Education Commons^™

Unlocking Passion And Setting Students Free: The Impact Of Culturally Relevant Writing Instruction In A Middle School English I Classroom, Adam Whitaker, Trina J. Davis, Mónica V. Neshyba

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Culturally relevant writing instruction has the potential to validate the voices of students often not heard. Documented disparities in student writing proficiency in grades K-12 indicate a pressing need to employ more effective approaches in facilitating writing instruction. This paper presents the findings of a mixed methods research study that explored eighth grade English I students’ middle school reading and writing preferences, writing experiences, and the impact of culturally relevant writing instruction. Data were gathered from 63 students via reflective journals, writing interest forms, learning logs, and writing artifacts collected throughout a 3-week writing unit. Our findings reveal that writing …

The Importance Of Affective Variables In Private Academic Settings: A Review Of High School Teachers And University Professors’ Approach, Luiza Zeqiri

UBT International Conference

Understanding students’ feelings in the classroom is a complex phenomenon. There are cases when students come to school or university: sick, feeling sad, afraid, ignored or neglected from their friends or their family members. All these are possible factors which can have an impact on the emotional states of the students in the classroom. As a result, their negative emotions can be a serious threat to their academic achievements. If teachers ignore the influence of affective variables on students’ behaviour, the students are more likely to fail. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how high school teachers and university professors; …

Writing Essays For Parkland College Scholarships, Angela Gulick

Personal Statements for College Applications and Scholarships

Every semester, students are invited to apply for free money courtesy of Parkland College scholarships. This handout gives you advice on how to write such an essay.

The Power Of Conflict Or Rhetoric And Poetry, Suzanne Riskin

be Still

I am grateful for the opportunity to write this piece, share my thoughts and give a moment of gratitude for the grace that medical students show to others, their attending physicians, patients and most importantly themselves Effective writing, speaking, and expression is easily born from a struggle with others. Our own internal battles emote themselves as prolific poetry.

This piece was inspired by the quote by Yeats.

Connecting Writing To Life: The Effects Of Place-Conscious Education On Writing In A First Grade Classroom, Tara P. Dietrich

Theses and Dissertations

This study describes a problem of practice encountered in a first-grade class in the southeast. Students exhibited negative attitudes during the writing process. Because of this, the quality of their writing suffered. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between attitudes and writing achievement in a first-grade class using place-conscious education. Additionally, this study was also built upon the social constructivism learning theory. To address the problem of practice, the researcher conducted a mixed-methods action research case study to analyze the effects of place-conscious education on students’ attitudes and proficiencies on writing. The study was guided by …

Using Natural Language Processing To Increase Modularity And Interpretability Of Automated Essay Evaluation And Student Feedback, Chris Roche, Nathan Deinlein, Darryl Dawkins, Faizan Javed

SMU Data Science Review

For English teachers and students who are dissatisfied with the one-size-fits-all approach of current Automated Essay Scoring (AES) systems, this research uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques that provide a focus on configurability and interpretability. Unlike traditional AES models which are designed to provide an overall score based on pre-trained criteria, this tool allows teachers to tailor feedback based upon specific focus areas. The tool implements a user-interface that serves as a customizable rubric. Students’ essays are inputted into the tool either by the student or by the teacher via the application’s user-interface. Based on the rubric settings, the tool …

Resilience Through Reading And Writing In Lambeaux By Charles Juliet, Sophie Nicolaïdès-Salloum

BAU Journal - Society, Culture and Human Behavior

Lambeaux writen by Charles Juliet is the result of a trauma in his early infancy. A month after his birth, he is separated from his mother interned in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide tentative. His biological father entrusts him to a family who will love him and raise him like their own. When he becomes an adult he decides to write his biological mother’s biography with his imagination because he had not enough information about her life and his autobiography bind to his adoptive mother. Writing becomes his resilience. Two people help him to achieve his goal: his adoptive …

The Path To Self-Authorship: The Pre-Service Teacher-Writer, Shari L. Daniels Dr., Pamela Beck

