Interview Style Responses

What are your own experiences and accomplishments in writing?

I’d like to say that I have always enjoyed writing- although my memory may be selective. Throughout primary school I always enjoyed writing short stories and creating mini books (although I have a feeling I was more inclined to focus on the illustrations). Throughout high school I was always a confident writer but did find myself missing the days of creative writing. I still enjoy writing short stories and there are a few I have written that I am particularly proud of- the content is probably not appropriate for primary aged students. When I take to do it, I also enjoy journal writing.   

Have you considered writing professionally for publication?

 Short answer no. When I write it’s either for academia or enjoyment. I dislike the idea of being constantly critiqued and writing to please others.  

What forms of writing might you consider?

N/A

How has your own history of writing helped you understand the purposes and value of writing as a life skill?

 The biggest thing that stands out for me is the fact that your whole life requires you to be able to write. The age of spell check and voice recognition software is advanced but cannot help with the basic skills of structure, writing styles or even competency.

How do you think an inability to write adequately would influence a person’s life?

 This person will probably be negatively judged from a professional and somewhat personal perspective. Professionally a resume needs to be well written for people to even consider you for an interview- no matter how charming and knowledgeable you are in life unless you can put it on paper you will not get a foot in the door. Furthermore communicating in a workplace is often through email- if a colleague is unable to get their point across succinctly or adequately its a negative reflection on them. Personally- the use of social media is escalating and although it is informal, it is still another opportunity to write and represent yourself to the world, email or letter writing to friends and family. The negative effects are the same here as previously mentioned.

What helped you to learn to write? Did you have any 'aha' moments?

Practice. There is no way I would be able to write my current standard unless I was forced to write throughout my schooling. I forced myself to continue writing while on a gap year and during a differed year of university. There are no “aha” moments that spring to mind although the praise or recognition that was given to a piece of writing that I had put much time and effort into was definitely something that spurred me on.  A prime example of this was an essay on psychology that I received an A+ for but also received praise from my father who is quite a harsh judge when it comes to schooling.

What hindered you or set you back?

Everyone has those public humiliation moments at school which to this day make you cringe. Two that stand out very clearly for me are:

Home Learning- I’ve never been good at spelling and my father has never stopped reminding me of it. Testing me in the car, at the dinner table everywhere he could. He would read over my school work circling mistakes with a big red pen.

Grade 1- writing a story and getting the word like confused with the word lick. My teacher loudly (albeit playfully) pulled me up on this mistake in front of the class reading my story about what I “lick” to everyone.

Year 7: the day after a writing task was submitted the teacher stopped the whole class to inform us of her displeasure at some of our grammar understanding particularly our use of the word “an”. I immediately cringed remembering an inner debate with myself “do I use a or an?” I had settled on an, believing it sounded smarter- how wrong I was. Although I wasn’t singled out I was unbelievably embarrassed.

These things all have a common theme of embarrassment but this meant that I worked hard to avoid these and other mistakes in the future hoping to avoid similar events in the future. So although they were horrible they possibly pushed me further when they could have hindered?  

Do you see a connection between writing accomplishment and self esteem in children?

 Definitely. As previously mentioned it was the accolades that I received as a child/young adult/adult that push me to continue writing at a standard that deserves them. It really is a great feeling to finish something, look back at it and be able to say “I created that”- whether it be writing or anything else.  

What sorts of comments and advice do you give students?

 Practice and don’t be afraid to share your writing. Practice writing for yourself- keep a journal of things you like, things you hate, things you did today, feelings anything! Just be sure to write regularly. Write what you enjoy- although at school you need to learn certain styles and formats there is always a way to make it more enjoyable for yourself. Talk with your teachers and try to work something out- they want you to write and to enjoy it! Although it may be painful or embarrassing at times you don’t really know how or what to improve until you show it to people. Also, without sharing how can you expect those accolades?

Are you demanding of high standards or tolerant of mistakes?

 I think it is possible to be both. Mistakes are a fact of life and if we get caught up in focusing on those we are going to miss out on all the inspiring and good. However if we see a mistake it is pointless to ignore it and if we do, how do we learn? Basically what I’m saying is don’t punish people for their mistakes, help them to learn from them and improve.

What strategies do you use to help motivate, inspire, challenge and reward students in their writing?

 I think it’s important to give writers independence- no matter what age they are. As previously mentioned negotiate with students what they want to write about and work it into your curriculum. Give them opportunities to write privately, give them a journal that is free from your red pen and corrections.

Have you had any experience or preparation in how best to teach ESL children?

