Number of Ways in which Teachers Can Improve their Writing Instruction - Essay Example

Writing Instruction: Assignment Design of Lecturer 6th December 2007 English 101 An examination of the number of ways in which teachers at the high school level can improve their writing instruction through improving their assignment design. Introduction A recent survey of the National Center for Education Statistics found that only 31 percent of eight graders and 24 percent of twelfth graders performed at or above the proficient level of writing.1 These are alarming figures which when translated into another perspective illustrate how more than three fourths of high school students lack proficiency in their writing skills – those skills that unfortunately are needed to run with the literacy stampede. Writing is very important since it contributes to the holistic learning development of students. The learning effects are varied. For instance, a study made by Wong et al. (2002) found that students who wrote response journals gave superior test performances in comparison with students who did not write but participated in class discussion because the writing activity improved their comprehension abilities. And so, this underscores the part that teachers play in leveling up the American students’ writing proficiency. This paper explores one of the ways in which teachers at the high-school level can improve their writing instruction, which is through the improvement of their writing assignment design. Problems and Challenges In order to develop the correct methodologies in developing writing assignment design, a teacher should understand the root of the problem at hand. We turn to Kelly Gallagher (2006) for the major issues and causes why high school students fare dismally in writing performance evaluations. These include the facts that: Students are not doing enough writing Writing is sometimes assigned rather than taught Grammar instruction is ineffective or ignored Some teachers have little or no knowledge of writing standards and writing evaluations. (9-13) With these problems identified, it is easier to propose strategies and approaches that could improve writing instructions for high school students. Pedagogical Principles First, I will refer to the six pedagogical principles that teachers should consider when designing writing assignments that Charles MacArthur, Steve Graham and Jill Fitzgerald (2006) pointed out. These are: the degree of emphasis on teaching component skills in context and on the meaningful use of writing; the degree of connection between writing and students’ backgrounds; the degree of students’ interaction while writing; the problem-solving processes involved in the writing task; and, frequency of opportunities to write extended texts. (296) Here, the importance of the teacher’s role and his or her conviction is underscored as directly tied to the success of any high school writing program. Specifically, the teacher’s support of experimentation and divergent thinking, praise and feedback, acknowledgement and evaluation among others are pivotal factors in achieving the objectives of the writing activity or assignment. Furthermore, I emphasize that the variables outlined by MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald regarding the significance of the students’ backgrounds and the students interaction in the productive outcome of the writing assignment. The teacher, hence, must be knowledgeable in these areas which require a certain degree of relationship with parents and personal relationship with the students. Standards Understanding standards well enough to develop a set of criteria for lesson design and assignment is very important in improving writing assignment design. Standards are important so the concepts and skills to be imparted to students are clearly defined. I highlight this in the context of writing and grammar education. However, it is in my opinion that teachers often dismiss these standards because of issues involving the appropriateness in terms of the students’ levels of development; language can be intimidating; or the standards appear too cumbersome to achieve. But the solution here is simple. According to Kathy Glass (2005), rephrasing these standard into the teacher’s and the student’s language is the way to do it by developing a rubric for precisely what the teacher wants to assess. (2) For example, a teacher rubric will include a clear set of criteria for writing assessment in order to outline the objectives of the activity as well as to function as a guide in framing and executing the writing activity. Here, we find support from MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald who have cited empirical evidence pointing to the fact that high performing US middle schools and high schools are characterized by teachers who are explicit with their expectations and evaluation procedures.2 For the evaluation, a student checklist must work with or integrated with the teacher’s rubric for writing assignments. This allows for the teacher to communicate his or her criteria to the students in a language that is friendly to them and, in turn, enable the students to understand the teacher’s expectations.3 Practice and Strategy Standards are also important especially in developing guided writing practice activities. This is because there should be a logical pattern in which a teacher imparts, say, a writing strategy. For instance, a teacher may start introducing the writing strategy through a lecture, then collaboration unto guided practice; and then through practice, the teacher gradually releases responsibility so the students can complete a writing task independently. 