Education Commons^™

Measuring Student Success In Jour200a: Fundamentals Of Editing & Reporting I: A Beginning Writing, Editing And Reporting Class, Jessica Fargen Walsh

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

A grammar error or typo on a resume can mean the difference between getting the job or having your resume deleted. Factual errors and inconsistencies can also affect a writer’s credibility. Accuracy, style, word choice and consistency matter for these reasons and more. Journalism students in particular should come to internships, classes and jobs with the skills they need to succeed. The course Jour200A: The Fundamentals of Reporting & Editing I attempts to meet this demand by providing all majors in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications with a strong foundation in editing and writing. This project sought to …

Jour200a: Fundamentals Of Editing And Reporting I — Teaching Lede Writing For Digital/Print, Broadcast And Social Media Simultaneously, Chris Graves

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting I is a foundational course required for all majors in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The first half of the course focuses on grammar, AP style, determining how to identify news and good editing. The second half of the course pivots to applying those principles in writing by focusing on teaching students how to summarize news facts, write them in an inverted pyramid news writing style for digital/print publication and also for broadcast and social media platforms. There are key differences in writing for various platforms …

Word Problems In The Mathematics Textbook: An Instructional Resource Guide To Support Writing Instruction., Christine Picot, Jenifer Jasinski Schneider

Transformations

Abstract

Mathematics textbooks typically include word problems or story problems that require students to develop extended written responses. Yet, the answers to these prompts can vary so widely that preservice and inservice teachers must be prepared for multiple levels of interpretation of the language used to capture mathematical thinking. Based on an analysis of word problems within two teacher’s editions of elementary mathematics textbooks, we describe a series of strategies and tasks to scaffold teachers’ understanding of planning for word problems during mathematics instruction. We detail the following components; (1) the use of the Instructional Resource Guide, which assists …

The Dimensions Of Teachers Who Write And The Essence Of A Writing Life, Shari L. Daniels, Pamela Beck

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The purpose of this grounded theory case study was to explore the perceptions among ten K-12 teachers who teach writing and also write themselves. What are the key essentials for teachers to sustain a writing life? What habits of mind or attitudes are necessary for teachers to sustain a writing life? Interviews served as the primary data source along with writing artifacts from the participants’ own writing life. Findings indicate that teacher-writers committed to a writing life do so for the purpose of 1) discovering meaning, 2) connections to others 3) commitment to learning and 4) well-being, with an overall …

Teachers Writing, Healing, And Resisting, Anne Elrod Whitney

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

For at least the past twenty years, writing education and writing teacher education have been carried out in more and more tightly managed, neoliberally influenced policy conditions as well as worsening conditions of inequality in educational resources based on both race and on income. The result is increasingly dehumanizing conditions for teaching and learning writing. This context intersects in interesting ways with the notion of the teacher-writer. This essay re-raises and reframes the idea of the teacher-writer to open up possibilities for both resilience, and resistance-- both in teachers’ individual lives, and for teachers in the collective sense.

Empower: An Adaptable Writing Intervention, Carly Dinnes

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

EmPOWER is a six-stage writing intervention designed by speech-language pathologists to improve the expository writings of school-aged children with language learning and executive function disabilities. The intervention uses scaffolded instruction to transform struggling students into independent and self-regulating writers by training the students to use a variety of supports (e.g., graphic organizers, checklists) and strategies (e.g., referring back to the writing prompt) throughout the writing process. Many key features of the EmPOWER approach to writing instruction directly support components described in cognitive models of writing, which indicates that EmPOWER is a theory-guided writing intervention that may benefit a wide range …

Keeping Things Going: Reflections On Teaching “Teaching Writing” Online, Emily S. Meixner

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

What does it mean to “keep things going online” in an undergraduate teacher education course on teaching writing? In this article, a teacher educator describes how, in consultation with her students, she adapted a secondary English methods course on teaching writing to teach it online. While highlighting and celebrating what worked, she also reflects on lessons learned and teaching questions that continue to persist.

