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UniwrHrty MktrofihuH International 8602992

Dorsey, Sharon Rae

AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS

The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1985

University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106

Copyright 1985 by Dorsey, Sharon Rae All Rights Reserved AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL

LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of the Ohio State University

By

Sharon Rae Dorsey, B.S., M.A.

* * * * *

The Ohio State University

1985

Dissertation Committee: Approved by

Dr. Donald Bateman

Dr. Patrick Mullen Adviser Dr. Frank Zidonis Department of Educational Theory and Practice Copyright by Sharon Rae Dorsey 1 985 To Dad, Mom, Tim, Don, Nancy, Sheila, and the students in fifth and seventh period language arts ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the many people that helped make this publication possible. Although the researching and writing of a dissertation are long, lonely tasks, I was fortunate to have a broad support base.

My committee insured that the process was an educational esperience. Dr. Donald Bateman, my adviser, lent support throughout, conveying the confidence that I could produce a research document significant to the field of language arts. Dr. Patrick Mullen carefully read each draft, giving valuable direction on methodology and analysis. His comments were always thought provoking and useful. I also thank Dr. Frank Zidonis for his reactions to the dissertation and his willingness to serve on the reading committee.

My greatest debts for completion of the research project are owed to two persons, Sheila Cantlebary and

Nancy Mack. Sheila was a motivating force during the research phase. Nancy offered invaluable guidance and direction during the writing of the document. Both women gave unselfishly of their time and expertise often at great inconvenience to themselves and their families.

iii Their commitment to this project could not be overesti­

mated. It was only through both of these people's open­

ness, honesty, and inquiring minds that the project was

accomplished.

Sheila, Loren Santiago, and the fifth and seventh

period language arts students shared their teaching and

learning experiences for one academic year. Together they

taught me more about the learning process and the acqui­

sition of knowledge and skills than any college professor

or textbook. Loren nudged me into the world of computer

technology changing my composing process forever and

initiating an awareness of the impact of these machines on

writing in general. I thank Sheila, Loren, and the

students for permitting me to share their writing and

learning with others.

Nancy, a fellow graduate student and teaching assis­

tant in the teacher researcher group, made the writing

process less lonely through her weekly meetings where we

exchanged dissertation drafts. She played the role of an

editor and indepth reader, making me feel like a real writer. Hor knowledge of dialectical theory and the wri­

ting process kept me on the right track. Nancy's expertise lead to a more lucid, readable, and knowledgeable document.

I am most grateful for the cooperative effort between the Columbus Publis Schools and the Ohio State University.

iv Their joint sponsorship of the middle school researcher

group was very helpful to my research. The teachers in

the group provided questions and suggestions that were

useful to the project.

Jane Pratt, Betty Herb, and Bobbie Brooks supplied

necessary computer information, software, and equipment

for both the student ethnography and mine.

Pam Scholz and Nick Macioci need to be thanked for

permitting pilot studies to be done in their respective

classrooms. These studies paved the eay for the rigors of

the year long ethnographic research done in Sheila's

class.

My thanks go to my colleagues, friends, and

relatives. My mother and father provided basic moral

support. My father typed half of the document and most of

the figures. Dorothea McCloskey typed two of the more difficult figures. I must also thank Tim Best for his

support and patience throughout the project as well as his editing of the final document. Shirley Palumbo never gave up hope and always gave encouraging words.

v VITA

June 12, 1947 ...... Born - Toledo, Ohio

1968 ...... B.S., Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio

1968-1977 ...... Teacher, Columbus Public Schools, Columbus, Ohio

1971 ...... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1977-Present ...... Resource Teacher, Reading Department, Columbus Public Schools, Columbus, Ohio

1985...... Instructor, University of Dayton Graduate Program, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio

PUBLICATIONS

Article entitled "A Little 'Theme1 Music in the Language Arts Classroom," in Ohio Media Spectrum, Vol. 35, No. 2, Summer, 1983.

Co-author, Columbus Public Schools' Course of Study, read­ ing section, 1979 and 1985

Co-author, Columbus Public Schools' Reading Curriculum Guide, 1980

Co-author, Columbus Public Schools' Reading Development Program, instructional component of the desegrega­ tion plan, 1978

vi FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: English Education

Studies in English Education. Professor Donald Bateman.

Studies in Folklore. Professor Patrick Mullen.

Studies in Reading. Professors Frank Zidonis and Victor Rentl.

Studies in Qualitative Research. Professors Gary DeVoss and Donald Sanders.

vii TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ...... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iii

VITA ...... vi

LIST OF F I G U R E S ...... xi

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 1

The Year of Teaching Dangerously: Writing and Learning for R e a l ...... 1 Beginning-Seeds ...... 2 Best Laid P l a n s ...... 6 Setting ...... 9 The Methodology and its Limitations. . . . 13 D o u b t s ...... 19 Participants ...... 20 S h e i l a ...... 21 S h a r o n ...... 24 L o r e n ...... 31 Stud e n t s...... 34 Planning Sessions ...... 45 Student Assignmentsand Grading...... 46 Ethnography ...... 46 Letter Writing ...... 53 Other Assignments...... 54 Grading...... 59 Classroom Management ...... 63

II. THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS ...... 68

Introduction ...... 68 The C l a s s r o o m ...... 69 Interpretation of Classroom Story...... 81 Individual and Group Motivation in the Community...... 81 The Community as a Source of Learning. 85 Evolution of Community of Learners .... 92

vii i III. THE TEACHER AS L E A R N E R...... 105

Introduction ...... 105 The Classroom Story...... 108 Learning of Teachers ...... 129 Over v i e w...... 129 Nature of Learning...... 131 Overview Chart ...... 133 Teachers Learning About Students . . . 136 Students writing aided when they had a real purpose and a real audience other than the teacher . 136 Students writing aided by "mid­ writing input" from peers .... 144 Students want to have their writing published and reacted to. 150 Students must have ownership of their w r i t i n g ...... 152 Students who received honest praise for their writing were more eager to write ...... 157 Teachers Learning About Themselves . . 160 Teachers need support groups to institute changes ...... 160 Becoming teacher researchers causes us to change roles .... 167 The teacher needs to be "in tune" with the students...... 172

IV. LANGUAGE GROWTH IN REAL W R I T I N G ...... 176

Introduction ...... 176 Classroom Story...... 177 Student Growth ...... 182 Letter Writing ...... 185 R e v i s i o n ...... 192

V. CONCLUSION ...... 201

Introduction ...... 201 What Has Happened To The S t u d y ...... 201 Implications Have a Different Purpose and A udi e n c e ...... 203 Questions Raised By The Study...... 206 The Community of Learners...... 208 Being a Teacher Researcher and Learner 210 Growth in Language Through Writing for Real Purpose and Real Audience. . . . 211 Student Enthusiasm for the Project .... 211

ix Suggestions For Doing a Publication P r o j e c t ...... 212 Conclusion...... 225

APPENDICES ...... 226

A. Figures in the Study ...... 226

Q. Fresh T a l k ...... 255

LIST OF REFERENCES...... 323

x LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

1 . First Research P l a n ...... 227

2. Revised Research Plan ...... 228

3. First Semester Letter Writing Evaluation. . 229

4. Second Semester Letter Writing Evaluation . 230

5. Evaluation of Fresh T a l k ...... 232

6. Letter to P a r e n t s ...... 237

7. Roles of Participants...... 236

8. Language Collection Form...... 239

9. Language Verification F o r m ...... 240

10. Chalkboard Web of Parts of B o o k ...... 241

11. Mike's First Summary ...... 242

12. Mike's Revised Summary ...... 243

13. Dialogue Writing Lesson ...... 244

14. Adolescent Situations and Opening Lines . . 245

15. "Milk Bottles" Story ...... 246

16. Tracy's Dialogue ...... 249

17. Teachers' Learnings About Students .... 250

18. Teachers' Learnings About Themselves . . . 252

19. Jeff's First Draft...... 253

20. Jeff's Revised Draft ...... 254 xi CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

THE YEAR OF TEACHING DANGEROUSLY: WRITING AND LEARNING FOR REAL

It was the best of times for learning and self

growth. It was the worst of times for feeling secure or

comfortable. The past teaching year was the hardest but most exciting because it was the year I became a teacher researcher. I challenged some comfortable teaching practices and the adopted textbooks. I tried to rethink language arts instruction and the organization of curriculum to make it consistent with current research and a dialectical approach to language learning. During this year of continual self confrontation, I tried to keep an accurate description of both the students' and my learning processes. I did an ethnography of an eighth grade language arts class who did as their core curriculum an ethnography of themselves.

Looking back on my year of research, three overriding impressions linger--first, the community of learners that is created when students help one another produce communications for a class publication; second, the new dimensions added to my understanding of the learning 1 processs by being a teacher researcher; and third, the

tremendous motivational impetus and natural learning that

is unleashed when students write for real purposes to

communicate real messages to a real audience. If I were

an evangelist for better English education, these three

thoughts would be part of my commandments. (I still need

to do more research to discover the tablet upon which the

rest are engraved.) Each of these impressions will be the

subject of a separate chapter.

BEGINNINGS-SEEDS

The idea for my research began on one of those hot days when most teachers were on summer vacation, but a few

impoverished educators were working in the humidity of a condemned elementary school, developing thematic guides

for language arts. As a secondary reading resource

teacher in the sixteenth largest city school system in the

United States, it was my job to serve as a facilitator in

the development of the guides. Clustered around tables, groups of 7th and 8th grade teachers were involved in composing discussions. Snatches of conversation were interspersed between the concentrated work. In this slower-paced summer setting, I first noticed Sheila

Cantlebary, an outstanding 8th grade teacher and good friend, carrying a copy of Shirley Brice Heath's Way With

Words. Having an interest in Heath's work, I asked Sheila about the book. In the spring I had attended an intensive 3

two day workshop lead by Heath at the International

Reading Association's pre-convention institutes. Heath

was doing the type of ethnographic research on a long

term, large scale that I had tried to do in a small way in

two earlier studies. I had read Heath's chapter in George

Spindler's book Doing the Ethnography of Schooling and a

recent article about her research in Language Arts. Heath

wrote her ethnographies in an organized and knowledgeable

manner. She was able to connect theoretical concepts with

a particular natural language pattern.

I wondered what Sheila was doing carrying Heath's

book around. She explained that the book was required

reading in Don Bateman's Research in Middle School

Language class, a course that was part of a year and a

half project sponsored jointly by the Columbus Public

Schools and The Ohio State University to study middle

school students' language. From Sheila's description, I

knew I wanted to be involved in the study. Maybe I could

find the inspiration I needed to fuel my dissertation.

I was in the planning stages of my dissertation. I

had done pilot studies in two different schools and was

still having difficulty finding a focus and producing the written manuscript. I needed some sounding boards.

After attending the teacher research class, I made the final decision to become involved. Eight teachers of

7th and 8th grade reading/language arts from eight 4

different middle schools in the city school system had enrolled to do ethnographic research on the language development of their students. Although these teachers were expert practitioners and were reading current research, they were insecure in their knowledge of what an ethnography was. It had also taken me a long time to have a reasonable grasp of what an ethnography was--four years, two personal ethnographic studies, much independent reading and three graduate courses. Maybe I could help my colleagues, and at the same time they could serve as a support group for me.

After class, Sheila showed me a second piece of writing by Shirley Brice Heath and Amanda Branscombe entitled "Intelligent Writing in an Audience Community" that had been handed out by Dr. Bateman in the spring. The style of writing was awkward and slow at the beginning.

The article was difficult to read because of the reduced computer lettering, but it told a wonderful story of an ninth grade class that participated in a pen pal writing first with seniors in their high school and then with

Shirley Brice Heath and her daughter. Heath and

Branscombe had also trained the students to collect ethnographic data. The article spotlighted the writing growth of two students in particular. Sheila wanted to know what I thought of the study and if I could connect her with a high school teacher who would want to start the pen pal activity with middle school students. After

reading the article, I knew I would help arrange the

letter writing activity; however, I wanted to become even

more involved. Maybe I could serve as the ethnographer,

like Heath had, asking students to collect information

about their language similar to the folklore collections I

had students do in my two earlier studies. But then I

realized I was a teacher as much as a researcher. Both

Sheila and I were teachers and researchers. We were

legally responsible for teaching the skills and concepts

of the adopted course of study. As we did our research on

middle school language we would also have to work at

developing the students’ mastery of selected language

skills. Only after the study was under way did we finally

marry the research study to our contractual legal

obligations to the school system. For then we decided

that the study was the language arts curriculum for the

year. I presented the idea to Sheila who in her gracious

way accepted the challenge.

The other middle school teacher researchers had

difficulty accepting the idea that our research study

became or was our curriculum. They would ask questions

during the research class such as "When do you fit the

regular curriculum into class time?" They did not

comprehend that doing activities or projects outside the adopted textbooks and workbooks could still accomplish the 6 learning of language arts skills in the course of study.

They also may have felt administrative pressure to achieve these skills only through the use of the adopted texts.

BEST LAID PLANS

The decision to have eighth graders do an ethnography of themselves, observe them as they went through the process, and write a description of the process was not determined in one grand master plan. But rather the idea emerged organically as the course of life itself does through a series of small decisions, minor adjustments, and a little bit of chance or fate.

Early in September 1984 we began to develop a master plan for the study. Knowing that an ethnographic study plan will change based on observations and findings after submersion in a particular setting, we still felt the necessity to begin with some vague question and points of observation in mind. As Kathleen Wilcox from California

State University said in her review of current and recent anthropological ethnographies of schooling:

One begins fieldwork not with a tabula rasa but with a foreshadowed problem in mind. However, the problem is of necessity general in scope. Because one is attempting to understand a system in its own terms, according to its own criteria of meaningfulness, one cannot predict in advance which aspects of the system will have significance or the kind of significance they have...An essential part of the research task is discovering what is significant, what makes sense to count (Erickson 1977), what is important to observe. One is continually involved in a process of inquiry, (p.459) 7

From the beginning we knew the students would be

collectors of ethnographic information. This goal was

stated in the first research plan (Figure 1) presented to

the teacher research class in October, 1984. In the Heath

and Branscombe study students were trained to be

ethnographers and to gather language information for

Heath. The bits of information in the article made it

sound like the students did a lot of thinking, discussing, and analyzing because they were involved in a real

research project. The realness of the research was

significant. The fact that information students collected was used in real writing for an audience beyond just the

teacher or the classroom was important.

What we did not envision from the beginning was that

the students would actually become collaborative researchers with us, not mere collectors of information.

The original goal of training students to be ethnographers of their own language expanded. The major goal of the research study and the core of the students' curriculum became training the students to be ethnographers of their own culture and helping them write and publish their description. (Our revised research plan submitted to the teacher research class in January, 1985, states this newly realized goal. See Figure 2.) The students ended up publishing a 67 page class ethnography entitled Fresh Talk including graffiti art cover, dedication, title page, table of contents, acknowledgements, introduction, explanatory photographs, and nine chapters of student writing.

In formulating the research master plan, we came to the realization we needed both study objectives and student objectives. The study objectives were needed to give us, the teacher researchers, a general idea of what we were exploring. The student objectives were necessary if we were going to teach effectively, keeping in mind our legal obligations, the list of skills and concepts the students should be mastering from their course of study requirements. More importantly, these student objectives were mandatory if the research project was to become an integral part of the curriculum. The major student assignments had to be consistent with and work in cooperation with our research questions.

So we also developed a tentative list of student assignments and methods that would help accomplish both study objectives and student objectives. This was probably one of the hardest and most gradual realizations for us to accept and put into practice. We slowly began to realize that all student assignments had to take into account the concept that real writing was more motivational, more meaningful, and more productive than the textbook exercises. Otherwise we were sending 9

conflicting messages to the students. All three of these-

study objectives, student objectives, and student

assignments- were continually being modified throughout

the study.

SETTING

One of the requirements of a good ethnography is a

description of the community in which the study is done.

In doing the ethnography of a language arts class, several

layers of interwoven communities can be identified— the

physical community in which the school is located, the

educational community of the school, and the peer

community of the students. Since the students' ethno­

graphy, Fresh Talk, is the best description of the peer

community, I will confine myself in this section to a

description of the physical community in which the school

was located and the educators' description of the school.

The middle school in which the ethnography was done

is located in Columbus, Ohio, which had a population in

the 1980 census of 564,871, making it the largest city

in the state. In the North Central region it is one of

only a few cities that is growing in population. The

entire metropolitan statistical area of the city covering

five counties had a population of 1,093,293. The white population of the city was 83% while the non-white population was 17%. (However, according to the Columbus 10

Public Schools' annual report the pupil composition of the

school system was 55.7% white and 44.3% non-white. The

racial proportions in the school system are quite differ­

ent from those present in the city itself.) Columbus is

the state capital. State, federal, and local governments have offices in the city, along with fifty insurance companies who call the city home. The community has twelve colleges and universities which enroll over 77,000 students. The city also has four business and technical schools (Ohio Bell). The Columbus Public Schools are the sixth largest employer in the city with 7,000 employees.

The school system in which the study was done is the sixteenth largest city system in the United States.

During the year of the study the enrollment of the system was nearly 69,000 students. These students attended the district's 130 buildings, including 72 elementary buildings, 24 middle schools, 15 high school, 10 alternative schools, 4 career centers, 4 special schools for the physically and emotionally handicapped, and a special adult program.

The school system underwent a court ordered desegre­ gation six years before the study was done. Perhaps due to a combination of the desegregation and fewer school age children enrollment in the city schools dropped. Many elementary and secondary schools were closed for economic reasons. The composition of the schools began to change. 11

Dr. Charles F. Hermann, who is doing a study of the

Columbus Public Schools, states that they:

face a challenge of immense proportions...The problem is the gradual but relentless change in the class structure of the student population in the schools. This changing student composition results from two simultaneous and related trends. First, the school district faces in­ creasing difficulty attracting and retaining middle class families with children enrolled in the public schools. Second, the absolute increase in the city of the number of children of school age who are living in poverty as measured by any of the accepted standards and who are part of an underclass. These are child­ ren of impoverished parents, whose relatives are part of the same class.

Hermann believes that the issue is not racial. He

says that:

Although blacks comprise the vast majority of the impoverished class... a significant portion of the poor children in Columbus are whites from the Appalachian region. Furthermore, children of middle-class black families are as hard to attract or keep in the schools as comparable white families.

Hermann feels that this gradual change may create

difficulties in the school system's efforts to achieve

equality. He says the students' "home, environments, and

beliefs about themselves do not prepare them for formal

education or reinforce or value what happens in the

school." He goes on to point out other results of the

class change such as neighborhood decay, increased crime, erosion of the school tax base, and "lack of leadership and determination to fight for quality schools." The 12

superintendent of the school system reiterates Hermann's

challenge at meetings with local businessmen and community

leaders.

To get a better picture of the distinct character of

Wedgewood Middle School and how it fits into the picture described above, I interviewed the principal and vice­ principal. The following information represents the facts and impressions the two administrators shared with me in two seperate interviews.

The 516 students who attend Wedgewood come from the far west side of the city limits and the area just east of downtown. Two hundred (or almost half) of the students are bussed to the school on five buses. One of these buses brings in special education students. A second bus brings students that live a little more than two miles from the school, but still on the west side of the city. The three remaining buses, which are referred to as the "deseg buses," bring students from the near east side of downtown. The socio-economic level of these students is described as low. The three "deseg buses" carry 98% non-white students. The non-white population of the school went up 30% since desegregation. 40.7% of the school's enrollment is now non-white. This figure in­ cludes thirty-two students who are Southeast Asian refugees. 13

Almost half of the student population is enrolled

in the free lunch program, which means that their families are at 130% of the poverty scale of the United States government. (If they have a family of four, the total

family income is less than $13,260 yearly.) 133 of the

516 students have parents on ADC, Aid to Dependent Child­ ren. The administrators felt most of the parents were probably "blue-collar workers" who valued education. The west side neighborhood parents were second generation west siders who were proud of their neighborhood area.

Both administrators felt there was a "positive school climate." They agreed that "the teachers have an attitude that everyone can learn." Wedgewood is smaller in enroll­ ment than most of the district's other 23 middle schools which allows the administrators to know most of the students by name. The administrators admitted that the school may not be as good "academically" as other middle schools in the district, but they felt the school atmos­ phere and staff morale compared favorably.

THE METHODOLOGY AND ITS LIMITATIONS

Our study was an ethnography of an eighth grade language arts class in a large urban city school district.

The study took place from late September to the end of the school year. Kathleen Wilcox says:

Ethnography is first and foremost a descriptive endeavor in which the researcher attempts accurately to describe and interpret the nature of social discourse.(p.458)

Our goal was to describe the language awareness and

learning of the eighth grade students.

I, along with the two other teachers and the students, was a full participant in the classroom. All four participants contributed their perspective on the language learning that was taking place.

In order to get the best information possible, all three teachers took notes on each class session. When all three teachers were with the entire class, we then had three sets of observations on the class. As the year and the project progressed, the class became more fluid in its arrangement. Loren would have a group in the computer room, Sheila would have students in the classroom, and I would be conferencing with a group on their writing. Each teacher took notes on what occurred within their group of students.

The form and nature of the notetaking varied among the teachers based on their own personal style and how involved they had to be with the students. If Sheila or I was teaching the whole class, the other one was able to be a total observer and record extensive notes of student responses and dquestions. Loren, who only once taught the whole class, had a spiral notebook in which he would record notes in complete sentences and sometimes even paragraph form. However, if each teacher was deeply 15 involved with a group of students we were only able to jot words or phrases during class time. Later in the evening, we would expand the notes. The three classroom stories at the beginning of chapters 2, 3, and 4 were composed from rough class notes. These stories were chosen because they provided a demonstration of some of the concepts to be discussed in each chapter.

We usually conferenced before the class, during the lunch period which separated the class, and for a short time immediately after the class. Sheila and I met regularly once each week to discuss our observations and do planning for the class. Loren was unable to meet with us due to his work schedule. But we would have his notes.

These sessions averaged two to three hours. When discus­ sing and comparing our observations, if we discovered a key incident in our notes we would circle it in a dif­ ferent color ink. Sometimes we even added more explana­ tion about the incident and beginning interpretations. We also tried to detect patterns emerging in observations, such as the students helping or directing other students, which we began to call the community of learners.

Sometimes one teacher had made an observation, but the other teacher had more history of the evolution of the observation. For example, when Dora told Sheila she didn't want to write the typical room article a month 16 after she had volunteered to do it, I guessed that a con­ versation I over-heard between Dora and Rob might have

influenced Dora's decision. Rob was writing the intro­ duction to the book and needed information on what each group was writing. When talking to Dora, he made a big deal about "how dumb" it was to write about a middle schoolers1 typical room. (Later, Rob did a beautiful drawing of his room as the typical middle school room with an elaborate key to identify items in the room. The idea was a take-off from the preppy handbook.)

Sheila and I also met with other Columbus middle school teachers every other week in the teacher as researcher class sponsored by the Ohio State University and the Columbus Public Schools. Under the direction of

Dr. Donald Bateman and Nancy Mack, we discussed our research as well as the research the seven other teachers were doing. Don, Nancy, and the other teachers asked questions and made comments on our observations that helped us reflect on our inquiry and direct us further.

Loren met with other Ohio State English education under-graduate students once a week in his LTF class.

Nancy Mack and Don Bateman also directed these classes.

Loren's reflection and interpretation of events was greatly aided by these LTF discussions. His reflection on an unsuccessful writing conference with a student were greatly aided by the other LTF students (See chapter 3). 17

The students also were active participants in the study. Although it took them quite a while to differ­ entiate between the ethnography of themselves that they were doing that would become the publication Fresh Talk and the ethnography Sheila and I were doing of their lan­ guage learning. The students filled in questionnaires

(Figures 3 and 4) at the end of each semester's pen pal activity. During the last week of school, they also filled in a questionnaire concerning the production and publication of Fresh Talk (Figure 5). We had several open class discussions, which either Sheila or I lead where we discussed what the students were learning and how the study was proceeding. As the students realized that the teachers were taking notes about the class and recording students' words, they would playfully say, "Did you hear what he said?" When they adjusted to the study, they would seriously make comments reflecting their observa­ tions of how they wrote or learned language.

A group of students composed of 2 white girls, 1 black girl, 2 black boys, and 2 white boys met with me twice during the summer at Pizza Hut to review my interpretations of the findings.

The parents of the students were sent a letter

(Figure 6) early in the year to inform them of the students participation in the study. All three teachers 18

did a home visit to meet Dora's entire family. This was

part of one of Loren's college assignments. Loren did

most of the questioning. Sheila and I added questions

when we thought the information might be helpful to the

study. I did have telephone conversations with several

parents at the end of the school year. The parents

indicated that the students were very proud of the publication. Several parents said their son or daughter

read sections aloud to the family from the final publica­ tion, informing their parents proudly that they had written the article. However, one parent said her daughter had mentioned the inequity in the amount of work done by students.

Due to the nature of the study, the values of the students' parents and the larger community were not considered. Within the members of the class, a variety of home situations existed and, no doubt, had some influence on the students' attitude toward language and learning.

Not all of these could be known or considered by the researchers. It is impossible to bring all cultural aspects to bear in a classroom study. The inferences and assumptions we made in our study could only be based on the information available to us and our observations.

As background information for the study we reviewed the students' scores on CTBS standardized reading vocabulary and comprehension tests administered in 19

September and then again in April of the research year.

Other content teachers of the students were questioned about individual students learning and attitudes toward school. The principal, vice principal, and guidance counselor were also interviewed concerning a description of the communities from which the students came.

DOUBTS

In one of the first planning sessions as we developed our objectives, I expressed doubts about the students ability to be true ethnographers. In my experience working with an honors eighth grade class at

Barrett Middle School several years earlier, students at this age had difficulty analyzing. Of course I realized that there was a large range in the cognitive levels of these students. They would require a lot of help to analyze their findings. Sheila said we would have to feel out the abilities and needs of the students step by step through the analysis.

Sheila, on the other hand, was concerned with the difficulty students or anyone would have in describing themselves. She reasoned it was easier to describe a stranger and a totally different culture than to closely and objectively examine your own. I agreed that the task was hard but acceptable since every ethnographic study had to have an insider's viewpoint, the emic viewpoint, and validation of the findings. Many ethnographic studies were joint projects between the researcher and an insider.

While the students would certainly be the main collectors, the teachers would have to continually probe, stimulate further analysis, and ask "what if...?". We would have to play the role of the outsider, which we were in regard to middle school culture. By expressing this view of the outsider, we helped them to decontextualize unique aspects of their culture that were so imbedded in their thoughts the students couldn’t imagine they weren't common knowledge.

PARTICIPANTS

Every ethnographic research study has a texture that makes it unique. Sondra Perl says her response to "What's it like to do an ethnography?" is "often a specific one..." She believes that "each project develops according to the interests and personalities of the people engaged in it." This particular research is distinct because it is the study of a language arts class doing an ethnography of themselves. Therefore, each of the participants in the study put their distinct interests and personalities into playing two roles— one in each of the studies. Sometimes these roles are at different points of the ethnographic spectrum.

Four distinct participants can be singled out --

Sheila Cantlebary, the classroom teacher; Loren Santiago, 21

the Ohio State University student; the eighth grade

language arts students; and I, a secondary resource

teacher. A diagram of the multiple roles played by the participants is shown in Figure 7. In this section of

the chapter, I will describe each of the participants, explain their motivation for doing the study, and outline

the role they played in each study.

SHEILA

Sheila was a wonderful person with whom to work.

She was an expert teacher who understood and knew middle school students. She had taught in the urban school system for fourteen years. During those years, she had taught grades 7, 8, and 9 at three different schools. She had worked under both a junior high and a middle school organization. During the summers she helped write curriculum guides and taught English to high school students. For most of the fourteen years she had been in a regular classroom setting; however, for two of those years she had taught reading to small groups of students who had demonstrated deficiencies.

Sheila had the brains and poise of a professional educator. She always seemed to know the right thing to say to encourage a student or calm a tense confrontation.

She brought the same tact and good judgement to her other interpersonal relationships. 22

At her school she had the reputation for being the

"box lady." Between the two rooms on two different

floors where her classes were scheduled, she usually

carried a cardboard box containing student papers, dittos,

and books. (This habit soon rubbed off on me. English

teachers are known for being inveterate collectors of

activities and reading materials. We even brag about it.)

Throughout her teaching career James Moffett's

writings had influenced her instructional style. She had

her students do a lot of group work and class room

languaging. Her classroom was not the rigid students-

sitting-quietly-doing-dittos-at-their-desks-while-teacher-

graded-papers-and-dispensed-knowledge-from-behind-her-desk

stereotype. There was always constructive conversation,

movement, and individual and group projects going on.

Sheila had returned to the university recently to

earn her master's degree and was reading the current

language development research. She was trying to

incorporate the ideas from this research into her

classroom instruction. The fact that she was highly

interested in the study and wanted to become actively

involved was more than any collaborative researcher could ask for. As a resource teacher who only works with

classrooms upon teacher or administrative invitation, I did not have access to a class. Many teachers felt possesive about their classes. Some felt threatened if a 23

resource teacher was in the classroom with them. Sheila

felt neither of these.

Early in the study Sheila and I developed a good

working relationship. I had worked with Sheila for more

than ten years doing group curriculum writing, "School

Without School" radio broadcasts, team teaching, an

earlier research study, as well as having observed her

teach. Through these relationships, I had long ago

developed tremendous respect for her as a person and a

professional. She had the ability to plan productive and

interesting lessons, run several small student groups in

her classroom, and, most importantly, analyze student

interaction and learning. Sheila had a personal reason

for accepting the research project. She wanted to use it as a large part of her required study for the master's degree. She planned to write her comprehensive exams on this project.

In both studies Sheila served the triangulation role of the collaborative researcher. In the students' ethnog­ raphy she helped by brainstorming ideas with the whole class and helping the groups work out the difficulties in their chapters. She questioned students' rough drafts of their articles for more precise explanations. She used her experience and observations from the classroom, the halls, and the lunchroom to verify students' written 24 descriptions of aspects of their culture.

For my ethnography, Sheila served a similar supportive role. She had almost an insider's point of view. In designing student lessons and interpreting student response, she provided another set of eyes and ears for recording the interaction of the students. Her comments and insight were invaluable. I am thoroughly convinced there is no way an accurate ethnography of a classroom can be completed unless the teacher is a collaborative researcher.

SHARON

My reason for getting involved in the study and research class had to do not only with the completion of my dissertation, but with working out some of my inner and professional conflicts. I had taught language arts and

English in a junior high and high school setting in a urban school system for nine years. I had served as a secondary resource teacher for the past eight years, helping to develop the instructional componet of the system's desegregation plan, the reading language arts block for the middle school, and the reading mastery education plan. Although I and three other secondary reading resource teachers worked together to serve the needs of the system's 46 secondary schools, each of us was specifically assigned six middle schools, four high schools, and one career center. During most of my 17 25 years with the school system, I had attended the

university as a part time graduate student. As a result of my experience in public education, I had come to feel caught in the middle of several conflicts.

