Entry #1: Teachers That Write Make the Best Teachers of Writing

 

    In my analysis of the reading and writing processes so nicely explained in Tompkins and Tierney & Pearson, I now see my own processes in new ways. I never considered that I was completing steps of a process when reading but I always knew that I was completing steps of a process for writing. I didn't always think of myself as planning to read. I now see that I have been planning before reading because I get myself ready to read in many ways. Some of the activities that I engage in while planning for reading are getting out my highlighters, sticky notes, paper for taking notes and a pencil or pen. I also prepare my mind for reading by thinking about the genre or purpose of the reading and I also might look at any reading guides or questions provided before I start reading. Drafting, aligning and monitoring while reading make sense as part of the reading process for me as well because I engage with the print, I think about the characters or the author and connect with them and then I think about what I have read and if I have completed the steps of the process so far effectively. Revising is one part of the reading process that is a new concept for me because I only considered it being a part of the writing process until now. I think that I may not have considered it because I don't often have to reread but I do annotate and question while I read. I just didn't label annotating and rereading as revising until now. I have only one part of the writing process that I see in a new way. Drafting, revising, editing, and publishing I don't see in drastically new ways. Prewriting I do see in a new way though because I never considered how much time it should take up and how important it is. 

    I often consider the purpose of my writing or the audience of my writing when planning or prewriting. I don't always consider genre consciously but I may do it subconsciously. I believe that I gather and organize ideas differently depending on what I am reading or writing. If I am writing a formal paper I will organize my thoughts into an outline with ideas under each outline. It is easier for me to organize my thoughts and ideas when it is a topic that I am familiar with or a topic that I am passionate about. It is also easier to plan and organize when the resources I am going to be using are provided by the audience such as a professor and especially easy when I have already read and annotated them. I think one thing that makes planning and organizing more challenging is when I have to find my own resources and research. This is because I am always nervous that the resources that I have found are not acceptable or I should have found different ones or more of them. I think it is more challenging to write a paper when I have not planned or organized my thoughts. I also think it is somewhat challenging to start writing the paper and not veer off the organized ideas and start rambling about topics that are not in the outline. 

    As I read about and plan for this R/W blog assignment I will be using many reading and writing strategies. I will plan to read and write by highlighting, annotating and taking notes on the required readings. I will also use these notes and annotations to organize my thoughts for the writing. I think questioning, visualizing and connecting while reading will also help me for this assignment and I plan on writing down my questions and connections as I read. I will of course be prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing my writing but I don't think that the steps will be as elaborate as if I were typing a formal paper. As I think and analyze the Genre Pieces Project assignment the prewriting phase and the planning will be very important and time consuming. I will first be thinking about topics that I am interested in, like social and emotional well-being, reluctant learners and ADHD. Then I will be annotating, planning and taking notes on resources from class, as well as finding my own sources. I will be creating an outline, figuring out who my audience will be, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. This planning and prewriting will begin with me brainstorming topics, picking one, starting research, making notes and a bibliography and then making an outline. 

P.S. I am a little nervous about citing sources. I am unsure if I need to cite a source that is mentioned in the questions for the blog post. Like Tierney and Pearson for this post for example.