Learning in the Time of Corona: Tips for Teaching English Remotely (Part 4)

Are my students writing regularly?

Consideration #2: Mentors, Models, Process

The title of one of my favourite books on writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, comes from the soft-spoken words of her father, who uttered them to her brother when he felt overwhelmed with writing an information report on birds: “Bird by bird, buddy, just take it bird by bird.”

Now, the relevance of these words resonates twice-over: first, as a way of approaching the writing process when we feel overwhelmed and secondly, as a way of thinking about the uncharted teaching and learning territory we’ve been navigating over the last few weeks.

In taking it ‘bird by bird’, I’ve decided to centre Part 4 of this post on teaching English remotely around one single question:

“Are my students writing regularly?”

Why this question? Author Jane Yolen sums it up beautifully:

“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

— Jane Yolen

My last blog post considered engaging students in meaningful and relevant writing experiences. This one will consider writing models, mentors and process.

Because there’s so much to say about feedback, I’ll be addressing that topic in an upcoming post rather than here.

Models, mentors and process

Writing is not like putting together a Fantastic Furniture coffee table. When we write, there are no one-size-fits-all materials, lock-step assembly instructions or duplicate products. Writing is a process and a craft –like carpentry—and writers take on the role of apprentices who learn from their mentors and other people’s craftsmanship. Along the way, they find out what works for them as their own craft takes shape with particular audiences and purposes in mind.

Research (Graham & Perin, 2007; Educational Endowment Fund, 2017) tells us that students need models and mentors that will show them the “process and habits of a writer” and “how writers work” (Kittle, 2008: 12). But how might this work in our current, ‘far from normal’ teaching and learning conditions?

Teachers as (remote) models

“No strategy improves my students’ writing more than having my students watch and listen to me as I write and think aloud” (Gallagher, 2011: 15).

Photo by Green Chameleon from Unsplash Media.

We wouldn’t teach an apprentice carpenter their trade by throwing them into the deep end and saying, “Okay, now build me a stairway”. Instead, we’d expect that the apprentice would watch their mentors do it first. Likewise, when working with our students, a thoughtful approach involves modelling aspects of the writing process and strategies so students can learn that final-draft writing doesn’t instantly flow from pen to paper. They’ll learn it requires thoughtful planning, is a process, can involve struggle and that there are writing ‘moves’ they can try to help them move past their ‘roadblocks’ or struggles. More than anything, it’ll send the message that progress is what matters when approaching the writing process, not perfection. As author Jodi Picoult says, “you can’t edit a blank page.”

Even though currently, we can’t model writing strategies in a ‘face-to-face’ fashion at the moment, what we can do is:

Create video lessons for students using Screencastify, Microsoft Stream (if your school uses Microsoft Teams), Adobe Spark, the PowerPoint ‘record’ function, Screencast-o-matic or the ‘record’ function in Zoom.
Create written models, worked examples or ‘one-page guides’: You can create Word or Google Docs, slides or PDFs for students that showcase writing models, strategies and worked examples. Or if you’re feeling a bit fancy and would like some eye-catching visuals or other media to accompany your written models, you could create models using Google Jamboard (an online interactive whiteboard), an infographic or poster using Canva, or you could create an interactive document using Hyperdocs. Click on the image below to see a writing lesson presentation in Google Slides:

For access to a range of secondary English Hyperdocs about reading and writing, check out this link.

Access existing videos: Although it’s best if students see their teacher –a real person and the ‘expert writer’ in the room—model writing process and strategies, you could also ‘mix it up’ by providing some links to existing video lessons. See ABC Splash, UNC Writing Centre videos, Ted-Ed, Khan Academy and Purdue OWL Vidcasts for some examples.

