As I reflect on the blogs I’ve written this semester, I’m happy with the way I was able to use voice in each post. Being an English major, I have become much too comfortable with the conventions of the typical academic analysis paper. I noticed my writing voice being swallowed up into my academic voice. I still have room to grow in this area, but I’ve enjoyed this blog as a space to loosen my grip on this weird habit I developed throughout college. I can see this being a fun medium to continue using after college to keep up my writing practice and develop my voice.

Professionalism:

In my blog Writing Feedback and Support, I analyzed the different roles one can have when giving feedback to a writer. Reading it a second time, I feel I did well in explaining the scope of each role, and also pointing out where they overlap. This blog strikes me as the most “professional” because of its analytical nature and the fact that it is solely written on the topic of supporting writers.

Design:

I give this blog the design award not because of its visuals or aesthetic design, but because I really liked the way I formatted the information and presented it.  Technology’s Ability to Shake Up Education starts with a personal introduction, and then moves into my thoughts about the benefits and drawbacks to technology in education. each section is clearly separated with a heading, but still have coherence. I also enjoy the image i used to show the merging of classic poetry and modern technology.

Creativity:

Because of its obvious creative component, this award has to go to the Mini Multimodal Composition Project. I ended up very happy with this infographic, as it started with a simple contrast between metaphor and simile, but then morphed into a pop culture reference. I see this being a great way to teach things in the future, and I feel that a student learning these concepts for the first time would be much more likely to remember each term if it is assigned a popular song lyric.

Last but not least, my nomination for the People’s Choice Award goes to Kayleigh. I’ve chosen her blog because she is consistently super thorough in this blog. She writes thought-provoking  posts while maintaining a genuine voice that engages the reader. She also links to many outside sources beyond the one required, which really just adds another dimension to the blog and makes it interesting and interactive.

Multimodal compositions are effective because they provide so many opportunities for the audience to connect in whatever way fits their individual learning style. This simple infographic contains text, images, and pop culture elements that all work together to explain a single concept: Metaphor Vs Simile.

I created this infographic as a practical (but fun) way to introduce metaphor in the ELA classroom. I decided to gear it towards a middle school audience. I wanted to make the colors bright and use the actual images contained in the figurative language examples.

Because this medium only allows me to utilize text and images, I had to use these elements carefully and intentionally in order to make it effective. I decided to take it a step further by using song lyrics as the figurative language examples. This way, there is a (sort of) audio component to the infographic, even though there isn’t any actual audio embedded. I definitely appropriated Katy Perry’s song “Firework” in the creation of this infographic, directly quoting lines from the song to exemplify metaphor and simile. Even though current students aren’t listening to “Firework” anymore, I thought I’d experiment with the integration of pop culture, as it is more engaging to connect classroom concepts with students’ interests.

I used a Canva template and began inserting my own text, colors, and images. These components, although simple, spur learning because of the way that they can be altered to prioritize the most important information. While creating this project, I was able to change each font in its size, boldness, color, and positioning in order to draw the viewers attention to the information most essential to understand this concept. Specifically, I prioritized the terms and definitions by placing them first, and then drew attention to the common purpose by enlarging the font and placing it in front of a different background.

Here I’ve included an article listing 5 tips for scaffolding multimodal composition that could be helpful in the future as we implement these practices in our own classrooms!

I have experienced a variety of different multimodal compositions throughout my years of school. My first experience was when I chose to make soundtrack for Romeo and Juliet as my final project in 9th grade. Little did I know at the time, but as I wrote the narration to my combination of songs including the Jonas Brothers’ “Love Bug” and Brittney Spears’ “Toxic” I was creating a multimodal composition. As the years went on, I also recorded a podcast, wrote several blogs in high school and college, and here I am now, applying these experiences in order to better inform my future classroom.

Although I’ve seen examples of digital storytelling in the past, the term “digital storytelling” and the theory behind it is new to me. This is something I would really like to explore with my future students. Similar to the example in the Hicks, Turner, and Stratton article, I can see myself using this for personal narratives. There are many tools online that students can use to format their digital story, and whether a student is writing what will be the voice-over, or the thought bubbles of their characters, they are being challenged to write in new ways that are just as intentional and valuable as formal essays (if not more!). 

The podcast is a format that is extremely versatile. I can see myself using this for personal narratives, argument, or even synthesis/analysis. Podcasts are gaining more and more popularity, and students have countless examples from which to form their declarative understanding of the conventions of the medium. Students are then asked to explore the procedural aspects, verbalizing their thoughts in a coherent manner, using vocal inflection, music, sound bites, and interviews to bolster their topic in a meaningful way.

