After reading the first two chapters of "Assessing Writers," what ideas impacted your thinking about writing and your writing instruction?
8 comments:
Kelly DeMillion
said...
First of all, I appreciated the quote from Peter Johnston at the beginning of Chap. 1, "...the most educationally significant assessment takes place in classrooms, moment to moment, among teachers and students." In my humble opinion, nothing could be more true; with Writing Workshop, our assessment of our student writers is based on our informal observations and our conversations with the children. These observations and conversations allow us to really KNOW our students as whole individuals and as writers.
Over the past two years, I have felt that I was lacking a specific "professional" tool to record my assessments of my Kindergarten writers, and have just worked with my modest chart and clipboard. I always worried that it wasn't enough, and questioned my direction in appropriate instruction for my writers. I did constantly ask, "What do I teach this child?" (pg. 3)
After reading Chapters 1 and 2, I do feel reassured because: I know that I DID get to know my students as people (their interests, their passions, their lives) and as learners/writers (this child has a hard time generating ideas, that student has a strong sound/symbol association and readily labels, she latches on to teaching points from minilessons and attempts them in his writing, he appears to avoid writing by wandering around the room...) Anderson reassures us that knowing this type of information about our students is indeed a critical component of an "assessment stance." Okay, I can feel better about that! ;-)
I also feel excited after reading Chapter 1 and 2 because I received practical advice that I can implement in my Writing Workshop: I can begin to define, in a more concrete fashion, the goals that I would have for each student as a writer in my classes. This would give me a clearer direction for every student as I confer with them. (This was something I feel that I continue to struggle with each year...conferring!!!) Believe me, I have highlighted almost every word of the section "Assessment helps us confer with students effectively" (pgs. 5-10) I also really liked the Assessment Notes forms on pages 4 and 11. One serves to record information about individual writers, and the other serves to record info about the class as a whole. I really think that this one will help to illuminate patterns within the whole class, and common needs of student writers. I am thinking that this may indeed be an easier way for me to determine strategy groups for next year!
Alright... part 2 of my thoughts. I promise that I'll be more concise for Chapter 3!! ;-)
The concept of figuring out what our long term goals are for each student writer is really compelling, and I am excited to focus on this. Won't it give us teachers a clearer "assessment lens?" By the way, I thought it was interesting to see a quote by Wiggins and McTighe on pg. 14 ... UbD has certainly influenced how I map out my instruction throughout marking periods, and therefore it makes perfect sense that the same concept would apply to writing instruction!!
My immediate goal for this summer is to create my list of traits that describes what I believe "good" kindergarten writers possess, always keeping in my mind that these are the littlest writers, but knowing that every year, these young children exceed my expectations during Writing Workshop. If we don't give them a chance to show us what they can do, they never will, right?!?
I have always wanted to inspire my student writers to become "Lifelong Writers" and Carl Anderson clearly encourages us teachers of writing to focus on this goal, as he reminds us that our assessment of our students will guide us in our instruction, and thereby will support their feeling of purpose and passion for the act of writing. The manner in which Anderson describes assessment is positive, and doesn't make me feel like assessment is a four letter word!
P.S. I want to comment on the terrific "Teacher Actions" that Carl Anderson imbeds in his chapters...they are so full of great suggestions. I especially like the one on page 25 which highlights ways to assess student writers (kidwatching, conferring, reading student writing, sources of info that I rely on, and record keeping).
Carl Anderson has prompted me to think about both short and long term goals for my writers. He says, "Good writing workshop teachers also imagine who they want their students to become as writers in a few months and by the end of the school year (p. 3)." Since reflecting on this past year, my first time implementing writing workshop, I didn't set end of the year goals; instead, I focused on unit goals only. I appreciated Anderson's Assessment Notes: figure 1.1 (page 4) as an example of how to record data. I might also add a column for short/long term goals. The "what do I need to teach this student" will guide me toward meeting my goals for each student.
