Professional Response – Conference

Professional Response – Conference

            I attended the 3^rd Annual Learn Today Teach Tomorrow conference on CMU’s campus, Saturday, April 5^th, 2008. I chose to go to the fifty minutes session titled “Dancing with the authors – teaching sentence fluency” which was presented by Beverly Matulis. The focus grade for her presentation was upper elementary all the way through high school.

            Beverly’s presentation covered a technique that language arts, English, and readings teachers can use in their classroom. Grammar is of course a very boring topic for most students, and a lot of teachers are also intimidated by it. Beverly’s approach to teaching prepositional phrases, participial phrases, past participial phrases, appositive phrases, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses will not only teach students about different parts of a sentence, but they will also learn how to write their own.

            It’s been proven that the MEAP writing test is the hardest part of the MEAP test for students to pass. They are asked to write from their own experiences in the form of a personal narrative, but they are also asked to examine a piece written by another student and must answer the question, “”how can this writing be improved?” Beverly’s technique will help students improve their sentence structure and will also help students to be able to spot poor sentence structure as well.

            Beverly mentioned the 6 traits that we have learned about this semester, and specifically zeroed in on the trait of sentence fluency. She mentioned that sentence fluency is not being taught in classrooms as much as it should. Let’s be honest, there are so many things to teach, and just not enough time for everything. With that in mind, Beverly has come up with a way to combine grammar, sentence fluency, reading like a writer, and writing from personal experience, all into one lesson unit that she calls “Dancing with the Authors”.

Locating and analyzing well constructed sentences found in literature:

Students need an emotional and positive personal experience when they write. They are not going to be engaged when they are asked to write about something that they cannot connect with on a personal level (idea of Calkin’s). So Beverly suggests using authors as mentors. She has used books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Pearl, My Mother’s Dream for Me, Charlotte’s Web, Sounder, The Velveteen Rabbit, Where the Red Fern Grows, Stellaluna, and many more, by pulling examples of prepositional phrases, participial phrases, past participial phrases, appositive phrases, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses. Of course the teacher would slowly introduce each type of phrase or clause day by day, instead of all at once. Showing students examples of each type of phrase or clause from books that they have read, gives students a real world application of what’s being learned.

Imitating the sentence structure used by outstanding authors:

After introducing the specific type of phrase or clause, the students are asked to write one of their own from a personal experience, while imitating the sentence structure used by the specific author. This gets the students to connect with their writing on an emotional level. You will be amazed and so will the students, when they realize how cool their sentences sound. You will notice that students will begin to write in ways that they never knew they could or ever would.

Beverly had us creating sentences of our own, just like she would ask her students to do. I was glad that she had the audience participate because I had the opportunity to experience the lesson from a student’s viewpoint. I really liked her ideas, and will definitely use them in my future classroom, even if I teach a younger grade in an elementary school. I’ll just have to adapt the lesson for younger students by pulling examples of descriptive writing, adjective, adverbs, etc… instead of prepositional phrases, participial phrases, past participial phrases, appositive phrases, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses, which is too advanced for younger students.

Example of what she had us do:

Subject: Participial Phrases

Literature: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Example from Literature: “Lying back in the soft hay, I folded my hands behind my head, closed my eyes, and let my mind wander back over the two long years.”

My Example: Sitting comfortably on my bed, I entered the world of The Golden Compass. 

Calkins 24 & 25 questions

1.) I think the idea of making plot lines in our lives is a neat idea, but I guess I am confused as to what the purpose of doing that is. What do the students gain from that kind of writing activity?  2.) Non fiction is such a broad genre, I get overwhelmed when I think of the non fiction genre as a whole. Is there a way to break it into subcategories to make it easier to teach? Wouldn’t personal essays and personal narratives be considered non fiction as well?

