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It’s Gonna Be Messy: Using the Process Writing Approach in Expository Writing

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:59:00 -0400

Creative writers – writers of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, memoir -they know what they’re doing when it comes to teaching writing as in actually showing, not telling, student writers the craft. Through group workshop, student writers learn how to slow down the revision process, how to listen for voice, how to read aloud to an audience to hear what the reader will hear and they learn so many other invisible aspects of the writing process that are not covered in composition texts. Students understand that expository writing is different from what they think of as creative writing; what they don’t understand is that expository writing is also a creative genre and that understanding writing from a process approach will make them richer writers regardless of the genre or assignment they face. While the process approach is now enjoying some popularity in school curricula across the US, many adult college students, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, missed out on learning the keys to the craft. The process approach to writing is an essential key for adults to learn at the college level.

One Key, Many Doors

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:44:45 -0500

As an academic coach, and a strong proponent of an integrated skills approach, I have for years watched students work on a discrete academic skill, such as writing or critical thinking, and realized that the basic academic skills of reading, note taking, writing, critical thinking, and time management are all interdependent. If a student is weak in one of these areas it will affect the others. If a student is unable to manage her time, then reading, note taking and writing may suffer. If a student has trouble with critical thinking, it is often related to ineffective reading or note-taking strategies. An academic coaching model can create a dialogue that will help both coach and student to isolate the academic skill areas where student is getting “stuck” in the learning process. This is a key understanding. Then, strategies related to all of the skills involved can be offered to help students to move forward in their overall skill development.

Metacognition – the Power Tool

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:39:22 -0500

A metacognitive approach empowers students to take control of their own learning. Metacognition is learning about one’s learning. Are you a morning person or an evening person? Do you work up against deadlines or complete work ahead of time? Are you more comfortable with brainstorming or freewriting as a pre-writing tool? (more importantly – do you know about pre-writing tools?) When listening to a lecture, do you retain more information by just listening or taking notes that you will review later or taking notes that you may never read again but the action of taking notes helps you remember more? These are just a few questions that get at metacognition. When you begin to learn about how you learn you can match the most effective strategies that correlate with your unique learning approach.

You are a Unique Learner - Let's Celebrate

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:42:53 -0400

A student’s learning approach has a profound impact on academic skill development and so helping students to understand their own unique approaches to acquiring knowledge or a new skill set can ultimately help them develop necessary academic skills. Students come to the academic setting each with a different way of acquiring new knowledge related to a range of learning styles, unique personality characteristics, gaps in skill development, diverse background knowledge, a variety of energy cycles, capacity to focus attention - all of these affect the acquisition of new learning. So, in addition to acknowledging the interdependence of academic skills it is also essential to pay close attention to the unique learning approaches of each student.