Crafting Authentic Voice... So what now?

At this point in time, a couple of my classmates and I have now completed a teacher in-service regarding Tom Romano's book, Crafting Authentic Voice. The book is all about how to bring out our students' voices in their own writing. One of the biggest over-arching ideas that I kept coming back grade all of this. In an ideal world, we could just have our students continuously work on creating voice in writing and never worry about rating their work on a scale, but unfortunately, that's not how it works.

A lot of us teach students that voice is crucial and that voice is meaningful, but that doesn't always seem to come out in our grading habits. So, how do we create a rubric that grades voice? That grades something so undeniably unique to every single student? I think the answer to that lies in creating a rubric that includes a lot of room with which to work. 

** I think it's also time for a side note to you, my reader. I totally understand that you probably haven't read Crafting Authentic Voice (I did link you to its listing on Amazon at the top of this post and I suggest reading it when you have the chance). It's therefore pretty hard for me to ask you, "Hey, what would YOU put on your 'Voice Rubric'?" So, instead, I'll give you a short overview of things that Romano cites as being a big part of voice, and then create my own Voice Rubric. I then encourage you to read Crafting Authentic Voice and thinking about creating your own Voice Rubric, or you can, of course, always use mine :-) 

Romano's Idea of Voice

Here's just a short overview of what Tom Romano sees as contributing to authentic voice:

• A unique lead or hook
• Perception aka Sensibility aka Style
• Mind pictures
• Appeals to the senses
• Evidence of surprise (both the author experiencing surprise during the writing process and things that might surprise the reader)
• Humor when possible and appropriate
• Breaking the confines of the old five-paragraph-essay
• Sometimes breaking the traditional rules (like using fragments, lists, double voice, etc.)
• The writer understanding who he or she is as a person
• A rhythm or cadence to the sound of the writing
• Metaphors and other figurative language
• Unique word choice (including words that aren't well known, invented words, verbs with muscle, etc.) and words that make an impact
• Uses strategies like key words or a counter-punching key word to make an impact
• Varying sentence length

Grading Voice

First of all, YES -- I know. That's a lot of bullet points. There's no way we can grade on all of those things, nor can we expect students to just take all of this in and regurgitate it back onto their paper. On the flip side, though, we can absolutely pick out some of these important concepts and also combine a few of them.
So if I had to create a rubric to grade voice, here's what it would probably look like...

 


Now, it's so important to keep in mind that every student's voice is different. For some students, it might seem weird and awkward to use humor. For another student, it might seem awkward for them to use invented words. This is what makes it so hard to grade voice. What really matters is monitoring progress and teaching students various methods to express their own voice.

Another great idea is to create assignments that work on one "Voice Tool" at a time. That way, students are able to develop and improve these ways of expressing voice over time.

 

A Word About Grammar ... Scratch That, Grammars*!

I know, you might be thinking, "GrammarS?! Is she crazy?! Just saying that is breaking the rules of grammar!" However, in the article "The Grammar of Context: Breakfast, Bumper Stickers, and Beyond" by Cheryl Almeda and Jonathan Bush, the idea of multiple types of grammar is discussed in depth. 

This is such an interesting idea to me, personally, because I'm what you may call a "stickler" about grammar. Some may consider this an annoying quality, but whatever. I'm proud of the skills regarding grammar that I've refined over the years, and I jump at any opportunity to improve my own skills or help someone else with theirs. (Although I've got to admit, sometimes it's hard to refrain from "helping" someone who just doesn't want help with grammar.) This article, "The Grammar of Context" introduces the idea of grammar as being contextual. Almeda and Bush write, "The context creates the grammar...there is no single correct grammar -- there are thousands of variations on grammar, each dependent upon the elements of context that affect it."

Some of the contexts which Almeda and Bush talk about are grocery lists, cereal boxes, formal papers, bumper stickers, Facebook posts, and text messages. It's funny because it seriously drives me nuts when I see bad grammar in any of these contexts, but I guess sometimes I need to take a step back. I need to ask myself, "For this context or situation, is the grammar really inappropriate? Or is it perfectly fine for the message it's trying to convey?"

It Doesn't Have to be Painful!

