Christensen Chapter 8

I think this was an excellent chapter, and one that most of us could easily relate to in regard to our own high school experiences. As a student who took honors and AP courses all through high school I perhaps was on the other end of the spectrum. For instance, throughout my entire education I took advanced classes, was used to having hours upon hours of homework each time, and learned to adapt to a fairly rigorous schedule. However, my senior year I began to get burnt out with taking advanced classes in all my core subjects. My last semester I dropped my AP English class (ironic right, now that I'm becoming an English teacher) and took a general untracked class in its placement. Also, that semester I became a teacher's assistant for a remedial chemistry class and this really opened my eyes to the difference that teachers and students interacted between AP classes, and untracked general courses. For instance, I was surprised at the lack of effort, particiapation, and motivation that students in untracked classes which in my experience had a direct result with the teacher at hand. Ultimately, the teacher didnt enjoy the class and didn't find a need to encourage students that were labeled as average and the students behavior reflected this. Likewise as the teacher aid I saw students in some of these classes that had the potential to do great things, and could succeed if they were given the opportunity to  be placed into other classes. I recognize why tracking is used, but feel that there are many cases where students fall between the cracks, and that as teachers we should treat each class with the same level of motivation, and not be afraid to push students a bit harder. Just because a student is in English 10A instead of AP Composition, does not mean that they do not have the potential to do great things. It is our personal responsibility to be knowledgeable about English, and pass on our love, our passion, our ideas onto students. If we do not show students that we believe in them, and that they have the potential to do great things, who will?

Gilmore Chapter 7-So What's Your Story?

I liked the concept of this chapter because often times pieces of creative writing in high school don’t get much attention, let alone revision time. Writing a poem, or a creative fictional piece is very different from writing a thesis driven research paper. Therefore its only natural that the revision would be different as well.

I must say that I feel like a slacker when it comes to responding to this chapter because I don’t have any particularly striking things to say. I think that Gilmore presents some really great strategies that I can use in my own writing. I like his ideas on poetry specifically, I think he has some great insight and like that he really stresses the idea of giving yourself time to work on a project. While a poem can come to you in 15 minutes, revising it the next day may not be constructive, it may be something that needs a few weeks, months even to go back to and really dig in deep to what you had to say, and maybe even combining other works. How true.

Lastly I liked the last sentence of this chapter: “If we can make writing fun and profitable (not in dollars but in satisfaction) we’ll help to create lifelong writers as well as better readers.”
Amen. Haha, but really isn’t this the whole point of why we are teaching English?Well said Barry Gilmore, well said.

Gilmore Chapter 6-You're Just My Type

First let it be known I giggled at the title of this chapter, because I’m immature and enjoy the cheesiness, now that I have gotten that statement off my chest…technology eh?

I think that in our generation it is only natural that technology will continued to be incorporated into our classroom. Currently most of my classes at the college level use webvista, or other classroom specific websites, or message boards/forums to discuss assignments and so on and so forth. I think this ideas are great, however may prove to be frustrating for students that have limited or no means of getting online. While most of the world is plugged in, and has access to the internet, there are many individuals that simply do not have those means at home. I think that using these resources in class is great, specifically when students have access to computers on a daily basis, but that there should be some sensitivity given to assignments given outside of class in regard to doing work on computers.

Overall this chapter was an interesting read, but I may just be a bit old fashioned in my thinking. I like the idea of incorporating technology like I said but I’m not a huge fan of emailing my professors papers, and I’m not sure how I feel about the electronic revision…maybe I am just stuck in my comfortable ways? I think Gilmore has a good head on his shoulders though, and I really like that he says teachers have a chance to either embrace technology or fight against it. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that there needs to be a balance between everything in a classroom, and while some of these strategies arnt my favorite, that I can find some other ways to incorporate technology into my classroom. Though on a completely hypocritical last thought statement I do like the idea of having a class website in highschool. I think it would be a good place to post class notes, due dates, and various strategies for students to use.

