Writing to Learn

I have found that, like myself, many of my students write for three primary reasons: to communicate something, to clarify thinking, and to learn new concepts and information (or at least to make notes when attempting to do the latter). When Common Core and Essential Standards came on the scene, it was made clear that every teacher, no matter the subject, must include writing in the curriculum. Great! I already do that since there are discussion questions on every assessment I give. The writing I was "including" in my instruction did little to benefit the learning taking place.  One significant challenge in my classes is how to move students from thinking about science as a collection of facts to be memorized toward a deeper understanding of concepts and scientific ways of thinking. Having students complete essay questions was just another way for them to regurgitate information they had simply memorized for the sake of testing. Something had to be done about that...enter Pinterest.

Though I resisted the it's lure for several years, I finally gave in to the Pinterest craze last year. How I ever found novel ways to teach concepts prior to that remains a mystery! I found that neon dry erase markers write beautifully on my lab tables because they are made of a nonporous substance. My classes thought I had made the short trip to crazy when I had them clear their tables, take a neon marker, and write ON THEIR TABLES! Several times, we've used them to brainstorm and generate prior knowledge about a particular topic. One student took a picture of the destruction to public property and sent it to me via e-mail so I could use their ideas for discussion starters the next day.

As we began the heredity unit in biology, my students did the brainstorming activity. I've included one group's results here.

The following day, we discussed the results of each group. As students asked questions, I made a list...why can brown-eyed parents have blue-eyed children? Are dominant traits always the most common traits? If a dark skinned African-American person marries a light-skinned person, what color would the children be? What do mutations have to do with genetics? Lots of questions from inquiring minds. And, for the most part, they weren't asking questions to be funny. They wanted legitimate answers. I went on with the remainder of the lesson.

When class resumed the next day, it was time for writing to learn. Instead of using the large post-it papers, the writing took place on the tables. I crafted some genetics/heredity problems from the list generated in the previous class. Students wrote responses to the questions or problems I posed. Some were hesitant for fear of being wrong until I reminded them that this is a risk-free assessment. I can't fix flawed thinking until I know where the broken parts are. In the end, students did a final survey to see what additional comments had been made to their initial statements and that served as some powerful reinforcement for them.

Writing to Learn: Portfolio Reflections

Some of my Spanish teaching compatriots would be scandalized that I take 15 minutes out of class  to have my students write in "the L1"--6% more than the recommended allotment--but it's what we do each Thursday to reflect on the week's activities and how they fit with the three modes of communication: interpretive reading & listening, presentational speaking & writing, and person-to-person communication.

I created a Google Sites template last year for all students to assemble evidence that they could perform in all 3 modes (5 skills) at appropriate levels as the semester progressed. I also added a page in the template for weekly reflections though, set up blog style, where they not only address the modes, but also their overall proficiency levels and the personal goals they set for themselves each grading period.

Here's what their instructions look like:

Since I have implemented this practice, students have had less trouble figuring out what to use for evidence on their portfolios and how to demonstrate their proficiency. They also have an overall clearer picture of what they should be able to do, and I think it has been a contributing factor in the decrease in struggling students relying on translators to complete their work, since they recognize that they should be using familiar words and phrases.

Writing to Learn - Lesson Launch

I am still working to find what works for our freshmen in Math I as many of them are still struggling with how to learn math.  For our unit on Exponential Functions, I decided to start their introduction with a self-guided, on-line lesson.  I had students work individually to complete their lesson.  They were provided with flow-charts and info-graphics to fill in as they progressed through the lesson.

The following day in class, I had the students do a free-write to tell me what they felt were the most important "take-aways" from their on-line lesson.  I gave them about 10 minutes and allowed them to use their notes to guide them in their writing.  I did not give them any guidelines as far as length or structures.  I simply asked them to tell me what they knew.

I used what they had written as a launch for our lesson.  I asked each table to pick out what they felt was the most important information from their free-writes and we formed, as a class, a "Need to Know" page about Exponential Functions before we began our exploration.  I found that the class discussion that day was much easier.  Some of my quieter students were more eager to participate.  We were able to use some of the information in their individual notes as talking points for our exploration activity.  I felt that class that day started with a big topic and seemed to narrow as they asked more and more questions.  It seemed students had the opportunity to build on their own understanding rather than on a set of introductory notes or a foldable that we complete together.

From a grading standpoint, I picked out a list of about 5-6 key terms from their on-line lesson and looked to see if each student had at least 4 of them present in their explanation.  As a math teacher, I was not super-excited about grading a writing assignment, but I think that ignoring grammar (as was suggested in our PD) and looking for key terms/content made grading much easier. It was very easy to tell who actually completed the lesson versus who just clicked through the slides and videos. I could also see patterns of misconceptions students had.  Some students wrote from the lesson verbatim while others translated into their own words which, of course, demonstrates a greater understanding.  I think this allowed for me to get a better glimpse into how each student processes even the notes in class...I'm just not sure what to do with that, so I definitely still have some work to do!   We take our test on this unit tomorrow and I am extremely anxious to see if this strategy made a difference!