Entry #1 - Re-envisioning the Reading and Writing Process
When reflecting on the reading and writing processes being parallel, I am reminded of what Dr. Hopkins shared during LTED 600 - "Reading and writing are two sides to the same coin." As emphasized by Tierney and Pearson (1983), "at the heart of understanding reading and writing connections one must begin to view reading and writing as essentially similar processes of meaning construction" (p. 568). Although I learned about the reading and writing processes in LTED 600, I found myself still surprised at just how similar these two processes are. When reflecting on my own reading and writing process, I am able to identify ways in which I plan and monitor my reading. However, drafting, aligning, and revising are three processes that I did not recognize I engaged in as a reader. Until reading Tierney and Pearson (1983), these were processes that I associated more with the writing process. But, I wonder if this was a result of my own experience in the classroom - learning reading and writing separately? Or, is the writing process more salient to me because I often associate these five stages with writing?
Prior to reading, I often come up with a plan and create an organizer that allows me to write my thoughts down in a meaningful way; this plan may be how many pages I will strive to read or my purpose for reading. Consequently, as a result of having a plan and purpose for reading, I find that I am then able to monitor my understanding, re-reading information that I have not yet grasped. On the other hand, as a writer, having clear expectations makes a formal writing assignment easier for me - but, maybe that is just the planner in me. Having guidelines allows for me to easily monitor my understanding of the expectations, identify my purpose for writing and who I am writing to (the audience). Also, depending on the type (or genre) of an assignment, this will impact my style of writing; for example, in this blog entry, I am writing more informally, sharing my internal thoughts.
In this R/W Blog assignment, I believe that my prewriting stage or as Tompkins (2012) identifies as "the getting-ready-to-write stage” (p. 6) will be focused on ensuring that I have prepared by reading all the assigned texts for the week. As I engage in the readings, I may look ahead at the next blog assignment, reading with these focus questions in mind; I believe this will allow me to focus on the most important information. Since these blog assignments are "free writes" or my thinking at the moment, I don't anticipate engaging in the drafting stage, but instead go right into writing. I believe this will allow my thoughts to flow naturally and then afterwards, I will revise and edit my work; these two stages are always essential for me to do before publishing because I often have a hard time condensing my thoughts. Therefore, taking some time away from my work and re-reading will allow me to be more critical of my writing (Tompkins, 2012, p. 12).
In the Genre Pieces Project assignment, since the expectations align well with Tompkins (2012) prewriting stage of choosing a topic, considering purpose, audience, genre, and gathering/organizing ideas, I believe I will follow these exact steps (p. 6-7). However, I anticipate that I will spend more time gathering and organizing my ideas. As part of this assignment, I will ensure that I am picking a topic I am interested in and with this in mind, choosing a purpose, audience, and genre that goes best with the topic I chose; but, this will take some planning.
P.S. For this writing assignment, my concerns stem around when the blog entries are due. For example, Entry 2 says that it must be completed before or after Session 3. Could you specify what you mean by this? Are all blog entries due before the following class? Also, I would love your feedback on the style of my writing - is there anything I should change, add, or focus on? Thank you!
References
Tierney, R. & Pearson, P. D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading. Language Arts,
60(5), 568-580.
Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Amanda, I can tell already from this first entry that you have some awareness of how to use writing as a tool for exploration and that the drafting stage of the writing process is great "stance" to have in mind as you are to use these entries as a way to explore or draft/consider your own thinking.
ReplyDeleteYou asked a question about due dates for the blog entries. You will notice that only Entry 1, Entry 6 and Entry 13 are the posts that have a due date which occurs before the next class session. I provide students a larger "window of time" to compose their posts for the weekly readings because some students find they like to use the blog as a way to post their thinking *immediately* after they finish reading -- before we all come together for in-person class. Other students find they like to begin the process of considering how the readings allowed them to rethink aspects of teaching writing/using writing, but they would rather wait to post their responses until we have also met in class and perhaps had sometime to gain even further insight into what matters most from the author's offerings. For your Entry #2, you could post your written response before we meet on Tuesday (2/1) or you could post your response sometime before we meet next on Tuesday (2/8).
Finally, you asked specifically for feedback on your style of writing. I am still getting to know you, but as I read this entry I can "hear" you speaking -- both to yourself and to me as you write. Perhaps the only point I want to emphasize is that you should feel free to use this space as a place for discovery. If you look at Taylor W's entry, you'll notice that in the middle of the entry she shares that "as she is writing she is having an ah-ha moment." I'm not suggesting that you force yourself to have these types of moments in every post, but I think that allowing yourself to take the stance of "writing without fully knowing all that I will say before I get there" is when these entries become the most powerful for you as the writer. Does this make sense?
Hi Dr. Jones,
DeleteThank you for answering my question about the due dates, but also for the wonderful feedback. Since I am very much a planner, I may somethings "overthink" my writing, wondering if I am on the right page or answering the questions correctly. However, I love the concept of "discovery" and using this blog to post my thinking in the moment; I am excited to keep writing. Thank you!
PS. I forgot to also say that I love the image you selected on your cover page. I can feel that wonderful salty breeze as it comes over the top of the dune.
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