Gilmore Chapter 5- Can We Leave Yet?

I love lists, I love structure, I like when I receive a little piece of direction because Lord knows I am one of the least focused people that have walked this Earth. With this little background in mind I really love Gilmore’s strategy of giving students a check list of revision strategies, and that this list can be adjusted depending on the amount of time each student has left. I think this is a very constructive and useful method.

For instance it is very difficult under pressure to think clearly, specifically while doing something like a standardized test in which the outcome of this test could mean scholarship money, your college future, and so on and so forth. I get nervous just thinking about it, and its been years since I’ve been in that situation. By giving students an easy and simple list I feel that it helps students recall material that has been given to them throughout their education, and now is the time to actually apply what they’ve learned. Who would have thought?

Furthermore I think another idea that Gilmore brings up is to know the test and know the readers. In high school I was very blessed that my teachers did do a great job at preparing us for AP tests. I think its essential that we have information readily available for students, and can provide lessons in our curriculum that is relevant to these type of tests. For example, my teachers in high school often had us do practice tests a few weeks before, and scored them accordingly to the methods specific for that test. Likewise we were able to reflect as a class on how we did, where we excelled and where we could improve. I also like Gilmore’s idea about having students be the “reader” and going through essays and setting up your room like a testing center. While I may change up just how many papers students look at it, I think this is a great exercise for students, because it can physically show them what readers do and don’t want to see on their papers. I think this is a really constructive testing strategy that I would like to incorporate in some form into my future classroom.

Christensen Chapter 7: Portfolios

I must say this was a bit of brief chapter for Christensen, but overall an intersting take on the concept of creating student portfolios. I must say I like the idea, and with the proper direction I think this could be a great and rewarding project of sorts. My only personal experience with porfolio's was my freshman year of college in English 105. We had to create a portfolio that consited of I believe 5 essays that we had written over the course of the semester, with multiple drats, and reflections as well. I remember at the time I was not too fond of the idea because I didn't have the desite to revise papers that had already been revised and handed in, but I think it was good learning experience as well.

I think portfolios are good though for students to see the amount of growth that is made from where they started and where they now have come to be. I like that Christensen seems to be very much into personal growth rather than simply sticking a grade on top. I have had professors and teachers over the years that were on both ends of the spectrum. One moment that sticks out to me though, is that for an English class I had last year in fact, I had tried my hardest the entire semester and by the time the last paper came about I was burnt out. My style of writing had greatly improved over the course of the semester, and this is something that my professor often commented on throughout my papers. When I turned in this last paper I was not satisfied and expected a very low grade, however I actually recieved a decent score. Attached to my paper was a critique along with some comments on how to improve and why I got the grade I did. My professor had told me that while this was not my best piece of writing he can still see areas that I have improved on over the course of the class, and that my improvement has been so significant that he was giving me the benefit of the doubt that this paper I simply took the safe road, and that while it was not A worthy, that he would give me a B and that I should be really proud of how much I have accomplished over the past few months.

I feel that portfolios make it possible for students to reflect, which is something that many may not do on a regular basis. I woul say with proper guidelines and allowing enough time and prep for this assignment, it would prove to be very successful and rewarding in the long run.

Gilmore Chapter 4

I can imagine that if I went to the typical high school classroom and announced that today we would be breaking off into small groups and revising that the excitement of the classroom would immediately walk out the door, or perhaps jump out the window never to bee seen again.
As i've stated time and time again revision was something I even had a trouble with in high school and college because I'm one of those individuals that procrastinates until the last minute, hops up on some form of caffeine and writes a 10 page research paper the night before its due. Thats just how I work. Its not brilliant, its not efficient, but its my usual process. However, I am beginning to see the art of revision, specifically with working with peers to gain insight and ideas that I often miss because I don't write that first draft.