Despite my experience with multimodal projects, whenever I’m given the option between doing something multimodal/creative or writing an essay I always choose to write the essay. By this time in my education, the essay is a form I’m well-versed in. I can follow the conventions without much thought and am likely to complete the objective painlessly. What I’m beginning to learn, however, is that multimodal composition as a whole promotes deep thought and greater learning. Experiencing a new medium in which a student lacks the “procedural” and “declarative” knowledge (Hicks et al 170) requires them to think critically about what they are doing. When a writer toils over a project, they will learn more, and the end result is often much more rewarding.

In my various experiences as a writing coach, I’ve had the opportunity to view a piece of writing from a very objective point of view. I’m a not a peer reviewer, writing my own piece off the same prompt, and I’m not the teacher, having written the prompt and rubric, grading for proficiency in state standards. I’m no expert, but I try to give a fresh, hopefully valuable perspective to the writers I work with. Based upon my non-expert observations, writers need very different kinds of feedback throughout the writing process.

Teachers

Teachers are the experts on the assignment, they know exactly what they are looking for in terms of meeting state standards. They wrote the prompt and the rubric, and have scaffolded their students to the point of this writing assignment. Most importantly, they know exactly what each student needs to accomplish in order to be proficient in the coming weeks of the course.

Writers need their teachers to tell them where they are not meeting the standard of the assignment and how to meet it successfully. Additionally, teachers have seen the growth of each individual student. They should recognize the writer for their successes thus far, and then challenge them to keep going, drawing attention to the areas that they can improve.

Peers

I will be the first person to say that peer review session are not fun, and the jaded student in me says they are also not helpful in the least. The teacher in me says “how can we make these sessions helpful?”

Peers are not there to tell you where you aren’t meeting the common core state standard, but they are there as a practice audience, and to say “I don’t quite understand the reasoning here, could you rephrase the sentence to clarify this?”

Classmates are also knowledgeable on the prompt and the rubric, as they are likely writing the same assignment. The rubric is a great tool for peers to use as a springboard from which to base their feedback. This helps them avoid the subjective, opinion-based stylistic feedback or the inevitable “Laura’s paper is really good, I have no comments”

Writing Coaches

What great about the Writer/Writing Coach relationship is that it can provide the individualized attention that teachers cannot always provide. The feedback in this case is also coming from a perspective that is more advanced and more experienced in writing than a peer might be.

According to Mcandrew and Reigstad, “What Tutoring is: Models and Strategies”, writing coaches should focus on the higher order concerns which are “central to meaning and communication of the piece” (42)

For this reason, feedback should come in the form of questions that spur the writer towards making the changes necessary for success. As I mentioned earlier, writing coaches are a great, objective audience that can help the writer gain some distance from their writing. The issues that writing coaches should focus on are similar to the teacher’s concerns (thesis, organization, logical progression of ideas, connecting voice to intended audience, etc. ) but in this case, the feedback comes from someone that is not going to grade the paper, creating less intimidating relationship for the writer.

Ultimately there is overlap in the responsibilities of all three roles. All three are responsible to keep the writing prompt in mind, and encourage the writer while providing constructive feedback for improvement.

I’ve included an resource to aid in organization. I’ve always felt that writing flows more freely when there is a clear outline from which to work, and these graphic organizers for each type of writing assignment can help novice writers collect their thoughts before beginning the drafting process.

If it was possible to draw a picture of my writing process, it may look pretty similar to the image above.

I always start with planning, a lot of planning. Often before I even type one word into Microsoft, several pages in my notebook are ferociously scribbled onto, with a few more carefully written into somewhat of an outline. After narrowing down my subject and purpose and define a general thesis, I then branch off to define the subtopics that will be needed to complete the task. After my subtopics and are organized into a practical and effective order, I determine whether or not there will need to be several paragraphs for each subtopic, and if so, what each paragraph should focus on.

I organize all of these components into the very document where I will write my paper, and it then serves as my guide throughout the whole writing process. I’ve been consistently using this process for several years now, as the concept of free writing has never worked for my intentional and calculated brain. I’ve discovered that if I do all of the heavy lifting in terms of content before actually writing, my sentences and topic transitions flow more freely.

In terms of revision, I greatly relate with Flower and Hayes in their conclusion that revision happens continuously throughout the writing process. They state that reviewing is “able to interrupt any other process and occur at any time in the act of writing.” (374) For this reason, I have never had a “revision stage” at the end of my writing like so many writers do. As I mentioned earlier, every move I make in writing is very calculated, and is likely revised several times in my mind before even hitting the page. After writing a sentence, I often revise once more before moving on. This process means that by the end of the paper, I’ve toiled over so many of the sentences and ideas that there is not much left to be done besides checking for typographical errors.