First, I was wedged in the conflict between society's view of the teacher and my personal self-image as a professional educator. Three recent highly publicized publications--A Nation at Risk(U.S. Office of Education),

High School(Boyer), and A Place Called School(Goodlad)-- conclude that educational problems in schools are not just school, student, or teacher problems, but society's problems. Despite these conclusions, our American society still blames the inadequacies of the schools on the inadequacies of the educators. Society looks down on those who select the profession of teaching. Society believes the addage that "Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach." As John Manning, past president of the

International Reading Association stated, most of the public, including teachers, openly tell their children not to go into the profession. Related to these feelings of underqualified teaching staff, the laymen who allot more than half of the school system's budget refuse to pass the levies or bond issues necessary for school operation.

This is one of the factors which leads our local beginning teaching salaries to fall below those of the local 26 sanitation workers. This situation of low teacher pay reflecting low public esteem seems to be consistent across the states no matter where the schools get their funds.

According to the Education Commission of the States(1983),

"When a second year teacher in one of the nation's wealthiest, most education-minded communities makes less money than a second year sales clerk in a county liquor store, the need for salary reform is urgent."

Despite this strong public statement of their low regard for educators, I have a commitment to and respect for my chosen profession. I, like many of my colleagues, put in long hours, work hard on the job, and come home to read, write, and reflect in preparation for my next workday. I know that meshing students' personal learning styles and the district's curriculum through the art of teaching doesn't come easy. It's hard, thoughtful, draining work.

I'm not in teaching to get to another profession.

I have come to realize that I will not leave the profession with the attainment of my advanced degree, but hopefully will be a better teacher. (This pronouncement shocked one T.A. in English Education, who reflected society's assumption that advanced degrees were doorways out of teaching.)

I try to foster a love of the profession and professionalism in myself and the classroom teachers with 27 whom I work. This isn't easy in the face of society's real (not professed) lack of regard for us.

The second conflict in which I felt caught was that between the academic university and the practical urban school setting. I sense university personnel reacting to classroom teachers' ideas as if they were not pure or suf­ ficiently academic. I try to keep in touch with research in composition and language learning and the theoretical contro-versies that initiated the research. I read almost every secondary reading/language arts journal published as well as most of the curriculum journals. I attend and present work-shops on new classroom application of research at most of the national and local English, language arts, and reading association conventions. I frequent the university book store checking what the education professors have listed as required reading in their courses. I regularly pay for a retrospective search and a current awareness search at the university's

Mechanized Information Center, However I still sense the university personnel dismissing my thoughts as being colored or tainted by adaptation to the bureaucracy which employs me. A professor once cautioned me to spend no more that five to seven years teaching in public schools before I came to the university if I didn't want to be

"suspect." Thirdly, as a secondary resource teacher I am caught

in the burearcratic no-man's land between the administration and the secondary language arts classroom teachers. Although my title and accompanying pay are that of a teacher, my job is broader than the title indicates.

Along with the three other resource teachers, it is my responsibility to help develop reading curriculum on a district level. Each resource teacher, then is to guide both classroom teachers and administrators in their interpretation and implementation of the curriculum on a more personal building and classroom level in their assigned secondary schools.

Many of the large curriculum decisions are mandated by state and federal government or the "downtown" office-- a term used by the classroom teachers and administrators to refer to the personnel housed in the board of education building in the center of the city. (We are considered instructional personnel and housed in a closed elementary school with asbestos ceilings.) In my department through the elaborate organization of the school system's bureaucracy and although I deal with the secondary schools, many decisions are made by the assistant superintendent in charge of elementary education. Some of the decisions are not philosophically acceptable to me or uniformally adaptable. For the sake of consistency, the school system prefers uniform administration of new 29 curriculum. The other resource teachers and I are in the uncomfortable position of explaining the curriculum change in some uniform manner and convincing the teachers of the advantages of the change.

In attempting to fulfill my responsibility, I have been increasingly aware of the bind in which the school system places the classroom teachers and me. The school system sends two conflicting messages. They want us to be both bureaucrats and professionals. Two Rand Corporation social scientists studying the problem have made the following statement:

There are obvious tensions between the bur­ eaucratic and professional treatment of teachers. The standardization inherent in bureaucratic organization of instruction tugs against the flexibility demanded by professional decision-making. Bureaucratic lines of account­ ability direct the teacher's attention to uniform administrative requirements, while professional accountability directs the teacher's attention to the varying needs of individual students." (Wise and Darling- Hammond, p.29)

The idea of the teacher as researcher provides one solution to my dilemma. It arranges the perfect marriage of theory and practice.

Although I realize the conflicts I'm experiencing have complex causes, being a teacher researcher seems to soothe my awkward position. The public views me as a more capable teacher— one who has the "scientific" ability and the professional concern to actively examine my teaching 30

practices and the resultant student responses. The

university views me as more academic when I'm using

sanctioned research practices for examining the learning

process. Academic credit is even provided through such

courses as Dr. Bateman's. That my research is under the

supervision of a university professor also makes it more

respectable. Joint research projects between the

university and the school system are beneficial for both

parties and good public relations. The administration

within my school system sees me as more a professional

than a bureaucrat. As a researcher with university

sanction, the system believes I have the knowledge and expertise to make adjustments in the curriculum to meet

the needs of the students and the situation.

During the research project, I played many different roles. In my ethnography, I played the role of the

researcher. For the students' ethnography, I provided

triangulation ( another viewpoint) much the same role as

Sheila. Both Sheila and I had our strengths as

collaborative researchers. As stated before Sheila was an expert at working with students. She had mastered the art of making students feel comfortable about themselves and their work. She gave them the support they needed to feel secure in their abilities to do the challenging project.

My strength lay in the ability to use questioning 31 techniques to make students think and reach further. I also had and tried to convey some idea of what an ethnography ought to include.

From the beginning Sheila and I assumed that I would not only be an observer and recorder, but an active participant in the classroom. Soon after the study began

I team taught the class. Most of the time I worked with small groups of students examining their rough drafts, brainstorming ideas for chapters, or editing with students on the computer.

When you're a teacher and in a classroom of students, it's hard not to teach. There are so many small teachable moments. You feel like an addict. You can’t resist. I also feel that a researcher in another teacher's classroom who only observes and takes notes is more of a threat to the teacher. When the researcher helps teach and plan, a trusting bond or comradeship is created. Being willing to show your teaching skill to another teacher is like laying your soul bare. Team teaching also familiarizes the researcher with students quickly. The students regarded me as an consultant.

LOREN

After meeting with the teacher research class, Dr.

Bateman asked if we wanted an LTF student. LTF was the acronym for a special College of Education program,

Looking to the Future, where undergraduate English 32 education students had the opportunity to work in the schools and the community at the same time they took courses toward their degree.

Sheila was a little reluctant at first. I think she was beginning to feel overloaded with a student teacher and the prospect of a long demanding research study.

Because of my past experience with two LTF students in a research study at another middle school, I felt we could definitely use one. The previous two LTF students were invaluable to the research. They noticed student reactions or procedures that I either took for granted or was too busy to observe. They provided another layer to the triangulation — another layer to the data collection and analysis.

I agreed to make out a list of activities for the LTF student to do. I was a little over zealous and came up with such a long list that it alarmed Sheila. I remembered how the other LTF students continually wanted their tasks defined so I tried to be as explicit as I could. Sheila feared the list would overwhelm the student.

Loren Santiago, the 22 year old undergraduate LTF student, took the list in stride. Loren was a young man who adjusted well to most situations. When he wasn't involved in working with the students, his tall thin 33

handsome figure topped with straight center-parted hair

could be seen pouring over some books or writing for his

classes at the university. Loren had graduated from a

local suburban school district and was working his way

through college with two jobs and carrying a full academic

load. He used every minute efficiently.

Loren had the knack of making a pun or quick joke in

the middle of most conversations— a characteristic that

endeared him to most of the students and the faculty.

Although not all of his jokes were understood or thought

to be humorous by the students, they appreciated his

light-heartedness.

In both the students' and my ethnography, Loren added a third viewpoint. Sometimes he worked with small groups of students giving suggestions for revisions and editing on their writing. Sometimes he helped me with a group of

students brainstorming ideas or organization of a chapter of the students' ethnography. He always enjoyed the

students and they, sensing this, returned the feeling.

Even though the students didn't always appreciate his jokes, they always appreciated his youthful exuberance.

One of his most significant contributions to the study was introducing the computer to the students as an easier way to revise. The student use of the school's ten computers in a separate classroom added a whole new dimension and excitement to the group writing. 34

Instead of the regular quarterly LTF field placement

in a new school, Loren ended up spending the entire

school year with us. He also did his student teaching in

another one of Sheila's classes. Like all the

participants, his personal-ity added to the texture of the

research. Looking back it would be hard to imagine doing

the study without him.

STUDENTS

The fourth and most important link in the chain of

participants was the students in the study. The classroom we researched was comprised of between 23 to 26 diverse

students between the ages of twelve and fifteen. (The

enrollment in the class varied from the beginning to the

end of the school year.) The class had 41% non-white

students including one Southeast Asian girl who spoke

limited English. This ratio of non-white to white

students in the class was representative of the school as a whole. Over half of the student body (55%) were on free and reduced lunches. If this class reflected the same

statistics as the rest of the school, the parents' income of 55% of the class members was below $18,870.

Comparing this class of students with others this year and in past years, Sheila said these students were not the slowest:, not the most mature (probably some of the

least mature), and not the highest reading group according 35

to classroom performance or standardized test scores.

Their standardized test scores ranged from 4.3 to 12.9 in

grade equivalents.

Reading these statistics or saying that the students

were diverse does not convey the true flavor of the

classroom. The range of personalities and abilities in

the class can only be sensed by giving examples of

specific student members. Within the class each student

had unique characteristics and histories that set them apart.

One of the class members was a 250 pound five foot tall boy that was the school's leading artist. At this adolescent age of extreme self-consciousness, he had difficulty finding clothes to wear and sitting in the wrap around student desks. Once he had to go home in the middle of the school day because he split his pants.

Students from all three grade levels approached him to draw graffiti on their notebooks, their jackets, or their

T-shirts. Very professionally he would show them a portfolio of letter styles and brick background styles.

He would ask what kind of figures or words they wanted in the drawing. He achieved the highest possible score on the standardized tests. Rob's goal in life was to get his

Ph.D. But he had difficulty remembering to do his homework. He couldn't get himself organized. He would earn C's or lower in some of his classes. He is a truly 36

gifted child with a genius I.Q. He was quite socially

adept and most all the students liked and looked up to

him.

Another unique individual enrolled in the class was

rated the best athlete in the school. Since there were no

interscholastic teams in the middle schools, one way for

him to excel was by breakdancing. This six foot student

could do a head spin better than anyone in the school.

Being fifteen years old, he was the oldest student in the

class. He had been held back in school. He wrote very

good descriptive passages and read on an eighth grade

level.

Two of the school's biggest jokesters were also members of the class. The two boys, who were also good

friends, rarely stopped laughing, playing tricks, or

cracking insults on other students. One went on to excel

on the computers and give a rap demonstration in the

class. The other student was barred from the computer

room for throwing erasers at other students.

The girl voted the "best student" by the eighth grade class presented a unique image in the classroom. She allowed herself to be totally dominated and insulted by her group partner in front of the class. Continually this quiet shy girl was chided for not doing her fair share of the work in her group. The scolder was her best friend. 37

A six foot tall girl who was expelled from school for setting a fire in the girls' restroom was also a member of the class. The girl claimed she set the fire because she was trying to rid the school of preppies by burning a list of their names. This student was the best writer in the class and had one of the highest reading levels. However she deliberately flubbed the standardized test because she was mad at the teacher. She had been diagnosed as having scoliosis. She never liked to go to the lunchroom. So rather than eat the lunch her mother packed, she let them rot in her locker. Students complained of a terrible smell in the hallway where her locker was located. The cause of the odor was not discovered until the lockers were cleaned out at the end of the year.

Still another student who gave character to this language arts class was a black male who transferred in from New York City. He was one of twenty-three youngsters adopted by a young black man who came to Columbus to be a social worker. A favorite pastime of this student was mutilating the goldfish in the sixth grade classroom we used for one period each day. If Sheila or I were not watching him carefully, he would grab a ruler from the teacher's desk and use it to pin the gold fish to the wall of the fishbowl. The classmembers were very impressed by the fact he had lived in New York City and his use of a colorful vocabulary. 38

This was not, then, a model or exemplary middle

school language arts class. It was just an average class of adolescent youngsters. From these few descriptions of

students, one can see the wide range of ability, emotions, and behavior within each class member. On any given day a student's behavior might change drastically from the pattern on the previous day. This variance within an individual was the accepted norm in any middle school classroom.

Although most of the students' parents had only high school educations, both they and the students valued education. The students felt caught in a bind. As they wrote in their ethnography "The middle schooler's situation is difficult because we are expected to act up in class and totally ignore the teacher, when possible.

Then when grading time approaches, we are expected to have perfect grades."

At the beginning of the school year, the students responded to the project of doing a class ethnography as if it were a class assignment. Yet they still seemed to realize it was something special, different from the regular curriculum. Since various student groups met on different days, students would eagerly approach me at the beginning of the period asking, "Does our group meet today? Can we get out of class?" Loren and I usually met 39 with one or two groups in the hall outside the class.

Perhaps because the meeting place was outside the classroom, the students interpreted this as "getting out of class." Also the work of the groups in the hall was different from the work in the classroom. The groups in the hall brainstormed their chapter topics with only one student taking notes. No one had to do textbook exercises or a ditto. Some students indicated they enjoyed working on the project because they could meet and talk with their friends.

At first the students referred to the study verbally and in writing to their pen pals as the "teacher's study."

There were at least two explanations for this phrase.

First students had a difficult time understanding that there were two studies going on simultaneously-- one iny ethnography of the students and the other the students' ethnography of themselves. They couldn't comprehend that teachers would be conducting a study and writing.

Teachers gave assignments. They didn't do them.

Second, the students really didn't take ownership at the beginning. Perhaps because the idea of writing and publishing an ethnography of themselves was not their own.

It was an idea that evolved in Sheila's and my mind slowly. When we presented the idea for the project to the class, it was totally new and different. 40

Near the end of the project one of the best

indicators that students had taken ownership was the

student protests that emerged if any changes, intended or

unintended, were made without consulting the student

authors. If one line or word of a student rap was

altered, even by a typographical error, or if artwork

slipped or was added to a page, the student authors questioned, protested, and even became angry. When one

student's work was heavily edited, she denied ownership.

They had spent long hours brainstorming, researching, writing, and revising their work. They had their reasoning firmly in mind for the final presentation of the work. If alterations or changes were necessary, they demanded to be consulted. After all it was their creative product. It belonged to them. Any changes had to be negotiated.

It took a long time for the transfer of ownership to switch from us to them. One of the major factors assisting in the transfer of ownership was the fact that we, the teachers, really asked for the students' opinions, listened to their ideas, and then acted upon them. After all they were the experts on themselves. We knew we had to listen.

I think this little procedure of asking and listening

"for real" is harder for a teacher than it sounds. Sheila and I had to check each other continually. When I was 41

upset about the students' decision within a chapter,

Sheila would say, "You have some image set in your mind.

Is that the same final image of the book the students

have?" I ultimately realized that in my mind the audience

for the book were my peers— the other teachers and

administration. In the minds of the students the audience

for the book were their peers— the other students in the

school.

I also realized that I wanted to take ownership for

the student ethnographic publication as well as to allow

the students to take ownership. Even though Sheila and I

had to provide the spark to motivate the students, we had

to be willing to hand the project over to the students.

If I wanted them to have ownership, I had to relinquish

mine. I also had to remember my real role in the

student's research project. I was the teacher and the

collaborative researcher for the students' ethnography. I was there to help them and make suggestions. Getting the

publication absolutely perfect according to some criteria

I had was not as important as teaching the students

ownership for their writing and the art of compromise in group work (the give-and-take of interpersonal

relationships).

Both the students and I grew in the understanding of

how to work together. They had to have their reasons for 42 their writing choices well in hand and be willing to discuss them when they met with me in groups. I, on the other hand, had to remember my role as collaborative researcher on the students'ethnographic project.

An example of how this worked in actual classroom practice might be enlightening. One of the assignments of each student group was to order the individual writings of each member into a unified chapter. Then the students were to write an introduction to the chapter explaining the purpose and organization of the chapter. Robin Taylor, the leader of the clothes group met with her members and arranged the seven individual pieces of writing in their chapter. When the group presented the organization to me,

I disagreed with their arrangement. I felt that the article Robin had authored on the unwritten peer dress code served as a nice counterpoint to the article discussing the school's printed dress code. Robin, speaking for her group in a poised and polite manner, told me that the arrangement that had been handed in was the group decision. She carefully explained that the peer dress code article was more closely related to "Attitudes

Toward Clothing Among Grade Levels," which was the last article in their chapter. She felt that those two articles because they represented student feeling about clothes in general should be next to each other and at the end of the chapter. 43

Even though I disagreed with the group's placement of the articles, I had to respect the group's reasoning and ultimately their final decision. In order to build student confidence in their ability to reason and make decisions, I was forced to respect their wishes. If I had made the change after they reasoned so eloquently with me, I fear I would have destroyed their ownership and commitment to the project.

Different motivational techniques were used at various times throughout the school year. We tried to personalize the motivational techniques to fit the needs of various groups, individual students, or the subject of the students' writing. Some of the plethora of techniques we used were having students or groups:

-visit business establishments to collect information

about middle school students

-incorporate current middle school fads as topics

within

the chapters

-interview the principal, the vice principal, the

librarian, or students in other classes

-invite a speaker from outside the school to visit

-visit other language arts classes to administer

surveys

-read current magazine or newspaper articles on their 44

topics

-arrange and take photographs to illustrate the

information in their chapter

-view finished student publications from other

schools

-use the computers in the computer room to revise,

lay out, and illustrate their articles

-demonstrate a new school fad such as rapping

-use the library for reference work

-chart their progress on the project

-make out a ditto and run it on the machine in the

main office

-read the teacher's writing and make revision and

editing suggestions

-use typewriters in a small teachers' workroom

Because these techniques were such a departure from the regular classroom format, students were eager to do them. These activities, which were necessary steps in doing the project, were powerful motivators in themselves.

Especially since they were used during language arts class time when students had been conditioned to expect dittoes and textbooks. Perhaps they worked because the other teachers weren't using them.

I would be dishonest if I said every student was motivated consistently to work independently on the class ethnography. But I can say that students were generally 45 more eager and willing to work on the ethnography than to do regular classroom work. As Jeff, one of the students

said, "In class we just do boring little work."

Although in traditional ethnographies the subjects are not considered collaborators, in this study of students doing an ethnography of themselves, the students became full partners in the description. They suggested significant aspects of the culture to study as well as suggesting methods of collecting data. They helped compile and analyze data. They even proofread and verified written descriptions. Our students contributed much more than the role normally reserved for the emic viewpoint.

PLANNING SESSIONS

In the beginning Sheila and I scheduled and met in one to two hour planning sessions a week. On the weeks that the research class met, we stayed after class and planned together. On the alternate weeks we met after school at the local chicken fast food restaurant. A little food seemed to revive and inspire both of us after long school days. We both took notes at most planning sessions. Although we usually had an agreed upon agenda or topic for discussion, many different ideas and observations of the class interrupted the scheduled topic and the time always flew by too fast. We began fitting 46

planning time in as demanded at school during Sheila's

regularly scheduled planning period or lunch. Of course

some planning was done on the telephone and some on-the-

spot consultations were always done.

One of the first topics discussed in these planning

sessions was the choice of a class. Sheila didn't have

any preference among her three reading/language arts

classes. All were heterogeneous, desegregated mixtures of

eighth graders. So I chose a midday class (5th and 7th

periods) since that time of day would be most convenient

for me to drive to Wedgewood. The eighth grade lunch

period occurred in the middle of the two period class

allowing time for Sheila and I to discuss, plan, or

reflect on the class. As a resource teacher, I still had

a regular work load to maintain servicing my other ten

schools.

STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

ETHNOGRAPHY

The major student assignment in the language arts class for for the year became the collection and decrip-

tion of an ethnography of themselves. The idea of writing an ethnographic book evolved slowly. It had its origins

in the students collecting words and phrases they felt were unique to their culture. Each week these words were turned in on Friday using a form (Figure 8) prepared by

Sheila and me. A verification session was then held with 47 the whole class commenting and voting on the authenticity of their peer culture's use of the word, the meaning of the word, and the appropriate context for the word's use.

The students, after all, were the experts in this area.

They had to negotiate agreement among themselves.

These classroom verification sessions soon led to talk about a variety of aspects unique to eighth grade culture and even a couple of demonstrations of "rapping."

Sheila and I came up with the idea of the class writing a book about their culture. Although the initial reception of the idea by the class was lukewarm, ensuing discussion and comments on the publication, distribution, and intended audience for such a book soon brought student involvement and ultimately commitment.

The students began by brainstorming and webbing on the chalkboard all the aspects that were important to middle school students' lives. (See Figure 10) One day later, after appropriate classtime for consultation with their classmates, students made a first and second choice of the aspects they wanted to research. At the same time, they also requested the classmate(s) with whom they wanted to work. Trying to make sure all topics were covered,

Sheila and I placed each student with his or her first or second choice of topics and friends. We also took into consideration having a strong leader in each group. 48

Next, the students had to meet in their groups to

elect a scribe and a spokesperson. Naturally a strong

leader did evolve in each group. After the whole class

helped brainstormd a brief jot list for each topic on the

original web that had been selected, individual groups

divided up the responsibilities for covering their topic.

Through negotiation individual assignments were handed out

to each student by the group. Each student had to be

responsible for gathering information and writing one

article in the group's chapter. A few students did decide

to write articles jointly with a friend.

Composing styles differed for almost every student.

Some students hid themselves in a quiet corner of the

classroom or on a computer alone to compose. Others such

as the three boys in the typical conversation group, boisterously and with intermittent jokes and insults,

rehearsed their writing orally, playing words and phrases off each other, before writing anything on paper.

All students relied heavily on others in their group to proofread, revise, make content suggestions, organize, and edit their writing. After all their peers were going to be the audience. To these eighth graders, it was better to have a friend point out their errors, than to be embarrassed in front of the whole class or even the school. The group interaction and dynamics will be discussed more fully in chapter two entitled "Community of 49

Learners."

While regular conferences were held between each

group and one or more of the teachers, some students

brought their writing to Sheila, Loren, or me in between

conferences to read and comment on. If possible, I would

read it and comment, but I would also send the student

author to another classmate for comments saying, "John is

very good at writing introductions." I wanted to build

student confidence in other students as peer editors.

Another technique I used to build student reliance and

confidence in their classmates was to invite several

students not regularly in the group into a writing

conference. Instead of looking at a student author's

writing, we would simply discuss the student author's

topic. I would carefully lead the students through an

exploration of the student's topic. For example, for the

spare time activity group's article on visiting shopping malls, I pulled three students into the group and asked

them selected questions about their visits to the shopping mall. Other students including the author began asking

the guest students questions too. By carefully selecting

the invited students and creating a very informal discus­

sion atmosphere, everyone enjoyed the conference. I would then ask the student authors responsible for the

topic to incorporate in their writing some of the comments 50 the students made during the conference. We never critized student writing.

At various times during the school year, each group was responsible for accomplishing certain assignments together. First they had to identify sub-topics to be developed in their chapter. Next they had to delegate these sub-topics to individual group members making certain that the work distribution was equal and the assignment was appropriate for the student. The group was responsible for making certain all important aspects of their chapter's topic were being covered by its members.

At various times the group's spokesperson reported to the whole class on how the chapter was developing. The group was supposed to help its members with their writing as needed.

The group had some editorial responsibilities. The group had to organize the student articles within the chapter in a reasonable order. They had to write an introduction to their chapter. They had to design or help design artwork needed in their chapter. Many groups negotiated with the best student artists or computer graphics people in the classroom.

Each individual class member had a myriad of responsibilities in writing his or her section of the class ethnography. These responsibilities had to be broken down into manageable units for the middle school 51 student so the assignment didn't become overwhelming.

First each student had to select the sub-topic they were going to write about by negotiating with their group. The sub-topic had to be an outgrowth of the group's main topic and had to be a significant aspect of a middle schooler's culture. Students had to decide what questions needed to be asked and what information needed to be gathered to adequately write their article. A determination had to be made as to what method should be used to gather the needed information. The students could choose from three techniques— interviewing, surveying, or observation. Many students used a combination of the methods. A lot of group discussion and some research was needed to develop good questions and select appropriate information collection methods.

Teacher approval was required on a rough draft of the student information gathering device. The plan for how, when, and where to administer the device also had to be presented to the teacher. In some cases permission letters to teachers or the principal were necessary. In the case of interviews at local business establishments, several phone calls and parental permission had to be arranged. After the plan to gather information was approved by the teacher, the student was totally responsible for carrying out these preliminary 52 arrangements. (Of course we did have to double check the students at many points.)

After administering the information gathering device, the student had to write a summary. One group that did an interview with two cosmetologists-in-training had a long taped interview that took almost three weeks of class time to transcribe. Students were asked to choose a main idea or focus for their summary write up which ultimately became their article. Since these articles went through many revisions, Loren came up with the idea of having the students work on the computers. Using the "Bank Street

Writer" and a new program purchased especially for us by the school called "The Newsroom," these word processing programs proved motivational as well as expeditious to the students. At the end of the project some students even used word processing programs intended for adults like PFS

Write to print up the long list of book titles.The use of computers added a whole new dimension to the study.

Finally all students had to design or help design a banner for their article. Many times the computer graphics in "The Newsroom" program were used. Sometimes a student author would contract with a student artist in the class to design the banner.

If students finished ahead of others, they were supposed to help the others in their group. 53

LETTER WRITING

The second major student assignment that was significant to the research was the pen pal activity.

First semester the students in our middle school reading/language arts class were matched with the junior and senior students in an expository writing class at the

Alternative High School. Second semester our middle school students, upon their request, paired with a class of eighth grade peers from another middle school in the system. Students were matched by sex as much as possible- boys to boys and girls to girls. Student interests and sometimes race were considered. All the students involved, both high school and middle school, rated this a favorite activity. The teacher of the high school pen pals originally gave her students the option of becoming involved in the activity. She feared high school students would not think middle schoolers appealing to correspond with. However quite the opposite occurred. "Niagra coming over the falls I" was her description of the high school students initial response to the pen pal activity.

All the students who were given the option as well as other high school students who hadn't been asked came to her wanting a middle school pen pal. Sheila was forced to find more middle school students from another class to match. 54

Language learning took place in both semesters pen pal activities, but growth occurred in different

languaging areas. This will be discussed in chapter four.

The idea for the pen pal activity came from the

Heath-Branscombe article and was what initially sparked the union between Sheila and me to do the research study.

Done alone it would be a significant instructional technique for it gave students a sense of audience, a better awareness of language and how it functions, and the motivation to write for meaning and understanding. Tiie project also increased students' ability to read critically. For us in the research project, the pen pal activity helped the sense of classroom community develop.

This feeling of community was apparent as the students, who eagerly awaited their letters, would immediately read them aloud to classmates, pass them around, discuss them, compare them with another student's, and criticize them.

Students soon began to get input from each other and talk their way through the actual composing process with the help of their classmates. This development of a community of learners will be explored more fully in chapter two.

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS

Host student activities grew out of the ethnography. As the core curriculum, the ethnography served as an organizing theme for the entire year. It gave purpose and reason for all the other assignments. If 55 an activity didn’t do something to further the compiling, writing, and publishing of the class ethnography, it was eliminated.

The most significant activity that was systemati­ cally done almost daily was twenty minutes of sustained silent reading. This took a substantial chunk out of the hour-and-a-half that students were scheduled in the reading/language arts block. However, our experience with students and current research told us that widespread reading was a significant factor contributing to the improvement in a student's ability to use language and compose.

A wide variety of trade books, library books, and magazines were made available for the students to choose.

Students were also allowed to bring their own books for reading during this time. Sheila made a conscious effort to match students to the right book and to assure that every student read novels or full length books at some time.

Students were not held accountable for their reading in any way. But Sheila did informally talk to every student about his or her reading. She often asked students to recommend books to their classmates. She would ask, "Who’s reading an interesting book?" or "Who's reading a good book about adolescent problems?" She made 56

it a point to know the reading interests of her students.

Sheila often read while the students were reading.

Early in the year Sheila had the whole class read

the novel Pinballs. an adolescent novel about three

youngster who came to be foster children in the same home.

As a class the students also read and discussed the

writings of several famous authors from the adopted

anthologies. Sheila would discuss different writing

techniques used by the writers and how they built images

in the minds of the readers. Later in the writing

conferences links between these authors and the student

authors might be built. Suggestions were made to write a

description using a technique a particular famous author

had.

Students and teachers often brought in articles

from popular magazines or the local newspaper which

related to the class ethnography. One student brought in

an article on rap music from the entertainment section.

Articles on teenspeak or teenagers language were found in

People magazine, the HEA Today newspaper, and the Columbus

Dispatch. Students brought in articles on breakdancing and ads for kangol hats, the hat worn when breakdancing.

We provided books written about particular cultures

such as the Foxfire books, The Official Preppy Handbook,

The Yuppie Handbook, The Valley Girls * Guide to Life, and

The Totally Awesome Val Guide. (The girls really enjoyed 57

reading about valley girls.) These were put in the room

for enjoymentreading, but it was also hoped they would

serve as examples of different ways to describe a culture.

A second activity that was done systematically

throughout the school year was called "thought ramblings," a type of writing similar to a journal entry. Students wrote for a designated time --five to ten minutes--on a

topic Sheila put on the chalkboard. Usually she had some discussion about the topic before asking the students to write. Sometimes the topics were related to the class ethnography project, helping a particular group gather information. Sometimes the topic explored themes in the class readings. Other times the ramblings were considered personal writings not to be shared with others.

Class activities that related directly to doing the class ethnography increased the second semester. In pairs or groups of three the students wrote dialogues that served as models for the typical conversations. These dialogues were good practice for the use of punctuation.

Sheila sometimes did direct instruction on grammar and usage, followed by the students exercising their knowledge on real writing. The students were divided into teams fashioned after the Student Team Learning system where points are given to the whole group and then shared by all members. 58

To demonstrate methods of editing and revising, I shared pieces of the rough drafts of my ethnography describing classroom activities. I asked the students to find good points about the writing. Then I asked them to locate areas that needed improvement. The students were quite honest in telling me what was interesting and was boring. I did implore them to be gentle.

What amazed the students most about my writing, besides the fact that I had exact quotes from them was, the form my composing process took on paper. The writing

I gave the students had several phrases crossed out and arrows drawn to the revisions in the margins. One student accused me of writing in this manner just to show the class. I assured him that this was my standard writing pattern. Beautifully phrased sentences did not flow effortlessly from my pen. I told the students that this was a third or fourth rewrite and it still needed a lot of revision. The fact that teachers had to work at writing was a whole new idea to many of the students.