Literacy Practice and Research

This literature review examined the relationship between the development of a teacher who writes (teacher-writer) and the phases of self-authorship, “the internal capacity to define one's beliefs, identity and social relations” (Baxter Magolda, 2001, p. 269). The narratives of three teacher-writer-authors show a correlation to Magolda’s self-authorship phases. The purpose of this examination was to explore the question: How might a writing support teachers in personally and professionally? Research suggests new teachers are unprepared for today’s classrooms. Could this unpreparedness may be related to a lack of self-authorship? Might a consistent writing practice propel teachers through the phases of self-authorship …

Review Of Writing Like A Pr Pro: Why Writing Is Still Crucial In A Digital And Visual World, Christopher Ortega

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Writing like a PR pro: Why writing is still crucial in a digital and visual world (2017) by Mary Sterenberg found at https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/writelikeapro/

Writing Strategies And Older Students With Learning Disabilities, Lisa J. D. Thomas

LC Journal of Special Education

This review focuses on literature dealing with strategies for writing for older students with learning disabilities. Specifically, the literature in this review deals with strategies that have developed from both cognitive/motivational conceptualizations, which looks at aspects of writing such as student ability and mental processes, and social/contextual conceptualizations, which looks at collaboration and the writing environment (Graham & Harris, 2011) . In the following three sections, I will provide a brief summary and critical analysis of five articles regarding writing strategies for high school students with learning disabilities, a discussion of the overall findings from these five articles, and implications …

A Spark Of Light In The Darkness: A Framework Of Habits And Routines That Grow Literacy Identities, Andy Schoenborn

Michigan Reading Journal

Using familiar and flexible classroom routines, authentic literacy habits, and encouragement, his students moved from "I hate reading and writing" to self-identifying as readers and writers in a matter of eighteen weeks.

From Writer To Teacher: The Gradual Release Of Responsibility In An Early Childhood Education Writing Course For Pre-Service Teachers, Denise N. Morgan, Danielle G. Gruhler, Kristen I. Evans

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Teaching students to become confident, capable writers is imperative in today’s world. Growing attention has been paid to the amount and kinds of writing students are experiencing in schools with an urgent plea for more time and attention given to writing instruction (Nagin, 2003; National Commission on Writing, 2003). Yet, few teachers feel well prepared to teach writing.

In this special issue on writing methods courses, we discuss the evolution of our writing methods course for early childhood preservice teachers (PK-5). Specifically, we examine the current pedagogical practices within the course to support preservice teachers’ experiential learning. This piece examines …

Learning About Teaching Writing: The Use Of Roles To Support Preservice Teachers Pedagogical Knowledge And Practices, Kristine Pytash, Denise N. Morgan, Elizabeth Testa

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

If teacher educators are fortunate to be able to teach a writing methods class, they encounter challenges in designing field experiences that support what preservice teachers are learning in their course. In this article, we described how we developed a unique field placement where the preservice teachers worked in teams and rotated roles each week. We found that these taking on these roles provided preservice teachers with unique lenses to learning about writing, students, and general teaching pedagogies.

The Development Of Discourse Markers In Narrations Written By Spanish Heritage Language Learners: A Case For Explicit And Implicit Instruction, Mark Cisneros

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This Dissertation attempted to determine the types and number of discourse markers (DMs) used in narrations written by Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) learners and if they benefitted from the following pedagogical intervention (i.e., Explicit Instruction + Input Flood + Textual Enhancement) regarding the use of DMs. It also calculated the syntactic complexity, morphosyntactic accuracy, and fluency of their narrations. For this study, 39 SHL learners served as participants: 19 in an Experimental group and 20 in a Control group. All participants wrote two narrations of two short, silent films: a pre-test narration and an immediate post-test narration. Before completing the …

“We Can Position Ourselves As Experts”: Teachers Learning To Write And Publish On National Blogs, Henry "Cody" Miller, Gage Jeter

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This article focuses on a collective case study of two teachers attending a professional development workshop focused on writing for publication via educational blogs. Through a qualitative study, we sought to understand how attending the workshop and publishing on a national organization's blog shaped the two teachers' own identities as teachers and shifted their thinking about blogs as a genre. We argue the two teachers had a shift in conceptualizing what counted as scholarship as well as problematizing who counted as a scholar. In an era of increased attacks on teachers' intellectualism and autonomy, we believe publishing on national blogs …

