I have learned a great deal from reading Tompkins (2019) and Hicks (2013) over the course of this semester. I was eager at the start of the semester to dig deeper into the multiple genres of writing, and the types of digital media that are available now. Tompkins (2019) allowed me to dig deeper into the multiple genres of writing. Hicks (2013) allowed me to discover the types of digital media that are available now.
Over the course of this semester, I have learned about eight different genres of writing: journal writing, narrative writing, poetry writing, nonfiction writing, biographical writing, argumentative writing, descriptive writing, and letter writing. I was excited to get started learning about the different types of genres that we teach students in school. I was excited when I was assigned to the narrative writing genre for my genre expert project. When I was student teaching, I was teaching about the character, plot, and theme, but I did not know the connection between what I was teaching and the narrative writing genre. I now know after reading Tompkins (2019) that why I was teaching about characters, plot and theme, was to create building blocks for what students need to include in their writing to make a good narrative writing piece. Now that I have the knowledge that I have learned from Tompkins (2019), I am better equipped to teach the narrative writing genre. I have strategies to use to teach the genre, in a way that students will be able to understanding and later transfer what they have learned.
Hicks (2013) discusses five different types of digital writing: crafting web texts, crafting presentations, crafting audio texts, crafting video texts, and crafting social media. This whole concept of digital writing is fairly new to me. I have always been very excited about the use of technology and integrating it into multiple stages of instruction. Before, I was only going off of what I have observed in classrooms that I have previously been in. Now that I have had the opportunity to read Hicks (2013) book about crafting digital texts, I have a wider range of tools to use that incorporate technology into instruction. Out of the five types of digital writing the one that I feel I have learned the most about and will be able to use in the future is crafting audio texts. I loved learning about the multiple ways to use audio texts such as podcasts. I have learned to love podcasts more than I ever thought possible. I have begun listening to podcasts daily because of what I learned from Hicks (2013). Podcasts can be incredibly powerful, stimulating, and thought-provoking!
In general, I would not consider myself a master in any of these genres or digital writing so I would have to say most of them still intimidate me to some extent. I do not think I will fully be comfortable with any of them until I have the opportunity to teach them, and begin mastering my instruction around the genres and digital writing. I am aware that I still am not 100% confident with all of the genres of reading and writing, and the multiple types of digital writing. I believe knowing this will make me a better teacher in the future.
References
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tompkins, G.E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (7th ed.). NY, NY: Pearson.
From this entry, it seems clear that the elements of print and digital composition that you feel you've made the most gains on are the ones that you actually were responsible for learning about and serving as the "expert" in class. I wish you had said more regarding what specific features of certain genres still intimidate you, but if our class is to serve as a model, then the best as advice I can offer you is to continue to read widely looking for mentor texts in different genres (or dare I say continue to find time to write in various genres) so you have more practice and engaged thinking about the variations.
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