I think Gilmore does a great job of giving us multiple options of revising that can be used in a classroom that may be subtle and decent enough for even the biggest moaners to deal with. I liked how he broke down some ways for groups to revise, as well as the individual. One activitiy that I liekd was the color marking exercise on page 100. I think this is a great way for students to revise because its a little more fun that the typical "underline" or "circling" approach and I think the concepts that Gilmore suggests such as syntax, rhetorical devices, and supporting evidence are good for students to try and pull out of their paper. I think this would help students recognize if they are doing these tasks, or if they are missing from their papers. I also like that this could easily turn in from an individual homework assignment to a partners activity, by allowing partners to look over or "corlor mark" one anothers paper. Overall, great activity I had never heard of this and think it sounds easy and practical to do in the everyday english classroom.

Gilmore Chapter 3

Gilmore has a really unique writing style that I really enjoy, i like his personal anecdotes that he throws in for good measure. This whole chapter was chalked up with good content and for the sake of time and rambling I will only touch on a few things. To begin with, I like how the chapter begins with the 'foreign' language that many english teachers develop when responding to papers. I remember often times in high school my teachers would use such odd abbreviations that often I could not keep straight what each one meant. Therefore, I rarely even paid attention the the markings in the margins, which looking back did a great dis service for both my teacher and my future writing.

Likewise this chapter had some great ideas about the idea of voice and how it should be addressed in essays. Gimore makes an excellent point when he states, "In the end teaching studnets that their voices can leap from the page as well as they carry in a school hallway is partly the responsibility of the assignment of the assignment and the way it's presented." I like the idea of not simply sticking to the never use "I" rule, becuase I feel that in certain context it can be very powerful. It is also less awkward than using "one" all the time, when everyone and their mother recognzies that you are just trying to be sly in disguising your desire to use the first person. I think its important that we allow certain assignments to have creative freedom, and that ability to dive into the first person. I feel that this would allow for stories to be heard that otherwise may have been lost, and that students would be more apt to write when they can not so much worry about the voice, but tell powerful stories and not be afraid to reflect on their personal experiences.

Overall I really enjoyed the content of Gilmore thus far,and feel that he offers practical advice for teachers, as well as ways to break down things about revision that I had never really thought about. I definitely think that I will need to do a closer read once I get closer to actually being in the classroom, because he has some great ideas that I'd like to incorporate into my own teaching and revision styles in the future.

Christensen Chapter 6

Throughout the course of this semester I have really enjoyed reading Christensen, and have really liked her various thoughts and assignments. However, this chapter in particular was a bit difficult for me to finish to be completely honest. I like the idea of teaching students about where one another comes from, the diversity that is present and how despite the differences we have we can gain insight from one another. However, I felt that this research project in the typical classroom would be a mess and that most people would half ass it, and that to use a great amount of class time for such a project would just be asking students to slack off. Maybe my opinion is biased based on my high school experience, and how often when we were given extensive times to research most of us didn’t use class time wisely and rather used it to talk to our neighbors, surf the web and so on and so forth.
Christensen made a statement that “As a social justice educator, I consistently ask ‘whose voices are left out of our curriculum? Whose stories are buried?” I think this quote is wonderful and it is important to introduce things into our curriculum through writing and literature that do focus on various ethnicities and background. However, I feel that Christensen’s intense research presentations would not prove to be as astounding in the typical classroom. Specifically in a class that is not nearly as diverse as her classroom that she manages to have based on her location. Overall I think it is essential to find ways to incorporate multicultural literature and history into our class, but I don’t necessarily think her immigration project would prove to be a huge success. Maybe I’m just being a negative Nancy?

