That's a Wrap!

My title is quite deceiving considering I'm referring to the wrap of another school year, another degree, and yet I'm graduating from a program that will ensure I am in school for the rest of my life. Ha! Jokes on me, right? 

Anyhow, today was the end of our shared classroom experience in Writing Across the Curriculum. This time of year is always so bittersweet. I'm glad the work load is finally over, but so sad about leaving this amazing program, the fantastic professors that have guided me along the way, and I'm especially sad to leave the family I made out of strangers. All of these people and elements have contributed so much to who I am as a teacher. I always knew teaching was a part of me, but it wasn't until this year that I could define why, or really who I was as a teacher. This class helped develop my philosophy of education, but more specifically the need for balanced literacy in the classroom, ensuring all students are both readers and writers- in all contexts.

This week's question is how do I believe the different kinds of writing will inform my teaching in content areas, and I think the most obvious answer is it will allow me to see whether my students actually understand what I'm teaching them. In various ways, it isn't until a student can explain their thinking that they actually understand it. A lot of writing tools will help students organize their thoughts and keep track of their thinking process. Writing allows you to not only see a student's final product, but also the process it took to get there. Writing allows me to see the students literacy levels, understanding and ability to communicate, and sometimes even their learning preferences. 

My content area is English, so it's quite obvious how different kinds of writing will inform my teaching in my content area. I'll be able to view student's abilities to write different types of writing conventions, fluency, style, grammar, and anything writing related really. Writing will help students make meaning of their learning, make connections with themselves, other texts, and the world around them. It's interesting because the the curriculum document makes references to all the things I believe writing does naturally, the document states: 

Successful language learners:

•  understand that language learning is a necessary, life-enhancing, reflective process; communicate – that is, read, listen, view, speak, write, and represent – effectively and with confidence;
•  make meaningful connections between themselves, what they encounter in texts, and the world around them; think critically;
• understand that all texts advance a particular point of view that must be recognized, questioned, assessed, and evaluated; 
• appreciate the cultural impact and aesthetic power of texts; use language to interact and connect with individuals and communities, for personal growth, and for active participation as world citizens 

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Although English is my content area, I am also a Junior/Intermediate teacher, which means I will be teaching much more than just my content area. I truly believe that everything I will get out of Language classes, I can also get out of other subjects. Writing really helps bring things together, form context, and make connections.