Professional Response #6

Professional Response #6I was impressed with the way that all of the articles from this week really spoke to one another. I chose to focus my attention on Will Richardson’s chapter titled “What It All Means”. I also focused on Professor Troy Hick’s chapter that is still in the draft stage, along with an article I came across during my RSS readings from google reader; “E-books will never be our friends” by Ben Macintyre. I am beginning to get the big picture of how important technology, especially the Internet is for children and their writing. When I first was introduced to the idea of blogs, wikispaces and podcasts, I thought oh wow! What a great way to stay connected with students and this is a wonderful tool for students to share their work with their peers in the classroom. But now I am realizing that the walls expand even farther outside of the classroom. They can stretch as far as the other side of the world! These cheap, and usually free tools, give students a real audience to write for. Hicks explains in his chapter that children have an innate need to find purposes and audiences for their work, and I completely agree with him.I can easily recall experiences in school when I had a writing assignment, and the grueling hours spent writing a paper for someone who wasn’t going to spend a lot of time reading my paper. Later on it would end up in a folder, shoved at the back of my desk or locker. Then wondering why it was so important for me to write the paper in the first place. The only reason I knew I was writing this paper for, was for a grade. Richardson points out that students need to see their writing pieces as something that is not “finished”, but something that can be added to and molded by others outside of the classroom. I was not emotionally or logically invested in my writing or topics when I was younger, because they were usually not very interesting to me either. That’s the first step; encourage students to be invested in their writing, which can be achieved through the writing workshop process. It wasn’t till my junior year of high school, when I took a creative writing class with an amazing teacher, when my writing really blossomed. She gave her students the chance to pick their own topics of interest to write about, and really “taught the writer, not the writing”. College has really opened the door for me to the digital world of writing. I sometimes wonder why none of my school teachers never introduced blogs and podcasts to me, but I’m sure they were pretty new five or six years back.  Richardson explains how the internet has developed over time, and how world-changing it has been and still has yet to be. I was shocked, yet not surprised to read that “Google plans to scan and digitize more than 50 million books” soon. I have already (in my own spare time) used Google’s book search, and have found a few book articles available that I was in search of. But it’s amazing to think that books will be available at the click of a button, right under our fingertips, in no time.  That will eliminate hours spent at the library trying to locate a particular book, chapter or article. I can only imagine what this means for students! I feel the need and understand the importance of being a “connector” of such information, as Richardson calls it, and share this exciting and limitless world of the internet, to my future students. When I was reading through my RSS feeds, I came across an article that paralleled this week’s readings. Ten tears ago, Ben Macintyre hypothesized that by this time in age, ebooks would have taken over books in paper form. But he of course has taken back his guess, and talks about how long it has taken to perfect ebooks, and the copyright policies. I agree with his opinion that ebooks will be a fact of life and culture within a few years, but hard copy books will never be completely vanished. I’ve heard from colleagues about studies being done comparing reading something off of a computer screen versus a hard copy, and that research is proving the benefits of reading something in hard copy form; it’s a lot easier on the eyes. Although it is easy to speculate the future of ebooks, of course we don’t know the future, and should graciously deal with it in a positive manner as it happens and as our world developed technologically. So what does this mean for teachers? I have concluded from my readings, that I need to continuously use podcasts, wikispaces, blogs, and other forms of digital communication  as much as possible, and acquaint myself with new technology when it comes out. The internet is a vast pool of information written by many different kinds of people, and not everyone that posts something on the internet is credible. So it’s important to show children how to stand back and judge what they read, before they accept what they are reading as fact. I see how Richardson values the idea of teaching children to be critical consumers of the information that they run across. This is a huge step involved with the Read/Write Web. 

PR #5 Follow up continued

I have gained some insightful thoughts about technology and using it in the classroom. I feel that technology and education go hand in hand when used effectively. But what happens when students don’t use it as often as necessary?I have posted two essay’s on my edublog and have not received as many responses and I had hoped. I also posted my “This I Believe” essay on the TeachEnglish website as well. I have received hardly any responses which is quite alarming. One peer responded to my “This I Believe” essay on my edublog, and I greatly appreciate her feedback and comments. But surprisingly, I have not received any comments regarding my “This I Believe” essay on the TeachEnglish website, nor have I received any responses about my “Spay Day” essay on my edublog. First of all I want to remark that I am a busy college student just like everyone else, and don’t have as fun free time as I wish I had. So why aren’t many people responding to my posts? Are people just too busy? Do they choose to spend their free time that they do get on things other than academically connected assignments? I have to be honest and say that I do not read a lot of peer’s blog postings very often. I check google reader two or three times a week, and only read postings that grab my attention within the first few sentences. So the question is, how can educators persuade their students to use the technology outside of the classroom? Is there any way that they can create incentives? I feel that having a designated RSS reading time during class is essential. It’s a time when there are no excuses, and everyone must take the time to read a few blog postings and possibly comment on at least one. If I were an educator that used the technology that we use in ENG 315 in my classroom, I would offer some kind of bonus or extra credit system to those who chose to take time out of their busy schedules during the week or weekend (any time other than during class time) and read at least one blog post and post at least one useful response. However, that would take a lot of time and dedication on the teacher’s part because he/she would have to visit every student’s blog and take note of who made what comment and at what time, etc… I imagine that such a task could get pretty tedious and time consuming. It’s very hard where to draw the line and what to expect of your students when it comes to technology in the classroom. 