I have had little experience working with ESL students as many of my placements have been in schools with a mid range socio economic status with predominantly Anglo-Saxon Australians. I have however spent quite some time in reading recovery sessions and have implemented these strategies in the classroom. These sessions have shown me that there students need to be firstly comfortable around you and the material before they begin tackling details. I have also seen things such as word jigsaws, use of magnets, game like activities used when preparing a student to write. I am eager to see more of this and have more exposure to ESL students and teaching practices in the future as I believe this is the best way for myself and students to learn (practice!).

How have your experiences and education degree informed your teaching practice in the area of writing?

The combination of the university classroom and the classroom environment on teaching rounds has together created a positive learning environment for me. What I mean by this is I would not have this current level of understanding without the two learning environments. University has given me an understanding on writing basics and given me some really creative ideas of how to implement writing in the classroom. Placement has given me an insight into the planning process, student range and ability, scaffolding ideas and general contact with students which means I can put these things into practice.    

Spelling can be a controversial topic – what is your opinion of spelling as a school subject?

Spelling is often something that students fear and I believe it is because of the major attention it receives. To give it its own subject/specified time in the school week just adds to that pressure. I believe that exposure to words and their uses is what makes someone a good speller. Yes we need to learn the “rules” and phonics etc but to bombard students with language in such a black and white format does not benefit their learning.

What is your developing understanding of spelling instruction from the resources you are aware of?

 Begin the foundations with phonics, letter/sound groupings, suffix, prefix and base words then use longer words with more complex spelling patters, expose students to words regularly and in different context and environments.  

How do you believe we can best develop lifelong skills?

Practice writing and involve it in as many cross curricular areas as possible, this way students understand its places within learning and the world. Children should also be exposed to technology as this is a key development in their world.

What experience do you have in teaching with new technologies?

 RMIT has exposed me to many new technologies (web portfolios, blogs, wikis, Google doc, prezi, wix, drop boxes) and the way they have done this is basically by forcing me. Given the choice 2 years ago I would never have submitted an assignment on a blog but they made me learn and now I’m very comfortable- often choosing an online format over any other. Yes it’s is out of my comfort zone however sometimes this is the best way to learn.  Teaching as well as learning these technologies can be a slow process as people need their own time to become comfortable. It is often hard for students to take advantage of the wonderful free online resources out there as they are not able to use their school emails to register and they don’t have control over advertising content etc.

Is this something you would be able or willing to develop in our school?

 As mentioned there are issues with ICT and student access however I think it is possible to use. This question is hard however because I am unable to access the schools ultranet and see the available facilities. There is also level of parent comfort (again with advertising content risks etc) but I’m sure we can work as a team to clear these issues and make the tools kid friendly.

What possibilities do you see for using ICT in the teaching of writing?

 See previously mentioned.

What do you understand to be the risks and limitations of using ICT in primary schools?

 See previously mentioned.

Are you aware of our school’s literacy program and goals? How did you become aware of them?

I have researched as much as I can through your schools webpage however I am interested to know more.

What might you offer us as a new team member? What contribution could you make to our creative writing program?

I think my own enjoyment in writing makes me quite a passionate writing teacher. I really do enjoy writing for myself and for children and also reading what children come up with. I often like putting a twist on some things that are quite old fashioned or what the students may be comfortable with. An example of this was during a grade one class the students loved show and tell and tended to spend a lot of time on this and writing was neglected. So one day I asked them to pass their items etc to the person next to them and the challenge was for that person to write about the object as if it were their own, create their own show and tell about a foreign object.

Do you know of any inspiring programs or resources such as authors, exhibitions, and competitions? What excites you about teaching writing?

The Melbourne Comedy Gala is coming up and they offer a great range of free workshops for children. I believe this is a good opportunity to expose children to the theatre, drama, pantomimes etc. I have found in the past that excursions are a great inspiration for writing tasks.    

We'd like to hear of an example of how you have identified a problem or challenge in a child/s writing and devised a learning strategy to help them improve their skill.

 In my first year of placement I was asked to create a short poetry writing unit for the grade 5 class. The girls in the class took to the writing really well however it was hard to convince the boys to do so as they were highly swept up in the social stigmas of poetry. In the end we used online tools to help create poems, wrote poems about how we can’t write a poem, used Roald Dahl’s humour for inspiration and even entered a football poetry competition!

Do you read children’s books?

This is one area of my reading that I do need to broaden. I have a large collection of picture books appropriate for kinder- year 7 however I do not read enough children’s novels. 

Who are your favourite children’s authors and why?