After using me and my writing as the guinea pigs, other student authors were willing to share their writing with the whole class and ask for comments. The technique of the teacher modeling the writing and learning process proved useful throughout the study.

Sheila had to be flexible to adjust her assignments and classwork to be compatible with the study. Moreover, 59

it was very difficult for her to plan any activity that continued over several days because the composition of her class section changed from day to day. The exact situation is described more fully in the next section on classroom management. Each day there was always a group of students, from three to eleven in number, leaving

Sheila's section to come to Loren's or my section. At the same time Sheila would add another group of students coming from Loren and me. Sheila's ability to adapt to this ebb and flow of students was a significant element in the success of the study and cannot be undervalued.

GRADING

Since both ethnographic studies, ours and the students', were unique projects, a unique grading system was demanded. Heath and Branscombe solved the grading dilemma by handing out A's to everyone. I wish we could have solved it as simply!11

Sheila and I felt we had to handle the grading system in a manner that was compatible to our overall goals. We were conscious of sending conflicting messages to students about the real value of the study and the worthwhileness of student effort and opinions. If we truly wanted students to be aware of their language and its uses, we felt opening the discussion of grading to the entire class provided an excellent opportunity for meaningful student 60

languaging. And we didn't have to worry about student

motivation

We also wanted the students to take ownership for the

project. Evaluation was part of the project. Although

other classwork was done by the students, the major

portion of the grade would be determined by their work on

the class ethnography. Grading students on a textbook

exercise on the use of conjunctions seemed silly when the

real test of student ability to use conjunctions occurred

in the real writing they were doing on their ethnography

article. Moreover, all the other classwork had been

selected as practice to teach the skills the students

needed to do their ethnographic project.

We wanted the students to view the ethnography as not only a part of their regular class work, but the core

curriculum. This idea was exposed clearly and emphatically through the class discussion. In fact, the classroom discussion on grading proved to be a pivotal point in this awareness for the students and us.

We also hoped that having students establish criteria

for grading would lead to the discussion of criteria for good writing. The clarification of criteria for good writing was very important so that the students would have goals to push their writing forward.

Later I came to view the sharing of the grading

system with the students as an empowering act. The 61 students, through discussion with the teachers and their classmates, determined the grading system. The evaluation of their work would be accomplished by a system they, not some power above them, designed. The students spent part of two class discussion periods testing us to see what angle the teachers had. It was only after testing the waters that they finally dived in and developed a sophisticated triangular grading system.

The students decided that each student would receive three grades. First, the group with which the students were working on their ethnographic project would give each member a grade. Each group member would write the other members grades on a sheet of paper and hand it to the teacher. If an individual group member’s grade was in question the group leader would make the final determin­ ation. Second, each student would give himself a grade.

Third, the teacher would give a grade to the whole group based on the work completed by the group. The same group grade would be shared by all the group's members.

The students also established a criterion for each gr^tde as follows:

A = All the work that had been assigned on the

student ethnography article was completed.

The student work showed quality. The

student showed initiative in doing class work.

B = The student produced above average work,

but the work was not "good enough" for an

A. All assignments had been completed.

C = The student had some but not all of the

work completed.

D = The student had very little work

completed.

F = The student had nothing completed that was

assigned on his/her article.

The first trial of the grading system occurred on

January 25,1985. As Sheila feared some of the groups graded members lower or more harshly than the teacher might. On the other hand some individual members tended to grade themselves higher. However most of the students did grade themselves fairly. Our subjective group grade did balance some of the lower student evaluation. When all three grades were averaged together, an adequate check and balance system emerged.

As teachers, Sheila and I continually had the urge to add a fourth grade--our individual evaluation of a student's work. The students had buffered the teacher evaluation through the group. As teachers we used a great deal of subjectivity in determining grades. We considered student ability and effort as well as the student's knack for working with others. Both we and the students were 63 comfortable with the grading system. No one complained.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Once we were deeply into the study, the language arts class usually didn't meet as a whole nor did all the students do the same activity at the same time. Normally the class was divided into two or three groups. The groups met in different rooms or locations in the school building and had a different teacher in charge. The composition or students in each group changed each day.

Sheila kept one group in the classroom where she had them do their sustained silent reading, thought ramblings, or take direct instruction or discussion on the particular skills they needed to proofread, revise, or write their class ethnography.

Sheila also allowed students to write or confer with a partner on their ethnographic article. Sometimes after my writing conference, I directed students to work in class on their writing with a partner. Sometimes the students on their own volition would ask Sheila to work on their article. After ascertaining the students' exact goal, Sheila usually allowed the students to write on the article in tno class.

A second group cf students usually conferred with me on their writing. At first I worked with the whole group of students that was writing a chapter such as the two girls who were doing the natural writing chapter or the seven students who were writing the spare-time activities chapter. However some groups were too large to efficiently meet and discuss their writing, so I divided some into smaller groups. In the course of a week I tried to meet with each student group at least once. At the end of the year, when the deadline was bearing down on us, this schedule was not possible. The groups that needed the most help got priority. The groups with which I conferenced met in the hall outside the classroom, in the library if we needed to do some research, or in the computer room where we might revise together on the computer.

Immediately the day after the writing conference with me, the student group was to meet again to write or revise based on our discussion. These student groups doing revision comprised the third group of classroom students.

When we used the computers, the students would be assigned to the computer room the day after the conference. There they would revise with the groups on the computers using

"Bank Street Writer" or "The Newsroom" word processing programs. This third group of students doing revision were under the charge of the LTF student, Loren. As many as ten students could be on the computers at one time.

Some students revised two to a computer, having a friend or group member help them revise. When the numbers in the 65

revision group increased, I changed my conferencing

location permanently to the computer room so that I could

help Loren at the same time I conferenced.

In all three groups there was always a lot of student

talking, interaction, negotiating, and movement. Students

felt free to voice their opinions on their own and others writing. We encouraged thoughtful, constructive opinions about the writing. We also cautioned the students to make positive comments about the student writing before stating the faults. We further suggested that pointing out the weaknesses in another's writing should be accompanied with helpful suggestions on how to remedy faults and improve the writing.

Student movement among the three groups was fluid.

We were always pulling a student from Sheila's classroom group or Loren's computer revision group to give an outside opinion on a piece of writing in my writing conference. We would sometimes ask a student to join a conference or group for a few days when the student had expertise that was needed. For example, two students that were known as good rappers, Ernest Stromer and Rob

Maccabee, were asked to join the natural writing group for a couple of days to give information and direction to the group's article on raps. Some students became experts on certain computer programs and then served as the teachers 66

to the other students in the computer room. This

procedure freed Loren to help students revise. Student

confidence in their own abilities and reliance on other

students' knowledge and expertise increased as the project

evolved. The teacher was no longer the sole source or

keeper of knowledge.

There were times, however, when it was necessary for

the whole class to meet together. Sometimes the whole

class needed directions for a class activity such as the

field trip to the Alternative High School, where the

students were to meet their penpals. Other times it was

expeditious to give instruction to the whole class on a

skill that all the students needed to do their writing,

such as how to do proofreading. The whole class might

read and discuss a group's chapter, such as the seventeen

page "Natural Writing" chapter. When we had a guest

speaker, such as Nancy Mack from Ohio State to talk about

the ethnographic project, or when the pen pal letters

arrived and had to be answered the entire class met in the

classroom. At certain times a group asked to administer a

survey or questionnaire to the whole class. Even an

individual student could ask for a class meeting if he wanted to discuss a concern about the study or give a demonstration on one of the chapter topics. One student,

Rob Maccabee, wanted the class to broaden its focus on the ethnography from just eighth graders to all middle schoolers or even teenagers in general. He feared there wasn't a large audience interested in eighth graders and the book wouldn't sell. (Here was an entrepreneur in the making.) Two other students arranged and gave a demonstration on rapping after questions arose in a verification session on certain rapping terms.

All in all the class management arrangements served the needs of the project and the instructional styles of the three teachers involved. Flexiblity and adjustment were the keys to the success of managing students in our project. CHAPTER II

THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter two is divided into three sections. The first section describes a typical period in the computer room late in the school year. The second section attempts to interpret some of the interaction and learning occurring in the classroom. An explanation of the phenomenon of a community of learners that emerged in our study is given. The final section looks at factors that may have caused the evolution of a community of learners.

Although several factors are mentioned, an emphasis is placed on the use of computers and word processing programs that helped to create a social interaction which fostered the composition process. The suggestion is made that the computers proved useful in creating a community of learners because the students and teachers started their work with computers and word processing programs from the same experience and knowledge base. Since both groups knew very little about computers, they shared their learning processes and helped each other gain the necessary expertise to produce the publication.

68 69

THE CLASSROOM

The whirl of fans in the neutrally painted concrete block classroom was interrupted by the clicking of the computer keys and the hum of groups of students talking to each other. The overhead fluorescent lighting provided the only illumination for the ten students and one teacher in the windowless room. As the school system's security scouts had pointed out, the physical features of this room made it a perfect site in which to house the school's eleven computers. Likewise, the room would have made a good shelter from tornadoes and nuclear fallout.

The Wedgewood students were always enthralled with this room. It was off limits to them unless they were accompanied by a teacher. (It had the danger and attraction of a swimming pool.) Very few teachers brought their classes into the room or used the room themselves.

So the room usually sat locked, with the lights off and a black metal grating over the slender oblong window in the door. The only keys to the computer room were kept in the main office or on a secret hook in the teachers' lounge.

Everything in the room was also locked. All the power except for the overhead lights could only be turned on by a special key switch. This power key was kept locked in a locked cabinet in the corner of the room. Most of the computer disks were also kept locked in a second metal cabinet. 70

All this security created a special aura or at the least a lot of curiosity about the room. When students or teachers would pass the room and notice the lights on or the door open, they would stop at the doorway and cautiously peer in to behold the secretive goings on.

They would stand meekly at the door scrutinizing the activity. And if no one reproached or interrogated them as to their purpose, the visitor would slowly edge toward a position behind one of the students on a computer.

Both the students and the teachers were conscious of the room's mystique and sometimes capitalized on it. Once a teacher and a student programmed a computer to play a musical tune repeatedly. They then left the room with the computer turned on and playing the tune. Of course, the computer music brought more attention and curious visitors than usual to the room.

On this particular May day, I was the only teacher with the ten students in the special computer room. It was a Thursday during spring quarter, the only day of the week Loren didn't come to Wedgewood because he attended a class on campus.

Today most of the students sat alone or in pairs in front of the computers. Robin, a tall, slender well- groomed girl worked with her friend Vicki editing on one of the computers the articles in their chapter on clothes. Robin was a mature poised blonde who had been elected a student council member all three years at Wedgewood.

Vicki, a head shorter than Robin, had a tomboy air about her and an impish twinkle in her eyes. A third member of the clothes group, Laura, sat in an armed chair carefully chosen so that she was close enough to consult with Robin and Vicki if needed, and yet separate so that she could compose on notebook paper privately. Five foot nine inch

Laura was drafting an introduction to the clothes chapter.

Laura was probably the best writer of the three girls, but she would alternate between productive student and obnoxious impudent adolescent. When she started to give smart remarks, Robin would politely with a feminine softness say, "That wasn't very nicel" Robin was never nasty or harsh in her scolding. Robin had the air of an archetypal earth mother framed in a cheerleader* body.

Laura looked up to Robin and would respond to her before anyone else, including the teacher. Robin went with a high school boy. Both that fact and being a newly chosen high school cheerleader gave her added status with the group. The three girls worked as a team even when they were separated. Robin had emerged as the natural leader, although the other two were strong in their own right.

All three girls were into dating, clothes, and boys.

On this day Robin and Vicki were smoothing, revising, and editing their writing for punctuation, a final stage 72 in their writing process. The two girls sat in front of a computer scrutinizing an article called "The Peer Dress

Code" on the computer screen. Both girls read orally with

Robin's voice coming across louder— perhaps an added benefit from cheerleading practice. Suddenly a debate emerged. Vicki thought a question mark in a quote should be moved outside the quotation marks. Robin disagreed.

After a few minutes of discussion, Robin called across the room, "Miss Dorsey, doesn't a question mark go inside the quotation marks?"

I looked up from my editing conference with

Rob, another student. "What did you say, Robin?" I asked.

She repeated the question. "Usually," I answered. "Read the sentence to me." Robin followed my directions.

"You're right in this case. If the question is part of the quote it always goes inside the quotation marks." I uttered the teacher's instructional message.

"See," Robin remarked smiling at Vicki. Robin was proud that she knew the correct punctuation.

"I always thought they (the punctuation) went outside

(the quotation marks)," Vicki admitted. She felt she could admit her lack of understanding the rule. Past successes with writing and a comfortable relationship with her group allowed her to admit her lack of knowledge.

I went back to my conference with Rob Maccabee and his verbal language dictionary. Although the words for 73

the dictionary had been collected by the whole class, Rob had chosen to compile them in dictionary form. Rob was probably the most intelligent and mature student in the class. Although he carried two hundred and fifty pounds on his adolescent frame, he also carried the respect of almost all the students in the class. In the class's summative evaluations, he was mentioned most often as the

leader in the class, the student who came up with good ideas about sections, and the student who contributed a lot to the book. Rob was pretty good on the computers too, probably one of the best in the class. Earlier in the day, he had taught Mr. Swaby, the eighth grade math teacher, how to use "The Newsroom" word processing and layout program we were using in language arts. Rob had also been persuaded by the girl's physical education teacher to computer print all the athletic awards for the honors assembly. When I worked with Rob, I forgot he was just a thirteen year old. He told me he did the family income tax. I believed him.

Jeff Patterson, sitting two computers down, was

Rob's partner in the verbal language group. Jeff originally helped Rob compile the words in the correct form. And Rob in turn had helped Jeff gather information and write the introduction to the book and a section entitled "The Wedgewood Middle Schooler." After doing the original drafting together, the two boys had divided up 74 the editing and the layout work on the computers. Each wanted to work on his own computer. But they still sat close to one another to consult.

Rob, under my questioning, was trying to determine what part of speech "later" was. Rob had labeled it a phrase on his drafts. He justified his labelling by saying the word was used alone. A word used alone was a phrase to Rob. I tried to explain to him that a person's name could be used alone and that was not a phrase. His definition for the word was "goodbye." I suggested he look the word "goodbye" up in the dictionary and check what part of speech it was. Rob did. The dictionary in the computer room said that "goodbye" was an interjection.

Rob agreed since the two words were used in the same way, they were probably the same part of speech.

Next, I asked if the audience for the book might need more context for the example sentence using "later." Rob and Jeff's example was simply the word used alone,

"Later." Rob again went into an explanation about the fact that the word was always used alone. His voice was beginning to carry the tone that said, "Can't you get this idea through your thick skull?" But his words were always polite. Rob had mastered the art of talking to adults and could reason with the best of us. I respected his judgment. In order to really drive his point across, Rob enlisted the support of Ken Gray, a small-framed black 75

student working on the computer next to him. "Ken," Rob

implored, "don't you use 'later' alone? Like all you say

is 'later.'"

Ken tried to support Rob. "Yeah,...later, homeboyl"

After Ken's comments, I went for the compromise. I

asked if he couldn't add more sentences around the word,

could he at least add Ken's "homeboy." Rob could settle

for this compromise. I then gave the teacher's general

instruction. I told them that their example sentences needed enough context so that the audience, people like me who didn't know how the words were used, could use the word correctly after reading their dictionary. I told Rob that I appreciated his desire to keep it as accurate as possible. I wanted him to continue his vigilance in this regard.

Jeff, Rob's partner in writing, was not part of this writing conference today because he was busy learning to use the odd computer in the room, the "Alligator", with

"The Newsroom" software program. The "Alligator" computer had a joy stick attached which the other computers didn't.

The joystick made it easier to design banners and artwork instead of continually hitting the up and down arrows keys. The vice principal had given me a few directions on this computer a period earlier. With these few directions in mind, Jeff and I had to use the direction booklet for

"Newsroom," reading and following the directions for an 76

Apple 2 plus. After two minutes of me showing him my limited knowledge, he was better than I on it. Jeff, using this odd computer, went on to design the banners not only for his articles but the articles for other groups also. Other groups would come to Jeff and ask him to design an appropriate banner. The group members would sit with Jeff brainstorming ideas as he showed them the clip art available in the computer program. When there was no appropriate clip art on the computer program, he would draw the art himself using the computer. He discovered how to do this by reading the direction booklet for the program. He would magnify tiny sections of the screen to ten times their actual size. He would darken graph-like boxes square by square and end up with a large piece of artwork. It was a procedure that required concentration, patience and thought. Jeff was capable of all three.

Ken, the small-framed black student who supported

Rob's "later” argument, had been strategically placed on a computer between Rob and Jeff because he was learning to use "The Newsroom" program for the first time. We only had two such programs, so these three students were sharing. After I got Ken started, Rob and Jeff answered most of Ken's questions on how to use the program. After all, they were the experts. They had been using it for almost a month. Ken wanted to use the program to design a banner for his "Jokes and Insults" chapter. Ken had 77 become a quick study for the computers, mastering the

"Bank Street Writer" program and serving as a teacher to others. Today he was going to play the role of student to

Rob and Jeff's teaching. Ken usually loved to show off his skills to the other students. When students were having trouble getting an editing task done on the computers, he would wail, "Let me do it." He would strut over to the troubled students1 computer and do the correction for them. I was continually asking him to tell the student how to make the correction, rather than doing the correction for them. Describing a procedure on the computer was difficult for Ken, it was easier just to do it. But Ken learned to describe, or at least slow his demonstration of the computer maneuver, so that the troubled students could follow and later repeat his procedure. He was so proud of his computer knowledge. He probably didn't know as much about the computers or the word processing programs as Rob or Jeff, who had computers at home. But Ken loved and seemed to need to show off his knowledge more than anyone else in the room. He was often popping around the computer room reading students' text on the monitor over their shoulders. I'm not sure whether he was looking to find errors so that he could tell students how to use the editing mode on the computer or if he just liked to give editorial comments. He was so good natured that no one minded his comments, and they usually enjoyed 78

talking to him.

"The Newsroom" program was also being used on a

fourth computer around the corner from Rob, Ken, and Jeff.

Dora Wagner, another expert on the program, was teaching

Nancy Ferguson how to use it. Nancy wanted to design banners for the articles in her seventeen page chapter on the natural writing of middle schoolers. Dora and Nancy were not in the same writing groups. The writing groups were flexible and members often sought help from other groups or students when they needed to master a new skill to finish their chapter. Both Dora's and Nancy's partners from their respective groups were busy on their own writing. Dora's partner was in the library checking the spelling of titles and authors for the basic reading list chapter. Nancy's partner was on another computer revising her writing,

Dora was an iron-fisted group leader. Her mouth ruled over her two member group. Pam, her partner in the group, was voted by the eighth grade class the best student. I would never have guessed this from watching her in class. My label would have been "most intimidated student." Dora was constantly railing at her, "See, Pam, you should be doing that," or "Aren't you going to do something on your own, Pam?" Dora's mother and sister were elementary teachers. Dora had mastered all their student intimidation techniques. Dora had the commanding 79

attitude and voice that even intimidated the secretaries.

Once Dora had taken a copy of her survey on the basic reading habits of middle school students to the office to have copies made. Rather than just reproducing her hand­ written copy, Dora had the clerk type it first and then run it. when we asked Dora how she got the clerk to type it, she replied, "I just told her I needed it typed." The rest of the teachers in the building were astounded with her results. They said they were going to have Dora take all their handwritten copies to the office for them.

While I was finishing my conference with Rob, Laura asked if I would read her introduction to the clothes chapter. As she was asking, out of the corner of my eye I could see her two other group members watching our interchange. After agreeing to read it, I invited Robin and Vicki, the two other members of Laura's group, to join us. To conference on her handwritten introduction, I moved to the chairs in the center of the room away from the computers. I placed the two paragraph introduction so that all of us could read it together. I could tell from reading the introduction that the group had changed the order of the articles. 1 wasn't sure I understood the reasoning behind the new order. I had liked the previous order where the article on the unwritten peer dress code followed and contrasted with the article on the school's published dress code. Robin gave the explanation for the 80

new order. As the leader of the group she took it upon

herself to defend the group's decision. She said the peer

dress code "went with" the article on students' attitudes

toward clothing among grade levels. Even if I disagreed

with her, I had to respect the group's wishes. I gave

Robin and her group credit for reasoning well. They had

used logic and discussion to reach their group decision.

The chapter was published in the order they determined.

Five minutes before the end of the period, I reminded everyone to begin to save their information on the computer. The students knew the procedure--save the

information once on their master disk and a second time on the back-up disk. The color of their information disks was marked on their writing folders. All writing folders had to be placed in the cardboard box on the front desk.

All floppy disks were placed in a smaller disk box.

Nancy Ferguson always helped me check all the computers to make certain everyone had saved their material and that all disks had been removed. Nancy did the computer check as I began to disconnect the second disk drive from the computers that normally have only one disk drive.

Just before the bell indicating the end of the period rang, two students, Rob and Ken, asked if they could stay eighth period because they had a substitute in science and were suppose to view a videotape they had already seen. I 81 always hesitated to take students out of other classes. I also knew these students wanted to work on their projects on the computer. I let them stay that day since their science teacher was absent.

INTERPRETATION OF CLASSROOM STORY

The preceding description of a typical period in the computer room will serve as a reference point from which to interpret and analyze the social interaction and learning of the class we studied. This section of the chapter will discuss how the students were motivated and learned as a result of a feeling of "community" created in the classroom. I will attempt to sketch a picture of what this "community" of learners was like using instances from the classroom. Experts from the field of English education will be referred to when their commentary provides illumination for a classroom incident.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP MOTIVATION IN THE COMMUNITY

In analyzing the classroom atmosphere and interaction, the term that came to mind was a "community" of learners, a term used by James Britton to describe a productive interaction among students as a result of their joint participation in an activity. In Britton's words:

learning by taking part in social situations results in the community being the source of learning. Have we allowed ourselves to slip into thinking of learning as unidirectional- some thing that must come from the teacher? <4

82

And does not learning rather occur as as an effect of community? (p.75)

Other educators have spoken of this effect of students' joint participation in activities. John Dewey said,

It is truly educational in its effect in the degree to which an individual shares or parti­ cipates in some conjoint activity. By doing his share in the associated activity, the individual appropriates the purpose which actuates it, becomes familiar with its methods and subject matters, acquires needed skill, and is saturated with its emotional spirit, (p.26)

Jerome Bruner more recently has said,

A community is a powerful force for effective learning. Students, when encouraged, are tremendously helpful to each other. They are like a cell, a revolutionary cell. It is the cell in which mutual learning and instruction can occur, a unit within a classroom with its own sense of compassion and responsibility for its members, (p.20) Britton defines this community as one in which students interact with us, the teachers, and each other to carry out legitimate personal and social tasks. All the students in the computer room were doing tasks they needed to do to reach a goal. The goal was the completion of the class ethnography, both its compilation and publication. There were no longer external requirements alone driving them to produce for a good grade or a teacher's approval. Although the original assignment of doing a class ethnography was given by the teachers, ownership had been transferred to the students as explained in chapter one. This transfer of ownership had 83 been accomplished by a conscious effort on our part to make the students the real decision-makers in the ultimate direction and day-to-day development of the ethnographic book.

In order to understand how our computer classroom fits the description of a community of learners, let's examine the social and personal goals of the students in the room to see how they were affected by the community.

Rob wanted to finish the verbal language dictionary. He had pride in the fact that he created something good. He had a sensitive ear and good memory to hear and record the acceptable student use of a word or phrase. At this point in the year, he was considered the authority on verbal language by his classmates and the teachers. He and Jeff had spent a long time determining the correct part of speech and composing sample sentences for each entry in their student dictionary. Two weeks from this day in the computer room, Rob would spend four hours after school helping us design artwork for the book. He felt a great deal of ownership for the book.

On this particular day Jeff was challenged by working a new computer. He knew he was good with computers. He had one at home. Although he loved to read and avidly read almost a book a week, he had told Sheila that the regular work in class was "boring." But he loved to come 84

to the computer room to do his own work or help others.

Robin and Vicki both had pride in their articles in

the clothes chapter. Vicki had written a wonderful article on jeans. The article had been born out of a lot of discussions with her group and with me. Robin had a great deal of pride in her writing ability and especially her article on the peer dress code. Like Vicki's writing her pri2ed article was born from a group discussion. One day after the discussion, she had excitedly called me to her computer and told me that she had written "something really good." She knew she had good ideas in the article and she had organized them in a very professional manner.

She truly prized that article.

Ken was motivated to master a new computer program.

He had proven himself an expert on the "Bank Street

Writer" and now he was learning a program that only a handful of students had mastered. He had a lot of confidence that he was going to become good at this one too.

Each student had his or her own interests and personal goals. We, as teachers, had to know "what buttons to push" to motivate students to learn. Learning had become the natural thing to do. Most students felt like they were getting out of boring classwork when they were working in the computer room on their articles. When they met with their groups or conferenced, they never 85 realized they were learning through languaging. They were learning the way learning takes place in the real world through a lot of trial and error. Although we tried to be orderly, we didn't always have a step-by-step procedure for each student to follow. But neither does the real world.

THE COMMUNITY AS A SOURCE OF LEARNING

One of the most significant aspects of a community of learners is the fact that the community becomes the source of learning. In our computer classroom example this can be interpreted on two levels. On the first level of understanding the community serves as a source of learning by supplying bits of information necessary for the writing of the ethnographic articles. The community supplied several different types of information. One type of information was on form such as when Robin told Vicki where to put the punctuation in relation to the quotation marks in a quote. Laura continually checked with her group members to make certain her introduction to the chapter was consistent with their thoughts. Ken was continually giving instructions to everyone on the number of spaces to indent at the beginning of a paragraph.

Most all students relied on other students for content information necessary for their articles. For several weeks, hardly a day passed that the students 86

didn't have to fill out a questionnaire or survey for

their classmates. On a less formal basis, students were

continually invited to join a group to give information or

verify information collected by the group. Rob called on

Ken to verify the use of "later" in the verbal language

dictionary. The girls in the clothes group consulted with

Jeff about men's attitude toward wearing jeans.

Other students relied on the community for directions

in working the computers. Jeff and Rob were teaching Ken a new program, while Dora was instructing Nancy on a new program.

On a second or deeper level of interpretation, the classroom community became the source of learning because it provided a situation where the students got to do real languaging. They had to converse, use language effectively, with one another to accomplish their individual and collective goals. By taking part in the classroom goal of compiling, writing, and publishing a class ethnography, the students were getting an opportunity to use and learn language in a very natural way. As James Britton has said:

In taking part in rule-governed behavior, individuals may internalize implicit rules by modes that are indistinguishable from the modes in which those rules were socially gen­ erated in the first place— and the modes by which they continue, by social consensus, to be adjusted or amended. In taking part in rule-governed behavior— and that might be a wine-and-cheese party, a debate, a game of 87

volleyball— the novice, the individual learn­ er, picks up the rules by responding to the behavior of others, a process precisely parallel to the mode by which the rules first came into existence, (p.74)

The best demonstration of Britton's words occur in the

punctuation argument between Robin and Vicki. Vicki had

been taught the use of quotation marks in class by Sheila

using dittoes and textbook exercises, but it hadn't

really been "internalized" as a practicing rule until she participated in the group writing and revision.

Lev Vygotsky, in Mind in Society, says that the unique form of consciousness that is human results from

internalizing shared social behavior so that it becomes mental behavior. In Vygotsky's words:

An interpersonal process is transferred into an intrapersonal one. Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level....All the higher functions originate as actual rela­ tions between human individuals, (p.57)

The work on the ethnographic project in the computer room provided a myriad of opportunities for interpersonal processes. If Vygotsky's theories are to be accepted, then these processes should improve the higher level thinking and ultimately the language development of the students.

Lev Vygotsky had observed what occurred when students or adults help other students learn something that might otherwise be out of their realm of mastery. Vygotsky 88

Throughout most of the compilation of data and

writing of the article, Dora and Pam were always two steps

ahead of most of the other groups. They had good ideas

and the initiative and energy to carry them out. Both

girls were good writers. Dora wrote poetry in her spare­

time and read voraciously. Pam, remember, had been chosen

by her classmates as the best student in the eighth grade.

She had a quiet, studious air about her.

The two girls had written a whole chapter on the

basic reading list of middle schoolers, revised it on the

computer using "The Bank Street Writer," and printed it on

the dot matrix printer so that it looked very profession­ al. Their data collection was accurate and even exemplary

in some cases; however their summary write-ups were confusing and redundant. They had taken the information they were capable of talking about in a very organized manner and arranged it in a confusing written form, I tried to point out some of the confusing and repetitious information. I also pointed out some big gaps in conclusions they had made from their data. Dora wouldn't agree. She said I was only confused because I was the teacher. Dora selected several students to pull into the group to get support. This was a common practice I used during writing conferences. Students outside the group were asked to read a group's articles and then offer comments. Today, however, Dora didn't give the newly 89

described a "zone of proximal development" which he

defined as:

the distance between the actual develop­ mental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collabor­ ation with more capable peers. (1978,p.86)

More dramatic examples of the students* learning from others in the classroom community can be drawn from incidents throughout the school year. A writing conference with the basic reading group makes one of the better examples. On two days in April, I met in the computer room with the group made up of two students, Dora

Wagner and Pam Jones. As always the conference took place in the center of the computer room where we could circle several chairs. While we conferenced in the center area, students in pairs and alone worked on the computers lining the room's perimeter.

As stated in the description of the classroom, Dora was the group's leader who ruled with an iron fist.

During this conference, as usual, Dora did all the talking and Pam didn't have a chance to open her mouth. When I directed questions to Pam in an effort to bring her into the conversation, her eyes would look toward Dora and she would shrug her shoulders. She never uttered more than one or two words, "I don't know." 90 enlisted students a chance to read the whole chapter. She began by asking them questions on data she collected. Two students verified her conclusion from the collected data, one didn't.

When I feared Dora and the whole group were falling into an argumentative stage, I suggested the whole group should read copies of Dora and Pam's entire chapter as a good starting point before giving any comments. Dora became angry and flatly stated that she wasn't going to change anything. As the period was coming to a close with this stalemate, I then asked if Dora and Pam were willing to work with Jeff, one of the students enlisted to read the material. Dora agreed to this plan since they would work together on the computer and Jeff would be teaching her a new computer program- "The Newsroom,” which she would use to layout her group's articles. As stated before, Jeff was one of the class's computer experts, besides being an "awesome" male. He also happened to be an avid reader and a very good writer.

The next day Jeff, Dora, and Pam sat at a computer with Dora and Pam's writing in front of them. Jeff gave the girls the initial instructions to get into the program and had Dora begin by designing a banner for her chapter.

As Dora and Pam worked on the banner, Jeff started to read their writing. Suddenly, I heard myself being paged 91 across the room. MMiss Dorsey, this doesn't make any sense. It's a mess. It says the same thing over and over. I'm not going to put this on the computer." Jeff was upset by what he was reading. He knew good writing.

He knew writing had to make sense. Dora and Pam's article didn't .

