https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g Core Practices in ELA en-us 2020-12-13 16:36:30 UTC 2020-12-13 17:32:36 UTC hello@padlet.com ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013800114 Creative writing has to be taught in English class. It allows students to challenge themselves to step out of their writing comfort zones, and participate in writing in ways that they have neve done before. Now, more than ever, students need more outlets, more reasons to see that writing is not just centered around an essay. Creative Writing can show an incredible amount of depth in student engagement and learning, especially in connection with the Next Generation New York State learning standards. Students are gaining confidence in their writing by writing in a variety of different styles.]]> 2020-12-13 16:38:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013800114 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013804684 There are plenty of Core Practices associated with Creative Writing. A few that I have found myself doing, without really realizing that they were Core Practices at the time, are scaffolding, genre identifications, literacy modeling, among others. The most important thing I have found for these practices, is the thing most English teachers do. Asking open ended questions to engage students with their learning. That thing we English teachers get picked on for, the annoying "but tell me why" questions that we phrase in different ways. Those open ended questions are essential to Creative Writing, as they help students derive purpose in their own writing, and see the purposes in what they read. ]]> 2020-12-13 16:41:32 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013804684 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013840833 Just like open ended questions, open ended writing is a core practice that allows students to reflect on the choices they have made in their writing. You could simply put a prompt on the board for Creative Writing and have students respond to it, or you could have them take a moment to reflect on how they have written their story. "Having to write down their thoughts serves to focus students' attention in a sustained, systematic manner; students may develop their thinking about a topic or experience beyond the superficial." (Beach et al, 2015, pp. 118) Open Ended writing is essentially reflective writing, as the reading from Beach, et al. discusses. It forces students to engage with their own thoughts, which engages them with what they are learning. ]]> 2020-12-13 17:04:51 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013840833 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013841910 One thing I have always found to be highly rewarding in a Creative Writing unit is having read aloud time scheduled within a unit. This does not really mean having students read their own writing, it could be, but it could also be having them read each others writing, having them create stories together, having them collaborate and offer help to other classmates. Collaboration is a huge Core Practice that I use within every unit, and it allows students to engage with their learning through each other, not just through me. "Oral presentations increase the value of essay responses by connecting writing with a live audience beyond the teacher-as long as you ensure that the audience is engaged and learning from the presenters and not just sitting passively." (Daniels et al., 2007, pp. 258) Having time for collaboration is just one way to have a student gain confidence in their writing and their voice. Like chapter 10 in Content-Area Writing discusses how oral presentation is a key element of assessment, having students collaborate throughout a unit, allows students to become more comfortable with sharing their writing with each other.]]> 2020-12-13 17:05:32 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013841910 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013843570 This entire semester has engaged me with the ideas of visual writing. I have continued to notice how often I use visual writing in my own classroom, and after being acquainted with this idea of having Core Practices, I want to include visual writing as one of my own Core Practices. I continue to go back to the Williams article about Visual Writing, specifically this quote: “If our writing classrooms focus on a single mode of representation (the verbal), then the concurrent implication is that only one voice deserves to be heard.” (Williams, 2001, pp. 29) Having students engage with another kind of writing while they are stepping out of their own writing comfort zones with Creative Writing seems like a perfect opportunity for engagement. I think specifically to the unit I am creating for my 12th grade Creative Writing class, based around Dungeons and Dragons. Having students draw out their characters, to showcase one of their strengths or background stories, could be an effective way to have students attach more to their characters, and fall back on their own imaginations as a clutch for their writing. There are other ways to include visual writing throughout a Creative writing unit, but or the moment, I think this one idea should showcase what I mean.]]> 2020-12-13 17:06:35 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013843570 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013858483 A lot of what I have engaged with this course comes back to this idea. For now, it revolves around Creative Writing, but overall, it revolves around how I teach and approach teaching writing in my own classroom. Core Practices are tools that I use all the time, but they go beyond just what I am teaching. I think about the Christopher Emdin TedTalk. "Teach Teachers How to Create Magic". It feels so easy to rely on premade lessons and units at this moment, and you can definitely as a teacher use those, but I think what Emdin does so well in his video is inspire. When we create our units, whether it is on our own, or using tools and lessons from others, if we aren't engaging with them, how do we expect our students to engage with it? This might be one of the most important Core Practices to use, the practice of story telling as a way to teach, the use of body language to engage, the personality that you have in your own classroom matters. How you say what you are teaching is something students will pick up on. Students notice everything, and while this is not a Core Practice that can really be taught, it is such an important one for teachers to find themselves. Having students engage at the very first moment of a unit sets up the success of the rest of the unit. You don't have to jump around in your classroom and smile all the time to be an effective teacher, but you have to show enthusiasm for what you are teaching. I knew right away that how I talked about what I was teaching was important when I first stepped into my student teaching room. If I have learned anything from this course, I think this might be the most important thing. 
Students want to learn, but they don't want to learn what you don't want to teach. ]]> 2020-12-13 17:16:12 UTC https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013858483 ericatim1 https://padlet.com/ericatim1/kxxufpd33bz2bw2g/wish/1013879197  Beach, R., Campano, G., Borgmann, M., & Edmiston, B. (2015). Literacy tools in the classroom: Teaching through critical inquiry, grades 5-12. New York: Teachers College Press.
Daniels, H. Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teacher’s guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
TED. (October, 2013). Teach teachers how to create magic. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_emdin_teach_teachers_how_to_create_magic?language=en#t-379580
Williams, S.D. (2001). Computers and Composition 18. Clemson, SC. Elsevier. 
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