Christensen Chapter 8

Tracking..this is something that also makes my skin crawl other than Standard English. Coming from a school where the majority of my peers were minorities, I really did not have an understanding of what tracking was until I got to college. Tracking is all the things that Christensen has mentioned of condemning students of and unequal education because the faulty does not thing that a group of students are not capable or student fail because teachers don't modify their curriculum for these students to succeed.

I was a "smart" student in high school. Most of my classes were AP and I never realized my peers that were getting the short end of the stick. I thought that these students weren't as capable as I was and I feel bad for saying that. I honestly believe that my school system did not give student of "low track" classes a chance. They made assumptions and these students usual turned out the way they were assumed to turn out. They stayed in these classes from ninth to twelfth, dropped out of school because they felt dumb or they felt they weren't capable of getting out of these classes. My school system did not give these students the resources or even believed in these students. It makes me sad to think about how horrible my school system is, how being tracked really does go with you until you are completely done with school. I remember when I first came to college I was put in the remedial math class because my ACT scores said that was where I need to be, but during the summer I had teachers that believed that I could Trig and Advanced Algebra. All these students need is for someone to believe in them, push them and help them. Yeah tracking is sad, but what is even sadder is the school systems that aren't doing anything about it.

Gilmore Chapter 7

I love creative writing! Every time I hear these words I truly get excited. One thing I don't get is.... why is poetry always the first thing mentioned when talking about creative writing? Because the first thing that I that I think about when creative writing is all the journals, short stories and narratives there are to write. Being a big fan of short stories and narratives, I totally get what Gilmore means about writers never being finish the first time around. To be honest this is the only revision that I do love, because add and take out things to enhance my stories. I love the fact that Gilmore gives tips on everything, things that you can use for yourself personally and for the classroom.

Ever time I hear the word poetry, I sort of cringe. I know that is sad to say, but it is true. I hate the fact that Gilmore has rules to writing poetry, because I thought that there were no rules. I never knew when to break the lines in my poetry, where to eliminate words and expand endings. I don't like that there are rules!!!!! I thought poetry was just an expression, I hate poetry can be analyzed and figured out. I honestly believe that what a poem means, is meant only for the writer to know and if students are going evaluate and analyze, there answers should not be based on right or wrong, but evidence. Its really hard for me to get over this poetry hump.... I need help!

Gilmore Chapter 6

Spell check has ruined me as a student and especially as an English major! I know there is a so much more to English tan spelling, but I am not confident in my spelling with checking it on spell checker first and that is a shame. I've always seen myself as a lover of writing, but now I see myself more as a lover of typing. I have excuses for not wanting to take notes or write out a paper first and I don't think I'm proud to say that.

I like the idea of technology for the reasons of quick productions of essays, but like Gilmore mentioned it should not be an editing tool, but isn't it? Technology is taking over. Computers are teaching grammar and a little syntax. Technology is teaching people how to become teachers, nurses and CEO's with online classes. Embrace it, Gilmore says, I agree to a certain extent, because it gets out of control, I see it in college now. I like blogging, chat rooms set up for a particular class and even using projectors to correct work on site. Students still like to write, so how can we improve this? Technology needs to be limited in school and teachers need to teach students how to become independent editors instead of relying heavily on spell checker. So when is it too much, when do we stop embracing and stop letting technology do our jobs for us?

Gilmore Chapter 5

I absolutely hate essays on standardized test. I lose all prior knowledge and I freeze up, especially if the essay does not pertain to me personally, you those off the wall question like "What is the main point in the essay?" That takes you a hundred read-overs in order to understand what its talking about anyways. I just don't essays, that judge me on how much information I have retained from my teacher.

I do like Gilmore's checklist, even though I think this checklist is a little advance. Especially if you have have never taught your students about strong thesis statements, revisiting nouns, checking evidence and complicating your argument. By the way what does "penultimate" mean? We need to teach our students how to do these things so that they can accomplish them when the these sort of test do come about. This check list also reminds me of a rubric, which I believe, is essential for all major essays. Actually it is a sort of rubric, just in the form of a list. I think that lots of students will benefit from these list/rubrics because it gives some sort of guidance for these sort of standardize that just throw you out with little tools to survive.