Anderson defines a lifelong writer as someone who initiates writing, writes well, and has a writing process that works for him/her. After reading about the importance of students reflecting on their writing throughout the year, I thought part of my third graders reflections could focus on how they define a lifelong writer. The same question could be posed at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. At the end of the school year, students would receive their three reflections and respond to their growth as writers.
Finally, I appreciated the way Anderson broke down the ways teachers should observe their writers: what they are doing, what they are thinking, what they are writing. In doing so, teachers are able to capture the writer's entire process.
After reading Chapters 1 and 2, I definitely feel that this book is going to provide me with information to make my assessment more effective. For instance, Carl Anderson describes the assessment lens and that it is essential for educators to come up with a vision for our writers—what kind of writers do we hope our students will become? As this is done prior to the school year, it will drive the instruction and assessment practices that I implement. I think it is important that these are shared with the students at the beginning of the year and continue to be reinforced throughout the year. As a class, we can continue to check in and reflect on those goals. Becca, you mentioned that you want to incorporate more self-reflection in the writing workshop throughout the school year. That is also something that I took away from these chapters. The sooner the better! I have had the students reflect on themselves as writers, but this chapter has convinced me that there can and should be more. As self-reflection becomes part of the classroom culture, students will begin to see self-reflection as a routine practice.
Quick questions for you guys...I didn't do any type of self-reflection with my Kindergarten writers over the past 2 years (at least, nothing specific or that I intended!!) I focused mostly on convincing my little guys that they actually WERE writers!! My question is this: do you think it would be appropriate for my students to reflect simply upon what they feel are their strengths in WW? what they would like to do better in their writing? what they like best about WW? what they struggle with WW? I wouldn't necessarily pose these questions until January...
So, with you guys having experience with student self-reflection, do you see a better way for me to begin introducing the idea of reflection? better questions?
Kelly- Yes, posing those questions with your students might be a support in helping them see themselves as writers. Like you said, it would probably make sense to implement after there has been a good flow with the workshop.
I was also thinking that I want them to reflect MORE on the choices they made in their pieces. I want them to begin to see that the choices they made had a purpose. They do this reflection work with partners, in the share, and in the revision unit, but I want to make it a routine for each unit, as well as throughout the unit. I am hoping that the more this is done, the more natural the reflection will be in their own writing process.
If you already do this, please ignore... I know this would take a good amount of time to do one-on-one with each student in kindergarten, but could be pretty powerful. You could begin this type of reflection work with your kindergarteners by having them self-reflect on themselves as writers on an actual piece or pieces they have created. This way, they have something to reference in terms of what they are doing as writers. And you could even scaffold, if needed, and point to certain things and ask them why they did what they did, i.e. chose to use that word, included the sound they heard, etc. Like you said, it may not be something they are ready for until later in the year. You will have to get a sense from your kiddoes. Just a thought as I am thinking about your questions in terms of kindergarten. :)
Thank you so very much for your thoughtful response to my question, especially as it is specific to Kindergarten writers! Your ideas really have helped me gel together what I would now like to try regarding self-reflection next year. I think that the time it will require to teach the children to reflect upon themselves as writers during conferring time will be well worth it!!
Your suggestion of having them consider a piece of writing that they have been working on is exactly what I was thinking (thank you for the affirmation!) I could have the children begin the self-reflection process by asking them to think about why they made the writing choice they did; i.e. did they choose their topic based on something they love, something they did, something they know alot about... or, like you said, asking them why they choose the word they did...
Alison, thank you so very much for your advice and encouragement! I really appreciate it!
Kelly, great question. Ali, great response. After thinking about your question Kelly and reading your response Allison, I was thinking about how to be more intentional about student reflection. Like you said Ali, not only during the revision unit, but during any writing or reading for that matter! I think it is so important to model for students exactly what you mean through thinking aloud with a piece you've written, but kids often think, "yeah, but she's the teacher." Kelly, once you meet with a student, like Ali suggested, and he/she has shared a thoughtful reflection with you, you may want to ask if he/she can share their thinking with the class. This will allow your other kids to see a thoughtful kindergarten response. I'm going to try this in my own class. I think sometimes I model it, but don't allow enough time for the kids to share their thinking; instead, they only share their writing.
