Memo # 5 for I-search Project

After talking/visiting the local middle school teacher, I did develop many questions about the educational system in general. But one of the questions that I came up with that has to do with my project is, how does computers help the children that are having more difficulty writing?

                This question came to mind because in this particular middle school they received a grant that allowed all of the students to have Google Chromebook Laptops. This teacher was explaining to me that it was a little difficult at first to integrate the use of the laptops with the curriculum in all the subjects. But after a little bit of time it became easier, and the ELA teacher that I spoke with said that she was able to use it when her students had to write in class. She explained to me that she noticed that some of the students that had trouble writing by hand were perfectly fine typing on a computer.  Now this wasn't the case for all the students that had trouble, for the students that were still having difficulties that were able to come before school or after school to receive extra help from the teacher.

                Before I finish my research I would like to find a book or an article that focuses on students using computers/typing to help them become better writers. This is extremely interesting to me, and the steps that I am going to take to find out more about this, is going to the library and checking to see the books they have in stock, and I will also go on the library website to look up articles/look for books that can be shipped to my schools library from other schools.

                Also to UPDATE everyone with my primary interviews, I was able to interview my mother’s friend’s daughter that is a High School Junior. I did this just to try and get a more detailed information of what writing is like for a high school student.  Also my old middle school teacher was not able to interview with me, but I was able to reach an old high school teacher of mine (who is still teaching in the high school).  I am glad I got to interview with him just because it was a totally different vibe then when I interviewed with the middle school teacher.

                 I am very glad that I choice this particular topic, it was a very meaningful topic to me and so far I've learned more than I ever imagine I would.  

Memo #4 for I-Search Project

I am so happy with the people that I have chosen to be my primary sources. I interviewed all but one already, the last person I have to interview is my old middle school teacher, and I should be able to interview her some point next week.  But I have to say I learned the most by interviewing a local middle school 6th grade English Teacher. She was so nice and so eager to answer my questions, she even allowed me to sit in on one of her classes. She explained to me in great detail what her class and what her school does for students that have difficulty in writing.

Interviewing my neighbor and her sons was also beneficial. Interviewing my neighbor answered questions that I had about teaching writing to mentally handicapped students of the middle school age group.  And talking to her sons opened my eyes to how students feel about writing in the classroom now.  Her son in middle school was more willing to talk to me in detail then her son that is in high school (which I kind of figured would happen).

After talking with all of these people I have many different questions about teaching, most questions don't really pertain to the topic that I am writing about though. But it is always good to develop new questions about the future career that I am pursuing.  The next things that I have planned is to interview my old middle school teacher, and to also find another high school students to interview. Maybe by doing that I can try to find someone that will talk to me in more detail about what he or she is learning about writing on the high school level. Also my next plans are to continue to read and locate more secondary sources on my topic. I am still hoping to find materials where I can use more then a paragraph or two from it.      

Blog Post 2.5 for I-Search Project

The original sources that I looked up was a book and a couple articles....  "Small-Group Reading Instructions" by Beverly Tyner and Sharon E. Green. The book seems to be mainly focused about group reading in a classroom but there is small sections about writing in groups.

The Articles that I am reading right now are "Teaching Reading and Writing to Struggling Middle School and High School Students:The Case for Reciprocal Teaching" Wayne H. Slater and Franklin R. Horstman. This article talks about the ways that teachers can better prepare students that are struggling in both reading and writing. I will focus just on the writing parts of this article.  And the other article that I am reading, is called "Achievement Goal Orientations and Self-Regulation in Writing: An Integrative Perspective" by Avi Kaplan and Einat Lichtinger. From what I've read the point of this article seems to be the possible differences between students from different types of learning environments and with different levels of writing achievement. 

I received several more books from the school library before going on break, most of those books were focused on reading difficulties in a classroom, and because my project focuses only on the writing difficulties for students that are on different levels then others, I couldn't use those.  But out of the several books I rented, two of which had chapters that focused on writing and the difficulties that some middle school students can have with it. I also found some helpful chapters and paragraphs on the techniques that teachers can use to help these students more. Those books are called "Creating Literacy" by Thomas G.Gunning, "Differentiated Literacy Strategies" by Gayle H Gregory and Lin Kuzmich

I will continue looking up books and articles on the library website, using keywords such as, "Writing" "Difficulties" and "Middle School". I would search for the last word because that is the age group that I want to focus on. This week I am also going to do some of the interviews for my primary, one of the teachers that I will be interviewing is actually going to let me sit in on one of her classes so I can see hands on how she teaches writing and so she can show me the techniques she using to help the students that are on different levels. 

Memo #3 for I-Search Project

I have several people that I am planning on interviewing and using them as my Primary Sources. I am planning on interviewing my next door neighbor, and her two children. She is a teaching assistant for mentally handicapped students, and the questions that I was thinking of asking her are, "Do you and/or the teacher practice writing with the children?", "If yes, how exactly do you practice with them, are there certain activities that you do?"

