In today’s world of education, everyone has an opinion about what should be taught and the method used to deliver. Hicks, (2011) believes that standards encourage skill and drill. Skill and drill are just one component of teaching and learning. In my opinion, standards specifically, Common Core Standards, help teachers to better service students. Each grade level builds on the previous by adding depth and rigor. The instruction taught in first grade will provide the foundational concepts that teachers will build on in the next grade level. I adore this new age teaching. If I were taught the way that students are learning today, I would have been better prepared when I started college after high school.
Although Common Core does not mandate the writing process, teachers have the freedom to use whatever tools they believe is most helpful for students to meet those goals set out within the standards. I think that we all can agree that writing serves as the gateway for most graduate entrance into college and sometimes even whether or not an employer will hire you or not. Graham & MacAuthur (2002) conducted a study about how classroom teacher taught writing. Within this study, they pooled teachers from public and private schools in grades kindergarten through third grade. Eighty percent of the teachers reported teaching writing as skill and drill, while the remaining teachers reported teaching the writing process. Graham & MacAuthur, (2002) concluded that writing should be taught through a balanced approach including teaching basic skills, the writing process, and writing text.
As we are left to ponder the correct answer posed in my title, let’s not forget the early begins in education and how we shifted from not having standards, to being mandated on exactly what should be taught in order for students to obtain success. Why fix what was never broken in the first place? It is critical that students are exposed to a variety of text types (Hicks, 2011) regardless of what one believes to be the driving force behind the teaching.
References:
Cutler, L., & Graham, S. (2008). Primary grade writing instruction:a national survey. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(4), 907-919. DOI: 10.1037/a0012656
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
ReplyDeleteI liked that instead of mandating a procedure for writing, Common Core actually left a lot of wiggle room for writing instruction. Hicks points out that Common Core focuses on narrative, informational, and argumentative, having these types of texts, I think, limits the options. However, as shown in the text, these types of writing can help to guide writers to pick an appropriate digital platform for those specific types of writing (Hicks 2013, 36-37).
Reference:
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Keonna,
ReplyDeleteI agree that writing should be taught through a more balanced approach, and I believe that digital writing can help teachers do this. I feel digital writing lends itself more to the editing process, which is a critical component to Writer’s Workshop. Regardless, Hicks (2013) said, “…high quality writing instruction is still high quality writing instruction.” I believe this to be true not matter the medium.
References
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.