Formal Writing in a New Light

The Content Area Writing section on Public Writing gave a thorough overview of how to approach a more formal assignment with students.  It highlighted key elements that are needed in formal writing.  The more we can implement the elements while students are in middle and high school, the more prepared they will be for college and careers.  I felt that my high school education in public writing was very detailed and it helped me feel more prepared than many other students when I started writing at St. Thomas.  The exposure to public or formal writing helps students to develop a professional voice that can be used in more than just writing, like debates.  It is always important to know how to express your opinions in a professional manner with support. 

In conjunction with the public writing section, the Content Area Reading chapter on new literacies explored several different options of displaying the formal writing.  Sometimes a typical paper can be boring to students, especially when it is a formal paper.  Allowing students to explore new outlets with their writing fosters growth in creativity and individuality.  In my English class at St. Thomas, we were asked to create a wiki page with a group.  This was a fun new way to approach a formal overview of a play.  We were able to break up the writing; this made it seem more manageable.  By offering students different ways to present what they know or what they have researched will be more motivating.  Things like blogs and wikis are more relevant to the current technological age.  We all know that students always say “why do I have to know this?” or “why do I have to do this?”.  Now, when blogs and wikis and new literacies are used we can respond with this is how people get information across in the world.  Most companies use the internet to advertise themselves.  Knowledge of how to create these types of media will be a useful tool for all.

Diversity

What caught my attention most in this section of the book was the discussion about English learners.  Sometimes as secondary teachers we don’t focus a lot on the student as a whole; rather, we only notice what is happening in our subject area classroom at most times.  The section emphasized the importance of how developed the students are in other school-related aspects.  Specifically, English learners while able to communicate and understand at a basic level are most times expected to comprehend the texts used in subject area classrooms.  This is beyond a stretch for most of them; it is even a stretch for some students who have spoken, read, and understood English their whole life.  Until we as teachers begin to take the time and delve into events going on outside our subject area classroom.  I had a little experience with this in my last field experience.  One of the students was an English learner that struggled with understand the text.  Many times she was challenged to read from the textbook aloud during class.  Since she struggled with the language, she had difficulty being able to read aloud to the class.  The teacher in the classroom knew that she was an English learner and worked with her through the text.  I thought that the teacher did a good job of understanding the student’s background but still not writing the student off.  She adjusted what she expected of the student but didn’t just skip over her.  This is becoming a commonality in classrooms; more and more students are coming from more diverse backgrounds with families that do not speak English at home.  Yet, these students are still expected to perform at the same level as students who have 14 or more years experience with the language.