Reflection

I've leaving the Oregon Writing Project with a file folder of new ideas, a notebook filled with writing, four completed book reports, and four polished pieces. I feel like I've accomplished something in the last four weeks. Now, begins the real work. How do I integrate my knowledge of teaching and writing into the classroom?

I teach one class of Functional English composed entirely of special education students. I feel fortunate to teach this class for two reasons. One ö class size is small. Two ö There is no prescribed curriculum. For this class, I will be able to integrate much of what I have learned. I plan to have students make journals at the beginning of the year, and thanks to Greg, have a wealth of journal ideas. Jean's presentation on colorful sentences will help review grammar concepts that students often forget. Deborah's presentation about correct word sequencing will help monitor the improvement students make with writing; I plan to do that once a month. Finally, William Strong's ideas about sentence combining gave me ideas on how to help students improve sentences, hopefully in a more enjoyable way.

I also will teach two sections of Sophomore English. In that class, I have curriculum that needs to be followed, work samples to gather in writing and speech, and CIM testing to prepare for. For this class, a few presentations gave me new ideas for lessons. Stephanie's presentation on interviewing for a comparison-contrast paper fits in perfectly with the required comparison-contrast writing. Pamela's presentation on poetry offers a structured and engaging way to help students analyze poetry and composes thesis statements, something sophomores should start doing.

In addition to enjoying the presentations, I have also learned from reading the books. One of my favorite books was Peer Response Groups in Action. I've often been frustrated when using peer response groups. I expected students to act as we did in our afternoon response groups, giving positive feedback and guiding improvement. However, this did not always happen as I hoped. Karen Spear's book offers concrete examples to improving groups. I like her idea to have students do a "read-around", where anonymous papers are quickly passed around the classroom, while students read and highlight words, phrases, sentences, ideas, or sections that they found most effective or interesting. I plan to incorporate peer response groups in my classroom, and feel that I will be able to do it more effectively due to my participation in response groups and reading.

The other book that I enjoyed was Deep Revision. I've always found it a challenge to help students look at revision as more than rewriting. One suggestion I will use is to hand out a paragraph to the class, and have everyone revise it, and then share the most effective improvements. This book and Barry Lane's book After the End will help improve revision in my classroom.

Participating in the Writing Project has forced me to find the time to write. I know that, in the ideal world, a writing teacher should write. But, in the real world, there are lessons to plan, papers to grade, books to read. I will try harder to at least accomplish a little writing, even if it's just a brief excerpt in my journal. Overall, this writing project did what I expected ö it will breathe new life into my curriculum and has re-energized me to begin teaching another year.