Entry #12: How has my knowledge of the reading and writing genres developed throughout my LTED 618 course?

This semester, I have had the opportunity to gain new insights into the various reading and writing genres presented in Tompkins (2019) along with the importance of including digital media presented in Hicks (2013). Through class discussions and readings, I have taken away a lot of new information that I hadn't considered prior to taking LTED 618 and creating this blog.

Prior to taking LTED 618, there were several genres that I hadn't fully understood or knew how to teach because I didn't have the chance to look more closely at the importance of these genres in a classroom setting. These genres include journal writing, biographical writing, and descriptive writing. I had heard of these forms of writing before because I created pieces of work as a student, however, I didn't feel that I knew how to teach these specific genres in a classroom. I also didn't consider the various mentor texts that existed in order to model these types of writing.

After reading Tompkins (2019) and watching multiple Genre Expert Presentations revolving around journal writing, biographical writing, and descriptive writing, I was able to gain a lot of new insight into how I might teach these genres in a classroom setting. One aspect that was helpful for all three writing genres was the mentor texts that I was able to look at in our "classroom library" during the Genre Expert Presentations. This was extremely beneficial for me because I was able to see the various books that can be used to help students learn about each type of writing. I was also able to see how a teacher might use these mentor texts in a classroom because each Genre Expert Presenter used some type of mentor text in order to teach their genre to the class.

Another aspect of the reading and writing genres that allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of journal writing, biographical writing, and descriptive writing was the independent practice incorporated into the Genre Expert Presentations. This allowed me to understand what I learned from each presentation along with how I might teach students when approaching each genre.

Along with the reading and writing genres, I also had the opportunity to explore various types of digital media that I hadn't learned about prior to this class. One form of digital media that I had never used before was Blogger.com. This site has allowed me to consider the importance of digital media because students are able to create more digitally enhanced pieces of work. The site also allows the writer to think about author's craft and how organization and presentation come into play.

Other forms of digital media that I learned from Hicks (2013) were jamendo.com and freesound.org. These sites can be used to incorporate various sound effects when creating Audio Texts. I learned that digital media such as Audio Texts are a great way to get students engaged and motivated when creating pieces of writing in the classroom.

As a teacher, I might consider using Blogger.com or Google Sites into a reading/writing workshop because I believe that these are two great platforms for creative writing. Students can easily learn how to use each site, and it allows them to work on creating digitally enhanced pieces of work. Students are also able to consider the various elements of author's craft when using these types of digital media such as organization, presentation, and word choice.

Lastly, there is one genre that still intimidates me as a reader and writer and that is poetry. Although I presented on poetry during my Genre Expert Presentation and I had the chance to do more thorough research on poetry, I still become overwhelmed when thinking about all of the different forms of poetry that exist. I believe poetry is overwhelming for me because it is such a broad term and teaching one style of poetry is completely different than teaching another style of poetry. As a result, I would like to continue learning about poetry and ways I might teach this genre in a classroom setting.

References

Hicks, T. (2013).  Crafting digital writing.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Tompkins, G. E.  (2019).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (7^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.