I have offically reconstructed the focus of my Change Project.
New Research question/topic: How do teachers of writing go about adapting teaching expressive writing to those students in their classroom with learning differences?
Annotated Bibliography
Gersten, Russell, Scott Baker, and Lana Edwards. “Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities.” The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (1999). 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.ldonline.org/article/6201>.
The authors in this article examine some methods for teaching expressive writing to students with disabilities. They include examples like how to write a personal narrative, persuasive essays, and other genres.
LeFever, Gretchen P, Andrea P Arcona, and David O Antonuccio. “ADHD among American Schoolchildren: Evidence of Over-diagnosis and Overuse of Medication.” The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice 2.1. 14 Apr. 2009 <http://www.srmhp.org/0201/adhd.html>.
The authors in this article (two from Center for Pediatric Research and one from University of Nevada School of Medicine) examine statistics on different communities to learn how EDHD diagnosis has fluctuated in recent years. They also seek to research how psychotropic medication has an outcome on the diagnosed students.
Baum, Susan M, and Richard F Olenchak. “The Alphabet Children: GT, ADHD, and More.” Exceptionality 10.2 (2002): 77–91. 14 Apr. 2009 <http://0-web.ebscohost.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=6&hid=5&sid=1cf58cd5-9e74-4e9d-9739-e8b9f46579be%40sessionmgr8>.
In this article, the authors discuss the effects of misdiagnosis of young students in the classroom. They discuss the lack of considering behavioral characteristics among children and how they can lead to misdiagnosis.
Solanto, Mary, and Xavier Castellanos. Stimulant drugs and ADHD. Oxford University Press, 2009.
The authors discuss the diagnosis criteria that go into diagnosing a student with ADHD. They do this by providing data and statistical trends through the years that demonstrate over-diagnosis of ADHD and the dilemma that comes with it.
Richards, Regina. “Strategies for the Reluctant Writer.” LDonline. 21 Apr. 2009 http://www.ldonline.org/article/6215.
Richards is a well-known therapist in the special education field who has researched and created many treatment programs for students with learning diabilities. In this article, she offers ways in which teachers may adapt their lessons on the writing process to fit the needs of students with learning differences.
Reuss, Thomas. Personal interview. Date TBA.
Reuss is a veteran instructor in the School of Intervention Services program at BGSU.
Neman explains that in expository writing a writer states their points and arguments directly, but in narrative writing writers state their ideas in a more subtle context. Though I feel that writing one’s ideas in a narrative sense is much more effective for the reader. When writing our Change Projects, which would be considered more expository writing, could it be helpful to write some ideas and points in a narrative sense?
Neman proposes that rhetorical analysis is important to all grade levels. I wonder then, how do we teach rhetorical analysis differently depending on the grade for which we are teaching?
I would like to research how exactly to go about translating students’ abilities of reflecting in their journals, into actually writing a formal draft. I think the task of getting them to write in their journals will not be difficult, it’s how to those idea place formally into a paper that I see as an obstacle.
Shawn Bally
ENG 484
4/6/09
Writing Center Observation Reflection
On April 2nd, 2009 I observed a writing consultation in the writing center. From the moment I entered the main writing center room with the consultant and the student, I was intrigued by the setting and surrounding. The room is set in an extremely welcoming design. It is set to look like a living room with a fake fireplace, couches, center table, flowers, paintings, etc. It was obvious that this setting was placed to establish a warm welcoming for students who need help with their writing pieces. Furthermore, the consultant was nothing shy of this warm and welcoming atmosphere. Whether planned or not, her voice was also easy-going and soothing to listen to. It was clearer that the student trusted this consultant because immediately when the consultant showed up, they began talking about how each other has been doing and if things have been going well. In this way, the consultant built a relationship of trust and rapport with the student.
When the consultation began, the first thing the consultant asked the student was if she would be ok with the consultant using the “comment button” feature as a means to correcting and working with the student’s paper on the computer. She also explained that she wanted to allocate their time together as efficient as possible. Both of these acts motivated the student to stay focused and work productively from the start.
As the consultant read through and edited the paper, she would use both praise and encouragement with the student. For example, when she would read a passage that she liked or found effective, she would tell the student “I really like what you did here.” Similarly in spots where the consultant saw room for improvement, she would tell the student “this is not a big problem. This is definitely something we can work on.” This was effective in helping the student because it never got her down on her inabilities or flaws.
I also noticed that the consultant focused primarily on content as opposed to mechanics when assisting the student. While she did pay attention to the student’s organization, her focus was more on the support for the student’s argument and the argument that she was making. As a future writing teacher, this correlates with my priorities of working with students’ writing. That is, that content is always more important than the craft-centered aspects of writing.