One thing I do want to say is that grammar doesn't have to be a painful experience. Because grammar is contextual, some people tend to only write in certain contexts. However, I think it's important to be aware of various contexts. Sure, you might not write formal research papers every day, but you should be aware of how to write in that way, in my opinion. Communication should be an enjoyable experience, and grammar is an essential part of communication. I love grammar and all the inner workings of it, but I know everyone doesn't. However, learning a little bit of grammar here and there never hurt anyone. ;-)

Grammar as a Decision

I've got to say, I seriously love the way Almeda and Bush discuss grammar as a conscious decision. They say, "The grammar of a text message is different for that of a professional memo. Even within academic contexts, the grammar used in a biology class differs from that in history or English or math. In doing so, we are able to help them see grammar as a rhetorical act and enhance our students' abilities to consider language use as rich, complex, and full of decisions -- beyond that of simply trying to avoid error." It brings about the idea that some errors are not really errors. They're simply contextual decisions that we must make when writing.

#Grammar

One last thing I'd like to discuss is hashtags. They've pretty much become a staple in our modern culture, but for some reason, it still drives me up the wall when I see them in sentences in public, whether it's on billboards or flyers. So, is it appropriate? Is it grammatically correct? Once again, I come back to the idea of context. It's certainly not appropriate in a formal paper or really anything school-related. However, hashtags are certainly a decision, made by the writer or creator. It's the same sort of idea as using "I love u" or "Where r u?" in a text. Sure, it's not technically correct, but it's contextually appropriate. Hashtags are the same; they're correct for what they are.

Sub Plans? Not as Useless as You May Think

Substitute teachers often get a bad rap. Often students don't respect a sub's authority, and the subs just end up attempting to keep the students' behavior under control. It's either that or the sub pops in a movie and waits it out. I think we often think of being just a product of the sub and how he or she wants to run the classroom. However, maybe we should be looking at what the substitute teachers are working with.

Sub plans, as Jonathan Bush and Lea Zuldema explain in "Professional Writing in the Classroom", are "much more than a generic list of traits. It is also a representation of what we want to accomplish in our teaching, a depiction of our expectations". It's important to look at sub plans as this sort of idea, rather than just a space-filler. Substitute days don't have to just be fluff. Your kids don't have to watch a movie. They can benefit from days like these. The same article by Bush and Zuldema lay out a list of things that good sub plans might include:

• Detailed lesson plans
• Descriptions of classroom routines and policies
• Class copies of any handouts
• Seating charts
• "What to do if" instructions with possible classroom issues/scenarios and appropriate responses

I thought this was a great list of things to include in a sub plan because it outlines a few things many of us may not think of. I personally would've never thought of a "what to do if" list, so that's a strategy that really stuck with me. I've often been told that as a teacher, one of our biggest jobs is to steal from other teachers. As I come across articles like "Professional Writing in the Classroom" that include lists like the one above, I start to bank these ideas. It's been a crucial part of my growth as a teacher. Little tips for teaching are going to be my savior, I just know it!

Speaking of little tips, the aforementioned article made me think of a pointer I was once given. My current mentor teacher explained to me that she has a box full of "Emergency Sub Plans". While above, I discussed the ideal sub plan, it's important to recognize that stuff happens! I know teachers seem like miracle workers, but we are not perfect! ;-) There are going to be days where we're deathly ill and can't get out of bed, we have emergency family issues -- You know, the unavoidable. On days like this, it's understandable to not have the most detailed sub plan...Which is why it's a great idea to have those "Emergency Sub Plans" (ESPs). My mentor teacher keeps a box full of the things, and if she's not able to put together a great sub plan, she can give the sub instructions to look in that box. There are about three ESPs, including the directions and enough handouts for the entire class. Once my mentor uses one of these packets of ESPs, she replenishes it when she gets back.

These ESPs are something that I probably would've never thought of, but now that I have that tip (and the tips from Bush & Zemelman's  article) banked in my mind, I'm just one step further in my journey to be a teacher.

Making Meaning

As I read the article "Reading and Responding" by Tchudi & Tchudi, one idea about various cultural meanings in the classroom really struck me. The Tchudis have an in-depth discussion about the challenges we face in the classroom regarding students of various cultures. They write, "Much of the canonical literature taught in English classrooms creates difficulty for students who come from diverse cultures and language backgrounds." This is, of course, not a new concept to myself or probably any of my other fellow education students. However, I really appreciated the ideas that Tchudi & Tchudi give about how to address these challenges.


