On Writing.

I believe that students can discover and accomplish things they never thought possible through writing. When learners read, the effect is comparable to that of an individual watching a movie. The writer gives you specific details or snapshots that you, as a reader, are given to form characters, themes, and a plot. When they have finished reading, readers step back often with only what the writer has left them. Alternately, writing amplifies thinking as learners are left with only their own thoughts and a place to jot them down. I am sure that my students will ask me, "Miss Fix, why do we have to write? What is the difference?" My answer is simple: You understand and comprehend information better when you are forced to do something with it. Writing is one excellent way to process and store information into long-term memory in an effective and relevant way.

Personally, I am a big brainstormer, and, just as Romano, I believe it will be important to reveal my writing process to students. Now that I have spent some time observing in the high school classroom, I see just how important it is to start students off on the right writing foot. I have learned it is VERY dangerous to assume that students understand all steps of the writing process and minimal instruction is okay for certain assignments. I have observed many students who do not take writing seriously, either because they feel that the paper is too much work or because they think they know exactly what they are doing. As an English teacher, an essential part of my job will be to help students see both a process AND a reward. Unlike tests, writing assignments give students a chance to be creative, show others what they have learned, and allow them to have a permanent copy of their hard work. Writing also allows both teachers and students to see progress and areas in need of improvement.

Media: The Magic of Pairing

The most important thing that I gained from Milner and Milner's chapter on media was the power of pairing. If I plan on utilizing media in my classroom, I need to be sure that it matches the purpose for my lesson and the material that I am covering. I really appreciated all of the examples that Milner and Milner provided to complement classic texts or themes with modern pieces. I think that it is VERY important to really consider how media can work within a specific classroom within a specific period. Some students may really enjoy the connections between literature and paintings, while others may feel that music works more effectively. It might take trial-and-error exercises before teachers can really understand what media is best suited for each class.

Milner and Milner discussed music, film, comics, magazines, and advertising as different ways to engage students further in a piece of writing or grammar concept. One of my personal favorite suggestions presented was the idea of having a class make a one-time issue of a grammar magazine. Grammar is an area in the English curriculum that students should be encouraged to be creative in and make their own. Class magazines can incorporate the individual experiences and personalities that comprise the group to produce a unique, educational product. As a teacher, I will try my best to use different forms of media throughout the year to keep students surprised, yet appreciative of the helpful tools that exist in our everyday life.

Language is power.

Why doesn't vocabulary stick with students? Why don't they use the words from vocabulary instruction in their papers? Why don't they use the words in their speech? These are serious questions that I ponder at least once each day that I am in a school. In the classroom that I currently observe in, each period begins with a vocabulary cartoon on the overhead projector containing a new vocabulary term and a link word or phrase captured in the cartoon (A cactus caucus). At the bottom of the transparency, the new word is used in three sentences, often revealing how the term can appear in different forms. Initially, I actually felt that this vocabulary strategy might help students remember the vocabulary words as they connected a definition with an image. When I graded the first vocabulary quizzes, however, I discovered that it would take more than vocabulary cartoons like these to improve students' comprehension and make the words meaningful to them.

Allen's chapter in Adolescent Literacy reviewed what research has proven about vocabulary instruction and how we can use that to reach learners. I do not think I could use all of the vocabulary strategies that Allen suggested because I felt that some would not work as well in the secondary English classroom as they would in other content areas. The vocabulary that is taught in English classrooms (the kind that we teach students to prepare them for the SATs), is not a collection of words that are interconnected. Concept Circles and Possible Sentences, as the examples in the text suggest, work well in health and science courses. Highlighting "stopper words" on the board/overhead and Context Plus seem as though they would be more effective in English education. For instance, I believe both of these strategies would be effective in the Shakespeare unit that my 12th grade classes are about to begin. As for teaching students SAT-like words, I believe the words themselves must come alive to hold any meaning to students. Instead of an overhead cartoon generated by a textbook, perhaps teachers could give students a five-minute opportunity to create their own short cartoon. Students could even form small groups and act out their interpretation of the new term. I think one problem in English classrooms today is a lack of emphasis on creativity. If students can create something and call it their own, suddenly something meaningless or annoying becomes worth putting their time and energy into. I believe the purpose of vocabulary instruction goes beyond helping students learn the definitions of new or vaguely familiar terms. My goal in vocabulary instruction is to help my students see the power of language in literature and, more importantly, in their own lives.