Brenda Jackson Final Master's Portfolio, Brenda Jackson

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Best Practices for English Teachers: Effective Writing Assessment Techniques

How Technical Communicators Enhance Training Knowledge Transfer: A Diverse Approach

Combining Backward Design With Narrative Tools Can Structure Complex Subjects Into Engaging Courses, Francisco J. Laso

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

Backward course design helps align course outcomes with assignments and learning experiences. However, it is still challenging to simplify complex subjects into 10- week courses. Olson’s And-But-Therefore (ABT) framework can help instructors identify threshold concepts within their subject to thread a straightforward yet compelling narrative through their course. Pairing the ABT framework with backward course design can be particularly useful for expansive subjects with no clear thematic or chronological progression.

Talking About Writing: Supporting In-Discipline Instructors By Using A Reflective Process To Implement Student-Centered Writing Assignments In Accounting, Lucas Walker

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

Departmental writing plans and faculty support are proven methods to help In-Discipline instructors more effectively teach writing. Talking about this developmental process is invaluable if departments are going to successfully implement a writing plan. Talking about writing is also crucial as In-Discipline instructors and writing studies instructors coordinate to create writing assignments in the classroom. Students need to learn to write for reasons other than to earn a grade and they need to actively engage with writing in a way that prepares them for their professional life. This paper focuses on one Accounting class to illustrate some of the challenges …

To What Extent Does The Implementation Of Student-Centered Assignments Increase Student Engagement, Agency, And Success In Mus 342 And Mus 343?, Haley Nutt

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

This brief essay explores the extent to which the implementation of student-centered assignments increases student engagement, agency, and success in MUS 342 and MUS 343. Beginning with descriptions of both courses and a few points regarding my own pedagogical philosophies, I discuss the premise and grading guidelines for an example student-centered assignment in MUS 342 titled “Personal Grove Encyclopedia Entry.” The write-up closes with a summary of what I hope my students can learn from the assignment initially, as well as how they can self-reflect on the assignment at the end of MUS 343 the following quarter.

Practicing Healthy Relationships In Academic Spaces Through Informed Revision, Melina Juarez

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

I try to create classroom environments where students of diverse backgrounds can develop their intellectual curiosity and can engage others with vulnerability and respect by centering relationality and community-building as key practices of knowledge and learning. I implemented Informed Revision through a “research feedback day” as an instructional strategy to help me further engage students in these processes through writing and research. I was interested in understanding: To what extent does informed revision increase students’ engagement with the course assignments and with each other? I found that this intervention: increased student confidence in their knowledge and work; provided space for …

Crossing The River Together: Complicating Learning Outcomes In Writing Classes, Sophia Brauner

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

In this essay, I ask how Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe) functions in planning skill-based composition classes. I inspect how the first step of Wiggins and McTighe’s approach to course design, establishing desired learning outcomes prior to meeting the students, makes generalizing and limiting assumptions about a heterogenous group of students. I complicate Understanding by Design with Willie James Jennings’ notion of “forced affection,” positing that predetermined learning outcomes hinder students in their unique expression of ideas and identity. I close by suggesting inventing “big ideas” for writing classes which students then fill with meaning themselves, resulting in a …

Including The Obvious: Why Are We Doing This?, Elizabeth Colen

Backward by Design Mini-Studies

Along with including the usual sections for “what” to do and “how” to do it, when developing an essay writing prompt, providing a section to explicate “why” students will be completing the assignment results in a significant improvement of the quality of essays received, as well as a noted improvement in student ability to connect with several of the overall Student Learning Outcomes of the class. This write-up examines shifts made in assignment construction, as well as the results of that shift as realized in a 200-level Queer Literature course.

