Writer's Notebook Post #5

We are just cruising through this graduate course as quickly as we can!

I have really enjoyed my time in EDT 646: Reading & Writing in Content Areas, mostly because I've had the opportunity to work closely with teachers from not only other disciplines (math, science, Social Studies, etc.) but also from different building and grade levels (including K-6 teachers).

This provides the perfect segue way for I'd like to discuss in today's post- the professional text that I'm currently doing a project on, Write for Insight by William Strong. My partner (a seventh grade Social Studies teacher) and I will be giving our class a presentation next week that involves a summary of the text, a critique of the text, and valuable content area lessons involving writing that we have gleaned from the text.

So far, I love Strong's writing style. He operates wholeheartedly under the theory that writing has a place in all content areas and that writing (in the content areas, specifically) serves two. These are paraphrased in my own words below:

1. To help the writer understand and make sense of his/her thoughts/learning.
2. To communicate to others our thoughts, research, learning, and findings.

As a Language Arts teacher, reading and writing just happen to be the basis of my content area. However, I remember clearly my days K-12 schooling (particularly my high school days), and I can say for a fact that I remembered and communicated information better when I'd had the opportunity to write about it. By articulating my thoughts in written (and sometimes oral) form, I was able to synthesize my own learning. I think this is an imperative skill for all students at all grade levels.

On the more "critical" side of things, I like how Strong's book is laid out. He provides lots of examples (both literary and non) from his personal and professional life, and even better, he incorporates advice, stories, and narratives from teachers he's encountered throughout his service to public education. I think this renders his text more authentic and more relative. When I'm reading a professional text, I want (in fact, I need) confirmation that the individual has seen real-world classroom experience and understands today's students.

One thing that I'm struggling with is one of Strong's key points behind the idea of "writing for insight". Strong recommends that students be expected to double the amount of writing they're currently doing in and out of the classroom, and he recommends this for all grade levels. He said that because students do virtually no writing in most math and science classrooms (and a mediocre amount in most Social Studies classrooms) that this doubling of writing should come mostly from these other content areas (versus a Language Arts classroom where most students are expected to write daily).

I am totally on board w/ Strong's logic in regards to this point. But, I teach in a Language Arts classroom. How can I truly monitor how much writing is going on in the other content areas? What if I notice that students are still not writing much in a math classroom? Does that mean that I am required, then, to have students write even more in my classroom to make up for what's not getting done in math? That is an idea that I am still wrestling with.

More insights to come from Miss Klahm as I receive more writing insights from William Strong! :)