Is it Done Yet? Chapter 2

The first page of this chapter had me laughing and groaning at the idea of “quick write a paragraph” with little to no direction at all. This idea was one that I have been in many times before from middle school to the college classroom. Gilmore makes some excellent points about the content of such assignments and the extremes that are present. For instance the straight A student who pulls out all the stops and goes above and beyond what is necessary but somehow against all odds does not get a grade deserving of such an effort. Been there. The student that settles on the fact that things need to be written, and becomes so frustrated that something is slopped together. Been There. Or times when frustration runs its course and you pray to God that you can pull a C out of a massive amount of BS that you have fluffed together. Once again, been there. After staying up all night, and stressing yourself to the brim then you are greeted with a smile from your teacher and the simple word- revise.

I really enjoyed how Gilmore parallels the feeling students get towards revision as bit characters in a horror movie, just getting ready to get hacked. As stated before, and I apologize for my redundancy is the fact that with the right way of teaching, and attitude we can present revision as a concept that is not terrifying and can be beneficial. I know that we revised in my classes in high school, but I never remember gaining insight on the matter or any tips. The only things that were stated were “swap papers, look for spelling errors, grammar..sign you’re name at the bottom.” I think that this chapter offers a lot of great tools like the “PINE” example, and many others. I also really took a lot from the section on revising conclusions. I never really thought until now about how often I get stuck on a conclusion, and have just learned somewhere along the way to basically redo my introduction, change the wording, and make a few cliché influential statements. Basically it’s all fluff. Obviously this style of writing has improved once I hit college, but this chapter I think even made me reconsider how I conclude my papers. The general suggestions listed on page 45 seem like an excellent handout for students, or something that can be introduced in the classroom. Overall, I think this book has already done a great job at showing me how I can teach things subtly that will empower my students and improve their writing.

Is it Done Yet? Chapter 1

I think Gilmore presented a great introductory chapter in the way he views revision in the classroom. There were several simplistic concepts that stuck out to me, that I would like to implement into my own thinking and eventually my teaching. One idea that Gilmore presents that is a great reminder is the fact that “Ultimately revision is almost entirely up to the author” (2). Seems like common sense right? However, how often have we been placed into a position where we were graded on revisions, or were pushed do writing a specific way. I bet somewhere along the way we had classes where more revision could have been necessary, and much to our teachers disapproval we skated by instead. Revision is entirely up to our students, we can give them strategies, teach lessons, create rubrics of things to follow, but it is their ultimate responsibility. This idea goes hand in hand with another idea I liked by Gilmore’s which was that teaching revision is like practicing medicine: the ultimate goal is to render yourself unnecessary. As English teachers we are not there to write essays for our students, or have them shell out the same boring 5 paragraph essays day in and day out. However, we are there to mold young minds, create within them concepts and guidelines that can better the way in which they look at writing…as well as the results of those lessons. Essentially as been stated before probably in my blog I’m sure is the fact that students need teachers in order to learn and write better. Sure maybe someone is gifted, has a mind full of thoughts, a heart full of dreams, but they still need educators in their life to help them gain their full potential. Nothing that is written the first time is perfect, I liked the example they used with Shakespeare and even the text- about how many revisions were necessary to create a piece of work. If we plan on making an impact on the way in which this world writes, we need to work on writing, and despite the negative wrap revision is a monumental part of that process.

Poetry-Christensen Chapter 5

"Too often schools don't teach students how to handle the explosive feelings that come with adolescence. By writing and sharing the 'raw core of feelings' that create havoc in their lives, they can practice a more effective way of handling their emotions" (129).

I really enjoyed Christensen's chapter on poetry because it is something that I am incredibly excited and terrified to teach. From a personal level I love poetry, for me writing and poetry specifically has always been a creative outlet for me to express my emotions. However, throughout much of my education I never really enjoyed poetry assignments that were delivered in classroom settings. OverallI found that often times the work that was assigned was poorly designed or lacked the ability to really dive into emotion or much creativity. I cannot recall ever getting excited over doing poetry for a class, and to be honest it was rarely brought up or covered in a manner that would provide enthusiasm.