Rethinking The Teaching Of Writing In An Era Of Remote Learning: Lessons Learned From A Local Site Of The National Writing Project, Troy Hicks

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close in the spring of 2020, teacher consultants from a local writing project site were compelled to make their practice public, sharing conversations about what remote learning and the teaching of writing could look like through a series of eight webinars and, subsequently, an open institute in the summer of 2020. Built on principles of the National Writing Project including openness, flexibility, and an inquiry-driven stance toward professional learning, the work of this site’s director and teacher leaders is described as they worked together to think about issues of equity and access, socio-emotional …

Potential Roles Of Speech-Language Pathologists In Advancing Early Intervention And Prevention Within A Multi-Tiered System Of Supports (Mtss) Framework, Meaghan A. Mckenna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a framework that promotes school improvement through tiered deployment of research-based academic and behavioral practices. MTSS employs a systems approach whereby data-based problem solving integrates effective assessment and instruction designed to meet the academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs of all students. Many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are interested in better understanding their role within MTSS and others have a desire to lead efforts at their school site or the district level, but are unsure of where to begin. This dissertation includes three papers that explore potential roles and responsibilities of SLPs within a multi-tiered …

The Impact Of Family Engagement On Student Achievement, Christina M. Hall

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This action research study explores the impact of family engagement on student achievement using three family/student pairs. Family involvement has an impact on student learning and achievement throughout the school year. Taking a look at how a family’s involvement in their student’s learning plays a part on the achievement the student has throughout the school year. Previous writing scores were used to compare the growth made within a three-month period after the families worked with students to give feedback through a classroom communication app. Families were able to work at home to give feedback while their students were in class …

Teacher Candidates As Writers: What Is The Relationship Between Writing Experiences And Pedagogical Practice, Vicki Mcquitty, Ellen Ballock

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Both teacher candidates (TCs) and practicing teachers are asked to engage in personal writing experiences as means of learning about writing instruction. Yet, research on the relationship between writing and teaching writing provides variable, sometimes contradictory, results. This study investigated the relationship between TCs’ experiences writing a personal narrative in an undergraduate teacher education course and how they read and respond to a second grader’s personal narrative. Results indicate that, initially, many TCs did not draw on their writing experiences to inform how they analyzed, interpreted, and responded to the student’s composition. However, when specifically prompted to think about their …

The Intersection Of Influential Reading With Writing In Multimodal Contexts, Grace Rusk Kerr

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have touted the importance of teacher self-efficacy on the motivation and achievement of their students (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Bandura, 1994 & 2002; Mojavezi & Tamiz, 2012). When teachers have high levels of self-efficacy (the level at which teachers believe they can affect student outcomes), their students achieve at higher levels and develop increased levels of motivation. By extension, we posit that if teachers have increased self-efficacy regarding their own writing abilities, it will translate into increased motivation and achievement levels for their students in the area of writing. The purpose of this three-article dissertation is to support …

Yellow Pads And The Return Of The Writer, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Using Inquiry In Teacher Professional Learning To Build Efficacy For Writing Instruction, Jacqueline B. Koonce, Melissa Brooks-Yip, Kathleen Gibson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Whitacre (2019) and Curtis (2017) found that participants’ efficacy impacted their writing instruction and ability to engage students. We share our experiences with a professional development program aimed to improve teacher efficacy and literacy of elementary teachers. In this professional learning network, the Study of Early Literacy (SOEL), a higher percentage of teachers reported to a Hanover Research survey that they felt less confident in teaching writing than other areas of literacy. To address this need, one of the authors developed a subgroup to specifically address the teaching of writing with an inquiry-based action research component. Most of the teachers …

The Evolution Of A Structured Writing Accountability Group (Swag), Alice M. Brawley Newlin, Chas. Phillips, Patturaja Selvaraj

Friday Forum

In this Friday Forum, Professors Chas. Phillips (Political Science), Alice Brawley Newlin (Management), and Patturaja Selvaraj (Management) will cover two key aspects of their ongoing Structured Writing Accountability Group (SWAG). First, we'll talk about we have varied the structure of the SWAG since Summer 2018, including our celebratory end-of-year conference in 2019 which was sponsored through the generosity of the Provost’s Office grants for Faculty Reading/Writing Groups. Second, we'll briefly highlight the projects and products we have accomplished through our SWAG. Though the principles of the SWAG are simple, participating in this group has greatly enhanced the rate and quality …

The Importance Of Teacher Self-Efficacy In The Implementation Of A Middle And High School Science Writing Initiative, Michelle P. Whitacre

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study focuses on the experiences of two science teachers who worked to implement a writing-focused, science literacy project in their classrooms. More specifically, I uncover the ways these teachers’ experiences differed and how these differences influenced their implementation. Findings confirm the importance of content teachers’ sense of self-efficacy as writers and writing teachers. In order to foster writing initiatives at the middle and secondary levels, we must honor and nurture content teachers’ sense of self-efficacy and give them multiple opportunities to develop mastery experiences.