I walked across the room from another writing conference, feeling that maybe my gamble had paid off.

Placing Dora and Pam with Jeff wasn't just a whim. I had hoped that Jeff would read their writing carefully. It was much better without me involved at all.

"Dora and Pam," I said when I got to their computer,

"do you think you can work with Jeff to do some revision and reorganizing of your articles?"

"Yes, Miss Dorsey, we'll change them." Dora said with resignation but full understanding of the problems in her writing.

Jeff had done in five or ten minutes what I hadn't been able to accomplish in two days. He made Dora realize that she had to rewrite to make her good ideas clear to her readers.

The best explanation for this occurrence is given by

James Moffett (1979, p.34) when he talks about "undoing egocentricity by comparing." He says,

a major dimension of growth is toward decreas­ ing egocentricity, which we define as assuming too much about the similarity and differences 92

between one's own mind and that of other people...Years of analyzing language learning have convinced us that egocentricity is the biggest single cause of problems in comprehension and composition. For speaking, reading, and writing, egocentricity manifests itself in very practical ways that conventional teaching has noted in its own way but has not done much about because it has not afforded the student enough means of comparing his under­ standing of text, or his way of saying some­ thing, or his way of seeing something, with that of another.(p.34)

Moffett goes on to say that writers such as Dora and

Pam who fail to "tie things together” or "to give information in the needed order" really believe they are doing these things. Moffett believes that "interaction with peers will provide the most useful comparisons for breaking egocentricity." If students match their expressions with teachers or adults, they often feel hurt or wronged as Dora did. The student attributes the difference in interpretation to the age gap. The students become the judges of other student's work. The teacher can step out of this role of judge and become an "expert consultant."

It takes a bit of doing to get out of the role of judge. This new role of the teacher will be discussed in chapter three.

EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS

One of the questions I asked myself when I acknowledged that the classroom had become a community of learners was "How did it happen?" Assuming, as I did, 93

that a community of learners is a desirable situation, if

I wanted to help other teachers create such an atmosphere,

I had to determine what factors had brought our community

into being.

In reviewing the year several factors seem pertinent.

The teaching styles employed by Sheila and me were ones that encouraged students to depend on each other. Neither

Sheila nor I felt like the sole dispensers of knowledge.

We certainly tried to set up various students as experts in the class. As stated in earlier chapters we tried to send students who needed help to classmates that were good at various language arts tasks. We tried to create experts for special tasks. Jeff and Rob were good at "The

Newsroom" program. Nancy and Ken were expert at "The Bank

Street Writer" program. Robin was good at transcribing tapes. We were constantly having several students serve as guests in a group's writing conference to give comments on the content, organization, and form of the group's writing.

The assignment of doing an ethnography of themselves was one that naturally placed the students as experts and teachers as consultants. The assignment demanded a lot of social interaction and consultation. It demanded careful observation, listening, and respect for one's peers. 94

The division of the class into small groups responsible for certain topics had to help the community feeling. As James Moffett (1976, p.35) has said, "The means that most facilitates interaction is small-group process...make students address their words and deeds to each other." The groups served as families providing support for their members. Students showed their ultimate trust in their group when they established the grading procedure. The grading procedure developed by the class filtered all evaluation, except for the self evaluation, through the group. (See chapter one "Evaluation".)

The factor I would like to give the most attention in the creation of a community of learners is the use of computers in our project. I believe they had a great impact on the social interaction in our classroom. The computers were aids to the writing process itself by easing revision and printing out a professional looking copy that students made feel like real writers. However, the computers biggest impact in creating a community of learners in our study lay in their newess to both the teachers and the students. Both students and teachers shared the role of learners, acquiring information and skill at composing, revising, and laying out writing.

The students even became proficient at designing computer graphics for their publication. 95

This sharing of the learning process was a break­

through for social interaction and learning in the class.

The teachers were honestly engaged in learning, not just

modeling a process they had long ago mastered as they do

with most of the other language arts processes they teach.

We teachers really had empathy for what the students were

experiencing because we were experiencing the same

frustrations and triumphs.

The students often learned the commands of the word

processing programs much faster than the teachers. So the

students assumed the role of teachers and taught the

teachers as well as other students. The change in roles

created a real community of learners atmosphere with

everyone sharing their learning and not making fun of

teachers or students who had difficulty learning new

procedures or concepts. This "newess" aspect of computers

has been overlooked by teachers of writing and language

arts and it may soon disappear as both students and

teachers enter the classroom of tomorrow with basic

computer knowledge as part of their pre-school or teacher

preparation respectively.

There are many subtle obstacles to just getting

computers into the language arts classroom. Usually

school systems and educators put emphasis on the use of computers in the mathematics and science area of the curriculum. Wedgewood Middle School was no different. 96

The only classroom teacher to use the computer room in conjunction with his curriculum on a semi-regular basis was the eighth grade math teacher. The math teacher had received inservice from his supervisor to incorporate computers in his teaching. {The two other teachers who used the computer room at all were a special education teacher and a learning disabilities teacher. Both of these teachers employed the same type of direct instruction for the computers that they used in the classroom. Everyone did the same assignment at the same time. It was as if the students were doing dittoes but on the computer.)

The second line of obstacles to computers in the language arts classroom comes in the way of the English teachers' bias or fear that a mechanical device may replace the printed words in books or the actual process of composing. Many, including our system's past supervisor of language arts, felt that computers in the classroom are a passing fancy, like televisions in the classroom were. The appropriateness of the computers in the language arts classroom was also questioned as a result of the early software being mainly drill and practice— the same instructional materials that could be found in workbooks and on dittoes, the things English educators were trying to eliminate. The word processing 97 programs such as "Bank Street Writer" were viewed as much more in tune with the process of writing and English education philosophy. However, these word processing programs were classified in the clerical realm as sort of fancy typewriters, great for secretaries but hardly the requirement for the average middle school student. (This view persisted inspite of professional writers singing their praises.) Some language arts teachers in our system took courses on the word processing programs and became intrigued with their possible classroom application. But with only ten computers per school, they feared they would never be able to work with a whole class in the computer room.

What these people who have never used computers with students in the classroom fail to realize is that computers, like television, have a tremendous impact on society in general and youngsters in particular. Rather than wasting their efforts railing against their negative aspects, it seems more productive to utilize the computer aspects that foster the language arts goals.

Sheila and 1 have come to believe that computers should be used for writing as much as possible in the language arts class. The use of computers and word processing programs in our classroom created a social situation that fostered the composition process. Because

I don't want to belitttle the many other advantages of 98

computer use, I will briefly mention some of these other advantages we noted before giving a broader description of the social implications of our computer use.

First, there is the initial excitement and motivation

that working on computers provided. We, as teachers, were hard pressed to think of another way that we could have maintained student motivation and interest without the use of these technological devices. The best English educators could not have invented a machine that created more interest. The computers had a tremendous impact that was sustained throughout most of the second semester.

Another desirable aspect of the machines resided in their requirement for the total attention of the student, a little like a musical score requires the total attention of the musician. Besides the actual appeal of the device and the attention demands, the special aura of the room in which they were housed made our students feel important or special. The advances the computer has made in the technology of writing-the speed, the ease of revision, the neatness of a printed page- all make it easier for our students to be a part of the process of writing. Our students felt more like writers when they could see their writing printed out on a nice sheet of computer paper rather than their three ring notebook paper. They also got into the swing of revision because it was easier and 99

neater to do. They would crumple and throw away a whole

sheet of notebook paper rather than have a crossed out

word or an arrow to an added sentence.

Despite all the above mentioned advantages to

computer use, from our observation the biggest plus to the use of computers in the process of writing is the change

in the pattern of social interaction which they foster.

The computer fostered an interactive learning process among students and teachers as explained above and also among students themselves. The changed social pattern among was partly due to the method of instructing students about computers. While Loren gave some personal instruc­ tion to individual students early in the study, the main method of teaching students how to use word processing programs was student to student. A student new to the computers or a certain type of word processing program was paired with a more experienced student.

This procedure resulted in students trusting other students for help on the computers. It also interesting­ ly lead to students sharing and consulting with one an­ other on their writing as well as computer knowledge.In the description of the students in the computer room, one can constantly see a student leaning over to ask another student, "Which of these sounds better?" or "Read this." Some students worked in pairs or in groups on a computer. Robin and Vicki revised together. Robin and 100

Vicki also chose to do initial composing on the computer

together when there were many computers empty in the room.

Other students in helping their classmates with the technical directions needed to run the computer programs would read the student's writing on the screen and comment on it. The best example of this occurrence was when Jeff was reading Dora's and Pam's writing while teaching Dora how to use "The Newsroom" program on the computer. Jeff's comments ultimately altered the organization and the content of their articles. I also observed Ken reading other students* writing while advising them on how to do an editing manuever on the computer. He would then ask the students several questions about the article unconsciously letting them know that they hadn't made an idea clear.

Still other students waiting to get on the computers,

"milling around," read each other's writing and interacted over it. One such interaction greatly changed the content of a student's article in the spare-time group. Mike

Lampinen shared his writing while he and some five other students were waiting to go to the computer room. Mike had administered a very neatly typed survey asking six major questions on students* spare-time activities. Each major question had from two to four sub-questions. His group had helped him come up with the questions. In his 101

summary write-up (See figure #11.) composed from the

survey, Mike neatly organized two topics of discussion,

one in each of paragraph. When Mike orally

told me the overwhelming statistics about the number of

students going to shopping malls, I suggested he might

like to ask the students sitting around him some questions

about what they did at the shopping malls. Mike began

asking a few questions and then the other students started

answering and asking questions. Mike also discussed

sports with the students.When Mike finally got to

the computer, he added five sentences to his write up on middle schoolers at shopping malls. (See figure #12.) He also adds figures from his survey results. The idea that girls don't watch sports as much as boys came from the discussion.

what the computer did was to create a more comfortable or relaxed atmosphere for reading and commenting on other students' work. This "comfort zone" is critical in the teaching of writing. As Dan Kirby and

Tom Liner say in their book Inside Out, "Far more import at to the successful teaching of writing than the way the room looks is the psychological climate--the way it feels." (p.20)

Our discovery was reinforced by the findings of a team of researchers observing elementary students use the

QUILL computer program in Hartford, Connecticut. These 102

researchers, like Sheila, Loren, and I, noted that "The

most important impact of microcomputers on writing may be

changes in the larger classroom writing 'system' rather

than changes in the technology of writing..."

One hypothesis I have about the computer causing a

new social interaction concerns the creation of a feeling

of experimentation. Maybe the fact that we, the teachers

and the students, were experimenting with the use of

computers made experimenting with writing a little easier.

We all, the teachers included, had to ask questions about

computers. Maybe that made it easier for the students to

ask questions about their writing also. Sheila and I were

the first to openly tell students we didn't know all about

computers. We told them we were learning along with them.

Many of the students at the onset of our computer use were

much more knowledgeable about computers than we. But we weren't afraid to show our ignorance to the class. We

felt secure in asking one of our students to show us how

to do an editing or printing command. Maybe our real

reliance on student experts caused the other students to

trust and rely on their classmates. We didn't want any

cheap shots or criticism about our ineptness with the

computers. In return we didn't give any harsh criticism of students' writing. We expected all the students to

follow our example and these simple rules of courtesy in 103 the writing classroom permeated the students' interaction.

The peer instruction of students on the computers also necessitated a more relaxed and flexible relation among the students and between the students and ourselves.

Students felt comfortable leaving their computers and walking across the room to ask a question. Sometimes they would call a question across the room, such as Robin consulting with me across the room about her punctuation question with Vicki. None of these exchanges interrupted the rest of the students working in the room. These exchanges were always necessary and pertinent to the work.

As teachers we felt such interaction was necessary because we couldn't answer all the questions. Not only did we not know all the answers about computers, but as a classroom management system, it would have been impossible.

As with many other aspects of our study, we did not plan to use computers in our writing project. As explained in chapter one, Loren, the LTF student, introduced them because several students were having difficulty revising on the typewriter. But looking back on the year, we rate the use of computers and word processing programs in our ethnographic project as the most exciting discovery. They created the type of interaction we want and need in our language arts class to foster language growth. Because learning to use computers was a new experience for both the students and teachers, a 104 phenomenon which may not last long, the students were able to increase the feeling of community by expanding their role to become teachers to both their fellow students and the teachers. CHAPTER III

THE TEACHER AS LEARNER

INTRODUCTION

As teachers, we are constantly engaged in informal research: observing, keeping diaries, hypothesizing, using whatever means we can to gather information that may help us make sense of what is going on in our classrooms (p.347).

This very accurate observation of what all reflective teachers do was made by Dixie Goswami in the introduction to her article "Teachers as Researchers." Sheila

Cantlebary is one of those reflective teachers about whom

Goswami wrote. Sheila, throughout her teaching career, has engaged in informal research or as some teachers say

"kept tabs" or "mental records" of the successful instruc­ tional procedures, techniques, and materials that provided productive learning for her students. But during the past year in which she became a formal classroom researcher,

Sheila, the students involved in the study, Loren and I acquired significant learnings that resulted in changes in instructional practices. These changes in Sheila's instructional practices were instituted because she felt they helped create a learning environment that fostered language development in the classroom.

105 106

This chapter will focus on the significant learnings and resultant changes in instruction during the year of research in Sheila's classroom. After the introduction the chapter will be divided into two sections that create a picture of the growth and learning of the teacher researchers as a result of the study. In the second section a deep description of a typical classroom lesson orchestrated by Sheila will be examined. The third section will describe the learnings of Sheila and the interpretations of the learnings into classroom procedure.

The particular lesson described in the second section was selected by Sheila. When the two of us were reviewing the year's field notes to select an exemplary lesson to demonstrate the teacher-as-learner process, Sheila pin­ pointed this lesson on writing typical dialogues. She remembered the lesson because several teacher actions and student responses triggered new awarenesses about the language learning process. When we both examined the notes on the lesson carefully, we found it was a good vehicle for showing the many teacher insights that occurred throughout the study. Sheila repeated the lesson in the fall of 1985 to test out some of her newly found instructional ideas. I observed her during the lesson and interviewed her after the lesson. Some of her more recent insights are interwoven into the second section. 107

The description of the dialogue writing lesson shows

Sheila's sensitivity to the adolescent student needs; her positive interaction with the students; her comfortable, productive classroom atmosphere; and her daily lesson design which helped her students produce the writing for their ethnographic publication, Fresh Talk.

In the third section of the chapter a description of the learning acquired by the teachers researchers as a result of the study are explored. Although the focus will mainly be on Sheila's learnings, it is important to note that all the participants- the students, Loren, and I- collaborated together to accomplish these learnings. Only through the sharing of ideas during both formal and informal discussions, numerous observations by all participants, and interpretations from student and teacher viewpoints could the learnings have occurred. As discussed in chapter two, learning theorists such as

Vygotsky, Britton, and Dewey believe that learning is the result of the process of community interaction--the sharing of ideas. This community interaction is no less vital for the learning of teachers than for the learning of students. The effect of a community to support and foster the learning of the classroom teacher will be discussed.

When Sheila, the classroom teacher, became a formal researcher of student language development, she also 108

became a formal learner. What she learned about her

students and about herself as well as how she interpreted

this new knowledge into classroom practice will be

discussed. Incidents from the classroom lesson on

dialogues will be used to show Sheila's observations on

her learning.

THE CLASSROOM STORY

In the four minutes between fourth and fifth periods,

the second floor hall of the school was jammed with sixth grade students piling their books and notebooks into their

lockers and getting their sack lunches. Slamming lockers were barely heard in the cacophony of exuberant adolescent voices. The crunch of middle school bodies and open lockers also produced a shoulder-to-shoulder, inch-by-inch movement at some points.

Twenty-three eighth graders threading their way through this chaos headed to Sheila's reading/language arts class. Sheila's fifth period language arts class met in one of the sixth grade rooms that was vacant due to the sixth grade lunch period. This arrangement meant that eighth grade language arts students had to sit at sixth graders' desks in a room with the alphabet neatly arranged above the front chalk board.

The eighth graders always claimed that this sixth grade room "smelled" when they entered it. (From my observation, the room usually did smell.) After dropping 109

their books at their assigned seats, students would rush

to the windows along the far side of the room, open them

if they were not already, and look out at the playground and open field below. Supposedly they were inhaling the only fresh air in the room. Today Todd and Tracy played out this ritual.

Almost all of the sixth grade teachers stood in the hall trying to direct the traffic flow and expedite student interchanges and movement. They were soon joined in this effort by the seventh and eighth grade teachers arriving from other locations in the building. Sheila and

I were among these arriving teachers. Sheila carried a bundle of student papers and dittos in the lid of a cardboard box. This cardboard lid served as her extended briefcase, an arrangement that netted her considerable teasing from her colleagues.

After making her way to the classroom and depositing her bundle on a student's desk at the front of the room,

Sheila joined the other teachers in the hall. Sheila took her obligations to help in the halls seriously. Like most of the other teachers at the school, she shared responsibility for student behavior at all times in the school. Sheila utilized her hall interactions as one way of knowing the total student. In our discussion of students, she would often compare the students individual hall interactions with their classroom behavior. She was no

always observing and mentally recording. She sometimes

used these hall observations in helping students get ideas

to write about. For example, she told Sandy, "Why don't

you write about a telephone conversation with Celia?"

Sandy was amazed that Sheila knew her best friend. Words

or suggestions like this showed students that Sheila was

concerned and interested in the whole student.

Carrying a smaller bundle of papers, I placed myself

in the back corner of the room to watch. I wanted to

observe the students' interaction as they entered the

room. Loren filed in soon wearing his familiar backpack,

an item that was forbidden in the halls or rooms of the

middle school. After placing his backpack on a table in

the corner, he began to ask the students questions. A

small group of students began to form around him as the

students enjoyed talking and teasing him.

Slowly the eighth graders filtered in from all over

the building wearing or carrying tale-tell traces of their unified arts class the period before. Some came sweaty and wet from physical education. Some wore flecks of paint on their clothes or on their hands from art. A few carried instruments from instrumental music. Others toted pieces of wood that they were working on in their industrial arts class. It was Sheila's job to pull all these students together in productive languaging activities for a period. As she often said, "get them Ill

shift gears" from the unified arts to the languaging

arts.

When the class was settled, Sheila began by giving an

overview of how the students would spend the hour-and-a-

half of their fifth and seventh period reading/language

arts class. Today's lesson was part of a three-day lesson

plan that would ultimately stretch to five days. (See

Figure 13.) Sheila had structured the lesson to help a

group of students produce the typical conversations of

adolescent eighth graders. These typical conversations

were needed in one chapter of the ethnographic book. Fresh

Talk. The three students who were in charge of doing

these typical dialogues-Kevin, Larry, and Ken- had

indicated they needed help. Sheila had designed the three

day lesson block so that the whole class would produce

dialogues. Then the three students in charge of the

chapter would serve as a publishing panel to select the

best dialogues to be published in the book. The panel

would make revision and editing suggestions to the student

authors whose work was selected. It is interesting to

note that since the three student panel members were

experts on student conversations, they did choose some of

their own writing to be published. Several other

students' dialogues were also selected by the panel.

In her opening statements, Sheila referred to dialogues the students had drafted the day before, the 112

first day of the three day lesson. The students, working

in pairs, had selected from a dittoed list of typical

adolescent situations and opening lines (Figure 14) to

create their own dialogues. Sheila had gotten the idea

for dialogue writing from James Moffett's A Student

Centered Language Arts Curriculum, Grades K-13, published

in 1968. She had used it successfully with her middle

school students for many years.

Sheila used a sample dialogue, taken from the Moffett

book to serve as a model for the students (p.304). The

sample dialogue written by a ninth grade girl was an

exchange between a mother and daughter about the

daughter's staying out past her curfew with her boyfriend.

Sheila then worked with the class to create a second

sample dialogue on the chalkboard. Two student volunteers

then performed the student-generated dialogue. The

students responded enthusiastically to the activity.

Sheila had given specific guidelines for the dialogues. She said the dialogues should tell a story but

only in the lines or words of the actors. The playing

time of the dialogue would be the same as the time the actions would take in real life. Sheila had internalized

these guidelines from Moffett and had classroom tested

them over many years for their validity.

Sheila used many of James Moffett's ideas to create productive interaction in her classroom. She had taken 113

several courses in the early *70's on the use of Moffett’s ideas. Sheila also used some of Moffett's Interaction materials, which had been purchased by the school system many years before. She, like other experienced teachers, kept and reused successful lessons or materials, adapting them to the students or using new instructional techniques with them.

Although a variety of situations and opening lines were provided for the students, the students were also encouraged to use their own. The list of situations and opening lines were borrowed from a Scope magazine.

Today, day two of the three-day lesson plan, Sheila announced in her clear voice that they would review the use of punctuation and capitalization by applying it together as a class to an unpunctuated and uncapitalized story entitled "Milk Bottles." {See Figure 15.) This procedure was meant to give the students practice in proofreading. Then in pairs or trios the students would apply the same techniques to their own writing, the dialogues they had written the day before. Each student would proofread their dialogue with a partner and then make a second corrected copy so that the partner and the author could present the dialogue to the rest of the class, reading and acting the two parts out. Sheila had planned that most of the student presentations of their dialogues would be done on day three, the next day. 114

The students understood and accepted Sheila's

directions. In the few months Sheila had been their

teacher they learned to trust her to assign reasonable

tasks in tune with their interests and abilities. The

students knew the purpose in writing the dialogues was not

only to perform them, sharing them with their peers, but

also to find some good examples to use in their

ethnographic book. Both purposes were real to the

students. This was not just work produced for the

teacher.

In giving the description of the day's work, Sheila

bridged the work of the preceding day with the present

day's assignment. She also prepared the students for the

next day's work— the oral presentation of their

dialogues. Although middle school teachers often claim

that they take one day at a time, Sheila thought about a

broad picture of student activities— each one building on

the preceding lesson. She tried to convey this hierarchy

to the students little by little, so as not to overwhelm

them with all the work they were doing. Sheila also felt

that accomplishing individual activities gives students a

sense of completion along the long path.

Sheila was creative in designing ways to publish student work that were enjoyable but not threatening to the whole class. In this case the oral presentation of the dialogues with a friend helping to share center stage 115

for a few minutes was an appropriate form for publishing

this type of writing. The situations provided interesting

discussions for students. No student was forced to orally

present their writing. If a student was too shy, Sheila

would ask if anyone else wanted to read the dialogue

orally. There were always several takers, hams in the

class. Sheila didn't feel that pushing a shy student to

present orally was beneficial. She would conference,

coax, or accommodate the shy student, but she would never

coerce or bluntly demand. She usually made a decision on

individual students based on her feelings or intuition.

On this the second day of the dialogue writing

lessons, Sheila liked to use the unpunctuated and uncapitalized story, "Milk Bottles," because she felt it

forced students to use their sense of reading for understanding and their natural language competence, or as

John Mellon (1981) has said their unconscious knowledge

that informs their language use. Having students use

their natural senses of pitch and juncture in language and

their ability to construct meaning from the printed page prior to direct teaching of grammar rules forced the

students to think of grammar as a device to aid or clarify meaning. This was Sheila's reasoning. Later in the year, after the students had produced several pieces of writing and discussed the grammar rules several times while editing their own or a friend's paper, Sheila would give 116

them some direct instruction from the grammar book. This direct instruction would only be given on demand from the

students as the necessity or questions arose as they wrote

their papers. Sheila followed this procedure partly from

her own instincts# partly from her readings and learnings

in her graduate studies, and partly on the advice of the curriculum specialists in her school system. Linguists would support Sheila's practice during this research year because they believe as John Mellon states:

the subject matters of grammar or linguistics, rhetoric, and literary criticism belong in the top two or three secondary grades only, where they can be studied systematically and at student option, as most other academic subjects are. The main point to remember is that learning of performance skills requires actual language use. Learning grammar also requires use of language, but on a highly abstract and technical plane. Thus it is not the kind of language use best suited to promoting skill development in younger children. Most adults fail to recognize this, believing that because grammar and rhetoric pertain to language, one not only can but must apply grammatical princi­ ples consciously in one s use of language, and may do so at any age. In fact, however, oppor­ tunities for conscious application of grammati­ cal knowledge are few and far between, and ele­ mentary and most middle school children lack the intellectual maturity necessary to do so in any case. Forcing them to try to use grammar consciously only leads to apprehension and over-cautiousness, inhibits natural skill development, and occupies time that might otherwise be devoted to language practice. (p.32)

Sheila began the actual lesson by handing out dittoed copies of the unpunctuated and uncapitalized story, "Milk 117

Bottles." Although the story was spread over three dittoes, Sheila handed out only the first ditto. (Each ditto had a natural break at the end.) She said she did not want to overwhelm the students by handing out all three dittoes at once. She said, "If I had told the students we were going to punctuate three dittoes, they would have groaned." Instead she depended on the natural appeal of a scary story to capture the student's interest.

The "Milk Bottles" story had a scary "return from the grave" plot that was perfect for gaining and holding student interest.

Sheila also knew that we were planning to have students write their own scary stories or ghost stories.

So the "Milk Bottles" story was serving double duty.

First, it was being used as an editing exercise to prepare students to proofread their own dialogues. Second, it was a prewriting activity for students, preparing them to write their own scary stories.

After handing out the first page of the ditto, Sheila read the entire first page aloud "for meaning." Having been a drama major, Sheila gave a dramatic oral interpretation, holding the attention of the students and me. When she finished, one student asked, "Is this really true?"

Sheila answered, "It's a folktale. Parts of the story may be based on true happenings and parts may be 118

exaggerated."

When she finished the oral reading of the one page ditto, she guided the class through a study of each para­ graph one at a time. She asked the students to divide the first paragraph into sentences. They were asked to use their pencils and mark the end punctuation on their ditto.

If Sheila thought the paragraph was difficult, she would tell how many sentences were in the paragraph. Then the task of the students was to locate where the sentences began and ended.

In one long paragraph, she asked the students to raise their hands when they thought a period should be inserted as she reread it orally. A sea of hands waved up and down with a few explorers leading the way and the uncertain pulled along by the momemtum or getting lost in the undertow.

There was one sentence the students found particularly difficult to punctuate and capitalize correctly. It read: "what can I do for you maam he said".

Sheila wrote the sentence on the chalkboard, punctuating it the way the majority of the class directed her. On the chalkboard the sentence read: "What can I do for you, maam", he said. She asked if the students were certain of the punctuation. Be-cause of Sheila’s tone of voice and her behavior with this sentence, writing it on the board, the students studied the sentence carefully. They knew 119 something was wrong.

Sheila asked, "What about this 'maam'? What is

'maam' short for?" Robin finally said "Madame 1"

"Then this is a contraction?" Sheila asked. "How do we indicate contractions like 'didn't and 'I'll'?"

"Use an apostrophe," Dora directed in a very sing­ song tone that communicated her feeling that anyone that didn't know that rule was a real dummy.

"Where do I put the apostrophe? inquired Sheila.

"Between the a's, where the letters are left out,"

Dora continued in the same tone.

A final debate ensued on where to put the question mark, inside or outside the quotation marks. The students also wanted to capitalize "he" after the quote. They thought it was the beginning of a new sentence, perhaps because of the pause when Sheila read it or because of the use of a question mark which they knew as end punctuation.

As the students finished punctuating and capitalizing the first page of "Milk Bottles," taking a total of four minutes, Sheila handed out the second dittoed page of the story. The same procedure was repeated. It took a total of fifteen minutes to finish the entire story on all three dittoes. Throughout the story the students' attention seemed to be on the narrative of the story. They wanted to know about the strange ghostly lady who asked for milk each day. They inserted the punctuation and capitalized, 120 but it was only after reading the ditto for the story line.

Sheila then directed the students to take out their personal dialogues that they had started yesterday. Some had them in their notebooks. Others had placed them in their writing folders. Sheila asked the students to choose a partner who would proofread their dialogue in the same manner that the class had used on "Milk Bottles."

Several students immediately turned toward a friend contracting with their eyes or voices, "You and me."

Tracy Freeman, sitting between her two girlfriends, interrupted Sheila to ask if three students could work together. Sheila replied with a "Yes."

Then she continued giving directions. Sheila suggested that each student first read straight through their partner's dialogue "for meaning," the same way she had with "Milk Bottles." Sheila next directed the students to see if the dialogue sounded natural. "Could you hear the dialogue being spoken by your friends?" she asked. Only after the students had read their partner's entire paper and checked for realism were they to comment on any punctuation or capitalization. Sheila recommended that the partners discuss one student paper at a time.

She wanted both students, the author and editor, concentrating on a paper together. Sheila further requested that the student authors make a second correct 121 copy of their dialogues for their partners to read during the oral presentations. These oral presentations would begin after lunch during seventh period. Sheila wrote the sequence of activities on the board:

1. Read to see if it sounds real.

2. Check capitalization.

3. Check punctuation.

4. Make a second corrected copy for partner to

read orally.

5. Practice for the oral presentation.

As Sheila wrote the list of five directions on the board, the classroom became noisy with the sounds of students affirming their earlier eye contracts and pairing off. They moved their desks and sometimes their belongings to be next to their student partner- Tracy,

Tessia, and Jackie; Kevin and Larry; Ken and Ernest; Pam and Dora; Nancy and Christine; Rob and Jeff; Fred and

Todd; and so on.

The students took a few minutes to get into the working pattern and decide who was going to read first.

As I listened to the pairs around the room, several student authors read their creations aloud to their partners adding emotion and oral interpretation rather than having the partner read it silently. Looking over

Kevin's shoulder as he read his dialogue orally, I noted that he was not reading exactly what was written on the 122

page. He was adlibbing or saying what he thought should

be in his dialogue.

Kevin's dialogue was natural sounding and full of the

colorful words he and his friends used in their real

conversations. It represented the conversation between

two black friends meeting on the street corner in their

neighborhood. It sounded like a string of insults being

thrown back and forth. Kevin's procedure for writing his

dialogue was also interesting. He composed by practicing

possible lines orally, before writing anything down. It

was as if he had to hear what he thought before he wrote

it down. He would chuckle or make comments on his lines

as he listened to himself try them out orally. "That's

bad!" he would say in response to a good line. His

partner, Larry, served as a straight man in the almost

comedy routine.

Some of the students said they weren't finished writing their dialogues, so they continued composing,

asking their partner for help or advice. Robin and Vicki

set in the corner each working on their dialogues

beginning with the lines, "I think I love you." They said

they were using themselves in the dialogue.

Sheila walked through the class stopping at each group observing, sometimes asking a probing question,

sometimes giving a helpful direction. "Did this really 123

happen, Todd?" "Would you really respond like this?"

"Maybe you need some stage directions here where the

mother looks like Mel Carter on tv when you know the

wheels are turning in her head."

Once Sheila turned to the whole class and announced

that each student should aim for ten exchanges in the

dialogue. From my teaching experience I guessed that a

student had asked the screeching question, "How long does

it have to be?"

When Sheila got to Tracy, Tessia, and Jackie's group,

she read Tracy's dialogue. Tracy was a fairly new student

in the class. She was very vocal and demonstrated a good

control of timing, rhythm, and humor in her black speech.

