part of my summative assessment. During my practicum, I want to further explore how I can encourage reflective and academic writing, while respecting varying levels of ability and without making writing so stressful that students hate it altogether. Some ideas include assigning in class journaling activities, providing writing prompts and leaders, and limiting feedback to one or two specific things the student can work on so that the student does not become overwhelmed. I am also planning on attending some writing workshops myself. Hopefully I can learn to make the writing process less stressful, and share those insights with my students.

Initially, I found this article very dry. I also found it a little disheartening as it seemed to only point out problems and no solutions. Don’t use big words your students won’t understand, but don’t use easy words so your students aren’t challenged! I had to really think about practical examples before I saw how it could really be helpful in a classroom. Overall it reinforces the general themes we’ve been covering in this and other classes and makes some key points:

1. Vocabulary is key to comprehension – If you’re students can’t understand the words, the won’t understand the ideas.
2. Students are more likely to learn if they feel they can be successful – If they’re barraged with words they can’t understand, but are expected to know, they may just give up.
3. Students are more likely to learn if they’re at least somewhat enjoying themselves – Having a bit of fun with words can keep students hooked longer, and they’re more likely to learn.
4. Students are more likely to learn vocabulary (and really any subject material) if they are asked to engage with it in a variety of ways – Written, verbal, broken down into parts, used in a sentence, explained through pictures, general exposure, activities within the classroom, self-directed learning at home, etc.

I also liked how the article explicitly pointed out that people have larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary. So students may be able to understand a word when it is read or heard, but they may not be able to think of that word when speaking or writing. However, when speaking or writing, students have the opportunity to find alternate ways of showing their understanding, whereas when they read they do not. I think it’s just a matter of keeping all this in mind and preparing to support our students if they are having difficulties in any of these areas.