Melissa Bibb

September
1. Describe your approach to composition.  I try to cover the basics such as an opening and closing sentence, indentation, capitalization, punctuation, etc. I am not very critical of the students’ content, since for many of them this is their first real attempt at writing.

2. How often do your students attempt to write each week?  I usually have them enter a story in their “journals” once a week. These entries are mostly creative writing and not personal journaling.

3. How have you integrated technology into instruction in the past?  Yes, but I do not feel I have been very successful.

4. What do you hope to gain from participation in this project?  I am looking forward to some fresh ideas pertaining to teaching writing. I especially hope that this project will help my students feel more comfortable and confident with the writing process. 

October

1.    Describe your class’ positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.   The majority of the students remembered how to fold their paper and were familiar with putting the “first “sentence in the middle.  They had a lot of questions, so altogether, they seemed excited. 

2.    How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3)  Why?    We were able to do the 4 Square then transfer the 4 square to paper.  Some students told me they were finished with their 4 square and did not know that the purpose was to transfer it to a paragraph.  We were able to accomplish this because I planned for 2 days to do 4 Square, then 2 days of conferencing to help them copy it to paper. 

3.    Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month?  Describe.    The topic of an autobiography posed some problems for my students.  Some of them wanted to write in chronological order, while others skipped around, and a few others just wanted to tell details about themselves.  The kept asking me, “Is it o.k. if….?”  They also were in a hurry to finish and kept their sentences very brief.  A few wanted to illustrate their 4 Square, so that added some interest to the class. 

What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?  Altogether this was a beneficial project for my students.  They majority of my students read their finished paragraphs to the class and seemed to enjoy it.  A few examples on the web may have been helpful just to give them some direction

November

December
 

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. My students seem more comfortable with the Four Square format. They have been more eager to share their ideas and generate their own sentences than the previous experiences.

2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? This month we worked with Connie and did the Colonial America slide show. The students did Four Square for this experience.

We did not go any further with it this month due to time constraints with other projects which were due.

3. Discuss the Sentence Stretcher experience.

I was absent at the last meeting and did not do this yet. I will have my students do this soon.

4. Were you able to complete a Colonial America writing activity? Discuss the success/problems. Yes. The students enjoyed this activity and still talk about it from time to time. I was pleased with their overall understanding of the activity. My students did have trouble with their verb tenses in this activity. They can sometimes jump from present tense to past tense in the same sentence. We had a follow-up discussion with a video entitled “Plymouth Plantation.” The students wrote 5 sentences about what they learned. Some of the students made references (orally) back to the Colonial America activity.

5. Were you able to successfully download a file from the Write On site this month? Tell about any problems you encountered.

Yes. The first time I did “Easter Island” I did not download it correctly, so it was very slow and did not have sound. I have changed that, but have not shown it to my class yet.

6. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project? Students are having trouble generating their own ideas. They still need a lot of direction from me.

7. What problems are you experiencing? Time management is the biggest problem I am facing, but I am working on it. I have to learn to make writing more of a priority.

8. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I do not have any further suggestions at this time. I think all of the ideas and topics are great. I just need to spend more time “absorbing” what I have learned, then implement it in my classroom.

January

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.

We have only been able to do one Four Square activity this month. Most of my students are “catching on” and seem comfortable with the first step of four square. They are still not very positive about putting it in paragraph form yet, but I am working on that!

2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why?

We only did 4 Square this month. We have been doing other writing activities in reading, English, and social studies and had many interruptions this month.

3. Discuss the Miss Take’s Challenge experience.

I have used Miss Take’s Challenge about 4 times. My students really enjoy this activity. I think seeing something on the T.V. screen instead of on paper or the board generates interest in students. I only give them a little bit of time to find the mistakes, so it becomes a competition. We are in groups right now, so I plan on making it a group activity next week. Thank you for providing us with this great activity!

4. Was Mr. Indent or The Hook helpful to your students? If so, in what way. If not, why? So far, I have only done Mr. Indent with my students. This activity really got their attention and they enjoyed the illustrations. I have heard them say, “Remember Mr. Indent “when they start writing.

5. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project? Overall my students do not have a positive attitude towards writing. I try to be very positive and excited about it, but writing activities are generally met by “groans”. They respond to the shorter activities such as Miss Take’s Challenge and Mr. Indent more positively than a Four Square writing activity.

6. What problems are you experiencing? This month was another challenging month regarding “time” and interruptions. I find it difficult to plan for writing time, but know I need to make it more of a priority.

7. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I do not have any suggestions. I think this project is well planned and a great resource. My only difficulty is scheduling in my own classroom and I have to work on that!

February

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. This month we started a Four Square on “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up”. I was very pleased to see how much easier it was for students to get started. Their ideas seem to flow much easier, and they are more comfortable with the Four Square process. I think they are finally beginning to understand that there is not always a “right” topic to choose. They are exploring their own ideas more freely.

