Entry #8- Applauding My Peers Blog

I really enjoyed being able to look through my peers' blogs for this week's post, I found myself particularly drawn to Brenna's blog post #7. I would first like to applaud, or “bless”, Brenna for her honesty surrounding her challenges as a first-year teacher. I am currently in full time graduate school and will be entering my first year of teaching very soon. The other day my mentor teacher in my clinical assistant placement was telling me that NO ONE ever feels ready or prepared in their first few years of teaching. As much as this still terrifies me, I found some peace in knowing that many of us will face these same challenges, you are not alone! 

Brenna, as you raise some of your concerns surrounding what is on grade-level and developmentally appropriate, I wonder, do you have a teacher mentor in school? Do your grade-level peers meet? Conferencing is a valuable strategy for the writing process (Tompkins, 2012), and I think this could be a strategy for you to adopt with your fellow teachers. You could look at samples of their students' writing, bring your student samples, etc. As I revisited Tompkins (2012), I also found chapter 4 valuable in outlining some of the grade-level expectations for writing. I have attached figure 4.9, found on p. 95. I find this rubric really helpful in outlining writing expectations. Tomkins (2012) did not include 1st grade in this chapter specifically, but I find the kindergarten expectations helpful, especially when considering the impact of online learning from the pandemic, as you recognized. Do you feel that your school has altered student expectations due to the pandemic? Or are students' writing abilities held to the same standard? 

As we know, students have unique strengths and needs. Brenna recognizes this in her own students. I would love to draw our attention to Tompkins (2012), where primary trait scoring is discussed, “The focus in primary trait scoring is on whether students have incorporated specific traits in their compositions” (p. 94). I think that this is a valuable approach that can be embedded in all writing tasks. Specific traits that are grade-appropriate can be modeled, such as capitalizing the beginning of sentences, writing complete sentences, using punctuation etc. Students can receive support in including these traits, and students can also apply these traits/skills independently. I would also utilize a checklist for students, this way they can refer to it to guide and check their writing. This can be a tool for your assessment of their final product, as well as a support throughout the entire writing process, that can be altered based on specific student needs. I applaud Brenna’s recognition of the writing process, or process assessment. As a student, I have always appreciated when credit is not only given for the final product, but for all of the work leading up to that. That applies to my experiences in college, but more specifically in my earlier schooling experiences. I think that primary trait score and checklists could support Brenna in her writing instruction and scoring. Thank you for opening your blog to me, I applaud your honesty and know your students are lucky to have you, Brenna! :)