I think that as future English teachers poetry can be a powerful tool and great source of personal expression. One way that Christensen made poetry fun and memorable I felt was her Remember Me poem excecise. At the end of each school year many students are sentimental over leaving, starting new chapters going on to new things, and there is that time of reflection and looking back on the year. I think a great way to demonstrate these feelings are through these poems. I think that this poem would be best for a classroom that has developed close relationships with one another, however it is still feasible in an average class as well.


For instance, Christensen mentions how she allows the students to write a second poem about themselves and their personal traits and memories. I think that if its possible to both a poem about another classmate as well as yourself would create a positive lasting memory and a good ending note for the year. I think that this is a great tradition that could be carried on in the classroom and a fun unique way to present poetry that doesn’t cause yawns and moans.

Cohesive Writing Matters-Jago Chapter 6

For a very brief chapter I feel that Chapter 6 had some important insight and reminders for us educators. One concept that I felt was interesting to think about was the idea that for some students an English teacher is their only source for information about how to write in a cohesive manner. Therefore, as future English teachers our job goes far beyond giving out assignments and providing lectures, we must teach.

What is so striking about this concept is that it seems like a no brainer. A teacher…teach? Who knew! However I think Jago manages to compile a few gernal core beliefs that one should consider when attempting to relay information to students:

In order to learn to write, one must write

Authentic tasks and topics generate the most cohesive student writing

Students need both supportive and critical feedback

There is no cohesive writing without revision.

(These four ideas are listed on page 118 in our text)

With these ideas in mind we can better assign tasks that would effectively tie in with each of the concepts. Writing cohesively is a skill that will make each individual stronger, in my own opinion. One can get by with mediocre math skills, and limited knowledge on many things, but how often does one write throughout their life? Constantly! Regardless if its graded, we are all called to write in an educated and knowledgeable manner throughout most of our adolescence and adult life. As Jago states, Cohesive writing matters. Without creating this skill, one will surely fall behind and feel the constant need to catch up. However “with it the world is their oyster” (119).

The Product-Jago Chapter 5

I think one thing that students often overlook or don’t pay much attention to is the fact that writing is a process. Writing is more than cramming in a standard five paragraph essay the night before its due. It’s more than simply using a thesaurus, and making a rough draft. Real writing requires thought, your brain is going to be put to work, you are going to get absorbed into what you are doing, and its going to be well worth it, even if you don’t see that at the time.

As we have read throughout both Christensen and Jago, the importance of revision and giving students ample opportunities to write authentically is essential. I am someone that manges to have a bipolar relationship with creating multiple drafts for papers. I love that when you compile a first draft for class you are generating ideas and the pressure isn’t so high. I enjoy peer revision and the comments I receive from my peers, and so on and so forth. However, I am also lazy and don’t always feel motivated to put a lot of effort into a draft, or if I receive a lot of positive feedback on what I have written I don’t go above and beyond to polish it. I figure somewhere in there is a happy medium, like I said it’s a bipolar relationship currently.

Creating drafts is just one way for students to have a low stakes writing approach. Jago says it well when she states, “How can we expect students to perform well on a high stakes writing assignment without giving them multiple opportunities to practice on low-stakes tasks?” (Page 86) Likewise our students need that daily writing, those daily exercises, journaling, that is not so structured that it will give them headaches just thinking about it. Students need ways to practice expressing themselves, and their feelings without being concerned over grammar or the perfect sentence.

One of the exercises that Jago uses is one where she has her student’s journal for ten minutes before a specific novel is discussed. She asks them to relate their personal experiences or thoughts on a subject which relates to that literature, as an introduction for the lesson. We did similar assignments in high school and we took them seriously because we had to create a binder with all of our journaling together, and turn it in at the end of the semester as a collection. I think this is great for starting each class with writing, and also connecting the literature with writing. Keeping students active in class with their writing, will make it easier to stay in the habit of writing on a daily basis in my experience.

As for me... I love journaling & plan on using it in my classroom :)