Holding on to the Good Ideas In A Time of Bad Ones Six Literacy
Practices Worth Fighting For by Thomas Newkirk persuades educators that
despite setbacks that lead teachers and educators to doubt their profession
because of strict accountability or “the watch-dog” effect of society there
is truly a silver-lining at the end of the tunnel. That silver lining is that
true educators persevere to teach their students to go beyond their potential
even though there is a continuous push for standardized testing that dictate
teachers instructional domain and evaluative measures of performance on
students as well as teachers. What I took away from my professional reading by
Thomas Newkirk is that no matter what: there are always components of effective
instructional practices and teaching that must continue to occur in the
classroom regardless of what is being “hammered” down the pipe-line. Those
“good ideas” nurture and mentors a well-rounded student which in turn molds an
educated student to assimilate into the workforce or a productive member of
society.
According to Newkirk (2009) six
literacy principles worth fighting for as we teach in the 21st
century are the following principles: Balance the Basics—Between Reading and
Writing, Expressive Writing, Popular Culture as a Literacy Tool, Literacy and
Pleasure, Uncluttering the Curriculum, and Finding a Language for Difficulty. In
Balance the Basics—Between Reading and Writing as cited in Newkirk, according
to Graves (1978), “We need to right the balance between sending and receiving.
We need to let them write” (48). The balance between Reading and Writing has
shifted because of societal needs in technology whereby students are naturally
assimilating skills in writing within their era of technology through texting,
social networks, web creating, blogging, e-mailing, digital storytelling, and
more. As teachers, we need to accept
that students need to write not only for standardized test, but more
importantly for the entertainment aspect of creativity, expressing and
clarifying their ideas and opinions. Students of the 21st century
are creators and producers; the call for a balance in Reading and Writing in
the classroom is essential.
Newkirk and Graves advocates that Reading and Writing go hand-in-hand—it’s practically impossible to do one without the other. You need to write to read and read to write. In my classroom, reading and writing are inter-dependent like that of a symbiotic relationship. My students clearly understand that when they write they will read and share what they write. This allows them to appreciate different perspectives and hear each others' voices whether they are writing narratives, creative stories, poetry, argumentative writing, explanatory, or descriptive writing. They are cognizant that reading and writing is an evolving process of expressing thoughts, creating ideas into concrete visuals, and a discussion forum of communication.
The overall theme of Holding on to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is that writing can no longer be in the shadows instead it is must be that beacon that parallels with Reading. Several sectional points stood-out in Newkirk’s validation of the importance of writing and discussion of what could be written during or after reading and shared: Using Habits of the Mind four main points are used as discussion points (as cited in Newkirk, 142):
1.
The habit
of observation—what do you notice? This is the capacity to slow down, pay
attention, notice the unusual details, fact, or statistic—one that is not
evident at first glance.
2.
The habit
of generalization—a key question is “What do you make of this?” What
inferences, judgments, evaluations, conclusions, and theses do you arrive at?
It is to think in patterns, to make connections.
3.
The habit
of evidence—what is the basis of your generalizations? And what makes you think this evidence is
solid, when there is so much suspicious information available.
4.
The habit
of considering alternatives—how could it be otherwise? What credible positions might differ from
yours? What are the “rivals” to your own position?
For
me as a teacher, I would find these stem questions as an effective way to get
students to think with a purpose while they are writing. It forces students to
think at a higher level in order to express their thoughts. Overall, as a
teacher, I believe that like everything else teachers as a whole and students
must “buy-into” the importance of writing. Only then will we see change occur
as a whole collective effort that fosters writers in all content areas and outside
the walls of the classroom. Newkirk, (2009) emphasizes his message to educators
in the Principles of Learning:
1.
Demonstration and modeling—students need access
to texts and writers who can demonstrate the craft of writing, particularly the
skills they are trying to learn.
2.
Practice—students need to engage in a VOLUME of
writing, not all of it under the careful scrutiny of teachers.
3.
Feedback—students need timely and precise
feedback on their writing.
a.
Provide opportunities for “students to read
their work, to develop engaging writing projects” (145).
b.
Create a network of readers beyond the teacher
who can comment on student work—can include other students in class, tutors in
a writing center, and “keeper” (parents, relatives, community members) who
write letters of response to student portfolios (146).
4.
Instruction—students need to learn some of the
formalized principles of effective writing (what the ancients called the “art”
of writing) (144).
This book is definitely one that deserves a finer and closer
re-read because it has a wealth of information that makes practical and
reasonable sense. As an educator, I would recommend this book to a colleague
who is torn between the importance of Reading and Writing. My rating of this
professional book receives a 5-star for down to earth advice that can be
implemented, well-written information and sources, and easy to understand and
relate as an educator.