8 comments:
First of all, I appreciated the quote from Peter Johnston at the beginning of Chap. 1, "...the most educationally significant assessment takes place in classrooms, moment to moment, among teachers and students." In my humble opinion, nothing could be more true; with Writing Workshop, our assessment of our student writers is based on our informal observations and our conversations with the children. These observations and conversations allow us to really KNOW our students as whole individuals and as writers.
Over the past two years, I have felt that I was lacking a specific "professional" tool to record my assessments of my Kindergarten writers, and have just worked with my modest chart and clipboard. I always worried that it wasn't enough, and questioned my direction in appropriate instruction for my writers. I did constantly ask, "What do I teach this child?" (pg. 3)
After reading Chapters 1 and 2, I do feel reassured because: I know that I DID get to know my students as people (their interests, their passions, their lives) and as learners/writers (this child has a hard time generating ideas, that student has a strong sound/symbol association and readily labels, she latches on to teaching points from minilessons and attempts them in his writing, he appears to avoid writing by wandering around the room...) Anderson reassures us that knowing this type of information about our students is indeed a critical component of an "assessment stance." Okay, I can feel better about that! ;-)
I also feel excited after reading Chapter 1 and 2 because I received practical advice that I can implement in my Writing Workshop: I can begin to define, in a more concrete fashion, the goals that I would have for each student as a writer in my classes. This would give me a clearer direction for every student as I confer with them. (This was something I feel that I continue to struggle with each year...conferring!!!) Believe me, I have highlighted almost every word of the section "Assessment helps us confer with students effectively" (pgs. 5-10) I also really liked the Assessment Notes forms on pages 4 and 11. One serves to record information about individual writers, and the other serves to record info about the class as a whole. I really think that this one will help to illuminate patterns within the whole class, and common needs of student writers. I am thinking that this may indeed be an easier way for me to determine strategy groups for next year!
Alright... part 2 of my thoughts. I promise that I'll be more concise for Chapter 3!! ;-)
The concept of figuring out what our long term goals are for each student writer is really compelling, and I am excited to focus on this. Won't it give us teachers a clearer "assessment lens?" By the way, I thought it was interesting to see a quote by Wiggins and McTighe on pg. 14 ... UbD has certainly influenced how I map out my instruction throughout marking periods, and therefore it makes perfect sense that the same concept would apply to writing instruction!!
My immediate goal for this summer is to create my list of traits that describes what I believe "good" kindergarten writers possess, always keeping in my mind that these are the littlest writers, but knowing that every year, these young children exceed my expectations during Writing Workshop. If we don't give them a chance to show us what they can do, they never will, right?!?
I have always wanted to inspire my student writers to become "Lifelong Writers" and Carl Anderson clearly encourages us teachers of writing to focus on this goal, as he reminds us that our assessment of our students will guide us in our instruction, and thereby will support their feeling of purpose and passion for the act of writing. The manner in which Anderson describes assessment is positive, and doesn't make me feel like assessment is a four letter word!
P.S. I want to comment on the terrific "Teacher Actions" that Carl Anderson imbeds in his chapters...they are so full of great suggestions. I especially like the one on page 25 which highlights ways to assess student writers (kidwatching, conferring, reading student writing, sources of info that I rely on, and record keeping).
Carl Anderson has prompted me to think about both short and long term goals for my writers. He says, "Good writing workshop teachers also imagine who they want their students to become as writers in a few months and by the end of the school year (p. 3)." Since reflecting on this past year, my first time implementing writing workshop, I didn't set end of the year goals; instead, I focused on unit goals only. I appreciated Anderson's Assessment Notes: figure 1.1 (page 4) as an example of how to record data. I might also add a column for short/long term goals. The "what do I need to teach this student" will guide me toward meeting my goals for each student.
Anderson defines a lifelong writer as someone who initiates writing, writes well, and has a writing process that works for him/her. After reading about the importance of students reflecting on their writing throughout the year, I thought part of my third graders reflections could focus on how they define a lifelong writer. The same question could be posed at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. At the end of the school year, students would receive their three reflections and respond to their growth as writers.
