Student Learning Outcomes - Reflection

I remember thinking back before this class even begun. I was excited by the title of the class, “Reading Improvement Through Written Expression”. I knew that in my Literacy Specialist program there was not a specific class that we were required to take that was mainly focused around writing. So, when I discovered that I would be taking LTED 618 to fulfill one of my elective requirements for my program, I was excited to explore the connection between the reading and writing processes.

There are six student learning outcomes that were presented to myself and my classmates at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester, we were to have gained knowledge and competency to these six learning outcomes. The six student learning outcomes are:

1. The variety of genres that readers and writers use to communicate, including digital and traditional print formats
2. The role of purpose and audience in writing and reading that the elements of author’s craft used to address the desired purpose(s) and audience(s)
3. The cognitive processes and strategies of reading and writing, including the composition strategies used in crafting digital compositions
4. The between the writing and reading processes
5. The role of metacognition in writing proficiency and reading comprehension
6. The role of assessment and evaluation in determining student writing proficiency and strategic reading comprehension

Writing these blogs is one of the ways that I have achieved the student learning outcomes. Each of the student learning outcomes that address digital formats or compositions, was achieved through writing this blog. I was asked to write weekly blogs about a variety of topics. All of the blogs addressed a variety of genres, elements of author’s craft, and required metacognitive processes. We were also, often asked to read our peer's blogs. When I read my peer's blogs I often spoke with them and provided them feedback on their blog. I learned how to communicate with them, and provide them with effective feedback that they could use to improve or enhance their writing.

When reviewing the student learning outcomes one thing that I did notice that was missing was the use of research in our writing or discussions around the reading and writing processes. Both of the textbooks we were assigned for this course provide a wealth of knowledge. I have learned a great deal from both Hicks (2013) and Tompkins (2019). What I have learned through them have a great influence on how I will run reading and writing in my future classroom. I will use what I have learned from Tompkins (2019) and Hicks (2013), in my future classroom.

As this semester is coming to a close, and I have had time to reflect on the class and what I have learned. The student learning objectives have helped me reflect on what I have learned, and also reinforced what I may still need to spend more time learning about.

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.