Chapter 1 Reading & Writing

Chapter One of Content-Area Writing

First of all, Chapter One addresses the issue on whether or not there exists a writing crisis. Interviewed officials reflected on how hard it is to hire employees with proficient writing skills these days. American students are unable to effectively and appropriately communicate in the workforce. The report reflects on how this may be a direct result of the decline in writing achievement scores. However, in many previous courses we have analyzed in ineffectiveness of standardized tests as depictions of the intelligence of our students. If a student does not understand the one given prompt for the writing portion, they may do extremely poorly and that does not reflect on their actual writing abilities. I believe that these tests have many imperfections and can often be prejudice. Finding one optimal test to accurately assess everyone is not very feasible.

I found it interesting when the author discussed all the writing that students do today, and they may not even realize it. Students text, email, blog, create their MySpace page, write journals or diaries, pass notes, or even construct music on Garage Band, which are all creative ways of expressing themselves through writing. Therefore, when students say that they “hate writing”, I believe that there are many counterexamples to such a claim. I felt excited while reading this portion of the text because it is uplifting to discover all the ways that students are using their writing skills in an intriguing way to them. Thus, it is our responsibility to find a way to connect with kids and make writing interesting for them in a school setting. We need to channel all their potential, so we can use all that we have to offer them, so they have the best results possible.  The text discusses that the bottom line is that there is a mismatch between school writing and real world writing, and this gap must be pushed closer.

Writing is absolutely essential for learning in all subject areas. This text reinforced my belief of this statement. As an aspiring math teacher, last semester I took a mathematics course, which we heavily discussed the importance of proof, and exploratory learning for all grades. It is a wonderful exercise for students to write down their problem solving and thinking process as they explore how to tackle a math problem. Memorizing an algorithm that will successfully spit out a correct answer is not how students learn how to problem solve. Students should explore how to solve a problem, and possibly learn several ways to come to a correct answer. If students write down their thinking process, it is clear to the instructor of where the student needs help, and there will also be a much high probability that the student will remember what they have learned. I cannot say enough how wonderful writing is in mathematics, and for students to explain why.  I am passionate about the idea that students should be able to demonstrate their reasoning through many forms in order to truly understand the material.

This leads into the idea of “a mile wide an inch deep”. As much as teachers may desire to take the time for students to explore the material, and work to achieve that deep understanding – teachers often find themselves crunched for time. There is an abundance of content that must be covered each year, and therefore, topics may not be learned as thoroughly as one may have hoped for. That is when teachers find themselves feeding the students formulas, and steering away from students taking the time to write out their thinking process. However, in the final portion of the reading, I was amused to see that this text will describe how writing activities can actually save time in the classroom, while deepening understanding. This idea puzzled me, as well as the idea that note taking in not a good learning tool. Then another idea that makes sense to me, but I’ve never thought about, is that writing can be a wonderful tool for differentiation in a diverse classroom. Differentiating instruction, content, and assessment to be most ideal for students is a constant challenge and I’m intrigued to read about how writing can be useful. Lastly, the text states that writing can be fun, and this is absolutely essential for teachers to reinforce through creating assignments that catch the interest of the students in order to have them perform their best and enjoy doing so.

Chapter One of Content – Area Reading

            I was intrigued by the statement in the text that said how students often stop reading the assigned readings because the teachers will simply go over the content in class. I experienced this exact situation in my last philosophy course I took. Many of the students in my class did not do the readings because my professor went over the content rather thoroughly in class, where I could see how you could slide by without doing the readings. However, as this text states, it is difficult to engage actively in the learning. By reading the text prior to class, I felt I could reinforce ideas, and apply anecdotes from the text to theories. Without doing the reading prior, there is a reliance on being spoon fed the material to short term memorization, without truly owning the knowledge.

            I have never thought about the possibility that reading texts in a digital environment may have non-linearity, unlike reading a book from left to right, front to back. Students will click on hyperlinks in various orders and absorb the information in different manners. While searching for content information through digital texts, there are five functions that students may use to be successful. These are identifying important questions, navigate complex networks to identify essential information, critically evaluate information, synthesize information in order to evaluate questions, and communicate answers. This type of problem solving and thinking process sounds extremely beneficial for all content areas. However, the Internet can be an overwhelming tool for students. If there is not adequate preparation and direction to do such evaluation, students may become off task quickly. This was a huge issue when I was in high school. I also had teachers that simply had us read articles from the computer, and then it was quite similar to reading a textbook, except it was from a computer screen. However, students were still more interested because it was simply from a computer screen.

            The text goes on to explain how reading is prevalent, important, and different for all content areas. Students that may read historical texts well may not be as proficient in reading mathematical texts. However, in my experience as a math major, I have often heard the statement that “I’m not a good reader, I’m a math person”. In my opinion, this is not a valid statement. Reading skills, as well as writing skills, are important in all areas of study. In mathematics there are word problems, as well as text filled with content that is important to be read thoroughly and effectively. Therefore, as a math teacher, I want to assure that I provide students with instruction and practice of how to approach word problems, and how to successfully read through the sections in order to get the best experience possible in the class.