Finally, I appreciated the way Anderson broke down the ways teachers should observe their writers: what they are doing, what they are thinking, what they are writing. In doing so, teachers are able to capture the writer's entire process.
After reading Chapters 1 and 2, I definitely feel that this book is going to provide me with information to make my assessment more effective. For instance, Carl Anderson describes the assessment lens and that it is essential for educators to come up with a vision for our writers—what kind of writers do we hope our students will become? As this is done prior to the school year, it will drive the instruction and assessment practices that I implement. I think it is important that these are shared with the students at the beginning of the year and continue to be reinforced throughout the year. As a class, we can continue to check in and reflect on those goals.
Becca, you mentioned that you want to incorporate more self-reflection in the writing workshop throughout the school year. That is also something that I took away from these chapters. The sooner the better! I have had the students reflect on themselves as writers, but this chapter has convinced me that there can and should be more. As self-reflection becomes part of the classroom culture, students will begin to see self-reflection as a routine practice.
Hi Becca and Alison!
Quick questions for you guys...I didn't do any type of self-reflection with my Kindergarten writers over the past 2 years (at least, nothing specific or that I intended!!) I focused mostly on convincing my little guys that they actually WERE writers!! My question is this: do you think it would be appropriate for my students to reflect simply upon what they feel are their strengths in WW? what they would like to do better in their writing? what they like best about WW? what they struggle with WW? I wouldn't necessarily pose these questions until January...
So, with you guys having experience with student self-reflection, do you see a better way for me to begin introducing the idea of reflection? better questions?
Thanks, guys!
Kelly-
Yes, posing those questions with your students might be a support in helping them see themselves as writers. Like you said, it would probably make sense to implement after there has been a good flow with the workshop.
I was also thinking that I want them to reflect MORE on the choices they made in their pieces. I want them to begin to see that the choices they made had a purpose. They do this reflection work with partners, in the share, and in the revision unit, but I want to make it a routine for each unit, as well as throughout the unit. I am hoping that the more this is done, the more natural the reflection will be in their own writing process.
If you already do this, please ignore... I know this would take a good amount of time to do one-on-one with each student in kindergarten, but could be pretty powerful. You could begin this type of reflection work with your kindergarteners by having them self-reflect on themselves as writers on an actual piece or pieces they have created. This way, they have something to reference in terms of what they are doing as writers. And you could even scaffold, if needed, and point to certain things and ask them why they did what they did, i.e. chose to use that word, included the sound they heard, etc. Like you said, it may not be something they are ready for until later in the year. You will have to get a sense from your kiddoes. Just a thought as I am thinking about your questions in terms of kindergarten. :)
Hi Alison!!
Thank you so very much for your thoughtful response to my question, especially as it is specific to Kindergarten writers! Your ideas really have helped me gel together what I would now like to try regarding self-reflection next year. I think that the time it will require to teach the children to reflect upon themselves as writers during conferring time will be well worth it!!
Your suggestion of having them consider a piece of writing that they have been working on is exactly what I was thinking (thank you for the affirmation!) I could have the children begin the self-reflection process by asking them to think about why they made the writing choice they did; i.e. did they choose their topic based on something they love, something they did, something they know alot about... or, like you said, asking them why they choose the word they did...
Alison, thank you so very much for your advice and encouragement! I really appreciate it!
Kelly, great question. Ali, great response. After thinking about your question Kelly and reading your response Allison, I was thinking about how to be more intentional about student reflection. Like you said Ali, not only during the revision unit, but during any writing or reading for that matter! I think it is so important to model for students exactly what you mean through thinking aloud with a piece you've written, but kids often think, "yeah, but she's the teacher." Kelly, once you meet with a student, like Ali suggested, and he/she has shared a thoughtful reflection with you, you may want to ask if he/she can share their thinking with the class. This will allow your other kids to see a thoughtful kindergarten response. I'm going to try this in my own class. I think sometimes I model it, but don't allow enough time for the kids to share their thinking; instead, they only share their writing.
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