My “Spay Day” Essay

Dear reader,

I have written this essay for the local animal shelter’s  Spay Day Essay contest. I have included all of the content that I need as far as facts and certain pointsI am required to touch on. But now I need suggestions on how well this essay flows. How are the transitions? Do you have any specific suggestions? I  ANY help!!  THANK YOU

A pet provides unconditional love. Whether it’s a large family or a single person, all pet owners have experienced the amazing power of companionship. Our pets are our adopted children; they’re our responsibility. We pamper them with the necessities that they need to survive, toys, lavish beds, fancy collars, drinking fountains, and sometimes-even clothes. But why do pet owners deny their companions of a simple and inexpensive medical procedure that will benefit their health, their quality of life, the health of their community, and will save money in the long run?

As loving parents to our pets, we would never wish harm upon our pet or his litter. A lot of pet owners find themselves in a situation where they have to make the decision to turn in their pet’s babies to an animal shelter because they simply don’t have the means to care for so many puppies or kittens. “By making sure that your pet can’t have puppies or kittens, you’ll have peace of mind that his or her offspring won’t be euthanized in an animal shelter” (Why). What a relieving thought! The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 3 to 4 million cats and dogs end up euthanized by shelters each year. The Isabella County Animal Shelter alone had to put-down 1,413 cats and dogs through out the year of 2005. Those are some alarming rates. This is why it’s so important to sterilize your pet as early as eight weeks old or older; just one litter is too much.

Having your pet spayed or neutered will extend the life of your pet, allowing for more quality time spent together. “Spaying and neutering may reduce the risk of certain health problems, offering you more years with your beloved dog or cat” (Why). Not only will it benefit your best friend; it will save you from the costs of your pet having a litter, which can produce giant expenses. If you spay your female pet before her first heat, evidence shows that she will typically be healthier (Myths). It will also eliminate the midnight howling and whining she may put you through while she is in heat. By having your pet fixed, their mate seeking manners will discontinue and will be overall better behaved. The research unmistakably shows that spaying or neutering your pet has positive health benefits that an owner can’t pass up.

Have you ever thought of what it’s like for those unwanted animals, whether the dilemma was their deposition, how they looked, if they were just too old, or those that were in the animal-shelter-system for too log and never found the “right” family to provide a loving home for them. They are disposed of. “Living creatures have become throwaway items to be cuddled when cute and abandoned when inconvenient” (Crisis).  Due to pet overpopulation, some shelters have turned into “warehouses” where the cruelty to animals is acceptable (Crisis). By choosing to spay or neuter your pet, you are helping to reduce the amount of animal suffering.

Your community will benefit from sterilization too! Abandoned and stray animals pose a health threat to humans and other animals (Crisis). They get into trashcans, scare away wildlife, and defecate in public and private areas. Those abandoned and stray animals are a product of the overpopulation of pets. Another concern is the public health epidemic of dog bites, with over 4.5 million bites each year (Crisis). A lot of those occurrences are due to irresponsible breeders of aggressive breeds. These health threats could be eliminated if more citizens chose to sterilize their pets. “Each year, communities are forced to spend millions of taxpayer dollars trying to cope with the consequences of this surplus of pets” (Crisis). By Spaying and neutering you are helping improve communities and saving taxpaying dollars.

