Writing Tools Reflection
A Deeper Look Into My Students’ Thoughts
One of the joys in my life is taking time to catch the sunrise when I’m home. If you follow me on Twitter, you have seen my pictures of sunrises (and sunsets). It seems like our house has the perfect sunrise setting: a fairly open view of the sunrise; some trees to add some dimension and structure; and a pond that captures reflections. When I look at the reflection in the pond, I often see different aspects I didn’t see at first in the sky. It might be a cloud formation, a color in the sky, or a particular branch on a tree. This reflection gives me more insight into the already beautiful sunrise.
Like the sunrise reflection, my student surveys on the different writing assistance tools give me an awareness as to what my students are thinking and how I can help them.
Reading through my students’ comments, quite a few wished they understood the tools better. When thinking about the tool Analyze My Writing, one student said, “All the data provided is very hard to read/understand. I feel like students would not take the time to try and understand what all of this data mean.” Wow. The colors in the pond just became a little more vibrant.
When I first introduced the writing tools to my students, I thought I went through each one and explained the different sites and how to use them. I modeled each one, showed the features of the tool, and explained which one would be best for certain aspects of writing help. While in class, I assisted students with the tools they were using, and I thought all was going well since I was fielding questions raised. That worked except for the students who didn’t ask questions.
I could see a different branch of a tree come into focus in the reflection when another student commented this about Grammark: “It would be nice if they gave suggestions on how to fix the transitions.” Quite a few students made similar comments about Grammark and the other tools. They like knowing they have potential issues, but then they seem lost. Students need help with these tools in order to improve their writing.
So now that my picture is clearer, I need a plan. Next year, I want to spend more time modeling the different tools and letting the students experiment on the tools with a sample piece of writing I provide. I’m thinking if they are using a piece that is not their own, they might be more willing to make changes and explore the tools more. Since some students need guidance as to how to improve their writing based on the tools’ suggestions, I want to create some mini-lessons, videos, and/or choice boards to see if that makes a difference. Students will have different needs at different times, so I need to have something to help multiple students at the same time.
After implementing these ideas next year, I hope my students will get more from these digital tools while improving their writing skills. And like me, I hope after some reflection, they see more than what they first did.