My writing process is likely different from a novice writer’s process in the amount of planning that occurs. Early on, many writers (just as I did) tend to look at a blank document, struggling to find the words to start, without having completed any prior planning. I didn’t recognize the import role planning has in my own writing process until I was in college. This article has great strategies for organizing the writing process.

The process described above pertains mostly to academic, analytical papers and longer papers that range anywhere from 5-20 pages. Before writing this blog, I did not sit down to plan each paragraph meticulously. But I have been carefully writing each sentence, revising as I go. The greatest difference in my writing process is the register that I choose to write in. Online settings require a very different voice. I do not write this blog in the same register I write my academic papers in, and I do not caption my Instagram photos in the same voice that I write this blog in. Formality changes greatly based on the medium of writing.

And here comes the part of the writing process that challenges me the most: The conclusion.

Hello All! My name is Sarah Friberg. I’m studying to be an English teacher, which is what I have wanted to be for a long time! When I started high school, I started to think about how fun it was to read books, talk about them, and even write about them. I especially enjoy words, and the many things that can be done with them. I love finding the perfect word to express myself, a concept, or a situation. I’m including a fun website I recently discovered called SnappyWords.com. This is a great place to learn new words, and find out where they come from, and how they are used.

I’ve never considered myself a great writer, but instead I consider myself to be a continuously growing one. I was told by a professor once that there is no such thing as just being a bad writer or being a perfect one. Writing is a craft, a skill that we can continue to hone throughout our lifetimes. Everyone has improvement to make and learning to do when it comes to writing, and I’m excited to keep learning as I tutor and eventually teach!

I worked as a peer tutor few years ago in the writing center at UW-Sheboygan. There, I worked side by side with other college students, helping them to improve their writing skills and the current papers they were working on. I really enjoyed the process of tutoring then, and I am excited to experience the fun of improving writing again!

Social media and digital participation was certainly present when I was in high school. I had a Facebook account already in middle school, Instagram by freshman year, and Snapchat blew up when I was a sophomore. My peers and  I used these tools for connection, for laughs, and for validation on our cute selfies or singing videos. The topics we discussed in these platforms were no heavier than “which dog is cuter?” and arguments in the comment sections usually sounded more like “how dare Olivia sub tweet me? I mean, could you BE more obvious?”

Honestly, the term “social justice” didn’t have any meaning to me, and I would have never dared bring up race relations or reproductive rights on Facebook. It wasn’t even on my radar.

What I’m seeing now on my personal feeds is a real shift toward heavier topics. and these discussion aren’t reserved for adults. People even younger than me, people who can’t vote, are sharing their opinions on political issues. The promotion of social action through the use of social media is becoming more and more common, and I’m here for it.

It’s clear that teens today are more comfortable using the internet than any of their predecessors. Not only can they use it, but they need to use it. This is forcing educators of every discipline to examine digital media and determine its value and effectiveness as a educational tool. An article from the New Yorker examines this same issue, saying that teenagers “read more words than they ever have in the past. But they often read scraps, excerpts, articles, parts of articles, messages, pieces of information from everywhere and from nowhere.”

So how can educators harness the immense power of digital tools in an academic context? What are the benefits and what should we look out for?

Red flags

There have been many observations made about social media and it’s unfortunate ability to twist reality. The more we rely on technology and internet resources, the more scrutiny is required to discern bias and recognize falsity. Jenkins refers to this problem as the “transparency problem”, where consumers, and especially young consumers, must learn how to clearly see the ways that media can influence perception. (3)

The question of equal access presents itself specifically in urban, or low socioeconomic areas. If a teacher, school, or district decides to utilize technology with their students, then they must ensure that every student is given equal opportunity to tap into that resource. In some cases, districts have provided iPads or Chromebooks to every student, but that is also a large financial burden. Technology use can easily become another case where privileged members of society bound ahead, and leave behind marginalized people groups. Therefore it is crucial for schools to strive to provide equal access to this source of knowledge

The Possibilities are endless

In the Haddix and Everson article, we see a teen using social media as a tool for social change. She uses that platform to create a voice for young people who are not receiving the educational opportunities they deserve. This is a great example of how digital media is giving a voice to the voiceless. With one of many free accounts available online, anyone has the opportunity to incite action and create a community that could span states, countries, and continents.

In the Haddix and Sealey-Ruiz article, they examine the specific situations where technology could be harnessed. Technology can engage a disinterested student or empower a marginalized teen. It’s time to “Acknowledge the potential for certain tools to transform literary learning.” (190) There can be reading and writing of real literary value happening on the screen of a phone. Technology should not be cast off as merely an object of entertainment.

Is technology shaking up the way we have traditionally viewed education?

Certainly.

Is it a bad thing?