How can you look into your pet’s desperately intuitive eyes and deny him a rich and fulfilled life? This is not a responsibility that can be looked over. A lot of vets offer inexpensive procedures, and may even offer a reduced price plan. You’ve made a lifetime commitment to care for this addition to your family, please make the choice to spay or neuter your pet.

Works Cited

“HSUS Pet Overpopulation Estimates .” 12 Oct 2006. The Humane Society of the

United States. 18 Feb 2008 <http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/pet_overpopulation_and_ownership_statistics/hsus_pet_overpopulation_estimates.html>.

“Isabella County Animal Shelter – Animal Control Statistic.” Isabella County

Animal Shelter. 18 Feb 2008 <http://www.hatsweb.org/PDF/AnimalShelterStatisticsIsabella1999-2006.pdf>.

“Myths and Facts About Spaying and Neutering.” The Humane Society of the

United States. 18 Feb 2008 <http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/myths_and_facts_about_spaying_and_neutering.html>.

“The Crisis of Pet Overpopulation.” 04 May 2007. The Humane Society of the

United States. 18 Feb 2008 <http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/pet_overpopulation_and_ownership_statistics/the_crisis_of_pet_overpopulation.html?print=t>.

“Why You Should Spay or Neuter Your Pet.” 06 Feb 2008. The Humane Society

of the United States. 18 Feb 2008 <http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/why_you_should_spay_or_neuter_your_pet.html>.

Professional Response #5 Follow-up

Last week I posted a copy of my “This I Believe” essay in hopes that my fellow peers would post comments about my work. I included a “letter to the reader” at the beginning of my essay addressing my thoughts, what I needed help on, and questions for my readers. I also posted my “This I Believe” essay on the Teach English website, in hopes that I could gain additional input from fellow Michigan English students. Unfortunately, no one has responded to my blog posting AND my Teach English thread. During last week’s class, I did get some really good feedback from two of my fellow peers. When I read my essay out loud to two of my peers, they had a few questions for me that I could answer in my essay just by adding more description. I felt like my essay did not have much of a voice, but my peers confirmed that it did have voice, and I just needed to add some more detail in certain points. I am going to wait one more week and hope that I receive at least one response from my thread on the Teach English site, but if I don’t, I am going to start revising my essay next week no matter what. 

Professional Response #5

This I believe

 Dear reader, 

This is my first draft of my personal “this I believe” essay. I would genuinely appreciate any helpful comments about the content of my essay. Do you as a reader need more information at a certain point in the essay? Does it make sense? Can you think of anything else I could throw in? Thank you for taking the time to read this and for responding!  :) 

I believe that you cannot plan your life; life happens when it wants to whether or not you or anyone around you is prepared.

As I dated different guys in high school and began to develop serious relationships, my parents quickly advised me to hold off on getting married for as long as possible. My mother would occasionally remind me every few years that when people reach the age of 23, they begin to develop a true sense of self, and that’s when you really discover who you are. One should wait till they are 23 at the youngest, to even begin to think about marriage. 

It was the night of December 23^rd during my senior year of college, when my parents received a call from my boyfriend. My mother had a feeling when she picked up the phone and heard Jason’s voice on the other end asking for my dad, that it was going to be “the call”. Christmas morning, Jason (23) and I (21) proudly walked into the house grinning ear to ear, bearing a sparkling new rock on my finger. My parents merrily greeted us and welcomed Jason into the family. I was very surprised at their reaction because I knew how they felt about getting married at a young age, regardless of how much they liked the man I chose. Come to find out, my mother was a little apprehensive because we hadn’t sat down to talk in a long time about where I was in my life and with my relationship with Jason.

My dad has three previous daughters from his first marriage who are all in their late 30’s now, and they waited to get engaged once they were out of college. They all did it “the right way”. I’ve had a lot to live up to through out my life, and have had three half sisters set the bar extremely high. The one word that would best describe me is unique; I have always been the child that doesn’t follow the sequential order of things like my parents would hope.

Here I am at the age of 22; happily engaged to my best friend who most importantly loves me for who I am and looks forward to what our future has in store for us. Jason’s easy going personality nicely compliments my take-charge persona. I know it’s cliché to say this, but he completes me. I understand that my parents want what’s best for me, and they don’t want to see me get divorced in the future, but who’s to say that I need to have a job and be settled before I find my life partner? I’ve had the opportunity to talk with my mom and express my comfort with being engaged this early in life, and have helped her to come to understand that there really isn’t a set timeline for life to happen. Thankfully, she’s at peace now with our decision and God keeps throwing little reminders to her.