She had shown herself to be an actress or performer, with

an outgoing personality. When Sheila finished reading the

dialogue, she praised Tracy for her writing. Sheila asked

if she could copy the dialogue and share it with the rest

of the class. Tracy got a big smile on her face and

laughed. But anyone could tell that she was pleased. She

responded with a simple "Yes."

Finally with most of the students heavily into writing or editing, Sheila settled down with one girl,

Nicole, in the corner. Sheila knew Loren and I were

circulating, so she could concentrate her efforts on this girl who seemed to have a bad attitude. No other student wanted to be Nicole's partner because she always got them 124

into trouble.

Before she dismissed the students at the end of the

period, Sheila collected all the dialogues. She told the

students they would have more time to work on them seventh period. Ken indicated he was finished, prompting Sheila to ask if he would be willing to share it next period. He was more than agreeable.

During lunch Sheila ran off copies of Tracy's dialogue. {See Figure #16.) Working during lunch period was a normal practice for Sheila. Lunch was also the best conferencing time for Sheila and me. It was during this time we would evaluate the effectiveness of the fifth period lesson and make necessary adjustments in the seventh period plans. Sheila told me she wanted to share

Tracy's dialogue because it displayed all the best characteristics of a short dialogue. It was dramatic yet complete in one scene. The conversation sounded natural and the words carried the action and told a story. The scene had a beginning, a conflict, and a conclusion, all playable in a few minutes. All of these comments were shared with the class seventh period.

Tracy's dialogue also had a few of the common punctuation errors students often made. Sheila wanted to use Tracy's writing to model what errors had to be changed for the second corrected copy. Sheila viewed Tracy's 125 dialogue as a good chance to talk about the use of punctuation in spoken discourse, the kind of things the class had just gone over in "Milk Bottles." Sheila feared that the "Milk Bottles" story didn't bring out all the punctuation rules students needed directly in writing dialogues such as introductory phrases, the division into scenes, and stage directions.

After lunch the eighth graders had class in Sheila's regular room on the first floor. A seventh grade math class met in there fifth and sixth periods. Mary Dy was always first in the room after lunch. As the eighth graders filtered in from their lunch several early arrivals went immediately to two cardboard boxes on the rectangular table in the front of the room. The cardboard boxes contained books and magazines for sustained silent reading. The students began removing the books from the boxes and arranging them on the table or along the chalkboard tray. Sheila brought this reading material from home or the public library. She brought in old Scope magazines, teen magazines such as Tiger Beat or Teen Beat, computer magazines, a few National Geographic issues, and some old copies of Time and Newsweek, Seventeen, Motor

Trend, Road and Track.

Some of the early arrivals liked to help arrange the books and magazines. Others just wanted to make sure they got a particular reading material they wanted. 126

By the time Sheila got to the room, over half of the books were spread out for display. She thanked the students for helping.

A higher energy level was manifested in these students as they entered the room after lunch. During lunch the students also had "recess" time, a term still used by the eighth graders. Most of the students went outdoors in this time and played such games as basketball, tetherball, "square ball," or they just walked around and talked to their friends. Sheila's designation of the first fifteen or twenty minutes of seventh period as sustained silent reading served to calm the students down after lunch. This was a favorite time for most of the students, A few students brought in their own books to read, but many read Sheila's books. Student reading choices ranged from Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Beat the Turtle Drum and Thirteen is Too Young to Die.

Some of the students who worked in the computer room during both language arts periods indicated that they missed the sustained silent reading. Sheila made this a quiet pleasant experience, sometimes handing out hard candy that the students would suck on as they read.

At 1:00 p.m.,twenty minutes into the period, Sheila asked the students to put their books away or return them to the table in front. She began the afternoon 127 instruction by handing out copies of Tracy's dialogue.

When Tracy got her original copy of the dialogue back, she asked Sheila for an extra ditto copy to take home to her mother. Jackie, her friend sitting next to her laughed and exclaimed, "Oh, Tracy!" Tracy laughed too. But I could tell she was proud her dialogue was being used as an example. This instance demonstrated the ironic position of middle school students. They are trying to be adults, but in many ways they are still children.

Sheila began the discussion by talking about the positive aspects of Tracy's dialogue. Sheila said Tracy's dialogue told a story. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. As any good story, it had a conflict or problem that had to be solved. Sheila asked for two volunteers to play the son and father and read Tracy's dialogue. Ken and Kevin volunteered much to Tracy's dismay. Kevin was one of the students in charge of the typical conversations in the ethnographic book, while Ken just liked to stand in front of the class and talk. They did a good job in reading the dialogue orally.

Sheila then asked if the students could give Tracy advice for making her second copy. "Are there any changes

Tracy should make to help a reader better understand the dialogue?" Sheila queried. The students pointed out capitalizing the first words in the sentences and placing a question mark at the end of the first line. Sheila had 128 to guide the students to notice commas after nouns in direct address and interjections at the beginning of sentences. Sheila also discussed the idea that a play format with an actor's name, then a colon, and the actor's lines didn't require quotation marks around the actor's words.

When Sheila finished with her explanation, one of the student's, Fred asked if he could read his dialogue.

Sheila permitted him. Fred and his friend, Mike, came to the front of the class and read the dialogue. The dialogue was a conversation between a father and son about the son getting home late. The son gave several different excuses. First he said he was taking part in a football game. Then he said it was a scrimmage not a real game.

Finally he claimed he had football practice. The father demanded to know where the truth lay in the string of excuses the son had spun. The son finally admitted that he had gotten into trouble and the coach had given him some extra practice. The father grounded the son, but he thanked him for finally telling the truth. The dialogue was well written and very natural. The interesting observation during the presentation of the dialogue was that the author, Fred, didn’t need to look at his paper to read the dialogue. He had never made a second copy and the first copy was held by his partner Mike. Fred knew 129

the dialogue by heart. Fred had seen no purpose in writing

a second copy. He and Mike had rehearsed the dialogue.

They didn't need two copies. It was wasted time and

effort just to perform before the class.

When the two boys finished their presentation, Sheila

instructed the students to spend the rest of the class

period proofing and finishing their dialogues and then

rehearsing them. Most of the students went immediately to discussing their dialogues with their partners. Some

students approached Sheila saying they were finished and

they wanted to perform them. Sheila started to make a

list with student names to order the performances for the next day.

As the period drew to a close, Sheila directed that

the dialogues should be returned to the folders unless the

students wanted to take them home to finish. She reminded

the students that all dialogues should be in class tomorrow. The bell signalled the end of the period as students handed their writing folders to Sheila standing near the door.

LEARNINGS OF TEACHERS

OVERVIEW

The phrase "teacher learner" is one often used by

Paulo Freire. Freire says:

I consider it an important quality or virtue to understand the impossible separation of teaching and learning. Teachers should be 130

conscious everyday that they are coming to school to learn and not just to teach. This way we are not just teachers, but teacher learners. It is really impossible to teach without learning as well as learning without teaching. We cannot separate one from the other; we create violence when we try... As teachers, we learn from the process of teaching and we learn with the students for whom we make possible the conditions to learn. We also learn from the processes that the students are also teaching us. (1985,pp.16-17)

By reflecting on the lesson described at the begin­ ning of this chapter, the reader will see that Sheila,

Loren, and I all became learners, in the same way that the students became teachers. We truly did follow the pattern

Freire described. As the study evolved, all four partici­ pants acquired an awareness of our dual roles of teachers and learners. The rest of this chapter will be devoted to a discussion of the learnings of the research team. As

Freire says, our learnings were gained through "the process of teaching" and in partnership "with the students". And finally, by being very selective and reflective we learned "from the processes that the students are also teachers". We tried to be observant and questioning of what the students were doing in class during a lesson. We tried to identify and understand the processes the students were using to accomplish the assignment during the lesson. Friere's words seem so simple, yet we discovered a true depth of meaning in them through this study. This section of the chapter is an 131

attempt to show you that depth of meaning.

NATURE OF OUR LEARNING

A problem in interpreting the phrase "teacher

learner" has occurred. Many teachers interpret the phrase

to mean that teachers will learn from others - especially

"experts". David Dillon, the past editor of Language

Arts, observed this interpretation when he was collecting

articles for the Nov. 1984 issue of the journal under the

theme "Teacher as Learner/Researcher". Although

encouraged by the "and response" to the theme, he was disturbed when he read the manuscripts submitted because

he says:

Much of what I see cloaked under the heading "Teacher as Learner" is not a matter of teachers taking control of their own learning and becoming their own experts, but rather being accomplices in a top-down, transmission-of- knowledge hiearchy. Teachers may go back to their classrooms to learn to "do" a particular method or approach, but the idea, its initiative, and its evaluation come from an Expert. Teachers may learn to implement an approach, but their lack of ownership of know­ ledge is often betrayed by claims that they are teaching a "process," "whole language," "skills," "Graves," "individualized," "Language Experience," or other approach. They don't lay claim to their own knowledge by placing their own name on it, however. This attitude perpetuates the social, intellectual, and political structure of Expertise (and, in its worst forms, gurism) and fosters dependence and insecurity among "learners." Learning is viewed as coming from without, not from within the learner. There is little use and discovery of the personal, tacit knowledge which teachers bring to every learning act. Many educators forget that "educate" comes from the Latin meaning "to lead out (from within)." (p.679) 132

Being a secondary resource teacher for a large urban

school district, I know what Professor Dillon says is

accurate. Most teachers, either through training or lack

of faith in themselves, look to others for the answers to

their instructional questions. They have been taught or

become accustomed to seek answers and directions from the

district supervisor or the textbook authors. This is one

reason why Sheila's learning experience is worthwhile

noting. The fact that she got her ultimate answers from

within is significant.

Although the original idea for the study came

from reading Heath and Branscombe1s article on letter

writing and Heath's Way With Words, Sheila and I adapted

it to our situation. There was not sufficient information

in either piece of writing to greatly direct us, only the

kernel ideas were found in the articles. We had tomake

our own decisions each step of the way during our

adaptation. I am quite sure of this due to my early

reading and re-reading of the Heath articles to discover answers to such questions as how to match students for the

letter writing; when, if ever, is it appropriate to censor

student letters; or how to train students to be ethnographers of their own culture?

By developing or discovering our own solutions to the many questions along the path, we developed faith in i 33

ourselves as teachers and learners. We owned the process

and techniques. Sheila lay claim to some of her learnings

by coining a term for what she calls the discussion or

interaction she observed students doing when they were

drafting "mid-writing input."

Although the findings or learnings discussed in

this chapter are significant, Sheila, Loren, and I all

feel that the most significant outcome of the study was

our new found faith in ourselves as teacher expert. As

teacher experts, we were able to define the problems that

needed to be studied in the classroom, design a plan to

research the problem, collect the information for study,

and then analyze or interpret the collected information to

identify significant patterns. We know that the

experience has made us better teachers and will continue

to allow us to grow as professionals and life-long

learners.

OVERVIEW CHART

Charts (Figure 17 and Figure 18) present an over-view of observations or formal learnings of the teacher

learners during the past year. These learnings were the result of what Yetta Goodman calls "kidwatching."

(Hollingsworth,1985) In "kidwatching", the teachers are not only observers, but also "active respondents and interveners in the learning process." (Hollingsworth,

1985) Goodman's term also involves the continuous planning 134 of learning experiences to foster student growth. Marie

Clay says:

Observant teachers not only discover new behavior and changes but also think about children's learning in new ways.... Teachers who are not good observers could well punish the very behaviors that would make their pupils more accurate. It is helpful to become detached observers of children at work, seeing how they go about the tasks we set them. (p.90)

Sheila, Loren, and I applied the process of

"kidwatching” to our adolescent students. The observations shown on the two charts were the result of

"kidwatching" to identify productive learning situations to be those that helped students verbalize or write the ideas in their minds, re-see their writing or speech from an audience or reader's point of view, revise or edit their writing to clarify the meaning, or generally foster language growth through purposeful language interaction.

We were all observers of student action and reaction to incidents and assignments in the language arts class.

After making an observation of these productive student learning situations, we checked to see if the pattern reappeared. To foster the checking, Sheila and I would build a similar situation into the next convenient lesson to test out the reliability of our observations.

Through the use of this method of careful observa­ tion, re-integration of productive learning situations into the instruction, and more observation, the learnings 135

on the charts were uncovered. The charts summarize the

results of our conscious "kidwatching." The summary in

each chart is divided into three columns - the classroom

observation(s), what the teachers learned about the

students or what the teachers learned about themselves,

and how we interpreted the learnings into instructional

practice. Although separated on the chart, the three

columns are intricately interwoven. The rest of the

chapter will be a discussion of the information on the

charts. This section will be divided into two parts. The

first part will deal with the information from Figure 17,

what we learned about the students. The second part will

discuss the information in Figure 18, what we learned

about ourselves as teachers. In both sections I will

interweave the instructional interpretations Sheila made

of her new learnings. Although I'm not devoting a section

to these instructional applications themselves, I do not want to underestimate their importance. When an experienced teacher such as Sheila deliberately determines

to change instructional practices to produce a more

productive learning situation, the action is of major

importance. These changed instructional practices are the desired outcomes in any teacher researcher study, and probably some of the most valuable results outside the student language growth itself. My reason for interweav- 136 iny the instructional practices with teacher learnings is due to their dependency for their birth on the learnings.

Writing about the changed instructional practices separately without a discussion of the teacher learning would be like writing about the egg without the hen.

TEACHERS LEARNINGS ABOUT STUDENTS

Students writing aided when they had a real purpose and a real audience other than the teacher.

Lack of an authentic audience is in fact a major cause of school language difficulty. An authoritative adult, parental substitute, and dispenser of grades simply cannot suffice alone for audience, because he is a loaded figure about whom youngsters have too many attitudes irrelevant to composition.” (Moffett 1976, p.32)

James Moffett's words are clear and concise, but they didn't cause a direct change in our classroom procedure.

It was an eighth grade boy's refusal to see a reason to make a corrected copy of his dialogue which caused us to realize the punctuation exercise was for us, not the students. During 7th period of the language arts class one of the students, Fred, a confident black with a Jackie

Gleason build and manner, presented a very natural sounding and well-developed dialogue in which a father caught his son lying about his late arrival home from a football practice. Fred was eager to share his dialogue with the class, because he said he was confident that his dialogue was "the best.” Fred was equally confident that he didn't need to write a second copy from which his 137

student partner could read for the class presentation. "i

know my part. I don't need the paper," Fred stated when

he was asked about the second copy. To Fred making a

second copy was wasted effort. Fred said "If I forget

something, I'll just look on with Mike." Fred had spent

his time developing the plot of his dialogue and

rehearsing the reading with Mike. He hadn't worried too much about punctuation. Justifying his actions later on he said, "If mine is chosen to go in the book I'll correct

the copy." What he was saying was this lesson assignment

is a game. The students don't really need a second copy to read from. The teacher wants the second copy.

This real life occurrence in the language arts class caused Sheila and I to consider what the real purpose and place of punctuation and capitalization exercises were.

We had observed that the students were very much interested in punctuation and capitalization when they proofread their penpal letters. These letters were being sent to people they couldnt have face-to-face conversations with. The meaning had to be conveyed on paper. The student's writing alone had to relate the message. The student couldn't stand alongside his penpal interpreting meaning, as Fred had done for Mike on the dialogue. The capitalization and punctuation represented the student to his penpal and the student's meaning. 138

Our interpretation of this observation phenomenon was

that the students really knew when punctuation and

capitalization were important. They were important in

conveying real meaning in real communication when face-to-

face explanations were not possible.

Secondly, the occurrence pointed up that the place

for checks or instruction on capitalization and

punctuation should be only when the writing was going to

be published. As Fred told us, "if mine is chosen to go

in the book, I'll correct the copy." He could check later

for the surface feature if his paper was chosen by the peer panel for inclusion in the ethnographic publication

Fresh Talk.

Sheila wrote on her masters exam at the end of the year of research:

I really believe that language learning should be context bound. Still, for the sake of efficiency, I've reasoned, "Oh, well, I might as well teach everybody how to use the apostrophes at the same time and get it over with. Never mind if they don't need the skill this instant. Soon enough they will." With this class we relied upon learning on demand. When the need arose to know something, the student got a mini-lesson, perhaps from a teacher, perhaps from another student who had already learned it. This method really works.

Students really did learn the rules of punctuation and capitalization. But they learned it when they needed it. When they had an immediate purpose for knowing the rule - -to apply it to their writing, to clarify meaning 139

for distant real audiences. The students learned the

rules so well that they taught each other. It was not

uncommon to hear students in the computer room working on

final copies, arguing about the placement of a quotation

mark. (Robin and Vicki's argument in chapter two is an

example.)

Thirdly, and most importantly, Fred's comments made

us reflect on the artificiality of many of our teacher

assignments. If the assignment is just to get a grade or

find where a student makes mistakes, the game is only

worth-while to the teacher.

Students are makers of meaning. They know the real

purpose for doing an assignment. In the case of the

classroom episode described in the first part of the

chapter, the students knew that their immediate reason for

writing was to share or "act out" their typical

conversation in front of the rest of the class. They also

knew that the long term goal was to produce good typical

conversation for their ethnographic book Fresh Talk. The

best of these typical conversations they were writing would be selected by a committee of 8th grade classmates

to be published in Fresh Talk. So Fred was economical in his work effort. He really didn't have to do punctuation just to have the reading in front of the class. The only

time his dialogue would need correct punctuation and capitalization if if it was published in the ethnographic 140

book.

These were the purposes that were important to the

students. They were real purposes with a real audience

defined, not just the purpose of a grade for an assignment

to be read only by the teacher acting as a judge.

We first started to draw this conclusion from

observations of the letter writing. We noticed the

students looking forward to receiving and reading their

penpal letters. They also demonstrated painstaking effort

to produce their responses to the penpal. They cared

about what they said to the pen pal. The pen pal activity was a real reason for writing - communication across town

to someone you couldn't see. The pen pal activity also had a real identified audience for each 8th grader. The eighth graders knew how it felt if they didn't get a

letter from their high school pen pal. Every student wrote at least a few lines to their pen pal.

In the pen pal activity the students knew they would be evaluated most importantly on the ideas or messages

they communicated, not on a teacher's redetermined list of objectives. The state department of education requires that a teacher have daily lesson plans that reflect how the skills and concepts delineated in a system's course of study are taught. For administrative or system-wide purposes the three day lesson plan would be fulfilling 141 several course of study requirements. The program goals from our system's course of study that were fulfilled were:

Writing: The student...

appreciates, enjoys and values

writing as a way of knowing and

communicating

applies a process to produce

written discourse

Even more specifically, the delineated skills in the course of study that the lesson fulfilled were:

writes daily

seeks honesty and freshness in

writing

uses prewriting techniques to

generate ideas for writing

draws on personal experience to

generate ideas for writing

engages in discussions, conversa­

tions, observations and reading

to generate ideas for writing

shares writing

expands repertoire of individual

revision strategies

works with peers to revise and

edit, accepting the writing and 142

suggestions of others,

proofreads to correct errors in

punctuation, capitalization and

spelling {Columbus Public Schools

1 985)

All of the above information is necessary for the

bureacracy of a large urban school system in a complex

society. But none of that information {serves to) makes

the lesson more meaningful to a middle school student.

What we discovered through our observations of 8th graders' writing was that the more "real" the purpose and

the audience for a piece of writing the easier it was for

the students to produce the writing and the more willing they were to produce the writing.

When students first started to think about doing

Fresh Talk or toy with the idea of doing an ethnographic publication, they continually asked "Who will be reading

it?" or "who will the audience be?" Defining the audience was important in the writing assignment. The students needed to have the definite audience in mind to select appropriate content and tone. But defining the audience evolved over time when it was determined that their peers would be a primary audience for the publication, they became very sensitive about the presentation of the material. Students tried to consider what would appeal to 143

their peers.

In the classroom episode just described we

continually heard students saying to their classmate "Does

this sound all right?" Each student seemed to want the

reinforcement of a peer or approval that what he/she was

going to read in front of the class was all right.

Upon discovering the importance of writing for real,

we tried to make assignments based on all the real reasons

to write or communicate in our society, and more

specifically for our students. For example, when the

class planned a field trip to their penpal's high school,

various eighth grade students or student pairs agreed to

write letters to the principal, the hosting English

teacher, the media specialist, and the student tour

guides. In each letter the eighth grade students told

what they hoped to see, do, or learn while spending time

with the particular individual. When the field trip was

over, the individual eighth grade student volunteered to

write thank you notes to show their appreciation.

When students were doing interviews, they had to write letters for appointments. Of course, thank you

notes followed after the appointment.

When students administered surveys in other 8th grade

teachers* classes, they had to write a letter asking permission and specifying the amount of time needed to administer the survey. The students also wrote follow-up 144 thank-you notes. The students had to write letters to the clerk for office supplies, for directions on how to run off surveys, or for statistical information they needed,

(This was necessary since the clerk was usually busy and couldn't get the information or do the task immediately.)

Some of these activities could be accomplished orally, but the same information had to be conveyed. Once we started this practice we were amazed how many real reasons there were for writing. This procedure probably did more to convey the importance of accurate and complete communication than any artificial lesson we could have devised. We had to have the faith to let the students do it, sometimes even to our embarrassment, but always for the students' growth.

Students1 Writing aided by "mid-writing input" from peers.

One of the most drastic changes in Sheila's class­ room concerned the fostering of social interaction among the students during composing. We learned that allowing social interchange among students before, during, and after the composing process produced better student writing, more understanding of the writing process, and a more relaxed atmosphere for composing.

In the group of lessons described at the beginning of this chapter Sheila decided to build our observation of the importance of student interaction during composing 145

into the lesson. Sheila and I also had to build in

tolerance for student interaction. More noise and

movement in a classroom requires adjustment by students

and teachers.

We built the opportunity for student interaction into

the lesson at several points: (1) During the pre-writing

activity the preceding day, the whole class created a

sample dialogue on the chalkboard, (2) During the initial

stages of drafting the preceding day students guided each

other , (3) During revision and editing of dialogues, and

(4) during rehearsals for class presentation. This plan

sounds very neat and packaged. It wasn't. It was messy.

There was a lot of student interaction (talking) all

during the lessons. The talking was productive. Rarely

did the three teachers observe talking that didn't lead

toward student writing. We felt the lesson was quite

successful as a result of the built-in opportunities for

interaction. The students loved the lesson and wanted to do more conversation on their own.

It is important to note that although we teachers had

acquaintance with theory stressing the importance of

social interaction in the classroom, we had not fully

integrated it into classroom practice. Only our personal observation, documentation, and ensuing teacher discussions during this or research led to the fuller 146 integration of student interaction into our instructional practices. Sheila, Loren and I were in differing degrees familiar with Moffett, and Vygotsky's ideas on social integration. The theories of learning developed by these two giants are preached in most English education classes.

All three theories stress social interaction with peers as a natural means to general knowledge growth and therefore language growth.

Constance Karnii and Marie Randazzo, two teachers who observed the social interaction of first graders, say:

By watching children argue, we become convinced that they are mentally very active in these situations, thinking hard to resolve the socio-cognitive conflict. The exchange of ideas among children is better than an exchange with an adult because children have points of view that are more or less at the same level. The construction of knowledge is facilitated when a child tries to put his knowledge into relationship with ideas that are at a similar level." (p.125)

The two researchers believe there are certain pedalogical principles to be drawn from their observations of social interaction. They say:

1. Encourage children to exchange points of view among themselves and 2. Reduce adult power and omniscience as much as possible, in order to encourage the exchange of viewoints among children. (p.125)

We knew social interaction was significant to the theories of Lev Vygotsky. He says:

In our conception, the true direction of the development of thinking is not from the 147

individual to the socialized, but from the social to the individual. (1962,p.20)

James Moffett maintained that "learners must have three

things — individualization, interaction, and integration"

in order to have "an effective school language program."

Writing about interaction, Moffett (1976) said:

Language learning is social, because language is social in origin and in purpose. It is learned through people in order to communicate with people. Like the personal nature of language, this is an inescapable fact that often becomes invisible for the very reason that it is so obvious. It is well and good to look at mature reading and writing and say that those are solo activities. But reading and writing entirely in one's own represent ends, not means. Soloing rises out of collective effort." (p.30)

However eloquent or adamant the words and arguments of these two experts were, the learning of their theories had not caused Sheila or I to fully integrate their ideas into our classroom practices. As stated before, it was from our personal observation and teacher discussions, during the year of our research study, that actual implementation took place in the classroom to any great extent. These learning discussions, and implementation, rook time. They spanned almost a whole school year.

Two groups of observations were significant in solidifying our understanding of the importance of social interaction for students' writing. The first group of observations deals with the students' free and open interaction during the letter writing. The second group of 148 observations deals with Sheila and iny participation with other teachers in group curriculum writing.

During the letter writing activities, when students were reading and responding to their pen pal letters, we fostered the student conversations and interchanges which occur naturally. Allowing the students to openly converse upon reading their pen pal letters and writing their responses, was the only way we, as researchers, could observe what naturally occurred in comprehending real student writing and composing. We learned to become more comfortable with what Sheila called "mid-writing input."

Sheila used the term to mean that students had to talk to themselves and/or others while actually drafting, revising, and editing. Some students wanted to ask questions of the teacher. Sheila*s name, "mid-writing input," probably comes from the fact that she always previously allowed her students to interact during pre­ writing activities or when publishing. However, during the actual drafting stage, or initial writing, Sheila had stressed quiet, thinking as many teachers do, that a quiet room helped the mind incubate an idea.

We began to notice that the student talk or conversation during the class sessions of letter writing was almost always purposeful. What sometimes in the past took for student confusion or "failure to settle down to the task" was really purposeful discussion on the part of 149

the students. A lot of the talk or noisy conversation,

which some teachers and administrators cannot tolerate, we

observed as being purposeful to the production of student

writing. We documented the questions and comments the

students exchanged. Host of the comments serves three

purposes - - interpreting meaning in a pen pal's letter,

formulating ideas to write to the pen pal, or clarifying

punctuation or capitalization rules. A closer look at a

typical letter writing session and student interaction

will appear at the beginning of chapter four.

Our second reason for realizing the importance of

peer interaction to the writing process concerned Sheila's

and my experiences doing curriculum writing with a group

of teachers. We remembered how much relaxed talk and

short interchanges to check on uncertainties improved our writing. Immediate feedback on our thoughts, whether they were written or oral, clarified or refined them. Sheila wrote of her awareness of the importance of student inter­ action to better writing on her master's exam saying:

I've had an excellent opportunity to observe students struggling through the various stages of the writing process as described by Groves and Britton. Certainly is has given me a feeling for how kids operate when they are composing. I hadn't really ever gotten much into peer revision before this. Now I see it as an essential rather than merely "nice to do if you have time." 150

Students Want to Have their Writing Published and Reacted To.

Ask any writer. There is no greater reason to write than to be published and to find yourself in print. For young writers, too, if writing is going to turn into its own reward, if the word is going to be shared, then the teacher has to find ways for it to be preserved and transmitted that it might take on its own redeeming value. (Willinsky,p.619)

So says John Willinsky as he begins history of writing and publishing with four hundred students from twenty classes in Canada. Willinsky accomplished his task by working with classes for periods of two weeks each as the regular teacher was involved in professional development. The methods he used to publish students1 work span as he says

"The history of publishing in western civilization."

One of the reasons that the dialogue lesson described in the first part of this chapter is so successful is the form of publication Sheila had devised for the student's typical conversations.

Middle school students love to read plays orally.

Each student assumes the role of a character and acts out all the personality traits of that character.

Psychologists might relate this attraction for playing characters to the real life experimentation with roles that adolescents experience.

Our teacher efforts to publish twenty-three students' work perhaps did not chronicle history as well as 151

Willinsky's but were no less spectacular for their reward^.

Throughout the study we observed how important it was to have students publish or get a reaction to their final writing work. As stated in an earlier section of this chapter, whenever we could we tried to make the purpose for writing and the audience a real one. When we couldn't, as in the case of this dialogue writing lesson, we had other students serve as the audience.

We learned as shown in this lesson that students loved to hear, read, or see other students work.

When Fresh Talk was finally published and distributed to other language arts teachers in Columbus middle schools, they told us it was the most popular silent reading book. Several told us they had difficulty keeping it in the classroom. Sheila is having someexperience with

Fresh Talk at Wedgewood dthis fall. Shesays her copy keeps disappearing from the room.

As researchers, we also learned that booklets of student writing don't have to be as formalized as Fresh

Talk. Sheila now compiles and puts a student designed cover on writing assignments, such as the dialogues, that have gone through a couple of rewrites and editing. This informal publication allows the student writing to be read during sustained silent reading. Sheila found these booklets to be popular reading material too. 152

During the production of the ethnographic book,

because it took such a long time to complete, we tried to

build in several publishing steps beside the final form.

One step that we think merits the most promise is a mock- up, or proof copy, similar to what real publishers produce. Students reading the proof copy of Fresh Talk

found all the editing errors in their writing, formatting errors in the layout, and need for artwork. Student authors eagerly honed the presentation of their own writing in the proof copy. One student noticed that a whole line of his rap was left out of the proofed copy.

Although the proof copy was prepared for the research class at the Ohio State University, it became an effective teaching tool when it was shared with the students.

Willinsky says:

We have only to follow today's truism in writing pedagogy - - treat them as writers if you want them to write - and to then treat students to that final and ultimate writerly pleasure of finding their words come alive in the faces of their listeners and their readers, (p.623)

Students must have ownership of their writing.

The importance of students owning their writing was discussed in chapter one. In that chapter I discussed student ownership as a critical question in regards to the ethnographic book as a whole and each student's article in particular. I also discussed the difficulty I, as a teacher, had in allowing ownership of the book to be 153

transferred to the students. In this section I will

discuss the delicate nature of student ownership of

individual pieces of writing, like the dialogues. We

discovered that student ownership of their writing had to

be reaffirmed in the little decision making instances that

occurred on a moment-to-moment basis.

The dialogue writing lessons demonstrates several of

these decision-making instances where student ownership was fostered. Ownership is nurtured in the beginning by allowing students room with the assignment to select an area of interest. In the dialogue writing lesson, every

student was asked to write a typical dialogue. They were given a ditto sheet of possible situations and opening

lines. But they were also given the opportunity to write a dialogue on their interests. There was room within the assignment for each student to express his or her individuality. This freedom of choice and expression is an important, perhaps a necessary, component of ownership.

Each student had no difficulty in determining the topic for their dialogues. As I listened to the conversation during the drafting stage, most students had a situation firmly in mind, Robin turned to Vicki and said, "Are you going to do the one * I think I love you.'

Can we use ourselves?" Jackie planned aloud:

I'm going to write about your sister and her friend. A whole lot happened. It's hard to 154

write all that down. Your sister's going to say 'You get funky. You get down.' (laughter) How do you spell her name?

One boy who had just spent his sustained silent reading

time on a picture book about tanks and other army

equipment, got busy immediately writing a dialogue where

the private saves the whole unit from being "wiped out."

