| I�ve finished drafting the bulk of research based section of this project. Left with masses of sticky notes where I�ve jotted down random application ideas during the drafting process. And pages of things I still need to check over. I also have an outline of my intentions for how I was going to finish up this project�.yet undone are, the application sections.
Its been ages since I took a close look at the criteria, leaving them floating in the back of my mind as a vague, guiding target. Focusing instead on my audience and what I thought they�d want/need to know about writing evaluation. Focus on the criteria was stifling my writing, (like Krashen says happens when students worry about correctness and conventions before meaning) s I looked over criteria and what I�ve written, I realized that everything is already there. I�ve written with a mind to application all the way through. Application is threaded throughout in a way that I hope would make sense to the teaching parents whom I consult. But would be pretty difficult to follow if I were a teacher grading this thing. So I started writing with a short sentence: �It�s all there, but where?� I wasn�t sure where I wanted to go from there. What to say? So instead of looking forward I looked back and thought, �what comes next? logically? What do I want to follow up with? So the following sentence began: �This has been a whirlwind project that stretched my �.� I fiddled with the wording for the next phrase, writing and re-writing several times, settling on: �This has been a whirlwind project that stretched my understanding�� I still didn�t think that was it, but needed to go forward or I would get stuck. Good enough for now, because a list was forming in my mind of things I had gained new understanding about, and I wondered what the list would be� were there only two or three? Were there as many as five? Then maybe they would guide what I want to say about classroom application. So I began listing, and thinking some more. I wasn�t finished. But that was as far as those thoughts went. I began focusing on the recursive nature of my writing in just this one small part of the big project. I connected with the E.B. White quote that had been squirreled away in my notes, but I didn�t want to stop so I just wrote: ��like the E.B.White quote about hunting� and continued to where I am now. To this point, on this page, I�ve spent 15 or 20 minutes drafting. And I�m already revising things either physically or mentally. I�m also starting to move ahead and think about what I want to say next�.future goal-- which makes me realize how yes, this actually does have application to my teaching! I�m writing: to teach writing, you�ve got to be a writer. That is a thread of advice that is repeated by everything I�ve read from Murray in 1983 through to Routman in 2005. Yes, teasing meaning from words is a recursive process. And it is a craft. Steps of the Process I�ve followed here, haven�t been linear, but they are there: Pre-Writing, Drafting, Revising, Editing, even some publishing. Final publishing is not too far away�only about 12 hours. And I hope to continue polishing afterwards. Because I�ve asked people I consult with to view my project and give me feedback about what is helpful,. The term �process� connotes recipe, procedures, give-me-the-directions-and-I-follow-them-and-get-a-product. But it is also a craft. It takes skill informed by experience and a lot of hard work. Writing Process is not following procedures like �how to grow corn� Till soil. Amend it. Plant the seeds. Water. Wait. And a perfect plant begins to sprout of its own accord. (this is the �writing is mystery� mentality that Brown et. al. (1993) talk about) I think writing process might be more like a potter who takes a rough clump of clay and turns it into something useful. An experienced potter can make the process look magical, like a flower unfolding magically through still photography. But it takes years of practicing the process and honing their craft. |
| Quickwrite reflection on my learning after I finished drafting the main body of research finds through several drafts: |