Being engaged at this point in my life gives us the opportunity to find jobs in the same area, and start at the beginning; together. I’ve found true love, and it just so happens I have found it earlier than a lot of people do. Does that make it wrong… of course not! 

The National Writing Project

The National Writing Project has come up with a list for parents and teachers with 10 ideas that motivates children to write… Here’s what they have to say about it: “All teachers confront the challenge of motivating their students to want to write. While the NWP does not believe there is any single “correct” way to teach writing, here are 10 ideas that NWP teachers have found successful”. (www.nwp.org) Do you feel this .pdf file is a useful resource for teachers? Link to pdf file 

Professional Response #4

Professional Response #4

I found great inspiration and hope in Lucy Calkins’ chapters one and two. In chapter one she explains why it is important to write every day. Calkins stresses that writing needs to be conveyed as not just a process of recording details, but rather a process of making significance of those details in your life. I love it how on page eight Calkins says, “above all, we need to hold our lives in our hands and to make something of them”. Writing provides students with a tool to help them sort out their lives and find meaning in small, every day occurrences.

In chapter two, Calkins elaborates more on the topics from chapter one, and throws in the idea that teachers need to be writers as well as their students. If teachers do not enjoy writing, how do they expect their students to enjoy writing? In our text, Calkins states (as a writer and as an educator), “[I] must experience the power of writing in my own life first” before I expect my students to. We also need to realize that we are going to get more from our students when they write personally and interpersonally. Writing means more when it’s personal and allows the writer to gather meaning from their life experiences.

While I was searching through my google reader and the RSS articles, I came across a particular article that mirrored the contents of Calkins’ chapters one and two. The article was titled “’Freedom Writers’ book could cost Perry Twp. teacher her job”. Before I move into the contents of the article, let me describe what “Freedom Writers” is all about: There is a diary called “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them”. 

“It is a nonfiction 1999 book written by The Freedom Writers, a group of students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, and their teacher Erin Gruwell. It is the basis of the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank. The Freedom Writers Diary was made up of journals that Erin Gruwell told her students to write in about the troubles of their past, present, and future. The Freedom Writers name is a spinoff of the civil rights group The Freedom Riders. Mrs. Gruwell followed most of her students through high school and college” (Freedom).

An eleventh grade English teacher got permission from her principal and the student’s parents to use the above book in her class. The “freedom Writers” method encourages students to write from their own life experiences, just as Calkins talks about, plus it provides samples of other students writing to inspire the reader. Upon further reading about this ‘controversial book’ I am very sad to hear that this teacher is in jeopardy of loosing her job because she used this book in her class. The administration claims that she did not have their approval for using this book in her class. I wish that the administration would take a look at the beneficial implications of using this book in her classroom. Even though some of the diary entries in the book include racial slurs and sexual language, it’s not like these eleventh grade students haven’t heard it before. I was also touched when the article mentioned that 19 of the 22 students refused to turn in the books when the principal ordered them to do so.

Why is it OK to take away such motivational reads from students just for silly reasons as this (not to mention books that students actually want to read)? Don’t get me wrong, I do understand the importance of getting approval from the board of administration for controversial subjects and material, but I feel that the administration in this situation is not looking at the overall affect of this book; and that is to support student writing and literacy and making something of your writing. This article made me very mad.

As I take Calkins words and suggestions from chapter one and two into consideration, I think of my future students and am motivated to fill myself with memories of the times when writing mattered most to me as Calkins suggests on page 13. I don’t want my students to feel that their lives aren’t worth writing about by giving them prompts and topics to write about. I want my students to be able to make something of their lives through writing and I want them to think that exciting things do happen to them. Vicki Vinton’s thought on page 7 captures a common misconception that I myself have believed in the past, “it is an illusion that writers live more significant lives than non-writers; the truth is, writers are just more in the habit of finding the significance that is there in their lives”. I have come to understand that writing isn’t an option but rather a necessity; in order to find the significance of the little things in life, one needs to write.