The imaginary army situation was not a suggested one on

the ditto, but the student had it firmly in his mind.

Arthur Applebee in a speech to the Higher Education

Council of Columbus talked about permitting students

freedom of choice within an assigned writing topic. He

says:

I don't mean that students have to pick the topics, but there must be room in the topic for students to take their own point of view... This may be as simple as inserting their (student) own opinion in it and supporting it.

Applebee's words seem to support Sheila’s actions and our observations.

James Moffett (1985) touches on the idea of ownership in both reading and writing when he discusses the "Hidden

Impediments to Improving English Teaching." He says, "We must give young people reading and writing as theirs, as human rights, not give with one hand and take back with the other." Moffett explains the situation with writing in particular:

Parents have not needed to crusade for censorship of writing, because U.S. educators have not asked students to do much writing at 155

all and, when they have, have usually supplied students with the subject matter they wish them to write about. (p.54)

Ownership doesn't stop with the selection of a topic of personal interest within the assignment. It carries through to all stages of the writing process. Most of the students didn't have trouble taking ownership for their writing and project as long as we, the teachers, didn't hinder or unsonsciously block the ownership. A sensitivity to this situation for me was hard to develop.

An incident with the clothes group aided the development of this sensitivity in me. Robin, the spokesperson of the clothes group, was helping one of her group members, a Southeast Asian student named Mary, draw up a survey on make-up. Mary had difficulty speaking and writing English. Robin and Mary designed a good simple questionnaire which Sheila reviewed before the students duplicated it. Then while I was conferencing with another group in the computer room, Robin and Laura, a third member of their group, distributed the surveys to their friends roaming in the halls. The twogirls stood in the doorway of the computer room handing out a few surveys to each roaming friend with specific directions to distribute the extra copies to other friends in the class from whicli they came. This was a terrific networking system.

(Apparently, getting a hall pass by giving some excuse to leave class was standard procedure among this 156

group of girls.)

When I saw Robin and Laura conversing with friends in

the hall, I was first angry. Being in a teacher role in

the computer room, my first thoughts were about my

responsibility for these two students hanging out the

classroom door across from the teachers' lounge. What

would the other teachers think? When Robin explained

"We're handing the surveys out to the students who really

wear make-up and know about it." A seed of awareness

started to grow in my mind. These students hadn't taken

the conventional route of survey distribution other groups

had used, namely, having our class or other language arts

classes fill them out through the classroom teacher. They

had taken ownership for the whole process. They had made

several good decisions in line with their ownership of the

writing process. They knew they were under a time

constraint and they wanted the best results possisble.

They used their resources, their friends and the

underground social network.

After reflecting on the students' motivation and

reasoning, I apologized to them the next day. I should

have been fostering their initiative and ingenuity rather

than reprimanding them. They had taken full ownership for

their article. I had asked the students to do a task, write an article on students' make-up, but I hadn't 157

considered giving them freedom to do it their way.

The episode taught me a powerful lesson. Owner-ship

for an assignment should be given with no strings

attached, within the appropriateness of the school's

situation.

James Moffett talks about students not seeing reading

and writing as a "personal resource" (1985,p.55).

Incidents like the ones discussed above lead us to believe

that fostoring ownership of writing would also further

students' use of language skills as personal resources.

As we became more sensitive to the importance of student

owner-ship of their work and its connection to languaging as a personal resource, we tried to fostor these two

significant aspects throughout the production of the ethnographic book.

In Sheila's words:

The students have used writing, speaking, listening, and reading for a myriad of functions this year. They finally are viewing themselves as real writers, empowered by their abilities to use language. The project was broad enough to draw on the strengths of each member of the class. Everyone had a say in what was included. Although they have not used the curriculum (adopted textbooks and thematic units) prescribed by the school system, the students have met most of the course of study requirements. They feel good about their accomplishments.

Students who received honest praise for their writing were more eager to write. 158

In this lesson on writing typical dialogues, Sheila

singled out one student's work, Tracy Freeman's, as

exemplary. This was a common practice for Sheila. She

liked to select a student's work which had accomplished

the assignment in a unique or creative fashion. Sheila

would find some method to spotlight the work and share it

with the other students. She usually discussed the

positive features of the piece of writing in the same

manner she did with Tracy’s.

Some teachers might only have seen the lack of

capitalization or correct punctuation. Sheila saw the

plot, the good honest, well-timed concise plot. She made

a big deal about the talented writer who could capsulize

such a plot in one short page. By playing up the positive

and downplaying the faults, she reinforced the idea of

students as writers.

Mimi Brodsky Chenfield, a writer and educator in

Columbus, Ohio, tells of an old Yiddish custom:

When young children completed a page of study, their teacher dropped a dot of honey on the bottom of the page. The children were encouraged to dip their finger in the honey and taste its sweetness." {p.268)

Chenfield ends her story by saying "The learning should always be sweetl"

I observed Sheila's use of the "Words of Praise:

Honey on the Page" technique in almost every writing assign-ment. Sometimes she would spotlight several 159

students' work. She conscientiously moved the spotlight

from student to student, so that no one student was

singled out continually and over the course of the year every student was spotlighted. This was a difficult assignment in regards to some students' writing.

Because of Sheila's honest praise of Tracy’s dialogues, Tracy went on to become one of the class experts on typical conversations. She along with two friends wrote two dialogues that were published in Fresh

Talk. After this incident Tracy felt confident in her ability to write good dialogues. While writing the two dialogues for publication, she was the student who arbritrated the honesty and realness of the conversations.

Lines of dialogues that didn’t ring true in her judgement were called "stale."

By praising Tracy's work and using her dialogue as an example, Tracy was given the confidence in her ability as a writer. A writer who had something worthwhile to say and the expertise to communicate her message to an audience.

In another instance with another student, Sheila’s one-on-one work with Nicole on her dialogue on a conversation between mother and daughter while doing the dishes, was an attempt to help one student who was always in trouble get spodtlighted. Nicole had been labeled a 160

"trouble-maker” by teachers and students alike. She spent much of her time suspended from school. One reason she was sitting alone when Sheila sat down to work with her was that no student wanted to get into trouble by pairing with her. Perhaps as a defense against this situation,

Nicole acted like she didn't have a dialogue. She was sitting at her desk looking mad. When Sheila asked her about the dialogue, Nicole pulled a copyl from her math book. Sheila helped Nicole on the day of the described lesson and the following day until Nicole felt confident her dialogue was sufficiently polished for the classroom performance. Nicole was eager and proud to perform the dialogue by the third day of the lesson.

It was little actions like helping Nicole that had built Sheila's reputation with the students as being a nice teacher. Sheila truly enjoyed the students' writing.

She wasn't putting on an act when she laughed at humorous incidents in their articles. Her appreciation came across to the students. She was a wonderful audience and support person for their writings.

TEACHERS LEARNING ABOUT THEMSELVES

Teachers need support groups to institute change.

To institute major instructional changes, such as we attempted, it is desireable and probably necessary for teachers to have a support group to pad the falls and soothe the bruises. Any change is difficult. An 161 individual teacher's change within the bureaucracy of a large educational institution is a lonely, frightening, uneasy experience.

We three teachers felt grateful that we were in the right place at the right time. We had each other and we all had support groups. Loren had his LTF group, while

Sheila and I had the teacher research group. We all shared the guidance of Dr. Don Bateman and Nancy Mack.

This arrangement provided support on both a school level and a broader university academic level.

On the school level, we teachers conferenced before the fifth and seventh period class, during lunch as in the dialogue lesson described, and after the class. Last minute changes and readjustments were common throughout the study, as in Sheila's decision to duplicate Tracy's dialogue as an example to the class.

This constant alteration in the lesson plan, utilizing a student example or taking advantage of a teachable moment was commonplace. The discussion of such changes caused each of us to think through the alteration.

Such instinctual alterations sometimes resulted in the best learning situations. The ensuing teacher discussion also created some new awareness. The discussions and questions helped clarify our thinking. "Why did you do that?" "How will this help the student?" "Will Tracy get 162 upset if we look at the flaws in her paper as well as the good points?" "How can we use the dialogue to help the rest of the class?" We were always checking ourselves with what we knew about language learning and good teacher practices. We were always supportive of each others' change. We were all three flexible people -adaptable and supportive.

Because we were all doing something new and different, we were feeling our way. We knew the best practice was to adjust to the students lead and be willing to take advantage of what occurred. We tried to keep some cardinal rules in mind, such as the beliefs that all students can be writers and that we should offer only positive support toward their efforts to communicate their ideas.

As stated earlier, Sheila and I met at least one night a week to plan instruction and interpret observations and progress. We were constantly on the phone with each other. I was continually doing the unforgiveable, interrupting Sheila in the middle of one of her other classes just to ask one more question. In

Sheila’s words, "Sharon and I have spent countless evenings raising questions, revising strategies, sharing observations, reflecting, and planning. For me, it has been a chance to put theory into practice." 163

Both Sheila and I felt an obligation to support

Loren. As an undergraduate education major, he had been

placed in the middle of a research project. His role and

assignments sometimes changed from day to day. He, like

Sheila and I, had to be flexible and adaptable. We wanted

to give him support and guidance, but we also wanted him

to have experience planning and implementing his own

instructional strategies. It was a delicate balance in

working with a student teacher. We hoped the situation

was more exciting and instructional than just a regular

classroom placement.

As teacher researchers, we were in a unique teaching

situation. We all three worked with one class at the same

time. Sometimes we divided the class into 3 groups and

sometimes we worked with them altogether - as described in

the dialogue writing lesson. Some advantages to the close

supportive relationship were subtle. When the students

were having difficulty and their problem wasn’t being

perceived by one teacher, one of the other teachers

usually caught it. The message would be conveyed.

As teacher researchers, we wanted to take control of

our learning, but that is a difficult and lonely task. We didn't know anyone that had done exactly what we were

trying to do, help a class write an ethnography of

themselves. We wanted to design our instruction to our

students and the project needs, but we needed some 164

professional feedback from other language arts teachers.

The university teacher researcher group fulfilled this

need.

The teacher research group also provided questioning voices to our innovations, making us think. John

Richmond, a teacher who has had many years experience working with the Talk Workshop Group of London England, another teacher support group, says:

When people do trust each other they often become generous to a fault, and you sometimes need an outside person with a bit of an edge to their comments about what you've been doing in order to avoid self-indulgence. (Rich, "Talk Workshop Group," p.171)

The teacher researcher group served as our outside persons. This group was composed of other Columbus middle school teachers along with Dr. Don Bateman and Nancy Mack from the Ohio State University. Each of the Columbus middle school teachers had identified a question or topic within their classrooms that they wanted to research.

Meeting every other week, sharing our observations, frustrations, and successes, this teacher research group provided a broader support group. We also clarified our perspectives on our research questions, our data collec­ tion techniques, and, ultimately, our interpretations.

The atmosphere of the teacher research class was one of trust. John Richmond points to this attribute as "the most important thing about any group of people doing 165

something together." He says:

Teachers looking critically at their own classrooms involves self exposure and vulnerability. You have to be prepared to admit that you did something wrong, that you missed opportunities; you have to be prepared to reveal the things which embarrass you about your classroom, as well as the things in which you take pride. {Rich, "Talk Workshop Group,"p.171 )

Dr. Bateman and Nancy Mack were particularly good at

asking probing questions. "How can you utilize this

interest in letter writing to teach some broader aspects

of good writing?" "How did you interpret the students

response?"

The teacher researchers wanted to know when we had

time to fit the rest of the curriculum into the class

since we were writing the ethnographic book? Their

questions made us verbalize what we assumed everyone knew.

Having university and school system support for our

research gave it more academic credibility. The

administrators and other teachers felt that we weren't

just some eccentric teachers.

I have read about other teacher support groups in

London, England; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Hawaii.

In these groups teachers also identified a need for

change, and possible direction for that change.

Some people have given teachers who attempt to take

control of their own learning and growth the title

"teacher experts." The elementary NCTE publication 166

Language Arts now has a regular column entitled "On

Becoming Teacher Experts" which carries articles of the

learnings of independent teachers or groups of teachers.

But John Richmond has a few cautionary words about

the "teacher expert" description, which is also the title

of his group's publication. He says:

We didn't mean that everything that had ever been written about education or language or learning was no use to us. Nor were we all planning to become academic linguists or psychologists. We meant that the process of understanding about language and its role in learning needs to start from the needs that teachers themselves, ourselves, perceive. (Rich, "Talk Workshop Group," p.173)

Ann Shea Bayer from the University of Hawaii

transplanted the British group model to North America.

Bayer conducted the year long study group on the school-

site following a three-week summer inservice program and a series of writing across the curriculum workshops. Bayer says: What was probably most useful about this study group was the process of talking with each other over a period of time attempting to clarify, defend, expand their thinking about the role of writing in their curriculums. (Bayer, p.419)

Did these teachers change their teaching practices as a result of the study group? Bayer says:

The extent to which these teachers were modifying their instructional practices is the result of their participation in the entire in- service program; what the study group did, I believe, was to give these teachers the opportunity, through dialogue, to initiate, clarify, and expand on their own and each 167

others’ thinking about writing, thereby, constructing shared meaning for major concepts involved in promoting writing. Later, the study group provided support for each other as they tried these ideas in their classrooms. (Bayer, p . 420)

Bayer found that a chairperson and reading material

reflecting theory and practice was helpful to the study group. The participants in Bayer’s group discovered as we did that "Change is only possible over a long period of time."

Meeting with a group such as the teacher research group, defining your own classroom concerns and conducting research to explore them makes a teacher feel like a professional. And so it was with Sheila. She said:

I do feel more professional. I've sought out professional journals and I read them more discerningly now. I've attended more conferences. In short, this has been a mid­ career "shot in the arm" for me. But also, I think, a humbling experience. I have the expertise to manage a classroom smoothly, easily. I have file cabinets full of no-fail lessons. Yet doing this research has made me question everything I do. "All right, Cantlebary, what do you expect the kids to get out of this dittoed exercise. Wouldn't it be better if they were doing something real?" The inner voice asks. And, always, the answer comes back, "Yes." (Cantlebary's notes for master's exam)

Becoming teacher researchers causes us to change roles.

As Dixie Goswami noted from her observation of

Shirley Brice Heath working with teachers at the Bread

Loaf School:

in classrooms where teachers are students 168

themselves, trying to learn from their students, different relationships among teachers and students emerge... (p.350)

As a result of our year long research project, we

noted a change in our relationship with the students and

in our roles as teachers. Learning became a partnership

shared with the students. The class became a "community

of learners" as indicated in chapter two.

By being teacher researchers we were also teacher

learners. By taking control of our own learning we began

to redefine our roles as teachers as being to facilitate

students* taking control of their learning. This change

of perspective on learning also had major consequences for

our classroom instruction and our participation in new

program formation.

In classroom instruction our changed role was

manifested in two ways both focusing on learning. First,

the ownership of learning was transferred to the students,

and second, learning became the major concern in the

classroom as it was needed to complete the student publication.

As discussed earlier, we transferred the ownership of

the student publication to the students and along with it the ownership for learning itself. As teachers, we shared

in the process of learning. We learned from the students and with the students. But we didn't own learning or hand

it out to the students. Our model of learning was not a 169

top-down hierarchy with the teacher controlling the

learning. Our role was to facilitate the students*

learning of the skills they needed to write and publish

their articles in book form. We wanted the students'

natural curiosities and desires to learn to thrive. The

students facilitated our learning by explaining the computers, aspects of their culture, and ultimately their successes and frustrations with the composing process.

Our perspective on learning created an atmosphere where student initiative thrived. Loren's year end comments included this statement about the phenomenon:

I think one big indication or example that learning was occurring was any of the many times when students took initiative and tried new things, especially in the computer room. There were advantages and disadvantages to this enthusiasm and initiative. Despite draw­ backs and delays caused by some students' ini­ tiative, especially Dora's and even Rob's, overall, the initiative resulted in the learning of new skills. (Santiago's classnotes)

There were many times when we didn't have the information to answer the students questions or needs. We didn't know all about computers or how to use the software. We didn't know the rules for evaluating a rap.

When we didn't know the answer, we had to brainstorm with the students for ways to find the information. We would consider reading the instruction booklet for a piece of software, asking a student expert on raps, calling a disk jockey who played raps, or using the reference materials 170

in the library. We demonstrated to students how to go

about obtaining needed information, which is a beginning

step in owning their learning. Gordon Wells says:

As knowledge increases, it becomes progres­ sively less important what you know and more important how to find out and use what you know. (Rich, "Accountability, Freedom, and Negotiation," p.534)

The idea of students owning their learning, as well

as owning their ethnographic book is a crucial one. The

ideawas discussed in earlier sections, but has some

special implications in this section on the changed role

of the teachers. Student ownership of the project and of

their learning creates demands on the teacher for a

particular kind of instruction. The teacher's instruction

needs to be aimed at what the students want or need to

know to do the project. With twenty-three students there

were a variety of needs. The class configuration was in a

constant flux, sometimes small groups, sometimes whole

class, sometimes pairs, and sometimes we tried to give

special attention to individual students.

The fact that the ownership for learning is

transferred to the students does not diminish the

professional stature of the teacher. As shown above the organizational skills of the teacher are required more

than in the lecture classroom. The teacher still must make professional judgements about the usefulness or 171 appropriateness of instruction to the students' needs and to the communities' needs.

The second manifestation in the classroom of our changed teaching role was the emphasis on learning rather than just teaching the curriculum. Our concern was not for completing the work in the adopted textbooks, but for aiding the students in the completion of the writing and publication of Fresh Talk. As a resource teacher, I applaud teachers who encourage their students to go beyond the adopted texts into "real reading" and the real world.

Charlotte Huck says:

Reading like learning to swim takes hours of practice, but the practice must be in a real book that gives as much personal satisfaction as plunging in the cool water of a lake gives to the swimmer, (p.364)

When learning becomes our major concern in the classroom, the emphasis changes from teaching the skills in the textbooks to sharing learning with students.

Teachers who follow just the adopted textbooks and the prescribed units year after year seem no more than practioners, not professional educators. Sharon Rich talking about her observations on the St. George Writing

Project in Australia says:

Sometimes it seems as if teachers the world over would like to be told what to do. No one wants to make a mistake. Then some teachers one day reach out and realize that just as they can't learn for their children, so too no one can learn for them. They begin to read, to question, to write and they shape a reality 172

that sparks too of their experiences learning with children. (Rich, p.640)

Changing our role in the classroom was a political

action which we only recognized in retrospect. As Sharon

Rich says:

Teachers who put the child at the center of schooling, who watch and learn with and from the children's interactions, discover much about the way in which learning works. If power is the ability to shape your own learn­ ing, then becoming your own expert restores power to children and teachers in classrooms. (Rich, "Accountability, Freedom, and Negotiation" ,p.533)

As teacher researchers and learners, we have

developed a closer analogy between what happens in our

classrooms and what we believe to be real learning. Our

experience has affected the role we assume in the learning

process within the classroom and in our personal learning

outside the classroom.

Jerome Harste says:

We are all researchers holding a theory about how the world operates. The learning process is essentially the research process in that it it begins with seeing an analogy between a whole complex of factors and relating it to some sort of scheme in your head that has worked before. (Rich,"Classroom Research as Professional Developmen," p.60)

The teacher needs to be "in tune" with the students.

Being "in tune" with your students was one of the requirements of doing a teacher researcher study such as ours. In order to plan instruction it was necessary to be

sensitive to the needs and interests of our students. As 173 discussed earlier we had to let them be our guides to understanding the learning process. Our instruction was determined by what students said they needed such as with the verbal language group's request for assistance on writing typical dialogues. The instruction was also determined by what we observed students needed. When we noticed several students were having difficulty designing and then summarizing questionnaires, we developed several whole class lessons to help.

Since the goal of the class was to produce a description of middle school culture, our sensitivity had to be fine tuned. Being middle school teachers we already had some strong images and feelings about what the middle school culture was. Those images and feelings had to be contained if we wanted a true picture of what middle schoolers thought about their culture. The containment of one's feelings and images is extremely difficult task. I am not certain that we didn't influence the students' view and description of themselves.

Each of the three teachers had eye-opening experiences when our views or opinions about our roles came into conflict with the students' views. Loren had such an experience when he was doing a writing conferencing with a student. The student had written an article from his survey on the movies middle school 174 students watch. Loren says:

I discussed with students points such as style, semantics, clarity, and mechanics. I had a very eye-opening incident with Todd. Todd wanted me to proof-read his piece on movies. Working on the assumption that every bit of writing should be as clear and '‘correct" as possible, I began to correct Todd's writing, discussing every change or suggestion I made. I found that Todd was very proud of his writing, as many students are. I know how he must have felt when I suggested his writing was wrong. However, Todd perceived the situation as such, and he agreed to my suggestions only because he thought the changes were for the good of the book. Todd never really agreed to the changes, and he spoke with triumph as my changes were appealed, his kept...In the changes that were made, Todd and I discussed clarity of the written message and the need for a writer to continuously remain aware of his audience. Todd came to see how his message was not clear to everyone; he began to decenter.... I, along with other students, read Todd's writing, isolating and clarifying ambiguities. (Santiago's classnotes)

Loren's changes that were not upheld by Sheila and I were ones where he had tried to impose the phrasing of a twenty-one year old college student on a thirteen year old boy. Loren learned he had to allow the students to use their own language and phrasing. That was part of the students’ owning their writing. As he says in the description of the incident he learned to only work on student writing problems where the "message was not clear." The art of a successful student writing conference greatly depends on being sensitive to the students. Loren and Jeff became very good friends. They had served as teachers for the other. 175

Being "in tune" with the students was not only a requirement of the study, it was one of the biggest rewards of the study. It aided our understanding of the teacher's role in the learning process and it helped develop the feeling of partnership with the students. In

Sheila's words:

I've been more "in tune" to students this year. They’ve liked knowing that I'm inter­ ested in their music, their doodling, their language, their jokes, etc. We've become partners in this study. Students have actu­ ally given up lunch periods to continue working. (Cantlebary*s classnotes)

I’ve been a teacher for eighteen years. Yet, I'm still learning about the learning process and my best teachers are the students if I'm tuned in. CHAPTER IV

LANGUAGE GROWTH IN REAL WRITING

INTRODUCTION

Evaluation of learning is one of the current topics

in education. When the national government releases the

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the results make national news headlines with Dan Rather doing a 60 second analysis. The state has instituted requirements that every student be assessed at three times during his/her education K-12 in the areas of reading, writing, and math. The state asked that the assessment be based on a school system's course of study. The community and board of education continually make decisions about the quality of the school system based on the results of standardized

So when a classroom teacher, such as Sheila, decides to make the creation of a student publication the center of her curriculum, she may want or need ways to evaluate the language growth from such a project. Since Sheila was in the classroom and observed language improvement and great student enthusiasm, Sheila didn't need these. She wanted proof to show to parents, administration, and other

176 177

teachers, proof that would verify what she knew. This

chapter discusses the language growth of our students

through the letter writing and the ethnography project.

Teachers might be encouraged to gather the similar data

about their student rather depending upon the information

they get from standardized tests.

The chapter is divided into two sections. The first

section is a description of several letter writing

sessions in the classroom and an accompanying evaluation

in which I show how the community of learners helped each

student with the revision process. The second section is

an explanation of the observed language growth in the

letter writing and in revision strategies in general.

CLASSROOM STORY

The eighth grade language arts classroom had an edge of anticipation in the air on this cold winter day. It was fifth period, the period that due to the classroom shortage, the eighth graders had to occupy a sixth grade room. The thirty flat-topped desks, containing sixth grade books and bearing sixth grade student name tags taped so they were visible only from the teachers viewpoint (in front), were arranged in tight rows touching each other limiting access to the chairs only from the left or right sides of the room. As one of the eighth graders, Tracy, said, "It be all crampy in there." The front chalkboard contained information pertinent to the 178

sixth graders who had departed for lunch but had not

forfeited ownership.

Two private study carrells and a long working table were located in the back corner of the classroom. Low two-shelf-bookcases bulging with reference books and independent reading materials lined the left and right sides of the room. The cold, gray, late January light promised more snow for the students of this mid-western metropolitan middle school.

The eighth graders were eagerly awaiting the names of their second semester pen pals. The anticipation of the unknown stirred their emotions. As students were handed small pieces of paper with the names of their pen pals, nervous giggles and verbal hopes erupted through the quiet room:

Robin: Jeff, Jeff I Who'd you get? Jeff: A boy I I wanted a girl. Robin: I got a girl. Let's trade. Ken: James Lake Kevin: Call him Mr. Rivers

Kevin loved to joke about names. When helping another classmate write a pen pal letter to Joe Maple, he said,

"Just say, 'Hi Joe Maple! How's your girl friend,

Pancake?"

On this day, students were being asked to write an introductory letter to their second semester pen pal.

Sheila had suggested that students ask questions in their 179

first letter that the new pen pal could then answer. I

had written suggested topics on the front board:

1) Describe yourself 2) Describe your family - parents, brothers, sisters, and pets 3) Tell your interests

The students were able to peruse their personal folders of

pen pal letters from first semester as they began their

new correspondence. A week earlier, students, using these

pen pal folders and working with a partner, had identified

letter writing features from their first semester letters

using a checklist (Figure 3). They also gave summative

comments about the first semester writing activity and

selected both the best letter they wrote and the best

letter they received.

The use of the checklist was to make the students

consciously aware of some of the features of good

letters, not just format features. We wanted the students

to reflect on some aspects of the letters they received

that made communication enjoyable. We were asking the

students to look at larger concepts of writing in general

— such as tone and honesty in a communication. The

selection of the best letter they wrote and received was done to make them notice the good features in their own and others' writing. We hoped each student would develop

criteria of what good writing was. They might want to model or imitate a technique used in the "best” letter. 180

The lesson had created a lot of student interest and discussion. They enjoyed looking at our copies of their pen pal letters.

Students had been told that their letters would not be graded for punctuation, capitalization, form, or content. We stressed the importance of conveying thoughts as accurately as possible and moving beyond initial response to engagement with ideas. Establishing repoire with a pen pal was diffi-cult especially when students knew very little but the pal's name and school:

Christina: I don't know what to say. If I can get the first sentence, I can get the rest. Kevin: How come they didn't write to us first? Ken: Yeah, so we'd know what to write to them.

However, after the second or third set of letters came in, they were passed around by students, sometimes read aloud to friends, discussed, compared, and criticized. Students began to get input from each other and to talk their way through the acutual composing process as they answered their letters.

Ken: DagI My pen pal didn't ask me no questions againl Now I gotta find something to talk about. {He sat head bent over a blank piece of notebook paper.) Let's see... Herschel Walker and capitalize the "H"... Now I have to think of something else to ask him.... What high school?... He's probably going to South.

Ken continued his monologue partly to himself and partly 181 to Larry who occasionally interrupted him to ask for spelling help. A few minutes later, Ken paused to read and reflect on what he had written so far. He gets direction from another student, Kevin:

Ken: All these questions I asked him. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Kevin: Answer them. Ask them in one paragraph. Then you answer them in the next. Like...are you going to a concert? I am. Ken: I'm going to answer all these questions... I wanted to start a new paragraph. Dag! I've got to erase all this.

Mary, a Southeast Asian student who spoke very limited English, had difficulty writing at first to her pen pal, another Southeast Asian student who had been in the United States for a longer period of time. But Mary always tried. She was observed to put her notebook paper right on top of her pen pal's so that the first paragraph of the pal's letter was exposed. She then proceded to imitiate "Hello, Mary," with her own "Hello, Lisa."

Jeff finished his letter quickly and took it to

Sheila. Realizing she didn't have the school envelopes with her, she sent him to the office downstairs to get some.

Sandy's pen pal, one of the editors of her high school newspaper, sent Sandy a copy of the latest issue.

Sandy intently read it. Tracy sees her and asks what she 182

has. Sandy hands it to Tracy, who shares it with Jackie

and Tessia.

The forty minute period was always too short when the

students were reading their letters and writing responses.

After the initial nervous noise when students first read and shared their letters, the room becomes quiet, as

students finish composing their replies. Many questions about how to spell a word or where to put a punctuation mark are exchanged.

Students exchanged their letters if they finished before the end of the period. They asked another student to read their writing, wanting it checked or proofread by a peer.

Sheila announces that the students can finish the letters after lunch, 7th period. As the bell rings, Dora and Pam bring their letters to Sheila. Christine mumbles under her breath, "I better get a good letter next time,” as she hands her response to Sheila.

STUDENT GROWTH

The preceding classroom story was shared in draft form with the entire class to demonstrate my writing proess and my revision process. As I lead the students through a hand written draft with wording crossed out and arrows drawn to inserts, Sheila took notes on the student comments and reactions to my writing. Ken looked up at me from a front row seat, and said emphatically, "You don't 183

write like this." When I replied that I did, he still

couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that a teacher

didn’t write something perfectly the first time. He is

not aware that all writers, even good ones, revise

throughout the composing. Ken, like other eighth graders,

is unfamiliar with the real concept of revision. Ken believed that you either wrote well or you didn't - sort of divine destiny. He felt because he didn't write well,

he couldn't. The students voiced this opinion in the early stages of production of their publication. They

said they couldn't write something like The Preppy

Handbook because old people, college people wrote that.

We had to discuss S.E. Hinton and other young authors as well as show them. Students have to begin to belieave they are writers, or can be writers, to work on their writing.

When I questioned the students about what I should do with my draft form to make it sound more interesting, they gave me honest replies. Christine said, "Throw it away." Kevin said, "Put some good jokes in it." But finally real guidance came from the students. "Put more people talking in it," Rob said. He was right. The students helped guide me in my revision as they helped guide each other. My purpose in showing them my writing was to allow them to see how "real writing" was 184

accomplished — through a long slow process with a lot of

revision.

As researchers, we found the best observation of the

capsulized process of student composing occurred during

the period of letter writing. The students had to read

their letters and write a response within the two period

language arts block. At first the letter writing sessions were quiet and quick. But after several exchanges, the

letter writing evolved into a shared experience as shown

in the classroom story. The students would share both

their pen pal's letter and their own response to the

letter. Soon all the students knew the names of their

friends' pen pals as well as their own.

Like Ken in the classroom story, the students began reading more carefully to get cues from the letter to aid them in composing a reply. They tried to consider the interests of their audience. Larry who was continually interrupting Ken to ask for guidance in spelling a word was trying to impress his pen pal who had written that he was president of the student council at the other middle school. This information was made known to the rest of the class and me in the normal middle school fashion.

Kevin, upon reading Larry's pen pal letter and discovering the high position the pen pal held at the other middle school blurted, "And what are you going to tell him about you, Larry?" Shy, quiet Larry was emabarrassed. But he 185

put every bit of effort into writing a good response.

The areas of growth we noted in the letter writing activities specifically will be discussed next. Following

that, will be an explanation of the students' growth in revision during the study.