4 Critique After the writing assignment is done, the teacher must allow students to work together in groups to challenge and critique each other’s ideas. This is particularly effective and interesting when the classroom is consisted of culturally diverse students. This can also be employed prior to the writing assignment wherein students brainstorm what topics to write about. This approach is particularly significant because it challenges the adolescents’ mind-set that writing is forced upon them and only as a means of making teachers look good and instead infuse choice into the writing process. According to Kelly Gallagher (2006): Creating opportunities for students to have choice while writing doesn’t mean that teachers must give up control of their classrooms. Rather… even small opportunities for choice give students a greater sense of autonomy… Most of the research demonstrated that when students had choices in their learning, they became highly engaged and productive. (117-118) This approach also addresses the teachers’ concern in regard to students who do not want to follow existing guidelines and dismisses the discipline imposed by standards because they have a higher level of intelligence and may have different and brighter ideas and creative approaches to their assignments. Professional Development Plan As young adults, high school students are also more discerning especially in terms of the writing capabilities and skills of their teacher. This determines the degree of authority that the teacher wields over the classroom and in every writing activity. Indeed, as previously discussed, one of the reasons why students are poor in writing proficiency is that the teachers themselves are poor role models because they lack the necessary writing skills. Although, not directly related to writing assignment design, it is recommended that the teachers undertake training especially in the area of writing standards and evaluations. Felicia Dixon and Sidney Moon (2006) suggested one general approach to nurturing educators’ skills, which is the “professional development” which according to them is the combined teacher preparation, teacher development, in-service and training. (612) It is expected that this professional development will enhance he teachers capabilities in terms of standards which is very important in terms of effective and satisfactory writing evaluations. Conclusion In conclusion, to improve writing instruction a teacher should adopt a strategy revolving around the premise that a writing assignment, like all other school activities, is a learning activity that goes beyond mere skills acquisition to a deeper and continuing understanding of concepts and ideas. The systematic approach of evaluation with adherence to standards including the development of teacher’s rubric and student’s checklist must be combined with the teacher’s role in terms of student support, such as acknowledgement and feedback as well as the encouragement of divergent thinking as explained elsewhere in this paper in order to achieve success in writing instruction. In designing writing assignments the teacher should keep in mind that the students need more practice, more opportunities not just to write but to read and more choice when it comes to writing topics. Also, the students must write for authentic purposes and audiences. An interesting suggestion was posited by Kathleen Yancey (2004) in this area wherein the use of technology was explored. Here, students who find themselves “blocked” on a writing assignment because of the absence of an audience were asked to use an email or an instant message instead to a person who becomes the audience. The efficacy of this approach, according to Yancey, highlights how technology could be used as tools in the process of writing and teaching writing. Indeed, students can now access new media that are useful in composition such as blogs, email and electronic portfolios. Finally, teachers would know from experience that high school students as adolescents have special needs. As explored previously by this paper, the “choice” in writing activities contributes greatly to the motivation of adolescent students and their productivity. Indeed, a teacher is encouraged that in designing writing assignments, as with other learning activities, the students’ motivation, maturity, attitude, and marital status of their parents all have significant influence on students’ successful writing assignment outcome.5 Bibliography Chandler-Olcott, Kelly and Hinchman, Kathleen. Tutoring Adolescent Literacy Learners. Guilford Press, 2005. Dixon, Felicia and Moon, Sidney. The Handbook of Secondary Gifted Education. Prufrock Press, Inc., 2006. Gallagher, Kelly. Teaching Adolescent Writers. Stenhouse Publishers, 2006. Glass, Kathy. Curriculum Design for Writing Instruction: Creating Standards-based Lesson. Corwin Press, 2005. MacArthur, Charles, Graham, Steve, and Fitzgerald, Jill. Handbook of Writing Research. Guilford Press, 2006. "Percentage of Students, by Writing Achievement Level, Grades 4, 8 and 12.” National Center for Education Statistics. 6 Dec 2007 http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/writing/results2002/natachieve.asp Wong, Bernice, Kuperis, Kuperis, Sonia, Jamieson, Dianne, Keller Lois and Cull-Hewitt, Robin. Effects of Guided Journal Writing on students Story Understanding. Journal of Educational Research; Jan/Feb2002, Vol. 95 Issue 3, p179, 13p, 4 charts. 6 Dec 2007 Yancey, Kathleen Blake. Educational Leadership, 00131784, Oct2004, Vol. 62, Issue 2 6 Dec 2007 Read More