Entry #8 The Power of Reflection Through Other's Eyes

John Dewey, an American philosopher, once said "The interaction of knowledge and skills with experience is key to learning." As I read through my colleague's blogs this week, I was left in 'aw' with the authenticity and thought-provoking reflective voice she has provided her reader's each week. One specific blog entry that was most meaningful for me was Blog #2, as it highlights a true problem that exists in our educational systems today. Amanda's blog (Click on Title to Read) WHY IS THE WRITING PROCESS NOT PRIORITIZED IN THE CLASSROOM?, explores her own reflection upon the importance of building in opportunities for students to engage with the writing process through her own experiences as a child. 

Just as mentioned by Dewy, all individuals have the ability to use their knowledge, skills, and experiences to have effective learning experiences with literacy. Through this blog entry, Amanda did a phenomenal job illustrating her own knowledge, skills, and experiences with the writing process while engaging with Lucy Calkins' and Mary Ehrenworth's (2016) article, Growing Extraordinary Writers: Leadership Decisions to Raise the Level of Writing Across a School and a District. Caulkins and Elizabeth explain the writing process through individual learning puzzle pieces that all connect together to make one powerful literacy event. One of these important elements to the puzzle that Amanda explores through her own literacy journey, is the concept of 'choice'. Students need choice, that sense of 'power' and 'passion' for what they are writing about. As a future educator in the making, Amanda, now reflects upon the opportunities she was given to choose what she was writing about as a child. I support Amanda's perspective of 'choice' as a valuable learning experience for me as child. I can remember when given the opportunity to write in my journal each week, this is where I felt my writing come to life. This is where I could be my true self and share what I wanted to write about. Caulkins and Ehrenworth (2016) emphasize that "writers become powerful by learning to make smart choices about their work" and educators have to be able to adapt their teaching approaches to model, guide, and support their students in making choices in their learning (p. 9). I believe both Amanda and I now recognize that just as the concept of 'choice' was a positive experience for us as children, it also can be for our future students. 

As I continued to read through Amanda's perspective, I was able to truly connect to her journey as a student teacher in observing writing take place in the classroom. Although, I too, do not have my own classroom yet, I do believe through my studies and experiences thus far I have gained new knowledge of the true authenticity of the writing process. As I reflect upon my own passion for the importance of writing experiences, I too questioned why writing is not prioritized in the classroom? As I pondered this question that Amanda posed in the title of her blog, I came to a realization that there are barriers that exist in our education system today. This barrier is what I like to call, a clear vision. 

Caulkins and Ehrenworth (2016) explain that in order for this to be a successful experience for our students, educators need to share a clear vision for what good writing is, how it is instructed, fits within the curriculum, and strategies for documenting growth. However, in order to get this clear vision, I now recognize that it takes every one of us (ALL educators), to come together to share one goal. Just as Tompkins highlights the importance of creating a community of writers in one's classroom, I believe we have to find ways to work together to build a district wide community of writers who share similar goals, expectations, experiences, and opportunities for growth through the writing process. As a future educator it is my goal to take the knowledge, I have gained through articles such as, Caulkins and Ehrenworth, and reflections such as, Amanda's, to help build a stronger community of writers where goals are set and achieved each school year. These barriers hold the true authenticity of the writing process from coming to life. What can I DO to begin to break these barriers?

Reference

Calkins, L. & Ehrenworth, M. (2016). Growing extraordinary writers: Leadership decisions to raise the 

            level of writing across a school and a district. The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 7-18.