As I examine Calkins’ stance as a writer, I feel that she is very much in touch with her inner writer, more than anyone I know. The way she rationalizes the importance of writing to ones life, I can see what she says reflected during the times of my life when writing was important to me. It gave me the chance to organize my thoughts and experiences of the day or week, and make sense of them on paper through simple journal entries to complex poems. Taking eighteen credits almost every semester of my college career has not allowed me to write on my own for fun. After finishing assigned readings, writings, and assignments; at the end of the day I am pooped and my mind feels like Jello. The last thing I am going to do is take out a notebook and begin writing. As I have been reading each chapter in Calkins’ text, the purpose of writing is getting clearer to me, and makes me want to change my silent non-personal-writing ways.

Works Cited

Gammill, Andy. “’Freedom Writers’ book could cost Perry Twp. teacher her job”. Indystar. 22 Jan. 2008. 3 Feb. 2008.   <http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/LOCAL1801/301220003>

“The Freedom Writers Diary.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Jan 2008, 02:10 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 Feb 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Freedom_Writers_Diary&oldid=183091951>.

Professional Response #3

Professional Response #3

In chapters 7 and 8, Graves discusses the conditions that are necessary for an effective writing classroom, and how to begin going about organizing your classroom. He mentions the importance of conducting writing workshops at least four times a week, if not five times a week. He strongly emphasizes the fact that children need to get into the routine of writing every day, otherwise they are not going to be able to dive right into their writing if they only do it 2 or 3 times a week. It’s important to pick a certain time of the day, every day, which the students recognize as writing time. This organization is necessary in the fact that it helps build a structured classroom. A structured classroom is key because it creates a sense of predictability for the students and they are more likely to feel comfortable when writing when they know what to expect and know their responsibilities and duties during the writing time.

As I was reading Grave’s chapters 7 and 8, I ran across many parallels between the thoughts and suggestions of Calkins (chapters 8 and 9).  First of all, Calkins, Graves, and Ray all stress the importance of giving students the freedom to choose what they want to write about. Assigning a certain topic will force students to write dishonestly. The other similarity I found between Calkins and Graves was how they both talk about how teachers are the ones who create the environment within a classroom.

            As I consider the implications of graves chapters for my life and my future classroom, there are many suggestions that will definitely put to practice. I loved his example in chapter 7 about the 4^th grade girl, “Here is a child in a constant state of composition: she knew that tomorrow she would write (time) and that she could write about the fox (choice of topic)” (Graves 107).  I want my students to think about what they will write next class period when they have free time on the playground or at home. This way when students sit down to write, they have an idea of what they want to write about because they have been thinking about it for 24 hours. Having an idea of what you’re going to write about alleviates the stress of sitting down to a blank sheet of paper, which is very intimidating to a lot of students.

Calkins and Graves also stress the importance of being a writing role model for your students. If all you do is stand up at the front of the class and lecture about he importance of writing, but your students never see you write, what kind of message are you sending to them? I think the hardest part of being a writing teacher is the fact that you really need to look at your own writing, and need to grow as a writer along with your students every year. Graves points out that your students need to see how you go back through you writing and revise it, in order for your students to see how it’s done. That way, they can take your strategies and apply it to their own revisions. Graves also suggests showing the thought process of writing to your students as well. This will teach them to work through writers block, and how to carry on with a topic if they get stuck or don’t know which direction to take.

Yet I am still weary about the different kind of reactions that I may receive from different students. Graves says that it’s “not unusual for children to test the limits of their decision-making powers” (Graves 115). I’m afraid that if there are a few students that over use their freedoms, I will have to crack down and take away those freedoms; which in turn defeats the freedom associated with a writing workshop. I’m just concerned that there will be select students that will not take writing seriously no matter how hard I try and how much I work with the students.

Finally, as I examine Grave’s stance as a writer, I enjoy reading his work because it’s very well organized and easy to follow. He backs up his claims with real life experiences since he has spent many years as a teacher who implicated writing into his classroom. He shares with his readers how he has grown over the years as a writing teacher and what he has learned from his students about how they learn writing and specific instructions that work.  I respect his work and suggestions because he has a lot experience under his belt and brings a lot of useful information to the table for someone with little experience such as myself.