So Familiar!

The Introduction to the Handbook of Research on Writing sums up exactly what I've been trying to communicate in my district for so long: the fact that there is so much emphasis on READING instruction and so little on actual WRITING instruction, yet reading is more of a passive act and writing is not.

After reading the following quotes, I didn't know whether to feel validated in my beliefs, or frustrated that these ideas are not yet embraced. "It is by writing that we inscribe our place in the literate world and all the social systems that depend on literacy" (p.1), and "It is a truism that extensive reading expands one's resources for writing, but it is equally essential that as one writes one becomes more deeply engaged in reading, to enter into dialogue with the literate world" (p.2).

In the article, The Reader, The Scribe, The Thinker: A Critical Look at the History of American Reading and Writing Instruction, Monaghan and Saul have put together a clear historical look at exactly why reading is emphasized over writing. The historical perspective relating how reading was an easy means of social control, was fascinating and a little scary. Equally scary for me is the fact that I have just been asked to pilot a Basal Reading Program that has just been purchased for our district. We have been using the Guided Reading philosophy successfully for the last few years which I have adapted to include even more student choice in reading material and now they want me to go backwards. I am fighting this as much as I can, but I think I'm going to lose. I went for the training and it made me a little ill to hear the publisher rep say things like, "You don't even have to think, it's all done for you." I wanted to run from the room screaming.

So, the content of this article was all too familiar to me and not in a good way. So sad.

50 Years of Research on Writing: What Have We Learned?

Who knew you could find Peter Elbow, Charles Bazerman, and George Hillocks discussing writing research on You Tube? Talk about Web 2.0! Here is the link to the hour long conversation moderated by the director of the South Coast Writing Project, UC Santa Barbara.

Watch Video Here

New Focus?

The more I think about what I want to research, the more I am intrigued by the idea of writing in connection with LGBT issues. I am quite passionate about working with this student population because I think it is something with which schools continue to struggle. I wonder how teacher bias affects these students, either outright or in subtle ways and how writing can be of help.

I'm leaning toward looking at how writing assignments can be used to help students express their feelings and help others understand what they're going through. I'm thinking about looking at the use of a writing community idea (online/global connection?) that might help them find support. I'm anxious to take a hard look at what is currently being studied and how I can formulate a related research topic. Maybe I'm way off here, but it's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Having a gay nephew has brought me close to the situation and I think this is an important issue for schools today.

Here We Go Again!

Back to the blog! It's been a busy fall and here I am back in writing mode. Since last summer, my journey to find a research topic has taken a zig-zag route. Over the course of my Research in Reading/Language Arts Seminar, I thought I had narrowed it down to investigating student engagement and motivation. While this is still very important to me, I realize I am also interested in using writing as therapy. Oh, no, here I go again!

I briefly looked for scholarly articles on this subject and didn't have any luck. I did find an interesting

perspective, though. I'll have to look longer later, but here is a good introduction to the topic:

Writing as Therapy