  An then her oldest child is in High School, and her middle child is in Middle School. I would like to interview both of them just to get a deeper understanding of how children are learning about writing now. I would try and interview both boys at separate times, but the questions that I would ask each of them are, "Do you enjoying writing?", and then ask them, if their answer is yes, why? And if it is no, then why? Another question I would ask them is, "In what manner does your teacher practice writing with you? Does he/she do any types of activities?" "Does your teacher help the children that seem to be having difficulties more? How does the teacher put extra time to help these students?"

Another person I would interview is my former Middle School teacher, I would as her, "When you taught writing to your students, how did you do it, where there any special techniques that you used?" "How did you help the students that seemed to be struggling with their writing?" "Did you find it difficult to teach students writing if not all the children where on the same academic levels?"

And finally, I am planning on interviewing a teacher in a local middle school near my house. I meet her recently, because I have to interview her and her teammates for another one of my classes this semester. I will ask her on Tuesday, if she is okay if I interview her for this class as well, and then set a day that I can interview her. The questions that I would like to ask her are similar to the questions that I would ask to my former teacher, "How do you teach writing to your students, do you use any special techniques?" "How do you help students that are struggling and that are on a different writing levels then others in the class?" but on top of asking her those similar question, I would also ask her, "How long have you been an English teacher and do you enjoy it?" I feel like this question could be an important question because it sometimes seems that when people like their jobs they try their hardest to be the best at it.

I am excited to interview all of my Primary Sources but I have to admit that I am most excited to interview, the teachers, I say this because I feel that I will learn the most about how to help and what techniques they feel should be used for children that are not on the same level as others. I would also like to find other people to interview, but for right now I think I will learn a lot from the Primary Sources that I have planned now.

Memo #2 for my I-Search Project

I have used the library database for several semesters now, and it has been an amazing tool for all types of research papers that I have done. But even though I have been using it for a while, learning about it in more detail during Wednesday’s class, opened up my eyes to even more new things. Before then I never knew that I could watch an educational video from the library database, or that I can check to see if local public libraries have the book that I need. Also I learned how to navigate through the physical library and not just its website. I never went through the library looking for books before, I would always just look up articles for certain topics online. So now that I am able to find my way around the library, which will only improve my research for this project, because not only do I have an abundance of information available to me from the articles on the libraries database, but I also can search through full length books that have been writing specifically for my particular topic.

Memo #1 post for my I-Search topic.

I-Search Research Proposal: Teaching Writing to Students that are on Different Levels. I would like to talk about how Teachers can teach writing to students that are on all different levels. This topic is significant to me because, school was always very difficult for me, I struggled in almost every subject, and I had to work hard all my life when it came to academia. At first writing did not come easily to me, it took a lot of practice and hard work, but over time I eventually became better at it. Sometimes teachers tend to teach in the ways that they learned best. But the most successful teachers incorporate all different modes of communication to help a range of learners. Teachers should have many different ways to teach the same material, because not all students will learn in the same way. A way that I would consider teaching students that are on different writing levels might be that I would give the children having trouble more writing, so that they have more practice with it. Or I could try and separate the class into groups and give each group a different writing assignment that would be at the different levels. That way children wouldn’t feel singled out because they would be in groups. I want to have my I-search project focus around this topic so that I can become the best teacher that I can be, and help all of the students become the best they can be. I want to try and teach the children how to enjoy writing, even the students that have trouble academically, I want to show them that writing can be a wonderful escape. While also showing them how important writing is. Teachers should have a deep understand of their students and their needs. The way that I am planning on finding more information about this topic is to read scholarly articles, I am also planning on interviewing a student or two, my neighbor has two sons that are currently in school. One of her sons is in the seventh grade, and the other is a freshman in high school, so I think that getting both of their opinions about writing will benefit me with my project. I feel that way because even though they are only a few years apart teaching in a middle school environment can be totally different then teaching at a high school level. I also thought that it would be good to interview their mother, she is a teacher’s aid for mentally handicapped students. I would like to learn the best way to go about teaching these students what writing is, so that they are able to reach and achieve the best of their ability. I feel like it would be a good idea to get her opinion, because I know that usually in Elementary and Middle schools they don’t always have the ability to separate the mentally disabled children. Finally, I am also planning on interview my old middle school teacher, to get a professional opinion. After I start my project I would also like to interview other people, just to widen my perspective. I will contact my old teacher, and talk to my neighbor and her children once the interviewing part of the project begins. I am excited to start my I-search project. By using primary and secondary sources, I will learn many different views about this one topic. Interviewing people in the field will help me learn the technique that teachers are practicing in classes today, and reading the secondary sources will also show me the past techniques that teachers used to use. Interviewing/talking to my neighbors son's and maybe even a few of their friends will help me understand if these writing techniques are working for them. Learning about this topic will broaden my knowledge about the ways to teach writing to children that are on different academic levels.

Teaching Writing to Students that are on Different Learning Levels

Teaching Writing to Students that are on Different Learning Levels