Pathways Part 2

Reading Pathways to the Common Core always forces me to think about what I am currently doing in my classroom. Although there are several times where I question what I am doing this book allows me to realize I am really not that far off from what my students need in order to be challenged. I often times get frustrated when we have assignments that are focused around teaching reading or writing but what I quickly notice is that even though I am not technically the reading or writing teacher I too in a sense am teaching these same standards. On page 105 it states “…writing is expected to be woven into math, social studies, science, gym, and music, then presumably a good deal of the explanatory and informational writing will occur in science (lab reports), in math, (math journals reflecting on the students’ process)…” This goes to prove that what my students are writing for math and science is just as importance as what they are writing for reading and writing class and I should be holding them to the same expectations as any reading or writing teacher would for an assignment. When I read that “ one realizes this especially when seeing that the sample texts included in the appendix are meant to illustrate not the work that strong writers occasionally produce, but the work that all students should be expected to produce-and to produce regularly, with independence.” (page 107) I realized that I am just as responsible for their improvements as writers as my team teacher and that I need to make sure I am holding them to the same type of standards she is. Reading and writing are everywhere in the world, you must be a good reader and writer to be successful, even the engineers and scientists have to be good readers and writers. My students need to "write routinely" and make writing a habit (pg. 105). 

Since I am not technically a writing teacher, and even if I was I don't know this would change, but I think it is very confusing to a lot of teachers on how writing should be taught. Page 111 states “what is not clear is what, exactly, it means to teach writing.” I understand the writing process and what that entails but what does it mean to actually teach writing? I talk to my students about writing the scientific process and writing arguments to prove that your answer is correct, all forms of writing, but am I actually teaching them what it means to be a writer? I suppose I am but to be honest I am not totally sure what those lessons should look like. The idea that all grades should be continuously working on the same standards I think is wonderful. It provides the students with some consistency and we as teachers are able to watch them grow throughout the years. As a STEM teacher I really appreciate the fact that they are putting a greater emphasis on writing that is not just simply narrative. Page 127 states “ there is a push for logical reasoning, analysis of claims, and reliance on clear evidence and evaluation of sources throughout the grades.” This is the type of writing we do in my classroom and I can honestly say it is a type of writing that students do not often feel comfortable with and are typically fairly unfamiliar with. The idea of proving something through their writing or explaining why through their writing, especially in a math or science class, seems odd to them. This helps me understand why.  When I read on page 152 “The problem may be, then, not a writing problem, but that the students don’t know enough about what they are writing about. You can teach students to use writing to extend their learning.” This really made me think. Content area writing can be challenging, especially if the students don't have an understanding of the content they are supposed to be writing about. 

Collaboration is one of the best things you can do as a teacher to improve your practice. Although I can't sit here and say that I always do the best job of collaborating on things, I can sit here and say I know that it has HUGE benefits not only to our practice as teachers but to the success of our students. Pathways helped to prove just that.  Using other teachers at my school who are not only in my grade level but who teach different subjects and different grades would really help me understand where my students are coming from and where they need to go.  “Collect student work as exemplars, and study those within and across grades, so that you can monitor your student’s progress and scaffold them into writing higher-level texts." (page 122) The idea of doing this I think would change things drastically for us at my school. I don't feel as though teachers have a true understanding of what the expectations are at other grade levels or even what some of the expectations are throughout different disciplines within the same grade. I did a lot of reflecting on my grade level team and our practices seeing as how we are departmentalized when I read “Finally when working with informational writing, it is important to plan not only up and down the grades, but also across all the disciplines within a grade.” (page 159) To truly understand what my students need to be able to write about in math and science I need to have a true understanding of what the reading and writing standards are expecting them to do, the same goes for the reading and writing teachers when they are expecting the students to do informational writing in their rooms. Collaboration is key to success here and I am determined now to go back to my team and my school and make sure we improve in this area. The only way we can make sure we are all on the same page is to collaborate and “It will also be important for teachers across a grade level to be transparent about the progress their students do and do not make.” (page 123) This way all teachers can have a CLEAR understanding of where students are coming from and who is and who isn't meeting those expectations. We can then work together as a TEAM to help ALL students be the best they can be in ALL content areas!