I enjoy Eric Carle for his simple yet effective style of both writing and illustration. I also enjoy using books that are inspired by music such as an image based version of Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind. I think the horrible histories series are very effective in engaging students through gore and horror but also doing some clever teaching! I also enjoy the magic of the Rowan of Rinn series which were read to me as a grade 3 and have stuck with me all this time!

Dialogue

“Where do you want to go for lunch guys?” asked Lucy “the usual?” suggested James and the 3 friends began their walk down Sydney Road. Settling in for lunch Craig asked “what did you guys think of those books today?” “Well tap tap went her feet was really intimidating! I mean the writing was really good, it felt like I was reading a real published story not to mention the art work. God I have no idea what I’m going to do with the drawings for my book- Urgh!” and she began playing with her napkin. “The story about bitter was good though. It’s amazing how kids are able to just come up with stories like that. I guess they have a different kind of pressure to deal with than us so it’s still hard but you know? The Henry the Goat book was good but you know was really different to writing one for upper primary. I really liked the painting and writing thing though!”

“Yeah that was really good” added Craig “our pictures were really crummy but the idea was good. It makes sense to need the training to do it but I don’t know how you can really take full advantage of the process in today’s schooling. I mean we need to dedicate certain amounts of time to different subject areas and there is not really enough time to go through the process. It doesn’t really seem like something you can stop- go to music class- come back and continue with the painting and writing. You really need time to go through the books, the modelling, the art, the sharing, the brainstorming, the writing, and the sharing. It’s a really long process.”

 “Yeah I get where you are coming from” agreed James “but I think it’s a good idea starting with a drawing, it makes the writing so much easier. Like poetry, I know that Lynda Bang had some interesting ideas about poetry like putting it to music and the importance of memorisation but it’s still something I struggle to write you know? I really agree with Wendy though, it’s not something that’s going to get the same level of importance as other writing styles. ”

The waitress arrived delivering our coffees when Craig excitedly mentioned the phone number/car writing task. “I know, I was going through all the cars in my life then remembered this old family car that I hadn’t thought about in years! Like it was amazing how I could remember these little details about it” James added. Lucy mentioned her writing “I thought of our red car (which I’m still bloody driving!), the poo car, my Nan’s car, my auntie’s car Lucy Laser and Dads big white work van that he would borrow sometimes. Mine was about dad’s old poo car, god I hated it! But yeah you’re right; I could remember all the rust spots and the cobwebs and everything! I really liked that one, when Wendy called time’s up I was really gutted! I’d like to try it with the first phone number too.”

“Are you excited to do the MAT stuff James? You know, being an expert on it and all?” Lucy asked, “shut-up! Im not even doing the MAT stuff at the moment; it should be good though doing the extra electronic version of our books though. And it’s a good way to get comments too because you know, it can be much more specific and stuff. I think this is a much better way of using MAT than what we have done before.”

“Yeah i know what you mean, the other stuff we have uploaded to it just really didnt need to be put into video or really deserve comments. I’m still pretty nervous about the story writing” added Craig. “I know what you mean” added Lucy “at least you guys have a clear idea- I keep changing and getting all muddled! I wonder if we will have to specifically include any of the noun stuff that we are going to be covering next week? I liked that video at the end of class, it was pretty funny and actually made me remember some of that stuff from school”.

“Who had the chicken toastie?” asked the waitress, our mouths filling with food not conversation.

Childhood Memories

Standing in front of the poo-car looking at the interior. It’s the morning time and it’s just before we need to go to school. Mums’ locking the house and Meg is complaining as she walks down the garden path. It’s a summers morning and the sun is already becoming hot and I can feel it on my bare legs. I balance on the bluestone curb waiting for them, trying not to fall and touch the car. I can see the cobwebs piled up along the mirrors of the car as well as the rust stain above the wheels. I really don’t want to fall and touch the car but I really want to balance here, tough call. The sun is beaming down and I begin to regret not wearing sunglasses. I wanted to but I’m sure my sister would tell me that year 8’s are not allowed and I look stupid. I can hear her voice getting closer behind me. I can’t move, I want the front seat, I’m here first, I was ready I deserve it.

I’m in the back seat. She beat me, she is older and mum wasn’t ready for a fight so I gave up. The radio in this car is broken, we only get AM and I hate listening to these old men talk about nothing. A wave of relief washes over me as mum shares my opinion, adding “god your father listens to some crap!”. We continue driving, chatting away about who has netball training tonight, who will pick us up and from where and what we need to start to prepare for dinner before mum gets home. We go through the traffic lights and begin the drive up the steepest hill in Newtown, all 3 of us willing the old rusty car to make it. As collective sigh of relief is expelled as we turn left and continue the journey.