2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? I started out this activity as just a 4 Square. Then we went back and added 4 + 3. Students are currently working on putting it to paper due to several interruptions. I have conferenced with some of the students, but not all about this assignment. So, it is a work in progress!

3. Discuss the Goof’s activity. My students really enjoy the goofs! I have done it about 4 times with them now, but hope to get to it more often. I really think it would be a great way to start every English lesson. I know they will really enjoy making their own, so I am looking forward to doing that with them soon.

4. What improvements are you seeing in your students through participation in this project? I encourage my students to write in complete sentences in all of their subjects. They really struggled with that at the beginning of the year. Now they are really beginning to understand what a thorough answer is. I tell them all the time that I am pleased with how they are writing “grown up” sentences. I am also very pleased with their writing when it comes to narrative stories. Their descriptive writing has improved with the use of “sparkle” words and their organizational skills have improved. The majority of my students understand the writing process and feel more comfortable with 4 Square.

5. What is the biggest hurdle you have experienced in composition instruction with your students? Time, Time, Time! I find it very difficult to answer all their questions when we are working on writing. When I can’t help some students right away, they lose interest and their train of thought. My students do not really appreciate the editing process and usually grumble a little bit about having to write it again. I can never get to everyone in one day to finish their editing conferences.

6. What activity through Write On has been most beneficial to your students? I think the Goofs activity has generated the most interest from my students and is helping them be more aware of their own writing.

7. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I can not think of any suggestions at this time. I still haven’t been able to get to everything that is available!

March
 

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month. We started a Four Square + 3 about “My Favorite Season”. I was actually surprised that I didn’t hear as many “groans” this time, instead they started asking questions and generating ideas. We are still in the middle of the process. Everyone has completed their Four Square and I was very pleased with the ideas they had. Most of the students have written their rough draft, but I haven’t had a conference with everyone yet. They definitely feel much more confident with the whole process and it is beginning to show in their writing.

2. Did your students participate in a science cross curriculum writing activity? If so, describe its successes/weaknesses.

We viewed “Photosynthesis” and discussed it. The slide show sparked a few questions. We did not do the writing activity. It was a great review for them, but they wanted to know where the sounds were. They like some sort of “bells and whistles” in everything they do on the computer.

3. Other than time restraints, what is your biggest problem in composition instruction? My students have difficulty in generating sentences that do not all sound the same. They are recognizing that this is a problem, but get “stuck” in their writing. I would like access to more examples of student compositions , both good examples and poor examples, which might help them in this process.

4. What positive effects can you see in your students through the participation in the Four Square method of composition?

They are more confident in their approach to writing than they were even a month ago. I think we were all going through the “winter blues”. There are still a lot of grammatical errors, but they are more willing to approach a composition than they were before.

5. Have you been able to share experiences or activities addressed through this project with any other educators? What was the result? I have told other fourth grade teachers about the games, Common Goofs, and other activities. Some of the teachers who were already using the internet have used the sites and have been pleased. Others have told me they will try it.

6. What changes will you make in your approach to composition in the upcoming school year? I will definitely start earlier in the year. I hope this next group will be further along in the process since some third grade teachers have been to the workshop. I hope to plan my conference time more effectively and will probably involve parents in the process more. I would love to have a parent volunteer who might help the students in writing once a month or more. One can always dream!

May

This project address the following Tennessee Master Plan Goal: State of the art technology will be used to improve curriculum. Tennessee Report Card Performance Indicators Competency (Composition Skills) How do you feel this project moved toward the goal of improving student composition skills?

Participation in this project enabled me to gather new information, learn to better utilize technology, and implement new techniques in the classroom.

List ways your participation in this project has positively affected the writing skills of the students in your classroom.

My students did not seem very willing to write at the beginning of the year. However, the online activities were very interesting to the students and highly motivating. When I present information from the computer they are far more willing to write about it.

How did your participation in this project positively affect your instructional strategies?

I am more willing to attempt language arts and writing activities knowing that I have technology that I can turn to that will enhance learning. Before this workshop I felt that I had to "get creative" in order to encourage writing. Subsequently, I was running out of ideas. The online activities allow me to try different teaching strategies I wouldn't have tried before. This project has definitely increased my technology confidence level!

How has your approach to writing composition changed through your participation in this project from that of previous years?

In previous years I felt like my teaching of writing composition was "lacking". I enjoyed teaching creative writing, but did not have a method that helped me to teach students how to improve on their writing. The methods I learned in this project have given me a much better foundation on which to build.

What other curriculum areas would you like to see implemented in a professional development technology integration project?

Perhaps mathematics in real world situations. Other than that, I think we covered most areas.