Implications

Various strategies to determine what works best
Practice, practice, practice!!!
Work amongst all subject areas to incorporate subject specific reading and writing
The need / necessity of space and time
Link narrative to public writing
Focus on process and practice
Focus first on voice and then on “editing”
Context is key – specificity and focus constraints can liberate
Multidisciplinary writing
Evaluating drafts!
We aren’t being the best teachers we can be because we aren’t working together to create a full picture for students especially in junior and senior high.

Liked
Answered most questions outlined in the assignment
Met criteria for a reflective scholarly essay

Disliked
Gave limited contrast between reality and media portrayal
Did not define what nursing was in reality
At times there was a lack of evidence for arguments
Did not elaborate on solutions and give enough detail on these to be effective

How could the assignment be improved:
Ensure that the requirements of the assignment can be covered effectively by the page length parameters. Narrow focus of assignment or increase length.

The end point assessment (diploma)
Multiple contexts within the class (assessment, enjoyment ect.) set these up at start of year and explain to students what context they are writing for each assignment
Context is communicated and identified using R.A.F.T. (role, audience, format and tone)
Can be strictly determined by school administration and curriculum

How does your context shape or constrain your classroom?

Limits writing for enjoyment
If a student is unclear about context for an assignment this leads to stress because they are unsure about expectations
Without clarity in context many areas of student writing is negatively affected (theme, tone, clarity ect.)
Narrowly defined context limits motivation for students as they have little control and input on what they are working on

Connecting the fact that writing is an opportunity to express what is going on in your mind with students
Intrinsic motivation to write (students will write voluntarily)
Students that accept the invitation to write (especially students that are discouraged by academics, assessment and only learn to write to graduate)
Learning about students through writing
Sharing about yourself with others through writing
When students that are discouraged by writing find their voice and write voluntarily
That writing can help the author organize thoughts, make connections and write for the purpose to understand (not just to communicate with others)
That it is a safe method to discover what is true (even if there is no audience)

Voice
Syntax
Structure
Purpose
Links between all aspects of writing including content, audience and form

Note: this list may need to be combined with another blogger at this workshop to ensure all observations are captured

Knowledge on writing and writing assessment
Understand what good writing looks like
Understand role in broader context
Hear educators speak their wisdom
Become aware of capabilities of students and what is reasonable to push them to
Professional development
Relevant to work in classroom right now
Techniques to get writing going
How to know what level students are at
Link context with writing and how different audiences changes the grammer, voice and style of writing
How to teach complex ideas about voice and audience when mechanics are poor
How to balance teaching to the diploma with proper mechanics with writing for the sake of writing
How to deal with students afraid to share great ideas in writing because they are not confident with mechanics and afraid of critical assessment of this