KaminskieSWAP

Path:  For my research question I decided to do option number two on the assignment sheets. The question was, “How can a teacher design and implement assignments that encourage students to meet standardized criteria but avoid formulaic writing?” I thought that this would be an important topic to cover because as teachers we are told that students have to meet the standards that are set and pass the state tests. Even as students we are put under the pressure of meeting the standardized criteria set by the state.

Archive:  I decided to look at Barry Lane’s blog page. This is the link: http://1000thingstowriteabout.blogspot.com/. I thought that this website was really interesting. I shows students what kinds of things they can write about that can still be school standards, while be relevant and interesting to the student. It gives students ideas on what they can do to help get their writing started if they are having trouble coming up with ideas.

Student Work:  I collected two different student writing samples. The first one I collected was a free writing sample. I think that this particular assignment wouldn’t meet any real specific standards. So for this assignment I might have the students write more about why they like the movie that they chose. Have them pick out specific details from the movie and describe what about it makes it interesting to them and have them analysis it using vocabulary that they have learned. This would get the students to think more critically about why a certain movie is their favorite.  The second set of writing that I collected had more of an alignment with standards that students would be expected to meet. With this writing students had to interpret and poem and give specific examples to support their reasoning. With this set of student writing the students are focused to think critically about what the author is talking about in the poem. While it has the students work on the standards it keeps away from the formulaic writing because students are able to write what they want and express their own ideas while still sticking to the writing standards given to them by the state. The students can still make it interesting and relevant to their own lives.