Burke Ch 7

This chapter is the best thing since sliced bread. Thoe more I read Burke the more intrigued and appreciative I am about his book and his insight into teaching English. This chapter focusues in teaching writing, no not doing writing, but teaching writing. Often times I have thought of writing as an activity that students will do and acquire mostly on thier own. While this may be tru for some students, all students will benefit from a planned out format in which teaching specific strategies for different modes is outlined.

"The second thing that makes certain teachers great is something that isn't taught. It is sending out a feeling of their own aspiration and love for writing that their students will pick up on." To me this is very similar to telling a kid that they shouldn't smoke while sending them to the store to pick you up a pack. We must teach through example.

Error as an invitation to improve. We must always do our best to help students correct mistakes they are making. Coming from an athletic background, I lean on those skills whenever I am trying to teach or improve a skill without killing confidence. As I have said before, a way that works well for me in the sandwich approach, followed by clear instructions on how to fix the problem. Finally, I ask students or athletes to tell me what they heard so that we are all on the same page.

Several traits distinguish effective journals in the English class. These traits need to be shared with your students so they understand the purpose behind the jourmaling activities. The quote on 187 regarding confidentiality is a must when having students write about potentially risky subjects. PAge 99 lists several interesting ways to jumpstart journal writing. I feel as if there should be a mix in journal entries, both personal and non-personal. Using prompts that are not personal in nature can be a great way for students to write creatively. For example, inventing new words, describing them and using them is a journal entry.

Creating "real-world" applications for writing have to be included. These are the skills that may end up putting food on studets' tables, or atleast getting them an interview.While all of the smape assignments on 207-209 are great, I particularly like studetsn to be effective writers of the e-mail, resumes, letters, as well as confidence with the interview.

There is so much useful inofrmation in this chapter. My final topic that I will respond to is the advice on handling "the paper load." A few of th key ideas I got out of this section are:
1. Focus on no mre than three items in a paper (ex. nouns, verbs, and spelling)
2. Have students seek other sources for input
3.Use rubric scoring
4. Have a time limit
5. Conference with students
6. Share with each other
7. Use the "check"system