LETTER WRITING

Writing real letters to real audiences for a variety of purposes helped students learn not only the conventions of letter writing but also much about the power of language in real communication. Knowing that letters are one form of communication students will use throughout their lives, most language arts teachers include a letter writing unit as a regular part of the curriculum. During these units, students may write to inquire, to suggest, to complain, to invite, to thank, or to praise. These one time letter exchanges can teach correct form and composition skills, but exchanging pen pal letters on an extended basis also provides a myriad of rich opportunities for language development. In a year-long pen pal writing activity, we noted four major areas of growth in our eighth grade students.

Areas of growth

1. Students developed a sense of classroom community.

In a manner similar to the computer room description in chapter two, students guided or aided each other in 186 their letter writing. This "effect of community" in

Britton's words was not present at the beginning of the letter writing. At the beginning students wrote in relative silence. It developed slowly. By late October, our field notes show that letter writing periods were nurturing the evolving community of learners. Students were sharing their writing and helping one another compose.

The eighth graders excitement upon receiving a letter from a pen pal initiated a lot of sharing and discussing.

For example, when Dora got a letter with a drawing of what her high school pen pal wore on picture day, she showed it to Nancy. Hearing the excitement, I went over to take a look too. Sheila joined us and asked for the name you call clothes such as those shown in the picture. The girls told her "punk." Dora suggests that Nancy and Pam ask for a picture in their letters. Kevin and Larry discuss the handwriting of their pen pals. Kevin describes it as "weak". When he finally starts writing a reply, he experiments with a very stylized handwriting, much different from his regular writing. Even Larry's comments, "You tryin' somethin' new -paragraphs," doesn't dissuade Kevin from his efforts.

Jeff ponders, "I don't get how these girls just take off and start writing these long notes. I get about four 187 lines and I'm done for." Loren moves up to help Jeff who appears stuck. Robin overhearing Jeff's comments suggests that he tell about his responsibilities in Spanish class.

Jeff helps the Spanish teacher grade papers.

Once a letter was written, the writer would frequently ask a classmate to read it over before it was sent. The entire pen pal experience had a unifying effect on the class as a whole and helped to establish a cooperative environment for the rest of the year's activities.

2. Students developed a sense of audience.

The students began to have a feel for the reader at the other end of the page, to consider what kinds of information the pen pal would need to understand the intended message. They aimed for voice. In Jackie's letter to a high schooler, she typically began, "Hi! How's things going?" When writing to a middle schooler she wrote, "What's up, child? No say my wayl" and finally, to an administrator, "As you know, our language arts class is planning a trip to your school." The need for letters to various audiences besides the pen pals developed naturally throughout the year. When writing letters to adults, the students themselves, after considering the audience, asked for help in correct letter writing format.

3. Students became more aware of language and how it functions. 188

This metalinguistic awareness manifested itself in

many ways. Snatches of conversations were revealing.

"Do I put a comma here, or what?" "You didn’t use no paragraphs." "This boy can write good." "I am six foot, three inches tall and ijs muscular. That don't sound right.... am muscular" "Q-u-i-t-e or q-u-i-e-t, I forgot which one." "My pen pal puts his words in a funny order. It would have sounded better if he would have said..."

During the first semester when our students wrote

letters to an eleventh grade composition class at the academically oriented Columbus Alternative High School, no direct instruction on letter writing was given. We wanted to see if our students would model the upperclassmen’s writing in any way. Many picked up details of letter writing format. Others, like Sandy, actually imitated her pen pal's writing style. When Rachel began her letter with a description of her Halloween costume, Sandy responded with a similar opening paragraph.

Oct. 30, 1984 Hi Sandy, Today is halloween and I am dressed like a man. I have on my brothers pants that are too long and to big around the waist. I have a pillow under a brown jacket {matches the pants), a brown tie completes the ensemble. Topped with a brown "gangster type" hat. The funniest part is my shoes. Have you ever, when you were smaller, clonked around in your Mom's big shoes? That’s what I am doing only my shoes are my Dad's. They are way too big. I have them stuffed with a sack. On my face I have drawn a black beard and a moustache. 189

Nov. 1, 1 984 Hi Rachel, Yesterday I had some fun with my cousin's. We went all over the place the people was given us bag's of candy potatoe chips, etc. I dressed up like a werewolf. I had long sharp teeth my hair was back with some sticking up down the middle. Yes, I remember when me and my sister would go around in mom's shoes and clothes and play house.

During the second semester, when our students wrote

to an eighth grade class at Southmoor Middle School, the

effects of peer modeling were still evident. When Ken

included an original rap as part of his letter, Gary, who

scarcely ever eked out more than a few halting sentences,

called on a classmate for help and promised to respond in

kind, "Me and Brian are going to send you our rap next week." The next week, true to his word, Gary included two

raps in his letter. The first one was boastful.

Well I'm Dr. Fresh the Big Jam Master. I'm getting better because I know I hafta When I'm on the mic I rap so fine when I rock the house I shock your mind.

We also noted language awarenesses when our students began to use the letters as sources for the ethnographic collections. They compared slang usages and copied down numerous abbreviations unique to middle school such as the widely used S/S/S (Sorry So Sloppy) and W/B/S (Write Back

Soon). 190

4. Students increased their ability to read critically.

Meanings were frequently explored in pairs or small groups as students tried to read between the lines and consider the author's purpose. Reading an early pen pal letter, Ernest asked, "What does she mean, 'I like Van

Halen and Duran Duran, but I like my own kind of music, too.?"

Robin patiently explained, "She's not sure if you're black or white, but in case you're white, she wants you to know that although she's black, she does like white groups too. You can tell she's black when she says, 'my own kind of music.'"

Practically every letter offered opportunities for inferences. When Kenneth's pen pal misspelled his name for the third time, Kenneth was disgusted and complained to the teacher. After skimming the letter, she said,

"Well, Ken, since your pen pal is behind in school, maybe that means he has some problems with the school work.

Perhaps writing is really difficult for him."

"How do you know he's behind in school?" demanded

Kenneth. "He doesn't say so." Kenneth reread the letter for evidence and understood a sentence he had evidently ignored on the first reading. The pen pal had written,

"I'm soppused to go to Independence this year, but I flunked." 191

Besides these four important areas of student growth,

another plus for us was that students were highly

motivated to do this writing assignment. Every student

regularly turned in the letters. Not only did the other

language arts classes hear about the project and demand to

know if they, too, could have pen pals, but also students

we didn't even know or have in class stopped by our room

to see if we could link them up with pen pals.

Evaluation

Although our students enjoyed writing to both high

school and middle school students, we felt that they

benefited most from writing to the older, more

sophisticated writers. Writing to the high schooler

required more decontextualization. The letters were

longer. Our students strived for more maturity in their writing. They found the high schoolers' letters to be, on

the whole, more interest-ing. More topics were generated and discussed at length. The context was so familiar when

the correspondence was with other eighth graders that many of the letters concentrated on gossip. Some of the

letters became playful, and by the students' own admission, sometimes silly.

In a questionnaire, we asked the students to write what they thought they had learned from the letter writing activity. 192

Ernest wrote, "That I'm not the only one who has problems."

Nancy learned, "That you can be friends without talking face to face."

Robin offered some advice to the teacher, "I think it was a really good idea. I enjoyed it very much and it was a good experience. I think you should assign this again next year because the students should enjoy it and it gives us a chance to make friends."

Writing pen pal letters, then, takes advantage of two natural inclinations of middle schoolers, their interest in friends and their preference for activity. Most importantly, it gives them a chance to apply language in a realistic situation.

REVISION

An important feature of language growth is a student's ability to revise. As Dan Kirby and Tom Liner were quoted as saying earlier, "It may be the most frustrating part of writing to teach and to learn"

(1981,p.155). It is also a significant indicator of growth in control in language. Kirby and Liner say it is

"part of the larger developmental process of learning to write" (p.156). In this section I will discuss my observation of this difficult process in our study and the implications that these observations have for instruction.

During the writing of Fresh Talk, students were asked 193

During the writing of Fresh Talk, students were asked

to keep all their work in large folders. This included

handwritten work, questionnaires, and print-outs from the

computer. Some small groups composed of two persons

shared folders. Most students, as the project progressed,

had to have their own folder to handle the amount of paper

they accumulated. The folders were kept by either Sheila

or me. From the researcher's point of view data

collection was difficult because there were no guarantees.

Students might forget and take a copy or draft with them,

since it was their respnsibility to place papers in the

folder. One girl even did the unforgiveable and discarded what she felt were unnecessary papers from her writing

folder. My discussion of revision will focus on careful examination of the changes in the drafts found in the writing folders as well as my observation of students in

the process of revising their writing throughout the

school year.

As I looked at student revision, I used Donald

Murray's (1982) definition of revision as "seeing" one's writing again, which means more than just noticing and changing surface features such as spelling, punctuation, and usage. He says, "Writing can be a lens: if the writer looks through it, she will see what will make the writing more effective." Revision means seeing the writing from a different perspective. In Kirby and Liner 194

(1981) words: "We become our own reader and we become critical and questioning - at least as muchas we are able"(p.156).

I also used Kirby and Liner's breakdown of revision into "three different but closely related activities - in- process revision, editing, and proofreading" (p.156).

According to these two, in-process revision occurs during the writing. Writers ask themselves questions, they add or change, word, phrases, and sentences. Editing occurs after there is a completed written copy or draft. To edit is to "make conscious choices about the writing's impact on a specific audience. Proofreading is the task of removing the surface errors. It is the very last stage of revision and of writing itself. From my eighteen years of observing English teachers, this is the kind of revision that is most often taught in schools. Most middle schoolers hold the impression that revision is making a paper error free. This may be one reason on our city-wide high school writing samples that most of the students do very well on the surface features section, but have difficulty expressing new or creative ideas and organizing their thoughts. The students in this study were observed to do all three of these types of revising.

In-process revision could be observed in all forms of writing the students did, not just their writing for the 195 ethnographic publication. In the letter writing incident described at the beginning of the chapter, Ken can be observed doing this type of revision. As he is composing a response to his pen pal, he counts the questions he has written and considers the impact of eight questions in a row. In-process revision is difficult to observe. It can only be noted if someone composes orally as Ken did, or if one has a viewpoint over the shoulder of the writer.

All of our students were exposed to editing as defined by Kirby and Liner because they considered the audience they were writing for in the ethnographic book.

The level at which it was integrated into their personal writing process differed with students according to their growth as a writer. We had many discussions in the class about who the intended audience was - - teachers, university students, or peers. We also discussed what point of view we should assume in the articles and book as a whole. The class determined to use the first person plural "we" throughout the book. From the "Introduction" in page 1 of Fresh Talk to "What Middle Schoolers Eat" on page 59 (Appendix B), the students tried to be consistent with the chosen point of view.

However, not every student consistently internalized the idea of point of view. Altering the point of view in writing is a sophisticated concept. Although most of our students could identify point of view in the stories they 196

read, they were not all able to manipulate it within their

own writing. We had several students that never

accomplished this.

The type or amount of teacher instruction on point of view varied depending on the sophistication of the

student's writing or larger language development. If a

student had bigger problems with his/her writing, those

problems were dealt with first. Students and teachers

alike were taught to look first for ideas and organization

in their own and their peers' work. This was accomplished

in small groups, teacher conferences, or individually.

The situation we observed confirms Kirby and Liner's belief that "Revision, like all writing, should be taught

in terms of what we know about the writing process and in terms of what we know about the growth process of the writer." (p.157)

Proofreading, as stated earlier, is the one kind of revision that our students had been rotely trained to do.

The problem most students have is that they become overly concerned with this check for surface errors while they are drafting.

I have noticed that most of our eighth graders spend some time in their drafting consciously working with surface errors. I have caught myself doing this also.

This may be detrimental to the composing process if taken 197 to extremes so that concentration on correcting surface errors conflicts or blocks the flow of ideas.

Students would argue these rules of punctuation as demonstrated in the computer room scene in chapter two where Robin and Vicki argue the placement of quotation marks and end punctuation. The first thing that students wanted to discuss in small group review of a peer's writing was spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

The middle schoolers preoccupation with the proofreading aspect of revision was overwhelming.

When I examine the successive drafts for the type of revision performed, I noted that almost all of the students have done what Kirby and Liner call "deep revisions"(1981). Deep revision involves the changing of the organization of the paper. (Surface revision is the revision within sentences or paragraphs. No revision includes just recopying or no changes whatever.) An example of this can be seen in one of the student's pencil written draft with his own inked changes on top. (See

Figure 19 and 20.) I chose Jeff's draft as an example to share because it was the best example in the writing folders of both in-process revision and later editorial revision. The final version which appears in Fresh Talk

(Appendix B ) shows much revision from both of these earlier drafts. His first draft (Figure 19) was written in pencil with the later editorial revision (Figure 20) 198 written in ink on top of it. This made the distinction

between the two apparent, Jeff's 1st revision of the draft {Figure 16) was done after Jeff conferenced with

Sheila and another student in his group, Rob,

Jeff's first draft in pencil shows much in-process revision exemplified by the erasure spaces and the crossed out or overwritten words and letters. For example, at the beginning of the third paragraph, Jeff begins a sentence with "2", He then reconsiders and writes the word out on top of the "2", His in-process revision shows thought processes working on surface revision. All the deep revision is done after his conference with Sheila. Note that in his first revision his concentration is on ideas and organization. He adds an introduction, a chunk in the middle, and more information at the end. This focus may be attributed to Sheila's emphasis on these in the conference.

Jeff was a good reader and writer but he wasn't the only one who did deep revision in the class. Most of the students drafts show deep revision. This doesn't seem to be in line with Tom Liner's findings about the revision of freshman, (He didn't study eighth graders.) Liner's conclusion from his study of 100 subjects, 25 each at grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, says:

Freshman mainly need to practice writing regularly. More effective revision exercises 199

with them would involve adding words and phrases - - details to their writing. And like the sophomores, they can substitute sentences, so work in that area may be helpful. They most need a chance to grow and experience new things and gain confidence in themselves as writers. (Liner and Kirby, p.161 )

I agree that eighth graders need a chance also to grow and experience. But if most of our students were able to do significant reorganization, I believe other eighth and ninth graders could too. I don't believe students should be pushed to do harder and harder higher level curriculum. I don't believe they should be tied by limited expectations. If we had a range of students at different cognitive levels, why did almost all of them show deep revision in their papers? I think several factors may have strongly influenced their deep revision -

- individual teacher conferences, class lessons in writing introductions and conclusions, peer conferences, real audiences, the word processing programs on the computer, and lots of time to look and think again about their writing. The situation of three teachers in the classroom permitted the luxury of individual student conferences.

However, I think the fact that the piece of writing became important to the student also was a major factor. Their ownership of their artcles caused them "to look again" at their writing. 200

Another observation of significance was the wide

variety in the ways students revise. Robin and Vicki

loved to compose and revise on the computers. They

composed, discussing each point as they typed it into the

computer. Jeff wrote alone, composing on paper and doing

a lot of in-process revision. He would write a great

deal, four paragraphs, and then ask for Rob, his partner,

or Loren to look it over before he edited. Ken and Kevin

produced a lot of their writing orally before putting it

on paper. They revised by rereading orally to themselves

and having nearby friends respond to their oral reading.

If revision is indeed an important part of the development

of good writing, then our students' deep revision

indicates development in their writing expertise.

A lot of factors may have played a role in their

improved revising strategies as mentioned above - -

particularly ownership of their writing, class discussion of introductions and conclusions, interaction with peers, and almost individual adaptation to the student's maturity level in writing. Our observations seem to

indicate that instructional strategies that foster the above factors would increase students' revisioning of their writing. CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

As hard as it was to capsulize the flavor of our year

long study in these pages, it is equally as hard to

summarize the implications of the study. Each time I

review the observations on an individual lesson, I

discover something new. When I discuss the observations

with other educators or researchers, they bring questions

to bear I had not considered. My learning grows as long

as I question and reflect on the events of the study. I

have tried to do what Ann Bertoff has urged - look and

look again at the information I collected and at what I

know about learning - "to REflect, REformulate, and

REconsider."

this chapter represent my thoughts at this point in time.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE STUDY

My first thoughts concern how the study has been dispersed and utilized so far - most research doesn't

leave the dusty shelves of the library. One of the products of our study, Fresh Talk, has become a "hot" commodity in the classroom even before the research

201 202 results have been reported. Columbus middle school teachers who received copies tell us they can't keep them in their classroom. The books are continually carried off by students. While visiting a middle school, an LTF student accidently placed her copy along with her notebook on a freereading bookcase. Out of the corner of her eye, she observed a student pick up the publication, leaf through it, show a friend, and immediately drew it to the attention of other students. The publication has been used in an articulation conference to inform ninth grade teachers what middle school students are like. This fall, copies were distributed to 8th grade language arts teachers in Columbus at an inservice on the writing process. Copies were presented to the members of the

Columbus Public Schools CITS (Computers in the Schools) committee. As a result of the publication, four other middle schools in Columbus are planning student computer publications. Under an agreement with the Deptartment of

Theory and Practice at the Ohio State University, these four schools will receive LTF students to help in the classrooms producing the publications.

Proposals are being written to present the research project and the publication at state and national conventions. But most importantly, we are making arrangements to start a new teacher research group to support teachers who want to research questions in their 203

classrooms. Faculty from the Ohio State University have agreed to help guide the project. The research and the publication have generated excitement and action. Such a phenomenon for dissertation research seems an implication in itself.

IMPLICATIONS HAVE A DIFFERENT PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE

Secondly, my thoughts turned to the traditional use of the implications section in quanitative studies. The established purpose of the last chapter in a dissertation is to communicate implications of a study to other researchers to guide further inquiry. As I reflect on the learnings from my study, the standard purpose and audience could not be the only ones for my last chapter. I don’t wish to diminish this usual purpose and the usual audience. There is a necessity at the university level for such scholarship. In James Moffett's words:

"University-based educators may find that, unless they scientize their work by casting it as research, they may not be able to stay long in an academic setting."

("Hidden Impediments,"p.52) Moffett also states the effect of reliance on such research:

The current reliance on research distracts us from the true causes of ineffectual and irrelevant methods of teaching. Partly, this preoccupation with research is a kind of whistling in the dark to keep up our courage. Partly, it simply supports some educators and researchers who depend on it for funding, academic recognition, and career advancement. 204

I say these things with considerable sympathy; some of my best friends are researchers. ("Hidden Impediments," p.52)

And some of my best friends are researchers, too.

However, in this case the research was almost an end in itself. The significance of this study is not what we discovered about our particular classroom but what we discovered about the importance of teachers conducting their own research in their own classrooms. The changes in Sheila's instructional practices, the environment in the class, and the type of community learning that occurred were a result of her role as a teacher researcher. As I considered the implications of my study for the educational community, I realized that just phrasing a group of questions for researchers is not consistent with my observations of the learning process observed in this study. To be consistent with what I've learned in this study, I need to communicate the excitement of the study to teachers. For it will be teachers who ultimately institute changes in their classroom, as Sheila did in her classroom.

I have been considering what the most effective forum is to convey the excitement of my study to teachers. A list of questions in the fifth chapter of a 200 page dissertation is not typically exciting reading for the average classroom teacher, or anyone else. If I want teachers to foster student ownership of learning, I, in my 205

job as a resource teacher, must encourage, guide, and foster teachers to own their learning. Teachers have to internalize the process of owning their learning before they can recreate it in their classrooms. The excitement for a dynamic process can best be conveyed by actually experiencing of that process. So, other teachers must become learners and researchers in their own classrooms.

This is not asking something abnormal of teachers.

It is making conscious a process they do already. As

Jerome Harste was quoted as saying in chapter three: "We are all researchers holding a theory about how the world operates" ( qtd. in Rich, "Classroom Research as

Professional Development," p.60). Harste furthers his thoughts saying:

We've elevated research to the nonaccessible university professor level. Part of being a professional is taking responsibility for testing your own hypotheses and continuing to learn. I think teacher burnout occurs when teachers don't like their profession because they're expected to be robots and deliver programs without thought, without developing their own hypotheses, {qtd. in Rich, "Classroom Research as Professional Development," p.60)

Harste describes several ways he helps teachers take charge of the language learning process. He tries to "de­ myth" theory and research. He also suggests that teachers constantly ask themselves questions about what is happening in their classrooms. 206

From my experiences in this study the teacher

researcher group fostered my ownership of learning. The

group served as a forum to share and direct my concerns.

Such support groups would be most effective in fostering

the questioning that leads to classroom change. The

groups could be initiated by the teachers at a building

level and have an outside person to question or challenge

accepted practices. These support groups could also be

initiated by teachers from different buildings who share

common concerns. An association with a university gives

academic credit to group members. A university professor

or graduate student in education can serve as the outside

person, helping to clarify questions and directing

observations. If the outside person can be a person who

can question, summarize, and relate to larger education

concerns, a dynamic dimension is added to the group.

Common readings on theory and practice as well as

regularly scheduled meeting times add to the effectiveness

of such a group.

QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE STUDY

The questions I pose in this chapter then are not

intended for other teachers to adopt word for word. These questions are formulated to direct my further inquiry as a teacher researcher. Classroom teachers must formulate their own questions. Their questions arise from their personal concerns and observations in their classrooms. 207

The first step to owning your learning, as we discovered

from the students and ourselves as teacher researchers, is determining what is important to merit investigation - choosing your own topic.

Other teachers may look at my questions to compare

their own concerns. They may realize that phenomenon they have observed in their classroom were present in ours also. And such phenomenon do indeed merit further questioning, observation, and research by the teacher as her own learner.

Ann Berthoff gives the following directions in "The

Teacher as REsearcher":

Educational research is nothing to our purpose unless we formulate the questions; if procedures by which answers are sought are not dialectic and dialogic, that is to say, if the questions and answers are not continually Reformulated by those who are working in the classroom educational research is pointless, {p.89)

The observations I made as a researcher have caused me to formulate many questions. These questions will continue to guide my own REsearching. I have organized my questions around the three overriding impressions from the study mentioned in chapter one:

1) The community of learners that is created

when students help one another produce

communications for a class publication,

2) The new dimensions added to my 208

understanding of the learning process by

being a teacher researcher, and

3) The tremendous motivational impetus and

natural learning that is unleashed when

students write for real purposes to

communicate real messages to a real audience.

THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS

1. How does a teacher create an environment where

a community of learners can evolve? We discovered

several factors that fostered the creation of a

classroom community of learners:

- asking students to help each other

- creating student experts on a topic

- the use of computers, when the teacher

knows very little and there are two

students for each computer

But are there other practices or criteria that

perhaps went unnoticed that foster the develop­

ment of a community of learners?

2. How does the centering of the curriculum

around a student-oriented project aid the

creation of a community of learners? According

to the students summation comments they liked

the idea that everyone was working together

toward completion of one project. Is this a

necessary ingredient to the creation of a 209

community of learners?

3. How does the use of computers aid in the creation

of a community of learners? Did the way we used

the computers or the computers themselves aid the

creation of the classroom community? We used the

computers as tools to get professional copies and

layouts of student writing. We didn't teach the

computer directly as is the present custom in the

middle school and the high schools. We also did

not stress keyboarding. We utilized students to

teach other students and the teachers.

4. How does the use of word processing programs

aid the revision process of students? Students

did a lot of revision in their writing on the

computers. Was this revision a result of the

ease of the word processing or did it also

result from a combination of factors such as

peer conferencing, teacher conferencing, and

group and whole discussion?

5. What approach should educators take toward the

integration of computers into the curriculum?

Computers are now being taught as a separate

study. Shouldn't they be taught as what they

are - tools within the subject areas?

6. When students work in a group on writing projects, 210

what is the relationship between an individual's

ownership of his writing and the group's ownership

of the writing?

BEING A TEACHER RESEARCHER AND LEARNER

1. How do you best help teachers become teacher

learners? Are there other aids besides

support groups to help teachers own their

learning?

2. Why can't the assignments in a language arts

class center around the real purposes for

writing in the world? How much would students

clarity in writing improve if they continually

had real purposes and real audiences other than

the teacher for which to write in class.

3. What part did the selection of a class project,

in which the students were the experts,

contribute to keeping the teachers in-tune

with the kids?

4. What kind of instructional scaffolding does

a teacher provide for students in a community

of learners?

5. In what ways can teachers nurture student

ownership of their writing? 211

GROWTH IN LANGUAGE THROUGH WRITING TO REAL PURPOSE AND REAL AUDIENCE

1, Since part of the benefit of the pen-pal writing

activity resulted from negotiating meaning over

a period of time, are there any other real

writing activities that would provide similar

opportunities?

2. How much revision should reasonably be expected

of students in middle school?

STUDENT ENTHUSIASM FOR THE PROJECT

Although ebbs and flows in the tides of student interest were noticeable, students admitted later that this was definitely more fun than the regular English class. They felt they were "getting out" of their regular

English class when they did their researching, conferencing, drafting, revision, editing, and layouts for the publication. That wasn't English to them. English was doing the skills text-book, the literature anthology, and the ditto sheets. The students' enthusiasm for the year long project is revealed in their summation responses to the publication:

"I liked everything." "Everything I did in it. But what I liked most was typing my survey on the computer." "The chance to get out of class and having my name in it." "I liked collecting the information." "All the people working on it together." "It was fun." "Being a part of something like this." 212

While doing a project like this isn't a panacea for all the ills of the language arts classroom, it did make learning for the students and the teachers a more enjoyable shared experience.

SUGGESTIONS FOR DOING A PUBLICATION PROJECT

To help teachers who might want to involve students in such a project, we looked back on the year and divided the book production process into nine stages. Although our lesson plans were revised daily and even within a class period, and since any instructional planning must be sensitive to the unique needs of a particular group of students, this overview may prove helpful in developing a personal long term teaching plan. It is meant to suggest the areas which need consideration (before initiating a similar project.) We would like to caution that the stages are artificial divisions of the process which is recursive in nature like the writing process itself. Each stage includes both ideas that proved successful in our project as well as ideas that, although not in our project, we plan to incororate when we repeat a similar undertaking.

Stage 1: Choosing a topic for the project

We learned that students need to have input from the beginning so that ownership and a pattern of participation is established. A project should be selected that allows for the talent and abilities of all students to be integrated. Slow students and foreign speaking 213

students have special talents that need to befostored. A

project like this is the perfect vehicle to highlight

their abilities. We learned not to underestimate

students. Many hidden talents and initiatives emerged in

the least likely students as the project developed and

interests were stimulated.

If interest is to be sustained throughout, the topic

needs to have student appeal and aproval. Motivation is

all important at the middle school level. The topic

should be sufficiently broad to generate enough

subcategories or spin-off sections to provide work and

interest for the whole class.

The teacher must consider how the instruction of

language arts and reading course of study requirements will be integrated within the project. Any real writing project for a real audience has naturally occurring learning experiences built in.

Samples of various end products may be shown so students can better image their goal. We used The Preppy

Handbook, The Valley Girls1 Guide to Life, and The Yuppie

Handbook. An ethnographic book such as Fresh Talk is only one form the finished project could take. Cultural or historical publications produced by students such as the

Foxfire books, from Raban Gap, Georgia, or nearer to home the Shanachie from Dublin, Ohio and Thistledown from 214

Pataskala, Ohio could be an interesting way to involve

students in the community and integrate other school

content as well. Teleplays, movie scripts, or alternative

newspapers may interest some students.

Stage 2; Identifying categories of the topic

If the project centers around a broad topic like ours did, it has to be divided into workable categories for

individual students or groups of students to develop. Our broad topic of middle schoolers was initially divided into nine descriptive categories by the students. The division was accomplished in a class discussion in which we wrote

"Middle Schoolers" in the center of the chalkboard and

then "webbed" student suggestions around it. Students even suggested subcategories to be webbed.

Stage _3: Making a commitment to a^ category

In order to foster the development of student ownership, students must commit themselves to a category of the topic. This gives the students responsibility for the category. We did this the day after the webbing of categories. Students were asked to give a first and second choice for the categories they wanted to develop.

At the same time they were asked to choose the student(s) with whom they wanted to work. A portion of the class period was allotted for consultation among the students before the actual commitment took place. 215

We then took the student choices and formed working groups of two to five students. An effort was made to place each student with a friend of their choice. Groups were balanced so that a possisble leader or organizer was present in each. Timid students were placed with students who could draw them out. One category was dropped since no one chose it.

Stage 4^: Pre-writing discussion

Prewriting activities provide motivation for students as well as begin their actual thinking about the topic.

The pre-writing classroom discussions provided language about the topic. Our whole class brainstormed jot lists under each of the categories in the ’'Middle Schoolers" web on the chalkboard. For example, under spare-time activities, students listed TV viewing, movies, church, skating, and sports. These jot lists and the ensuing discussion provided at least a starting point for the groups. Since students had been placed in groups of their choice at this point, each student took notes about the category he or she was to develop.

When students first met in groups according to the categories they would be developing, they were given a file folder in which to keep the writing and notes of the group. The file folders were stored in a large cardboard box lid which was easy to transport among the several rooms in which the groups met. Groups appointed scribes 216

to keep notes for the file folder and made individual

assignments for each student on different aspects of the

category. Most students preferred being responsible for

some piece of writing on their own even if they counseled

with the group for prewriting and revision ideas. The

students' sense of equal distribution of labor emerged as

well as the opportunity to arbitrate disputes and make

decisions within a group. There was direct teacher input

and guidance as each group had to present its plan for

writing to the teacher for final approval.

Stage ji: Researching the Categories

During this stage students need to learn some

techniques of field work and research methods. Team

teaching with the science teacher might be appropriate at

this stage. Some students indicated that this was their

favorite stage. Working in groups or individuallhy,

students developed a list of questions they wanted

answered about their specific category or sub-category.

Then they determined the best way to get the answers to

their questions.

Some developed student surveys. They worked hard on

phrasing, arranging, and typing questions in a reasonable order. They had to include instructions on how to complete

the survey. If they wanted a larger sampling than our

language arts class provided, they had to make 217 arrangements for the survey to be given in other classrooms. In many cases they administered the survey themselves giving oral instructions and answering student questions.

Other students decided that selected interviews were their best source of information. The principal, assistant principal, librarian, other teachers, students, parents, and brothers and sisters were interviewed. One group interviewed two cosmetologists-in-training at the local beauth school where most middle school students got their hair cut. Most interviews required telephone calls or letters to be written to request an appointment and then follow-up thank you notes to be sent. A lot of languaging and language learning took place in this stage.

For certain categories student observations and field notes were the best source of information. The student group collecting jokes and insults tried to enlist class help by designing a form for students to fill out when they heard a joke or insult. But after only a few very

"stale" jokes and insults were turned in and rejected, they relied on their own abilities to observe, remember, and then quickly record naturally occurring jokes or insults.

The verbal language group had teacher help to design a form that was regularly used by the whole class to record the unique words or phrases of middle schoolers. 218

The forms were collected each Friday and the findings verified by the whole class for accuracy of meaning, use, and appropriate contextual information.

Stage fi: Writing the first drafts

In this stage students begin their actual writing.

This is the messy stage according to Dan Kirby.

Individual students weave back and forth between writing alone and getting direction or support from their group to do their drafting. The teacher must serve as a facilitator, orchestrating this movement. The key to the success of this stage is the teacher*s flexibility.

