Thursday, August 03, 2006
Janelle's Part about YAC
Please provide feedback on:
1) Am I on the right track here, Jeannine?
2) Is this too casual?
3) Should I be providing more data... number of comments, revisions, etc?
The Case Study of a Young Authors’ Camp
When asked to design and teach a Young Authors’ Camp, I immediately brainstormed what might engage young students to write during their summer vacation. It didn’t take me long to realize the power of technology and so was born the Texas Bluebonnet Writing Project’s High-Tech Young Authors’ Camp.
Even before camp, I extended the lines of virtual communication by contacting parents of registered campers through email. I needed to gain their permission for their children to create a weblog as well as information on an email address that could be used for created such blog. I also asked for further information from the parents about their children and passed along the nuts and bolts about the week to come. I feel the virtual communication really sets the tone for the entire experience.
I also create an informational blog for both campers and parents where what we studied, homework, and other helpful tips are posted. Both parents and students are invited to review this page at any time for reference. This would be for the majority of campers, their introduction to the world of blogging. I would use this page to get them to log in, navigate, and understand what a blog is.
This is where the patience comes to play. Having worked extensively with blogs, I needed to remind myself that many campers weren’t even certain of how to get onto the Internet. From experience, the more help the better. This year, I dedicated about 15 minutes to find and get onto the camp blog.
Element 1: Aesthetically Pleasing
After obtaining the permission and address to create the blogs for the campers, I set upon my mission to create the accounts. I tried to choose titles and passwords that would suit the camper, and I randomly chose the templates for how the blog would look onscreen.
I found out, however, that the young campers preferred choosing their own titles, passwords, and of course, look of their blogs. We took at least another 20 minutes while campers played around with their blogs, changing passwords, names, and especially templates. Originally, I thought I was doing the right thing by creating their blogs for them. I wanted to save time.
I realize now that this taking time to create and design their own blogs is a very important step for the campers. They needed to have a sense of that ownership for their own pages. They needed to make their own choices on what they could remember for passwords, how they would be seen for their usernames, and how their blogs looked for the templates. The extra 20 minutes were well spent because before long, campers were calling them “MY page.”
Element 2: Moral/Ethical Connections with members of the community
With a 5-day time period, one wonders how connected campers will feel. It’s up to me to set the pace and tone for the writing community. For writing, in particular, since it is such a personal process, many people feel anxiety to share their work. They may be even more reluctant to hear feedback because they are so accustomed to hearing what needs to be corrected instead of what is good about the piece.
I start by sharing my own writing. I read it and allow them to think about it, and then, I set up some norms for providing constructive feedback. These are reminders to state what was appreciated in the piece and if there’s a part that cam be improved or clarified, the audience member can ask about those items in question format and in a specific nature. For example, instead of saying, “The beginning was boring.” The protocols I presented would remind listeners or readers to say, “How could the beginning of the piece attract our attention more? Is there a way to jump into some action while also setting the stage?”
As we review the Providing Constructive Feedback Guidelines, I ask students why they think these are important. I got answers like, “So the writer wants to share their work” or “So writers know exactly what they can work on.” I remind them, that it is difficult to share writing so we need to be as positive as possible.
The campers then use those guidelines to provide feedback to me, and I revise my writing accordingly. I do this via blogs so campers can see the writing process in action. Then, it’s time for the students to try it.
I have never experienced such excitement about writing. We actually did conferencing about their pieces online on the campers’ individual blogs. Students were waiting for their feedback. They were reminding each other and me to read their latest comments and latest revisions. They felt committed to providing their peers with valuable feedback. They felt invested to conference with one another to see if their pieces were making more sense not only to themselves as writers but also to the readers.
This is a very difficult task to accomplish, but somehow, the blogs aided in this process. I think students knew their feedback was being considered, and they also knew that their names were linked to the comments made. They had ownership of their feedback, their revisions as well as the writing process, and in our writing community.
Element 3: Non-linear/hierarchical Relationships and opportunities for Communication
Element 4: Grounded in Constructivism
1) Am I on the right track here, Jeannine?
