Critical artifact analysisCategories of analysis:
Artifacts from across my practice will be analyzed according to the categories above, which emerged during my inquiry into student writing with the template. I will primarily analyze the essays written about the short story "The Company of Wolves" by my 12th grade class at the end of the feminist perspective unit (the grade spread for this essay can be seen below).
Some of these students have been using variations on these templates for the past three years, and some were first introduced to Mr. Ford's template this year, but all have previously written at least one essay with the template before this assignment with Mr. Ford, and one paragraph with the template with me (Ad Analysis Paragraph, Artifact #3). |
'Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me.'
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Of the patterns that emerged during my inquiry, one that I find particularly fascinating is the reappropriation of words, phrases, and syntax by students in various writing situations when no template is provided to them. Another is the modification of the template when its structure does not meet the student's writing needs (though officially this is difficult to distinguish from misuse of the template, the purposeful nature of some of these instances is recognizable).
Though it is tempting to want to categorize everything neatly, it is misleading to present these categories without addressing some of the limitations of this organization. A particular challenge is distinguishing between students' understanding of the template and the writing process itself and their understanding of the material--content vs. process.
Their demonstration of understanding of the content could mean many different things worked in their favor along the way--prior knowledge or predisposition to understanding, deep reading or engagement with the source material, engagement in class, etc. But it also implies that the writing template enabled them to express this understanding through this formulaic process (though they possibly expressed their understanding in spite of this formulaic approach). Alternately, demonstrations of understanding of the template may imply that they have been engaged in the writing process and have in some way internalized the meaning of the template and are using at as a tool to communicate with.
The pre-writing reflection questionaire I gave to my class (Artifact #8) reveals a sampling of student attitudes towards the template, and surprisingly to me, they were overwhelmingly positive. For instance, Ashley wrote, "I like the colors because it help me to understand more about what am doing and how to figure out what step am in. Which help me to move to the next step." Nay likes it because "it keeps the essays more organized." These sentiments were echoed in various ways across student responses. When asked what they would change about the template, students invariably claimed nothing. The only actual suggestion came from Ariel, the student in the class most likely to complete her work thoroughly and on time, who wrote, "If you explain it before we do our homework it will be helpful." This tells me that I could have done a more thorough job at presenting my version of the template to the students--though I did show it to them in the PowerPoints I used, I did not open the same Word Document they were using and model writing in it on the Promethean Board, which I have found to be a useful method with the tenth grade and should have probably done with the 12th grade as well.
When asked if they would use the template for a future essay were it not assigned with a template, they resoundingly answered yes. Nay explained, "I would use the template to be more organized and to help the reader understand more." Answers like this explain how the students view the purpose of the template and thus demonstrate their understanding of it. However, no student discussed the product produced with the template as being repetitive or stilted or expressed a desire for more freedom in constructing an essay according to their inspiration. However, they did express positive feelings about the creative, unstructured writing we did in class, thinking it would be too hard but eventually finding it fun and enjoyable to write in this way. Because their teachers' focus has been on accurately completing the template and not teaching or marking their style, voice, or other traditional hallmarks of strong essay writing, it's possible that they like using the template because it helps them to complete the (challenging) task they are asked to do and receive rewards (grades) for doing so.
Mr. Ford sees the template as a way in to a subject for students who have big ideas but difficulty communicating them effectively in writing. He thinks it opens up a space for them to explore their ideas in the warrant, and that once they have internalized this form they will be freer to fine tune their writing in other ways. To take an optimistic view, when they get to college, if they do use the template, they may receive criticism in these areas but not necessarily on their structure, which may prompt them to take the next steps to improve their writing style and voice. In the following sections on failure, misinterpretation, completion, addition, modification, and application, I will explore ways in which students use the template in order to identify possible benefits and detriments of this approach to writing.
Though it is tempting to want to categorize everything neatly, it is misleading to present these categories without addressing some of the limitations of this organization. A particular challenge is distinguishing between students' understanding of the template and the writing process itself and their understanding of the material--content vs. process.
Their demonstration of understanding of the content could mean many different things worked in their favor along the way--prior knowledge or predisposition to understanding, deep reading or engagement with the source material, engagement in class, etc. But it also implies that the writing template enabled them to express this understanding through this formulaic process (though they possibly expressed their understanding in spite of this formulaic approach). Alternately, demonstrations of understanding of the template may imply that they have been engaged in the writing process and have in some way internalized the meaning of the template and are using at as a tool to communicate with.
The pre-writing reflection questionaire I gave to my class (Artifact #8) reveals a sampling of student attitudes towards the template, and surprisingly to me, they were overwhelmingly positive. For instance, Ashley wrote, "I like the colors because it help me to understand more about what am doing and how to figure out what step am in. Which help me to move to the next step." Nay likes it because "it keeps the essays more organized." These sentiments were echoed in various ways across student responses. When asked what they would change about the template, students invariably claimed nothing. The only actual suggestion came from Ariel, the student in the class most likely to complete her work thoroughly and on time, who wrote, "If you explain it before we do our homework it will be helpful." This tells me that I could have done a more thorough job at presenting my version of the template to the students--though I did show it to them in the PowerPoints I used, I did not open the same Word Document they were using and model writing in it on the Promethean Board, which I have found to be a useful method with the tenth grade and should have probably done with the 12th grade as well.
When asked if they would use the template for a future essay were it not assigned with a template, they resoundingly answered yes. Nay explained, "I would use the template to be more organized and to help the reader understand more." Answers like this explain how the students view the purpose of the template and thus demonstrate their understanding of it. However, no student discussed the product produced with the template as being repetitive or stilted or expressed a desire for more freedom in constructing an essay according to their inspiration. However, they did express positive feelings about the creative, unstructured writing we did in class, thinking it would be too hard but eventually finding it fun and enjoyable to write in this way. Because their teachers' focus has been on accurately completing the template and not teaching or marking their style, voice, or other traditional hallmarks of strong essay writing, it's possible that they like using the template because it helps them to complete the (challenging) task they are asked to do and receive rewards (grades) for doing so.
Mr. Ford sees the template as a way in to a subject for students who have big ideas but difficulty communicating them effectively in writing. He thinks it opens up a space for them to explore their ideas in the warrant, and that once they have internalized this form they will be freer to fine tune their writing in other ways. To take an optimistic view, when they get to college, if they do use the template, they may receive criticism in these areas but not necessarily on their structure, which may prompt them to take the next steps to improve their writing style and voice. In the following sections on failure, misinterpretation, completion, addition, modification, and application, I will explore ways in which students use the template in order to identify possible benefits and detriments of this approach to writing.