Cut-and-Paste Revising

Hello all!

Just recently got done with my book review for 680 and learned a lot of cool things about the writing process from my dear old friend, Peter Elbow. Aside from having an excellent name, Mr. Elbow talked about a cool revising process called the Cut-and-Paste revising. In this process the students, after writing a rough draft, cut apart their paper and piece together a revised edition using only the best parts. After they have used all their pieces they connect the parts they need to using transition sentences and, voila, a finished draft! I really enjoyed reading about his process and hope to implement it in my classroom when I become a full-time teacher. It is a great was for students to participate in a hand on activity and still be able to see that they are good writers.

His book offered a great many insights about the writing process. Another one is the ways he encourages students to develop voice in their writing. One process that he discusses is the having students write poetry that doesn’t focus on punctuation or grammar. The point is to write a poem that gets the stuck ideas out of their head and onto the paper. This idea is one that I wouldn’t use for all of my students but it would be great thing to use if you were teaching a creative writing class or as an option for prewriting. The other option that he discusses is often an obvious but a method I think many teachers and writers forget. Reading a paper out loud often alerts students to grammatical errors they make in their paper but it can also alert the students to when their paper becomes boring or sounds too scripted, for lack of a better word.

I would definitely recommend this book to any writer or teacher. It offers great strategies and activities for every step of the writing process. The first step you need to take to be a good teacher of writing is to become more familiar with the way that you write.

Three shorts weeks and the final semester of college will be over (for many of us). Right now all I can think about is what will I do next, I’m almost done with school but some of the most stressful years of my life await me in the next few months. Will I get that job? Is everything turned in? When I feel that I am becoming overwhelmed with the stress I put on a Beatles’ album think of one of my favorite quotes from an exceptionally brilliant man, John Lennon.

 Hello all!

Just recently got done with my book review for 680 and learned a lot of cool things about the writing process from my dear old friend, Peter Elbow. Aside from having an excellent name, Mr. Elbow talked about a cool revising process called the Cut-and-Paste revising. In this process the students, after writing a rough draft, cut apart their paper and piece together a revised edition using only the best parts. After they have used all their pieces they connect the parts they need to using transition sentences and, voila, a finished draft! I really enjoyed reading about his process and hope to implement it in my classroom when I become a full-time teacher. It is a great was for students to participate in a hand on activity and still be able to see that they are good writers.

His book offered a great many insights about the writing process. Another one is the ways he encourages students to develop voice in their writing. One process that he discusses is the having students write poetry that doesn’t focus on punctuation or grammar. The point is to write a poem that gets the stuck ideas out of their head and onto the paper. This idea is one that I wouldn’t use for all of my students but it would be great thing to use if you were teaching a creative writing class or as an option for prewriting. The other option that he discusses is often an obvious but a method I think many teachers and writers forget. Reading a paper out loud often alerts students to grammatical errors they make in their paper but it can also alert the students to when their paper becomes boring or sounds too scripted, for lack of a better word.

I would definitely recommend this book to any writer or teacher. It offers great strategies and activities for every step of the writing process. The first step you need to take to be a good teacher of writing is to become more familiar with the way that you write.

Three shorts weeks and the final semester of college will be over (for many of us). Right now all I can think about is what will I do next, I’m almost done with school but some of the most stressful years of my life await me in the next few months. Will I get that job? Is everything turned in? When I feel that I am becoming overwhelmed with the stress I put on a Beatles’ album think of one of my favorite quotes from an exceptionally brilliant man, John Lennon. 

  

Writing with Power by Peter Elbow  ISBN: 978195120189

Thinking Ahead

The school year is coming to a close and as I apply for licensure and submit my application for employment I also look ahead and think about my future classroom. Watching the students come in on the first day, tentatively take a seat at their desks, most calmly regarding this new teacher they may have only seen in passing. I think about my dry erase board, the announcement board on the left wall, the artwork hanging from the walls, the packed bookshelf at the back of the classroom and the expectation printed above the whiteboard at the front of the classroom.

The first thing I hope the students will see when they come in is a welcoming place where they feel comfortable expressing who they are in a courteous manner. And I know the only way they will know what to expect is by having a clear list of expectation where the students can see them as soon as they walk in. In the book What Great Teachers Do Differently, the author, Todd Whitaker, takes a whole chapter to explain the importance of setting clear expectations. “[Great teachers] establish clear expectations at the start of the year and follow them consistently as the year progresses.” (pg. 17) Whitaker goes on to talk about daily routines and how they help to guard against unforeseen interruptions. He tells a story about an announcement that pulls the students away from their classroom work and redirects them to the activity the students were warned not to do in the first place. Again, Whitaker harps on the importance of establishing routines and setting classroom expectations from the beginning of the year.

While reading the chapter I think about the tentative students entering my classroom for the first time and what they will see when they look at the expectations posted above the whiteboard. I would like my classroom expectations to include being respectful to ourselves and others, being on time, and being prepared but I think that these may have become a little outdated in today’s society. Maybe it is just me but something seems missing from these rules. Can you think of any new expectations that these don’t encompass?

Can you think of a different way to introduce your future students to your classroom expectations? Do you think that routines are as important as Whitaker makes them out to be? Do you know of any ways to redirect students’ attention when they become distracted?

What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker, ISBN 9781930556690