By the way I'm starting not to like Gilmore all that much, I really can't relate to him and I feel that he doesn't have strategies for the struggling student, I feel he only has strategies for the student that has excelled and just needs a helping hand not a shoulder to lean on.

Christensen Chapter 7

I'm having a hard time explaining what I exactly feel about portfolios so maybe by the end of this blog it will become clear to the reader and myself. I do think that students should keep all their work so they can gather it up at the end of the semester and see how they have progressed and reflect on it. But I think that the grading for this "portfolio" should be constructed in a way that honors the students achievement not point out how "you did do well here, but you need a little more work here." I think portfolios should be an opportunity for students to redo work they have not done well on and turn in that final copy and the draft before and reflect on why they choose to improve it, how they went about the assignment differently and why is this final copy better. I do believe that it is interesting for the students and the teacher to see the work they have done, like Christensen has mentioned. It shows the student all its accomplishments and gives them something to praise over, but it also gives teachers a way to see what worked for their students.

I like portfolios, its just that I think they could go both ways. What if the student doesn't have any work to put in their portfolio, or what if the student doesn't feel confident enough in there writing to turn in a final copy. I just think that portfolios should be choice and should be graded on a case by case basis...I think. Like I said I don't really know what I feel about portfolios exactly, but I know that if I do use them in my class, the will be used in a way for students to make up work that has been lost or work that was not done so well the first time........

Gilmore Chapter 4

I know we already talked about this but I really don't know how I feel about peer reviews. I know I do like them a little, because it is nice getting feedback from your peers when you are stuck or even when you need a little guidance in the assignment, but I also think that they can be a waist of time to. One of the things that Gilmore mentioned was knowing what students to put together and I start really thinking about this. How do you really know? Yes there might be a great student that does all there work for you, as the teacher, but when they know that it peer review day they have nothing for there peer to give. Or what about the students that are expecting to much from there peers, what if you have a class full of bad writers or good writes that think that the other peers are not competent enough to review there papers. I just think that peer review are a little sketchy for me.

I did like the teacher conferences that Gilmore mentioned. I think this is a great opportunity for students to have that one on one time with the teacher, especially if you are in a class of 20-30 students and the student might not feel comfortable talking about there concerns in front of class. I know personally I love having teachers make time out in their busy schedules, it makes me feel that my paper or the concerns that I have are important and that I will be able to get help without feeling like a failure. I know that I will also incorporate teacher conferences in my class, I know it will be harder because I will have class with students every day, but I will make that time out in class to bring students aside to help them out on papers. Overall I think Gilmore chapter was set up in an effective, easy-to access way, and it was okay to read.

Gilmore Chapter 3

I think the biggest mistake that we will continually to make as teachers, is suspecting that are students have all the tools to complete the assignment at hand. I like the way Gilmore gives strategies to help students produce more effective writing. To be specific, concise and correct, is something that I will strive for as a teacher and even now as a student.

I usually have a lot to say when I'm writing about something that I really enjoy and I am guilty of being one of those students that try to incorporate more words into my piece in order for it to sound more "essay-ish." I do this because, I do write like I talk, and sometimes the way I talk is too comfortable for my formal essays, so I try to make my writings sound more professional by putting in words. So I write and write until that sentence or paragraph is completed. Is it concise...no... but I feel that is specific and correct. I like that Gilmore gives strategies that I don't only have to use for my students, but that I an use in my own writing. I very good at expressing my thoughts and making something clear to my reader, but I am so horrible at making my ideas concise.

The other section that made me think about my writing was using the "I" part. I like papers that let me use "I," I know that there is a more productive way to use this letter, but sometimes you can't get around that and you need to just write "I." I like that Gilmore does mention that if the sentence or the section in the paragraph is strong enough, the "I" will be present, but I disagree that it might weaken the piece, because I feel that when I can't be including in a particular type of essay than it makes the essay distant and it does not connect to the writer, but I'm still learning......so I could be wrong.