The Motivation To Write Profile-College: A Tool To Assess The Writing Motivation Of Teacher Candidates, Ernest Solar, Angela Marie Mucci-Guido Ph.D., Carolyn Cook, Barbara Marinak

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Writing is an important aspect of literacy regardless of the grade or discipline. State standards have defined the writing genres, crafts, and skills that are to be taught by teachers in PK-12 classrooms. However, in addition to standards, research indicates that a teacher’s own conception of writing is crucial to establishing classroom conditions necessary for young writers to grow, explore and take risks. If this is the job of PK-12 educators, then it is essential for higher education instructors to understand and explore the writing conceptions of teacher candidates. One of these critical conceptions is the motivation to write. The …

From Creative Writing To A Self’S Liberation: A Monologue Of A Struggling Writer, Ethan Trinh

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

The pressure of being alone in a new country and of surviving in a competitive academia has scared me to death. I cannot find any better way to heal me other than writing. Writing helps me make sense of the worlds and come closer to my true self. This piece is journeying from my own struggles of a Vietnamese, queer, immigrant teacher to accept who I am as a writer. In addition, writing this piece helps me get closer to decademizing academic writing in higher education.

Using Literacy Quadrants In Preparing Teachers Of Writing: Reflective Tools For Identity, Agency, And Dialogue, Elsie Lindy Olan, Kia Jane Richmond

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The researchers of this hermeneutic phenomenological study applied Colaizzi’s (1978) method to analyze and interpret English Language Arts (ELA) teacher candidates’ (TC) learning experiences with literacy quadrants and narratives while attending secondary writing instruction methods courses in diverse institutional settings. Qualitative strategies of data collection included inquiry-driven activities such as drawing and written reflections to literacy quadrants, as well as oral responses to open-ended questions. TCs, moving from knowledge to action, were reflexive about their literacy and learning experiences and the application of knowledge and practices when preparing to teach English to all students. Analysis of TCs’ narratives showed reliance …

Relational Response: Preservice Teachers Providing Writing Feedback In Three Middle School Partnerships, Beth M. Lehman Ph.D., Jenny M. Martin Ph.D., Karen Santos Rogers Ph.D.

Teacher Education Program Faculty Scholarship

Providing meaningful feedback to student writers is a nuanced, fully human endeavor. Thus, teaching preservice teachers, in all disciplines, to respond to students’ writing is a complex task, one that requires intentional instruction and practice. In this article, we use practitioner inquiry to analyze our experiences and teaching approaches with preservice teachers who provided feedback to middle school writers through three public school partnerships. The partnerships employed varied modes of communication, including digital platforms, paper notebooks, letter writing, one-to-one tutoring, and face-to-face school visits. Response patterns suggest authentic experiences that explicitly teach and support writing practice spur the ability of …

Using Spanish In English-Language Spaces: Identifying Bilingual Composition Students' Translanguaging Practices, Maria Isela Maier

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation is a qualitative study that uses ethnographic research methods to examine the translanguaging practices of bilingual students in first-year composition at a university along the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, I observe how and why bilingual students employ translanguaging practices, as they are encouraged or invited by their instructors, in contexts where English Standard Language policies exist. The results of this qualitative project demonstrate bilingual students' use of translation as part of their translanguaging practices, as well as a tool that uncovers students' writing processes which also demonstrates their language negotiation. Furthermore, the students' translanguaging practices reveal the rhetorical use …

Bringing Math To Life: Provide Students Opportunities To Connect Their Lives To Math, Carol D. Benson-O'Connor, Christina Mcdaniel, Jason Carr

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Math journals provide students with opportunities to articulate their understanding of math concepts and/or their frustrations with the gaps in those understandings. Their use supports metacognitive thinking to enhance understanding and application. This study took a look at the use of math journals by fourth grade students as a conduit for critical thinking, reflection, and real world math application. For this study, student journal entries consisted of identification of a real-life event, the use of a problem-solving strategy learned during class instruction, narrative of both the problem’s description as well as the rationale for choosing the problem, and the use …

K-2 Mathematicians & Writers: Professional Learning Communities For Developing Conceptual Understanding, Doris Santarone, Angel R. Abney, Sandra M. Webb

