Blog 4: "Writing is after all, a medium for learning to think"

I always thought that writing only had one purpose; to express your ideas. I now know that there are multiple purposes for writing in the classroom and how it can affect your learning. Donald Graves (2004) states "Writing is after all, a medium for learning to think"(p. 90). By writing things down, we are able to process all the new information that we are learning. When I take notes, even if I receive a handout with the information, I re-write all the information in my notebook because it helps me to learn the information we are talking about.

Writers should use their writing to ask questions, to imagine, to clarify, to refine and to synthesize what they are learning. They should be taking the time to think when they are reading and writing so that they understand the information. I feel like when I am reading and learning, I use writing a lot to summarize, ask questions and make connections. I struggle to use it to help me clarify and refine what I am thinking about.

While I read, I will either have a highlighter or I will have a pad of post it notes. I start by reading through the page quickly so I can get a general understanding of what they are talking about. I then will go back and read it again while I take noted. I will use the highlighter to highlight key words that stand out to me. If it is an article, I will write all the questions I have about that first page directly on the page, however if it is a book, I will write them on a post-it note that will be stuck to that page. Along with writing the questions, I will take the ting to write the key ideas of the page on another post-it. This allows me to really understand what the key information on the page was. After I am done reading the whole chapter/article, I can look back at all the post-its I wrote to see if I have any questions left. 

I would say that another way I strive to use writing is by making a connection with what I am reading about. I am more intrigued with what I am reading if I can connect with it and understand what they are saying. I will jot down those little connections as they happen. The majority of the connections I make are text to self, but I try to make text to text or text to world connections as well. Tompkins (2019) talks about how students should apply what they are learning to their writing and that teachers should strive to give the opportunity to create projects that they are connected to.

I would say that I engage in this thinking of asking questions, summarizing and making questions because I want to understand what I am reading. However I don’t take the time to clarify or refine what I originally thought. I like to read quickly and struggle with remembering to stop and think about how my ideas have changed while I read. I am learning now that I can use my writing to help with my reading. I need to take my time with reading just like I take my time with writing.  Kucer and Rhodes say ”students are able to use what has been learned in a writing lesson to fine tune their reading and what has been learned in a reading lesson to fine tune their writing” (Kucer &Rhodes, 1986, p. 193).

I’ve never written a blog before so I was a little nervous when I first started writing theses entries. The way that I write these entries are different than the way I would write a regular paper for school. There were a few “habits of mind” (Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English &National Writing Project, 2011, p. 4-5) that I had to change to be able to write in this style. I have to be more open and creative with my writing. I’ve learned that I have to write my ideas in a way that the audience is engaged with this blog. I had to learn how to write in a way that makes the audience feel like they are having a conversation with me. It took me awhile to get used to it but now I like writing this way.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of  Teachers of English, & National Writing Project. (2011).  Framework for success in postsecondary writing.  Retrieved from http://wpacouncil.org/framework/

Kucer, S. B. & Rhodes, L. K. (1986).  Counterpart strategies:  Fine tuning language with language.  The Reading Teacher, 40(2), 186-193.

Silver, J. 9 incredible ways writing by hand benefits our bodies and brains. Little things [blog post]. https://www.littlethings.com/benefits-of-writing-by-hand

Tompkins, G. E.  (2019). Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (7^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.