One of the biggest conclusions I made from this  section of the article was this:

Reader + Text + Culture/Community = MEANING

 This simple little equation is anything but simple, and it's absolutely crucial. It explains, in simple terms, the complexity that goes into making meaning out of reading. In order to address this idea with students from various cultures and backgrounds, the authors suggest a few strategies:

• Find literature that reflects the culture and experience of the students in your class
• Teachers must know their students in order to do this!
• Use classical or traditional texts, but pay attention to the way they construct minority groups and the majority
• This is especially interesting to me, as I'm a huge fan of the classical literature. It's exciting to know I can use these in unique ways and find a way to address different cultures and minorities.
• Explore difference.
• Be careful, this can cause tension -- "Help students find a way into the discussion without making them spokespeople for their culture."
• "Help students recognize stereotypes"
• This one seems obvious, but it can be done in new ways by finding literature that represents the views of minorities. This allows them to construct themselves, rather than being constructed by views of the majority.
• Learn more about the cultures and values which are represented by your students
• Make sure to recognize your own biases so that you can help your students construct and articulate their own understandings.

I found these suggestions to be incredibly helpful because often we fail to think about challenges like this. It's difficult to address issues that are important to various cultures which we're not a part of. However, understanding cultures of our students can help us engage them in learning, as well as letting them know that we care.
The essential message to our students -- As teachers, we want to expand our own understandings past the boundaries of what we know and what we're comfortable with. We want to dig deeper into what you understand based on what you know.

More Than the Sum of the Papers We Grade

So many times, we teachers get labeled as being judgmental when we correct papers. "You just don't like me!", students may say. They may look at you with those mean glares when you hand their papers back. Parents may hound you: "Why did my student get this grade?" However, so many people forget that we're more than just graders! In the article "Responding, Evaluating, and Grading" by Steven Zemelman and Harvey Daniels, the authors addressed this ultra-important topic.

Just as students are so much more than the sum of their grades, teachers are so much more than the sum of the grades we give! Here are some of the crucial roles we play as teachers, as cited by Zemelman and Daniels:

• Listener and Learner
• Adult/Protector
• Coach
• Encourager and Guide
• Expert
• Copyeditor
• Judge

This is so important to recognize because we, as teachers, have to recognize the fact that some roles do naturally come first. That prioritization certainly depends on the individual teacher's philosophies of education, and we all put some roles above others. Personally, I see myself as an encourager and guide first and foremost, followed by an adult/protector, followed by a coach, and so on. I honestly really dislike the word "judge" as one of our roles as teachers because I am many things, but a judge is not one of them. I may give grades, but it's never a judgment. 

That brings me back to the article we read last week called "Papers, Papers, Papers" by Carol Jago. She explained, "Do students become so discouraged by bleeding essays that they give up? Not if you let them know that your red marks are not a judgment of them or their ideas of them or their ideas but of the piece of work at hand". This is such a crucial distinction. Students often feel discouraged and insecure about their work, and being a "judge", as Zemelman and Daniels call it, can be a detrimental role to play. I think you can combine that with the role of being an encourager and guide by putting your judgments in that category. Instead of judging my students, I'm simply encouraging them and guiding them to do better.

The Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Writing

"Papers, Papers, Papers"... An article by this name by Carol Jago really stirred up some opinion and emotion from me! It covered so many subjects related to commenting on papers, rather than correcting them. I'd like to just discuss two main points that really caught my eye.

First, Jago addressed the idea of free-writing. It can sometimes be 

harmful to students because it becomes a matter of habit. We usually think of free-writing as being so beneficial because of the fact that students are able to get their thoughts down, but we rarely think of the skills that go into it. If a student is lacking writing skills, they will practice writing that way. As Jago said, "Practice doesn't make perfect when students are continually repeating their mistakes. It legitimizes and ingrains error". This completely set off a lightbulb in my head and reminded me of something my High School band teacher, Mr. Reppart, used to say to us:

 "PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT"

That's right. As Jago and Mr. Reppart said, Practice does not make perfect. When you practice a skill in a certain way, whether it be playing xylophone or writing,  you'll retain those habits. That's why correctness really does count! If students get the idea that correctness only counts in some contexts, they will really get the wrong idea about writing. It's not just a skill used in schools. It's used when you write a letter, a resume, even a message on social media. Correctness always counts when you're refining a skill, and your skill can only be perfected when you work to make it perfect. 

So, after addressing the way students write, it's also important to talk about the way we comment on papers (NOT correct them!). The question here is: Do we use red pen?! This article discusses a color psychologist who recommends using purple pen instead of red pen because it reflects a sense of authority and also serenity. The purple, the psychologist believes, "is linked to creativity and royalty" and "is more encouraging to students". However, what happened to writing being a craft?! It's not worth it if there aren't a few blood, sweat, and tears! As Jago said, "the paper should bleed". It's so important to show the hard work that's been done on your writing because that's just part of seeing it come alive. It shows you the progress you've made on this piece of work, and it's something to be proud of. We just need to make sure we can help our students see this red ink as progress instead of judgements.