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has long supported the use of children’s literature, writing, and manipulatives to improve conceptual understanding of mathematics (2000). In a professional learning community for K-2 teachers, professional development was designed and implemented on ways to incorporate literacy and manipulatives into a mathematics lesson. The teachers were charged with collaboratively planning lessons that included multiple components: the standard(s), a mathematics activity, manipulatives, a writing task, and children’s literature. As the data were analyzed, it became apparent that while most of the lessons were well connected, this did not happen for all of the lessons. …

Five Instructional Practices To Optimize Peer Feedback Activities Among Adult Learners, Regina C. Rodriguez, Laurie A. Sharp

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

There is a significant need for adult learners to improve their writing proficiency within a variety of contexts. Thus, postsecondary instructors require effective research-based teaching strategies to support adult learners hone their writing skills. While studies on peer feedback abound, little has been done to date to consider ways in which postsecondary instructors design quality peer feedback activities within their courses. The purpose of this article was to describe five instructional practices to optimize peer feedback activities among adult learners.

Final Ma Portfolio, Angela Geiger-Fields

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This is a final portfolio reflecting my writing and research for the Master of Arts in English with a specialization in English Teaching program. In this portfolio, I have included four essays or projects that focus on the topics of authentic audiences; argumentative, research, and technical writing; postcolonial film and literature; and linguistics. The portfolio begins with a personal narrative of my time in the program as well as the revisions and research I completed to make the finalized portfolio.

Correlates Among Teachers’ Anxieties, Demographics, And Telecomputing Activity, Judith B. Harris, Neal Grandgenett

Judith Harris

Are educators' anxiety levels or demographics related to their voluntary use of networked resources? In this study, one year of logins and online time for 189 randomly selected educators with accounts on Tenet (Texas Education Network) were correlated with six interval-level subject attribute variables: (a) writing apprehension, (b) oral communication apprehension, (c) computer anxiety, (d) age, (e) teaching experience, and (f) telecomputing experience. The usage data were also correlated with three nominal-level subject attribute variables: (a) gender, (b) professional specialty, and (c) teaching level. Results indicated that writing apprehension was significantly and negatively correlated with network use, and that telecomputing …

The Writer's Workbook Intervention: Promoting Writing Achievement, Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

Journal of Research Initiatives

Research demonstrates that American high school students are not writing with proficiency, and teachers are not providing adequate writing instruction. This study examined the effectiveness of a writing intervention on achievement using pre- and post-intervention data. The instructional intervention combined self-regulated strategy development, peer and teacher feedback, reflection, and flexible writing practice to strengthen persuasive and argumentative writing in high school students. 95 ninth- and tenth-grade Delaware public school students in higher and lower-level classes participated in the instructional intervention, and twenty-five students’ writings were scored before and after the intervention to assess growth. Pre/post mean ratings of writing quality …

Identifying Elements Of Voice And Fostering Voice Development In First-Grade Science Writing, Mckenna Lucille Maguet

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this multi case study was to better understand voice in first grade science writing. Voice is the ability for individuals to synchronize specific narrative elements to express themselves with greater confidence and individuality. Three first-grade participants were chosen and their use of voice in science writing was examined across 8 weeks. Specific elements of voice were identified within atypical informational texts for primary grade learners in science. The 7 elements include descriptive words, placement of text and picture, creative punctuation, conversational tone, comparisons, imagery, and repeated text. The 7 voice elements were taught to a class of …

Learning Moo-Re About The Dairy: Publishing A Middle Level Place-Based Informational Text, Stephanie M. Lemley

MLET: The Journal of Middle Level Education in Texas

This manuscript describes the creation of an middle level informational text about the local university dairy. The place-based assignment introduced the elementary education teacher candidates to the everyday workings of the university dairy. The preservice teachers engaged in the writing process throughout the creation of the informational text.

Thinking Outside The Box: Incorporating Critical Thinking Strategies In Esl Reading & Writing Instruction, Johanna Carranza

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

ESL students in the United States avail the resources of community college to achieve their goal of academic excellence. However, many community colleges struggle to prepare their students for mainstream four-year institutions. Aside from reading, writing, and speaking, learning a second language requires the development of critical thinking skills which are not emphasized enough for many ESL students in contemporary American academia.

As such, there are two major problems that this project aims to address. The first is that English as a Second Language (ESL) and English instructors have different expectations for ESL students. ESL instructors do not focus …