Helping High School English Learners Self-Regulate Their Writing Development Through Formative Assessments, Pamela Madsen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The goal of many educators is to prepare students for lifelong learning, yet something about the U.S. school system is having the opposite effect; while students begin their educational journey with curiosity and excitement, somewhere along the way, their thirst for knowledge is extinguished and replaced with the goal of just getting by. This is especially true for English learners who are often overwhelmed with the simultaneous learning of language and content and whose diverse backgrounds create diverse needs. Through exploring the theory of self-regulated learning, characteristics of effective formative assessment, and how best to meet the cultural and …

This Could Have Been An Email: Adapting English Language Arts Curriculum To Better Suit Modern Communication Needs, Emily Millin

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As technology and society evolve, so do the modes and practices of communication. The teacher resources and classroom activities presented within this capstone project focus on the combination of Minnesota’s English Language Arts (ELA) and College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards to develop future-ready classroom curricula and activities. Through the creation of an asynchronous professional resource for educators, this project works to highlight key tenets of modern communication, skills students will need in their futures, and showcase how these skills can look in the classroom. With research focusing on academic standards, employability skills, and classroom curriculum and instruction, the goal …

Using The “Card” Response Technique To Assist Middle School Students In The Revision Process, Katherine E. Batchelor

Journal of Response to Writing

Although revision is essential to the writing process, it is often neglected in schools. However, when revision is taught successfully, through reflection, conferencing, positive teacher feedback, specific instruction linked to reading strategies, and time between drafts in order for students to think about their writing (including the expectation of multiple drafts), students not only revise more, but at a deeper level. This study investigates how middle school students’ writing drafts as well as attitudes and beliefs toward revision changed based on introducing a specific revision strategy called the CARD response technique, which is both a self-response and peer-response strategy. CARD …

Improving First- And Second-Year Student Writing Using A Metacognitive And Integrated Assessment Approach, Leanne Havis

Journal of Response to Writing

Metacognition emphasizes an awareness and understanding of one’s thought and cognitive processes, along with management of cognition through multiple strategies including organizing, monitoring, and adapting. Before students can truly become effective writers, they must develop an appreciation for the amount of planning, organization, and revision that comprises a writing assignment. In order to improve student writing, the exam autopsy approach, an integrated post-exam assessment model that draws upon self-assessment, peer review, and instructor feedback, was modified to include metacognitive components for use with essay exams and writing assignments. The current study employed a mixed-methods design with a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent group …

Engl 130: Writing About Literature In English, Kimberley A. Garcia

Open Educational Resources

This Open and Free Educational Resource (OER) and Zero-Cost Syllabus outlines a set of course materials for English 130: Writing about Literature in English. The course materials provided (all open education resources) include both written and visual texts to accompany and encourage multimodal assignments. The materials provided address literary analysis or composition practices and are adaptable to specific topics or literary works. The course model presented consists of three units (literary analysis, rhetorical analysis & scholarly engagement, and independent research).

Teaching With The Genius In Mind: Enacting Literacy As A Civil Right, Katie Glupker, Pam Gower, Angela Knight

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Because literacy is a civil right, educators are responsible for designing and implementing literacy education that is designed with the excellence of all students in mind. In order to learn about ways to ensure that literary practices are equitable for all students, the authors joined an educators’ book club to read Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad. Muhammad describes the Black literary societies of the past and challenges educators of today to enhance classrooms by upholding equity and excellence through a five-layered framework: Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy.

We studied Muhammad’s …

Developing Teacher Candidates’ Multicultural Lenses Through Disciplinary Writing Assignments, Kristie Gutierrez, Jori S. Beck, Kaavonia Hinton, Kelly Rippard, Yonghee Suh

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of providing scaffolded disciplinary writing assignments to develop teacher candidates’ multicultural lenses. This study was set in a secondary education program at one mid-Atlantic university. Faculty in this program focused on five dimensions of multicultural education (ME) to better serve teacher candidates within their program through the development of ME-focused disciplinary writing assignments. In required courses within the program, teacher candidates (TCs) completed assignments such as a student shadow experience, infographic, journal, community mapping activity, and practitioner journal article. Qualitative data were collected to explore TCs’ understanding of the ME …

Book Review Letting Go Of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction For White Students, Jeremy Hyler

Michigan Reading Journal

Race, racism, and literary whiteness are at the forefront of many conversations in education today. In Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students, authors Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides highlight what should be addressed in our classroom today to address race and racism.