Sarah's Stories

In Linda Christensen’s chapter on Narrative Writing, I was brought into a new world of techniques and strategies which will not only help me as a writer but guide me as a teacher. For example, one of the things that I found the most interesting was the highlighting strategy to search for different literary devices. I have actually seen this used before in a seventh grade English class, and it was very beneficial for the students to see what they were including, and maybe see some areas where they needed to add more information. For example, students are able to see their use of dialogue and blocking, the setting that they develop and the voices that they give to their characters. Giving characters voices is something that I have never really thought about before when writing dialogue. I learned about the importance of giving each character their own voice, which I think will be helpful for me in developing my writing, and also useful for reminding my students. I also love that Chri...

I was moved to tears reading the poems written by students in Linda Christensen’s class, and it made me realize the power of poetry and how eye-opening it can be. I felt like I was able to learn about the lives of these students, the pain that they had experienced, and the hope that they had. Christensen provided a great framework for teaching different types of poetry, and I would love to be able to use her style of teaching in my future classroom. One of the things that stuck out to me most about this chapter was that Christensen started with a sample text, and she wrote her own. Starting with a sample text is a great way for students to understand the format and style of the specific poem, and it also strengthens both reading and listening skills. In addition, by writing her own poems to share with her students, students were able to learn about her past, and often, they were able to make connections with experiences that they had in their own lives. ...

“Just because you are a white teacher and do not experience life through the same lens as your students of color, it doesn’t mean you can’t build an environment where realness, rigor, and relationships abound in your classroom.” In the article Dear White Teacher, by Chrysanthius Lathan, this was the sentence that stuck out to me, this was the part of the article that I kept thinking about long after I finished reading. I think that this resonates with me so much because I am white, and I do have privileges that many do not have. I cannot pretend to relate to students that may not know where their next meal is coming from, or that experience fear of racism whenever they get in their car to drive home. While I cannot pretend to relate to these students, that doesn’t mean that I cannot be a successful teacher and create an environment where all students, regardless of who they are or where they come from, feel valued and appreciated. The chapter that we read...

After reading Elbow and Belanoff’s Sharing and Responding , I was made increasingly more aware of ways to share writing in a classroom setting. I have little experience with sharing my writing out loud. While I have had peers write comments on my papers, I have seldom read pieces of my writing out loud. This reading taught me several techniques to use in my future classroom, and as an elementary and middle school teacher, I can see myself using these to promote students’ growth as both readers, writers, and responders. In Elementary School, I remember loving to read my journal entries out. Oftentimes, my peers would respond with questions or comments about things that I had shared, which often lead to further discussions. This reminded me of the concept “What are your thoughts?” because it encouraged discussion. I think that this form of response is especially helpful for Elementary School students because it helps to promote listening skills and invites students to respond to...