2) Is this too casual?
3) Should I be providing more data... number of comments, revisions, etc?
The Case Study of a Young Authors’ Camp
When asked to design and teach a Young Authors’ Camp, I immediately brainstormed what might engage young students to write during their summer vacation. It didn’t take me long to realize the power of technology and so was born the Texas Bluebonnet Writing Project’s High-Tech Young Authors’ Camp.
Even before camp, I extended the lines of virtual communication by contacting parents of registered campers through email. I needed to gain their permission for their children to create a weblog as well as information on an email address that could be used for created such blog. I also asked for further information from the parents about their children and passed along the nuts and bolts about the week to come. I feel the virtual communication really sets the tone for the entire experience.
I also create an informational blog for both campers and parents where what we studied, homework, and other helpful tips are posted. Both parents and students are invited to review this page at any time for reference. This would be for the majority of campers, their introduction to the world of blogging. I would use this page to get them to log in, navigate, and understand what a blog is.
This is where the patience comes to play. Having worked extensively with blogs, I needed to remind myself that many campers weren’t even certain of how to get onto the Internet. From experience, the more help the better. This year, I dedicated about 15 minutes to find and get onto the camp blog.
Element 1: Aesthetically Pleasing
After obtaining the permission and address to create the blogs for the campers, I set upon my mission to create the accounts. I tried to choose titles and passwords that would suit the camper, and I randomly chose the templates for how the blog would look onscreen.
I found out, however, that the young campers preferred choosing their own titles, passwords, and of course, look of their blogs. We took at least another 20 minutes while campers played around with their blogs, changing passwords, names, and especially templates. Originally, I thought I was doing the right thing by creating their blogs for them. I wanted to save time.
I realize now that this taking time to create and design their own blogs is a very important step for the campers. They needed to have a sense of that ownership for their own pages. They needed to make their own choices on what they could remember for passwords, how they would be seen for their usernames, and how their blogs looked for the templates. The extra 20 minutes were well spent because before long, campers were calling them “MY page.”
Element 2: Moral/Ethical Connections with members of the community
With a 5-day time period, one wonders how connected campers will feel. It’s up to me to set the pace and tone for the writing community. For writing, in particular, since it is such a personal process, many people feel anxiety to share their work. They may be even more reluctant to hear feedback because they are so accustomed to hearing what needs to be corrected instead of what is good about the piece.
I start by sharing my own writing. I read it and allow them to think about it, and then, I set up some norms for providing constructive feedback. These are reminders to state what was appreciated in the piece and if there’s a part that cam be improved or clarified, the audience member can ask about those items in question format and in a specific nature. For example, instead of saying, “The beginning was boring.” The protocols I presented would remind listeners or readers to say, “How could the beginning of the piece attract our attention more? Is there a way to jump into some action while also setting the stage?”
As we review the Providing Constructive Feedback Guidelines, I ask students why they think these are important. I got answers like, “So the writer wants to share their work” or “So writers know exactly what they can work on.” I remind them, that it is difficult to share writing so we need to be as positive as possible.
The campers then use those guidelines to provide feedback to me, and I revise my writing accordingly. I do this via blogs so campers can see the writing process in action. Then, it’s time for the students to try it.
I have never experienced such excitement about writing. We actually did conferencing about their pieces online on the campers’ individual blogs. Students were waiting for their feedback. They were reminding each other and me to read their latest comments and latest revisions. They felt committed to providing their peers with valuable feedback. They felt invested to conference with one another to see if their pieces were making more sense not only to themselves as writers but also to the readers.
This is a very difficult task to accomplish, but somehow, the blogs aided in this process. I think students knew their feedback was being considered, and they also knew that their names were linked to the comments made. They had ownership of their feedback, their revisions as well as the writing process, and in our writing community.
Element 3: Non-linear/hierarchical Relationships and opportunities for Communication
Element 4: Grounded in Constructivism
# posted by Janelle @ 7:54 AM 