What’s more, when thinking about approaching modelled writing, a useful approach might be to ask yourself a range of questions about different aspects of writing and to think about how you can support students with this. Here’s an example of a flowchart containing questions like this, drawing upon Ruth Culham’s 6+1 Traits of Writing Model:

For more resources that might help with modelling aspects of writing, see:

Teaching writing at the word and sentence level –check out the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s Literacy Teaching Toolkit ‘Word and Sentence Level’ page here.
Sentence study: an article from the Moving Writers blog about using model sentences to improve writing – available here
Teaching writing at the paragraph and text level, see the Victorian DET’s Literacy Teaching Toolkit, ‘Paragraph and Text Level’ here
ABC Splash –lots of writing videos and resources here

Mentor texts –Access and use:

As well as teachers, texts can also act as models for our students as they learn more and more about writing. These models –or mentor texts—are engaging “pieces of writing –or excerpts of writing—by established authors that can inspire students and teach them how to write” (Marchetti and O’Dell, 2015: 3).

Some ideas for bringing this into our current learning environment include:

Establishing a ‘mini library’ of short texts, text excerpts or student writing (with student permission) that is shared and embedded in online writing lessons. For an example of a mentor text library that has a folder organised by genre, see the Moving Writers Google Drive. Students can ‘read like writers’, noticing and discussing what writing ‘moves’ are being made in these texts, what ‘works’ and the moves they could make in their own writing. In the current context, this could take place during video conferencing sessions, via Google Doc comments or on discussion boards.
Using mentor texts to compile a class list of the features of the genre/form (eg: “What we notice about informative blog posts”, “what we notice about persuasive speeches”). See an example below:

Not losing sight of the writing process:

Veteran teacher and legend Don Murray said: “The best teacher of writing is the writing…the actual writing you do, producing different genres: brainstorming, drafting, revising, sharing and tinkering with words to make writing worth reading for others.” In other words, engaging in the writing process matters! Being explicit in approaching writing as a process –especially when we are teaching remotely—provides a framework for supporting students to take control of their writing. The Victorian Department of Education’s Literacy Teaching Toolkit (2019) summarises this process like this:

In a remote learning context, students can be supported in this process through teacher modelling/instructions and writing activities regarding aspects of the process and through small-group or individual video conferencing. To see some specific examples of how to support students in the writing process, see the Literacy Teaching Toolkit’s writing process page.

Connections with authors:

Last but definitely not least, we can invite authors to connect with our students and share their writing processes and tips with them, helping students feel part of a writing community and like ‘real’ authors too.

It might seem like weird time to think about this, but if virtual author visits are something you’re considering once you and your students have settled into some semblance of routine, you can search for authors at the Australian Society of Authors here and at SpeakersInk here.

To observe videos of authors explaining their writing process or running writing tutorials, check out the following:

ABC Splash: See a range of videos featuring Australian authors talking about their writing processes and offering tips –available here
Writing with Emily and Nova: A series of clear handouts on their website here that address aspects of the writing process and writing hints. Created by two Australian authors, Nova Weetman and Emily Gale.
Kate Di Camillo: find her videos on her Facebook page here or on Youtube here. She offers lots of writing tips and advice.
Ralph Fletcher: find the first of his videos here. This one focuses on poetry.
Jason Reynolds: His Write. Right. Rite. video series provide an entertaining and engaging way for students to explore the ‘how’ of writing, and can be found here.

Final Thoughts:

On a final note, we know that teaching writing is not one-size-fits all or something that is can be easily packaged up. It’s complex and dependent on the learners in front of us. Use what you already know about good teaching and learning and your students to select the right approach –whatever that might look like for you.

In what ways have you been approaching the teaching of writing at this time?

References:

Atwell, N (2014). In the Middle: A Lifetime of Learning about Adolescents, Reading and Writing, 3rd Edition. Heinemann, Portsmouth: NH.

Department of Education and Training (2019). ‘Writing Process’, Literacy Teaching Toolkit, Victorian Department of Education and Training, 15 April 2020.

Gallagher, K (2006). Teaching Adolescent Writers. Stenhouse, Portland: ME.

Gallagher, K. (2011). Write Like This. Stenhouse, Portland: ME.

Graham,S & Perin, D (2004). Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools, Carnegie Corporation: New York, NY.

Kittle, P (2008). Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing. Heinemann, Portsmouth: NH.

Marchetti, A. & O’Dell, R (2015). Writing With Mentors. Heinemann, Portsmouth: NH.

Quigley, A & Coleman, R (2019). Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools: Guidance Report. Educational Endowment Fund, Millbank, London.