Meg begins to shuffle around in the front seat putting her school bag on the floor. I begin to do the same, now thankful that I am in the back seat with enough room to spread out. “Girls what are you doing!?” asked mum, hands clasped on the extra large steering wheel. “Mum I’m not letting people see me in this car, especially the college kids” “oh crap Mum please don’t drive past college, go the other way” I plead from the back seat. “Girls you are lucky to be in a car, I could have made you take a bus, I know it’s not the flashiest car but it’s a car none the less.” Our old poo car stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the Mercedes and BMW’s that glide through these streets.

We approached the crowded milk bar where people from the 3 surrounding schools gathered in the morning to catch up on gossip, share a cheeky kiss but above all, judge. We slid onto the old sticky leather with a squeak, letting our eyes pop over the door frame to see if the coast was clear. Feeling generous Mum drove 400m from the school, giving us enough distance to get out of the car undetected. Peeling ourselves from the leather we approached the school gingerly, we looked at each-other and without speaking said “I hope we mum takes the red car tomorrow”.

**Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on which way you look at it) I cannot find a picture of our poo car but thanks to Google this is close enough. Ours was brown with a white bonnet.

Dear Wendy

Dear Wendy,

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to class today as I am unwell. I spent the day at work yesterday with the infants (10-14 months old) and many of them were sick so no doubt wiping 15 little noses and giving lots of cuddles has left me less than 100%.

When I woke up this morning I didn’t know what was going on! My eyes were heavy and my throat felt like gravel. I slowly got out of bed with my bones feeling as creaky as an old gate. One look at my boyfriend and he knew “no uni today then?” to which I grumbled some vowels and trudged back to bed.

I really do hate missing uni, I’ve only done it a few times in the past years and I hate it more and more. I have told people that but they don’t believe me but for some reason I think you will believe me. I think I suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) because I know that if I’m not there, we are going to be learning something really great or we will begin group assignments or we will be given more detailed information on assessments. I hate missing that.

I felt conflicted all day because I know that the only way to get better is to rest but I don’t have time to rest. I should clean the bathroom, I should do those few dishes, I should do my online elective, I should work on my literacy blog, I should put the cover on the doona: I thought about these things all day but didn’t really do them. I’d make a start on one and abandon it for being too hard or I would read the same few lines over and over again. I gave up.

I hate to admit it Wendy but apart instead of going to uni I stayed at home with a blanket watching private practice while dozing. But I’ll be back next week I promise you that!

I hope you are well,

Lucy.

In the Palm of my Hand

Working in childcare means I spend so much time with my lovely little friends but a side effect of this, is I quite often get sick. Unfortunately I missed this week’s literacy class therefore my writing has been adapted to reflect this.

Magic Typewriter.

Mum drags son to a market to buy food and second hand clothes. Son hates it and it highlights their lack of money. Finds a typewriter. It’s very expensive but the old man selling it takes a liking to the boy and his mother and sells it to them cheap. Mum and son take it home to play with it.



Mum teaches him how to load the paper and leaves the boy to play with his new toy. Typing his  name, then his mothers, looking around the room types what he sees- umbrella and pop another umbrella appears right next to it. Boy is confused tries again- looking out the window he types squirrel. Next minute two squirrels are outside fighting over the best branch on the tree.

Boy runs and tells his mum what has happened. She laughs it off telling him that he has always had a wild imagination. He leaves the room annoyed at his mother. Looking out the window again he sees local children playing with the expensive toys he was never  allowed to have- especially Lego. He goes to the typewriter and types “Lego” when suddenly a nearby cupboard rumbles and Lego   bricks pile out onto the floor. He squeals with excitement and his mother comes up. Angry at him/thinking he stole it she begins to should at him to return it and trying to clean up. Next minute he types “lollies” and once more- lollies spilling onto the floor. Child explains typewriter to mum. Both excited about what could take place.

Both get so excited and silly wishing for new houses, money, private planes, overseas trips. Developing extravagant lifestyles and wishing more and more elaborate things. Sitting in their new home, looking at their jewels, cars and mountains of food they have a talk.

Missing their old house, their old dog and the idiosyncrasies of their past lives. Back to the typewriter they plan their new lives. Old house. Old dog. Little more money. Healthy lives. Happiness.

Returned to their old lives with a “plonk” they were dazed but ultimately- happy. Holding onto the typewriter just in case.