“Writing Workshop in Secondary ELA”

1. “Writing Workshop in Secondary ELA” Will Lewis Georgia College MAT Secondary English Education

2. How do you Grade a Student in Writing Workshop? How can we offer students a voice in the grading process?

3. Writing Workshop • Roles • Teacher • Moderator • Chief Editor • Student • Writer • Critical Audience • Set-Up • Seminar-like • Students exchange pieces of writing • Discuss their writing as a group, offering feedback • Teacher runs the Workshop • Provides feedback to individual students

4. Background • I sought a way of grading that: • Offered Students an all-inclusive, organized overview of their progress. • Provided Students a medium through which to evaluate themselves, so as to encourage ownership of their work.

5. Bibliography • Atwell, N. (1998). In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning(2nd Ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. • Dueck, M. (November 2011).“How I Broke My Own Rule and Learned to Give Retests”. Educational Leadership. 72-75. • Hillocks Jr., G. (2007). Narrative Writing: Learning a New Model for Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. • Smagorinsky, P. (2008). Teaching English By Design. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

6. Methodology • “How I Broke My Own Rule and Learned to Give Retests” • Myron Dueck • “At the beginning of a unit, all students should be able to answer the question, Where are we going? • “After an assessment, they should be able to answer the question, Where am I? • “After answering both of these questions, the student should be able to answer, How do I close the gap?”

7. Methodology • The Tracking Sheet • “I settled on separating sections by learning outcomes/major topics and varying the type of questions within each section.” • (Dueck, 2011)

8. Methodology • 36 students at a Central Georgia High School. • 10thGrade • 2 class periods • ~50% Male, 50% Female • Challenges • Curriculum Constraints • Absentees • Illness • Some students are aware that, by this point in the year, they are mathematically incapable of passing the class • Motivation and Volition was low for some students in both class periods

9. Methodology • Six (6) students improved by at least one (1) letter grade.

10. My Experience • This method of testing works. • This particular student originally scored a 61. • The student’s self-evaluation revealed that she was having a bad day the day of the test. • After retesting over 2 of the modified sections of the test, the student scored a 92 overall on her test.

11. My Experience • This method of testing works. • This student retook 3 modified sections and improved by 30% and 70% in two sections. • The student’s grade improved from a 44 to a 78.

12. Conclusions • Strengths of the Tracking Sheet: • Organization for Teacher and Student • It is an all inclusive info page. • Works well for Portfolio based grading • Better Data Collection • Set-up allows measurement of strength in standards/topics, not format of questioning • Sections and retakes show students and teachers where they are struggling in a particular content area, not necessarily with a particular format (multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, etc.) • Retake sections are different in format • Promotes Student Ownership • Gives students a choice to retake sections, to reflect upon their effort, and to set goals for the future • Gives Students a consistent, private voice through which to express themselves to the teacher

13. Conclusions • How can the Tracking Sheet be applied to the Writing Workshop: • Workshop is dependent on writing, sharing, and revising • The Tracking Sheet was created for the sake of revision. • Next Year • Implement a Unit long (2-3 week) Writing Workshop, using the Tracking Sheet