As I look back at the
syllabus and take a look at the objectives, I realize how much this course helped
me to grow as a learner.
I have definitely
learned a great deal about the variety of genres readers and writers use to
communicate. I have also learned the
flexibility in these genres. I have
gained insight on how these genres overlap to meet the needs of the
writer. Reading each genre is approached
in a slightly different way, which is something I had not thought about before
this class.
Before class I had not
thought deeply about the role of purpose and audience when writing. I must admit that I now consciously think
about my purpose and audience before writing a piece. This helps me to determine the genre I will
use as I write, as well as the voice I will write in. This was a major learning point for me, as I
do not recall focusing on purpose and audience in my own schooling as a
child. I feel this has helped me grow as
a writer, as well as make writing easier for me.
I had not thought about
the idea of new literacy theories before this class. I had just seen new literacies as a way of
the education world evolving. This is
the area that I would like to explore more of, as I enjoy learning about the
theories of literacy. Comparing the new
to the old theories is of interest to me.
The relationship between
the reading and writing process was a huge eye opener on the first night of
class. I had never thought of readers
and writers going through the same process.
I am now much more conscious of this both as a reader and a writer. I feel this connection between the two has
helped me to understand students in classrooms from a teacher perspective. I hope this information will someday help me
as I am teaching students in my own classroom to be readers and writers. Personally I feel that students should know the
connection between reading and writing more than the fact they both involve
words, and one is creating text while the other is interpreting the text.
I was introduced to
many types of reading and writing assignments in this class that could be used
at a wide variety of age levels. I was
impressed by the variety that we discussed.
Technology has become so prevalent in our society that we need to be
able to make use of it in the classroom.
Before class I had only thought of a writing assignment with technology
to be typing a piece in a word processor.
I was exposed to so many new writing activities that I never would have
thought of on my own. This idea of being
able to use technology in new innovative ways in the classroom has excited me
as a teacher. I now know that I can have
fun with writing and teach my students to show their creativity in other ways
than just words in electronic writing pieces.
There is much more to writing when it comes to technology than forming
sentences. Creativity with pictures,
podcasts, and movies are all new ideas that I am excited to bring into a
classroom some day. Although technology
is generally used more extensively in higher grades, assignments can be tailored
to fit students of younger grades. The
earlier they are exposed to these types of reading and writing I believe the
more excited and better writers they will become.
Writing assessment and
evaluation was always a sore topic for me.
I would become very uneasy when it came to assessing a student’s
writing. The biggest shift in my
thinking with assessment was realizing it is not always just taking a look at
the final product, but paying attention to the student as they are using the
writing process is important as well.
Although I have grown tremendously with my comfort in writing
assessment, I feel that this is an area I still need to grow in. I think this is something that will come with
time and practice in a classroom of my own.
I feel as though I can assess students work fairly now, but will become
more comfortable and confident in doing so as time goes on.