Sometimes it is necessary to teach to the whole class or to give the students examples or models of what they can do. We found our best models came directly from the students. We taught the whole class how to summarize information from surveys. A classroom discussion of how to do percentages and fractions was necessary in order to interpret the surveys. We discussed the difference in meaning and emphasis between saying:

"Over 1/3 of the eighth grade girls did wear jewelry." or

"Almost 2/3 of the eighth grade girls didn't wear jewelry"

Only the ideas and organization in students' drafts were discussed at this stage. Grammatical and usage features were generally overlooked. This was a difficult 219

rule for both the teachers and students to follow.

Stage !_'• Rewriting, revising, and editing

The revision stage is the hardest for students at

this age. Dan Kirby says it "may be the most frustrating

part of writing to teach, and to learn" (p.155). Once adolescents get something on paper, many see that initial writing as the end of the process. Some even write "The

END" accompanied by curlicues after their last line of writing in their drafts. Students are shocked when they are asked to rewrite a paper. Most do not have comprehension of what revision means or entails. So the

teacher is developing a whole new concept and a new pattern of behavior in writing for students.

It's a real challenge to find motivational activities and techniques to get the studentsto "resee" their writing as something always in progress. The following is a list of suggested techniques. Some are ones we used successfully. Others are ones we have seen used and plan to incorporate in our next project:

A. Use ci peer partner or group of readers.

A peer partner or group of students provides

a real peer audience for the student author

and thus gives the student author a reader's

perspective on writing. Adolescents believe

and value a peer's reaction more than a 220

teacher's. In our project only peers could

validate findings and conclusions about

their culture.

B. Have students write three beginnings to

their article.

After writing three beginnings in five

minute timed writings, a peer partner or

group can help a student author select the

best beginning. Students should discuss

what makes one beginning better than the

others.

C. Make section of writing in the middle of a

student1s article the beginning.

Students must then rewrite the article as if

the middle chunk of writing were the

beginning. This procedure works best if the

peer partner selects the chunk of writing

for the new beginning. Often students have

a wonderful introductory sentence or

insightful comment buried in the middle of

their article. Selecting the perfect

beginning sentence is an exercise in

critical reading for the peer partner.

D. Invite guest speakers who might motivate the

students.

These guest speakers might talk about their 221

excitement over the writing project, or they

might discuss the real need for the

students' project. The insights of the

guests may provide useful information for

student writing. <0f course, I'm presuming

that the student project has a real purpose

and is going to be shared with a specific

real audience.) Some examples of speakers

might be:

--the education writer for the local news

paper

--the language arts supervisor for the

school system

— the principal

--a representative from a local

publishing company

— parents

— a local expert on the topic of the project

E. Have students use word processing programs

on computers.

The use of computers was one of the greatest

discoveries we made during our project.

They greatly increased student interest and

motivation to revise. The students were

more than eager to use word processing 222

programs. Even the slowest students had fun

and felt a sense of accomplishment when they

could type their writing on the computer.

They thought they were "getting out" of

boring language arts work when they revised

on the computer. The most important

discovery in using computers in the writing

process was the creation of a classroom

community of learners. Because students

shared computers, they began helping each

other learn the editing commands on the

computer. They read and reread each other's

writing on the monitor, making suggestions

for revisions. They even helped the

teachers use the computers. All of this

helpfulness created a comfortable,

supportative learning environment.

F* Share your writing.

As teacher researchers, we were writers too.

We were observing and writing about the stu­

dents' writing. We found the sharing of our

writing to be a very successful learning

activity. We showed students how we revised

our writing. We were even brave enough to

ask them for revision suggestions. The 223

students were amazed that the teachers had

to revise. One eighth grade student accused

me of making errors just to show the class.

I had to reassure him that there were

always many errors in my writing and that it

took several revisions and editing sessions

to clean up my compositions. The student

thought good writers, authors, and, of

course, teachers wrote perfectly the first

time they set words to paper.

NOTE: It is in this stage that students begin to

doubt their ability to be "real writers."

Students need to be reassured that real

writers and authors must revise also.

Stage £: Create a_ proofing mock-up

When all the work is nearly done, make a mock-up of the publication to share with the students. Only when they see the mock-up does the realization set in that this product will be read and shared by a real audience of peers. They become aware of how their writing will represent them to the readers. Students become tremendously motivated to locate all the errors. They locate awkward wording, misspellings, missing commas, and omitted words or phrases. They recognize the need for a piece of artwork, a catchier title, or further description. This might be called the final editing 224

stage.

Stage j): Publish

The publishing stage is the point at which all the

hard work becomes worthwhile. Each of the students has

the realization that he or she is an author, a writer with meaningful ideas to share. Of course the first thing students look for in the book is their own writing. The excitement can be felt in the air of the classroom. All the doubts about whether the project would ever be finished is forgotten. Only the pride in their personal and group accomplishments can be felt among the students who shared an unforgettable learning experience.

CONCLUSION

The book provided an honest and forthright look at the middle schooler's world that could only have been achieved with guidance and explanation from members of that world. As we learned along with the students and from the students, the process of producing the book allowed us to reflect on our role as educators. We brought the students into our world of teaching. They became the teachers of each other and even of us. Whether they were mastering a new word processing program or explaining the intracies of the "swipe" and the "splat" in breakdancing, they shared with us the roles of writer, expert, educator, and learner. A re-introduction to the world of the learner made this school year one of the most exciting ever for us and made us better teachers of middle school students as well. APPENDIX A

FIGURES IN THE STUDY

226 ’ Middle School - College Research Project

Length of Study: October 1, 1964 through June 1, 1965 (March 30, 1985)

Student Assignment Student Objectives S ig n ifican t Data Method of Analysis Study Objectives and A ctiv ities

1. Describe the attempt to 1. Students will Increase 1. Students, acting as eth­ 1. Notes and observations of 1. Notes and observations of their awareness of their nographers, will collect class discussion and group create a classroom "commu­ - place significant obser­ Information and write a discussion nity* of learning. own and o th e rs’ language. vations under one of the book to describe the typ­ a. done by classrom study objectives 2. Describe the language Z. Students will become an ical Bth grade middle teachers schooler, Students wj11: - look fo r key incidents arts/reading classroom active part of a classroom b. done by LTF student when students are asked to coawunlty of learners. - choose topics to became c . done by resource be ethnographers of their the content of chapters teacher cu ltu re . 3. Students w ill Improve (6 chapters) th e ir w riting s k ills by 1) Verbal language 3. Describe the student writ­ using them to carry out 2) Jokes and Insults 2. Writing of students on 2. Student ethnographic pub­ ing that takes place in legitim ate personal and 3) Clothes and mke-up their ethnographic book lic a tio n such a classroom. social tasks. 4) Spare-time activities - rough drafts - middle school ratings - Students w ill ta lk more 5) Natural w riting 4. Describe the social Inter­ - revisions - use of ColMbus Public about writing. 6) Basal reading list - final edited chapters Schools' rubric action that occurs In such - Students w ill view them­ and typical room a c la ss. selves as writers. - select the chapter or topic they want to write - Students will use upper­ 3. Folder of le tte r s from 3. L etters 5. Describe the role of the classmen's writings as about, as well as chap­ teacher. high school students and • high school selective models of acceptable ter contents middle school students personal letters. - determine how they will student evaluation 6. Describe evidence of stu­ - Students w ill became en­ collect and verify In­ - ratings of middle school - middle school student dent metallngulsltc aware­ gaged with a distant formation students evaluation ness. audience. - establish timeline for - ratings of high school - use of Colimtbus Public - Students will recognize w riting students Schools' rubric writing as commjnlcation. - establish grading crite­ - discourse topic analysis - Students will partici­ ria for each student - length and format features pate wil 1 Ingly—and with 2. Students will correspond a notion of responsibil­ 1n le tte r form with ity to "make sense"--1n types of writing that a. 11th and 12th grade 4. Student questionnaires 4. (?) coeposltlon students have different functions. • how much they enjoyed - Students will move be­ (1st semester) activities yond I n itia l response In b. other Gth grade stu­ - how much they learned writing to engagement dents from another from 1t with Ideas. middle school (2nd semester) 3. Students w ill do thought rambllngs.

Figure 1: First Research Plan ro ro 1 Middle School - College Research Project

Length of study: October 1, 1964 through March 30, 1965

Study Objectives Student Objectives Class Activities Measurement Tools

1. Describe what happens when mid­ 1. Students will Increase their 1. Students Individually wl11 do 1. Analyze collections according to dle school students are asked awareness of language. a collection project of middle the following: and trained to be ethnographers school ora! folklore. For of their own language. 2. Students w ill Improve th e ir example: - What kinds of folklore are writing skills. observed and collected? - oral histories 2. Describe speaking, writing, and - Are all^ students or ju s t spe­ - language or typical conver­ reading habits of middle school - use upperclassmen's writings cific groups familiar with as models of acceptable per­ sation of cliques folklore Items? students. sonal letters - jokes - Are students able to d e te r­ - become engaged with a d is ­ - list of topics usually dis­ 3. Describe students1 awareness of mine the function of the 1taa? tant audience cussed by middle school Do the rest of the students th e ir language (and change In - recognize writing as cormxj- students agree with function? their uses of language as they nication - l i s t of "memory book" or became part of audience - p a rtic ip a te w illin g ly —and "yearbook" entries 2. L etters of students would have: coamainlty). with a notion of responsi­ - names and d escriptions of a. analysis of "discourse topic" bility to "make sense"—1n clothes and h a irsty le s ap­ Describe attempt to use whole similar to Heath's 4. types of w riting th at have language approach. propriate for middle school b. analysis of length and format different functions (Students w ill share one Itmn features - move beyond I n itia l response they collected with class.) In writing to engagement 3. Students will rate each class with Ideas 2. Students will correspond in activity as to how much they le tte r form with 11th and 12th enjoyed th e a c tiv ity and how grade students. much they learned from It.

3. Students will do thought rum­ blings on suqqested topics.

4. Students 1n groups will col­ lect and organize a dictionary of middle school language. - entry - part of speech of entry - definition of entry 1n stan­ dard English - use entry In sentence - etymology

Figure 2: Revised Research Plan

no no CD 229

Letter Writing Evaluation Name______

Check which of the following letter writing features your pen pal used:

greeting at beginning of letter closing and signature at end of letter margins new paragraphs to introduce new topics easy to read handwriting mostly correct spelling capitalization and punctuation where needed the letter sounded natural. I could "hear" my pen pal talking my pen pal really seemed to listen to my ideas and care about them. my pen pal responded to my ideas and questions my pen pal's letter made me feel like writing back

1. Did the letters you wrote get longer and easier to write as the semester progressed? Why do you think this happened? « 2. Have you and your pen pal made plans to keep in touch or continue writing?

3. What is something you have learned about writing to a distant person that will help you as you write to a new pen pal this semester?

4. This semester I would like to write t o ____

5. Copy the question from the board on notebook paper. Your answer should be written in sentences.

Figure 3: First Semester Letter Writing Evaluation Evaluation of Pen Pal Activity 230

Name ______Date ______Period ______Note: Please be honest and answer all parts, as there are no right or wrong answers. These are your own personal opinions about the pen pal project. Please do this evaluation independently - with no help from classmates. Thanx

1. From whom did you learn the most in the pen pal activity?

pen pal

yourself

other students in your class

the teacher

2. What is the one thing you learned about writing letters that helped you become a better letter writer?

3. How did your writing change as you participated in the pen pal activity?

in length ______

in penmanship and neatness

in becoming more interesting

other ways

4. What advice would you give to students who are just starting to write pen pals?

5. How can you make your letters interesting and enjoy­ able to read?

6. what one bit of information that a classmate gave you was useful in writing your pen pal letters?

Figure 4: Second Semester Letter Writing Evaluation Figure 4 (continued) 231

Name

7. Did you share your letters with others? Why or why not?

8. Do you think students should be allowed to share their letters? Why or why not?

9. It's easier to write letters (choose only one):

when the room is perfectly quiet and no one is talking

when I can work with a partner or friend and talk while I'm writing

when the teacher gives me suggestions and keeps reminding me to write the letter

10. Pick out the best letter you wrote to a pen pal during the year. Write m^ best-in red on it.

a. Why is this the best letter you wrote?

b. Underline (with a red pencil) phrases, sentences, or interesting details you think are fresh, vivid or particularly interesting.

11. Pick out the best letter you received from either pen pal. Write "BEST PEN PAL LETTER" in red at the top.

a. Why is this the best letter you received?

b. Underline with a red pencil phrases, sentences, or interesting details that you think are fresh, vivid, or especially interesting in this letter.

12. Who did you enjoy writing to more— the high school students or the middle school students. WHY? 232

Evaluation of Fresh Talk

Name

Date

Comnents: We are very proud of Fresh Talk, We hope you are too. I t 's been a pleasure learning with you and from you this year. Thank you for teaching us about middle school students and for being a part of our research project. We will always remember you as special individuals in a very special class

PART I

Directions: Place a check mark (iw) in front of the activities below in which you participated at anytime in language arts class during the project. Put a star ( * )1n front of the activity(ies) you enjoyed the most. 1. 1 designed a survey or questionnaire.

2. I conducted a survey.

3. I summarized information

4. I verified conclusions from asurvey with other students.

5. I learned how to operate a computer.

6. I helped someone learn how to operate the computer.

7. I learned how to work the "Bank Street Writer" program.

8. I learned how to use "The Newsroom" computer program.

9. I interviewed someone.

10. 1 arranged an interview by phoning or writing letters.

11. I transcribed an interview,

12. I wrote up the information based on interviews.

13. I collected samples of slang words.

14. I wrote definitions for slang words.

15. 1 collected insults.

16. 1 designed art work or banners for the book.

17. I was a source of information for another student or group of stu­ dents.

Figure 5: Evaluation of Fresh Talk 233

Figure 5 (continued)

18. I brought a newspaper a rtic le or book to class to share with a group or the teacher.

19. I used the library for reference materials (quotations, book titles, newspaper articles, or other}.

20. I brainstormed ideas for the book.

21. I explained Information about middle schoolers to the teacher.

J.Z. I learned how to do rough drafts of my writing In order to produce a better finished product.

23. I learned that producing a good piece of writing may take many, many revisions.

24. 1 revised (rewrote) rny writing.

_25. I helped someone else revise their writing.

26. I checked my own or someone else's writing for mistakes.

27. I observed middle school students and wrote up or discussed my observations.

28. 1 learned how to write introductory sentences to a paragraph.

29. I learned how to write good beginnings to an article.

30. I learned how to write good endings to an article.

31. I talked to another student about my writing.

_32. 1 was willing to ask for comments about my writing.

_33. I think about who my audience is before I finish my writing.

PART II Directions: Write short answers to the following questions. Please be hon­ est and think about your responses.

1. What did you like most about writing the book?

2. What didn't you like about doing the book?

3. Do you think writing the book brought the class closer together? Figure 5 (continued)

4. What is one important thing you learned about writing this year that you will always remember?

5. How did the teachers help you with your writing?

6. Which chapters do you like best?

7. Which chapter has the best writing?

8. Which chapter do you think was the hardest to write?

9. Do you think the book is a good description of middle schoolers? Why?

10. With whom did you talk about what you were doing on the book?

11. How do you feel now that you see the book in its final form?

12. Do you think we should send the book to a real publishing company to sell? Why?

13. To whom will you show this book?

14. Now that you've seen the book, was the hard work worthwhile? 235

Figure 5 (continued)

15. What would you like to change about the book?

16. Do you think the book will appeal to an audience of middle schools?

17. What is the most important information teachers could learn from the book?

PART III Directions: Place a check mark (✓ ) in the blank that best shows your agreement with the statement. Not Agree Disagree Sure

1. It is easier to write with help from another student or group.______

2. I really worked hard on this book. ______

3. I think more about what I say when 1 write. ______

4. I learned that a few written words could change the meaning of a sentence.

5. I now appreciate how hard writers work. 236

Figure 5 (continued)

PART IV Class Awards

Directions: Name the student(s) who fulfill the description.

______1. With whom did you enjoy taling about the book?

2. Who was a leader(s) in the class? '

______3. Who was good at coming up with Ideas about sections of the book?

______4. Who surprised you the most with their good contribu­ tions to the book?

______5. Who In the class was especially good at helping you with ideas when you needed help.

______6. Who contributed to class discussion about the book?

______7. Who did the best writing in the book?

______8. Whose writing improved the most during the year?

______9. Who is someone who contributed a lot to the book?

______10. Who helped keep class morale (sp irits) high?

______11. Who was good to work with?

______12. Who helped clear up problems in the book? 237

COLUMBUS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WEDGEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL 3771 Eakin Road Columbus, Ohio 43226 614/276-6571

October 16, 1984

Dear Parents,

Your son or daughter is involved in a special project studying the language of middle school students. The pro­ ject is jointly sponsored by the Columbus Public Schools Middle School Division and the Ohio State University Col­ lege of Education.

As part of the study, which will last the entire school year, students will be involved in the following activities as part of their language arts and reading curriculum:

1. becoming co-researchers by collecting, compos­ ing, analyzing, and comparing samples of middle school language, which will be compiled in various formal and informal publications

2. carrying on correspondence in letter form with high school composition students

3. collecting items of typical middle school oral traditions; such as customs,stories, riddles, and jokes

As participants in the study, students will have opportunities to grow in all the language arts areas-- speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Researchers will be observing what occurs when students are provided with real life applications for their language arts skills.

Me look forward to this opportunity to learn more about the language of middle school students and to help students increase their awareness of language, its uses and its powers.

Sincerely,

Sharon DorBey, Reading Resource Teacher

Sheila Cantlebary, Language Arts/Reading Teacher Loren Santiago, Ohio State University Student

Figure 6: Letter to Parents 238

ROLES OF PARTICIPANTS

My Ethnography Students' Ethnography

Researcher Researcher: Sharon Other ^ Students

T S T 1 Students: Triangulation- Subject of ethnography Triangulation- (Collaborative (Collaborative Researchers): Researchers): Sheila and Loren Sharon, Sheila, and Loren

Figure 7: Roles of Participants 239

Wedgewood Middle School

Language Collection

Word Definition Context or in in which word Group of Words Standard Edited or words American English were collected

1.Write the exact sent­ ence or sentences in which the word was used.

2.Write the name of the person who said the word or words.

3.Write the name of the person or persons to whom the words were said.

4.Describe where and when the words were spoken.

5.why were the words spoken?

Figure 8: Language Collection Form 240

Name______

Middle School Language at Wedgewood

Verification

Circle the word or group of words if you have heard it by students at this school in the way described in class.

bobo

drill

gonner

grub

grub 'em

hip

ninny

run us

supe, get crazy

swirlys

sweet

wacked

Figure 9: Language Verification Form 241

SPARETIME ACTIVITIES CLOTHES

-parties -outerwear -hobbies -where to buy -where students -for different go on different or occasions days of week INSULTS school -mall home -dating summer sports

FOODS NICKNAMES -what you like to eat -what you do eat MIDDLE SCHOOL

STUDENT AT HOME INFORMAL ACTIVITIES at VERBAL -chores LANGUAGE WEDGEWOOD

1984-85

TYPICAL ROOM LUNCHTIME ACTIVITIES -who eats with whom

BASIC READING RECESS -four square -football

NATURAL WRITING LIST -slambooks -notes

Figure 10: Chalkboard Web of Parts of Book 242

MIKE’S FIRST SUMMARY

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Figure 11: Mike's First Summary MIKE'S REVISED SUMMARY 243

SPARE-TIME ACTIVITIES In this section of the chapter the spare-time group tried to find out how middle schoolers spend their spare time. The group felt students might have jobs, participate or watch sports, and they might go to the shopping mall. When we surveyed the students, most of the middle schoolers said they liked to go to the shopping mall. In my opinion, I think most of the students I surveyed go to the shopping mall to be with friends and browse.If the middle schooler goes with his or her parents, they usually walk ahead or behind their parents. The students are embarrassed when seen with their parents by other classmates. The girls I surveyed liked to go to clothing stores and the boys like to go to electronic and athletic stores. Both girls and boys like to go to pet and record shops. Middle schoolers stay in each of the stores for about 15 minutes each,and usually stay about two hours in the mall. The second most popular activity middle schoolers do during their spare time is watch sports such as football, basketball and baseball. The sport most watched by middle schoolers is football. More than half of the students I surveyed watch sports. Twice as many boys watch sports as girls. I think most of the students watch sports because they like a player on their favorite team and they would like to play that sport when they get older. Not that many students participate in sports. Out of 28 students only 8 play sports. The spare-time activity least done by middle schoolers is having a job. More girls have jobs than boys. The job most done by middle schoolers is babysitting; the second job most often done is having a paper route. From doing my research, I learned that all of the middle schoolers like to do spare-time activities with friends. They like to share the fun with the people they are close to.

Figure 12: Mike's Revised Summary Dialogue Writing Lesson 244

First Day Second Day Third Day

- Read sample dia­ - Teacher reads - Students logue between "Milk Bottles" perform and mother and daughter aloud. After discuss their concerning daughter reading it dialogues. staying out too late through, the class decides - Class votes - Handout ditto "What where to put on five best Would They Say?" punctuation dialogues. and capital­ They discuss - Class composes ization by why they are typical dialogue listening to a good. together. They slow reading. select the situa­ - Verbal Lan­ tion and opening - Students asked guage Group line from the to pair and receives cop­ ditto. proof their ies of dia­ partner's logues. They - Students volunteer dialogue in have final de­ to perform the the same cision about class composed manner they what will be dialogue. proofed "Milk published in Bottles." their section. - Students draft their own dia­ - Students are logue selecting asked to make from the ditto a corrected or something of copy of dia­ their own. logue to practice with partner.

- Students will perform their dialogues.

Figure 13: Dialogue Writing Lesson 245 WHAT WOULD THEY SAY?

OPENING LINES

Use one of the following opening lines to write a dialogue between the characters given:

Father to Son: "I told you to get your hair cut: why didn't you?" Mike to Anne: "I think I love you." Teacher to Student: "You've never gotten a mark like this before." Girl to Mother: "what do you mean, where did I find this getup?" Friend to Friend: "I can't see you anymore." Son to Father: "Hey, Dad, may I use the car tonight?" Doctor to Patient: "The results of your test have come in." Mother to Policeman: "Tom's been missing for hours 1" Sally to Jane: "I heard you didn't make cheerleader this year." Dennis to Liz: "I think we're too young to go steady." Jack to Bob: "I've got to get away from home." Policeman to Frank: "How fast was the car going?"

SITUATIONS

Use one of the following situations and characters to create a dialogue.

♦It's past curfew. Kathy's parents are waiting for her as she comes in the door. ♦A group of boys are standing in front of a candy store. A policeman approaches. ♦A girl is sitting by the telephone for 45 minutes. Finally it rings. ♦A woman is standing alone at a bus stop. A man pulls up in a car. ♦A group of friends are having a party. One of them takes out a can of beer. ♦An anxious-looking student is sitting outside the princi­ pal's office. The door opens, and he's asked to come i n . ♦Two girls are waiting outside the stage door of a theater. A security guard walks up to them. ♦A demonstration is in progress. A teenager and his grandparents begin to discuss it.

Figure 14: Adolescent Situations and Opening Lines CASSETTE 3 NAME

22. Taken from: milk bottles

this happened many years ago in a small country

village in alabama

one day the storekeeper looked up and saw

a pale young woman in a gray dress standing at the

counter

what can i do for you maam he said

she did not answer but pointed to a blttle of

milk the storekeeper handed it to her and with

out a word she walked quickly out of the store and

down the main street of the town

the next day she came back

what will you have today maam the

storekeeper asked

the young woman in gray pointed to a bottle

of milk

again the storekeeper handed it to her and

once again the woman took the milk and hurried

away without saying a word

that night the storekeeper told his neighbors

about the strange young woman in gray with the

sad pale face who came every day for milk and walked away without thanks or payment in silence

Figure 15: Milk Bottles Figure 15 (continued) 247

CASSETTE 3 NAME

23. Taken from: milk bottles (Part Two)

so the next day when the woman in gray ap­

peared and again walked away with the milk

without speaking two or three of the villagers

followed her

she walked swiftly down the main street of

the town the men were amazed that they almost

had to run to keep sight of her

she passed the school she passed the church

she kept right on through the little town up the

hill to the graveyard

she passed swiftly in among the graves and

stones and trees seemed to stop for a minute

and then was gone

the followers stood quietly beside the grave where the slender gray figure had seemed to pause

it was the new made grave of a young mother and

her baby daughter who had died three days ago of

a fever in fact she had died just one day before

she first came into the store for milk Figure 15 (continued) 248 CASSETTE 3 NAME

24. Taken from: milk bottles (Part Three)

it all seemed so strange and mysterious that the villagers thought they ought to investigate so they came back with shovels and soon unearthed the young mothers coffin

then while they were moving the coffin they heard or thought they heard a tiny muffled wail

they listened

they heard it again the feeble little cry of a baby

quickly they opened the coffin

yes here was the frail young mother in gray who had come for the milk and in her arms lay a baby girl ill and weak but alive

beside her lay the empty milk bottles

one of the men took the baby home to his wife and the little life was saved

no one ever saw the young mother in gray again she had accomplished her task she had saved her baby girl

now she could rest TRACY'S DIALOGUE 249

Dialogue Tracy F.

Son: Dad may I use the car tonight

Father: No your sister asked first

Son: but dad I have a date tonight

Father: well your gonna have to walk or catch the bus.

Son: but I want to make a good impression on my date

Father: well tell her the brakes went out on the car

Son: then she'll think Im poor

Father: well you shouldn't have told her that you had a

car you should have asked me first

Son: man I swear you can't do nothing around her.

Father: that's not my problem, because I told you befor

when both of ya got your drivers licence first

come first serve.

Son: just forget it then.

Figure 16: Tracy's Dialogue Teachers1 Learnings About Students 250 Teacher Classroom Teachers' Learnings Interpretation Observation About Students of Learning in ______Classroom Practice

-Fred's refusal .Students' writing -Make assignments to do second aided by having based on the real corrected copy. a real purpose reasons for writ­ He said he and a real audi­ ing in our socie­ didn't need it ence other than ty. (Eliminate for the oral the teacher. artificial as­ presentation. signments done He would edit only for the it if selected teacher.) for publica­ tion .

-Purposefulness 2.Students' writing -Permit students to of student aided by "mid­ talk quietly or interaction in writing input" interact during or drafting stage from peers. throughout the of dialogues compos i ng proce s s. -Interaction Create classroom during letter that fosters a writing variety of -Observations of composing styles. teachers writ­ ing curriculum

-All students 3.Students wanted to -Provide opportun­ enjoyed having have th€»ir writing ities to publish their dia­ published and and share students1 logues reacted to. writing. Put performed. students'revised writing in booklet form which is circulated during sustained silent reading.

-Students had 4.Students need -Allow students to no difficulty ownership of come up with their choosing their their writing own topics for topic for before feeling writing or give dialogue. like writers. them room within Best dialogues the assignment to based on their find their own real-life areas of interest. experiences

Figure 17: Teachers' Learnings About Students Figure 17 (continued) 251

Teachers’ Learnings About Students

Teacher Classroom Teachers' Learnings Interpretation Observation About Students of Learning in ______Classroom Practice

Sheila's spot­ 5.Students who were -Spotlight a stu­ lighting of honestly praised dent's writing Tracy's dia­ for their special when some aspect logue made the skills demon­ is honestly done student feel strated in writing well. Using stu­ good. She worked harder in dent examples is became an that skill area more interesting expert in and became the as well as re­ typical conver­ "class expert." warding for sations. She students. wrote three for the book. Teachers' Learnings About Themselves 252 Teacher Classroom Teachers 1 Learnings Interpretation Observations About Themselves of Learning in Classroom Practice

On a daily 1.Teachers need Team planning basis, Sheila support groups among teachers Loren, and I to help inter­ that share the conferenced pret their same students to guide and observations Support groups support our and share their at the school new instruc­ concerns. level, the dis­ tional trict level, and program. the university Having outside level are desir­ persons ques­ able tion our practices and interpret our observation was helpful.

All three 2.Becoming a Create a class­ teachers teacher room conunun i ty accepted the researcher where learning is role of learn­ causes a major shared and sought ers . We change in your in partnership learned with role as a with the stu­ and from the teacher. dents. students.

Sheila used 3.Teachers need to Teachers should examples in be sensitive or design lessons her instruc­ "in tune" to that are "in tion that their students. tune" with a were appro­ middle school­ priate to the er's culture. interests and Lessons should developmental allow some inter­ level of her action and activ­ students. ity.

Figure 1 8: Teachers 1 Learnings About Themselves JEFF'S FIRST DRAFT 253

Most middle schoolers are generally hard working . The middle schoolers concept is odd because your expected to act up in class and totally ignore the teachers, (when its possible) and then when its grading time , your expected to have perfect grades. Most middle schooler's parents actually think very highly of them ------except when their begging for money, but most students think their parent think they're dumb. Two of the most important things in a middle schoolers life are friends and the opposite sex. It is impornt to be wanted by other people, because if your alone there is no one to laugh at your cracks. The opposite sex is important because at this part of life middle schoolers (mostly 8th graders) need to feel they have someone they can talk to. This nl'l tioc into,'a chain beoayoc if vyour jcuney ,/got good gpadfeo andr aro>popula)£, its ^easier to got a 4poy friend er girl*friend. Most boys are interested in sports and breakdancing. Most like to crack but the thing they like most is girls. Most girls, like boys, do like the opposite sex. they like to shop, and like light rock music, but from our viewpoint their favorite thing is to gossip.

Figure 19: J e ff's First Draft Figure 20 (continued)

grades is because they're usually thinking about careers right now. They want to get the best grades possible. And most want to go Moot 8 to college. H

FRESH TALK

255 256 257

He Mould like to dedicate this book to Hrs. Sheila Cantlebary. our language arts teacher, for giving us the time and help to write this book. Her interest in us made us look at ourselves 1n new and different ways. FRESH TALK:

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS WRITE

ABOUT THEMSELVES by

Wanda Baker Kenneth Gray Gwen McLemore Christina Brown Fred Harrison Vicki Moore Raymond Col 11ns Philip Hoover Jeff Patterson Larry Crome Curtis IJames James Prentiss Sandy Crump Jackie Jaquess Todd Rector Michele Daniels Anthony Johnson Mark Simpson Mary Dy Pamela Jones Ernest Stromer Nancy Ferguson Michael Lamplnen Robin Taylor Tracy Freeman Tessla Lunsford Kevin Vines Laura Garland Robert Maccabee Dora Wagner

TEACHER ADVISORS TO THE PUBLICATION: Sheila Cantlebary and Sharon Dorsey PUBLISHED BY: Wedgewood Middle School Columbus Public Schools Columbus, Ohio June, 1985 259

PREFACE

This book Is a result of a year-long project which students did 1n Mrs. Sheila Cantlebary1s eighth grade classroom. While writing this book, students learned and applied language arts sk ills to produce real writing for a real audience.

The student authors did almost all of the composing, layout, and art work during their two period language arts/reading class time. The students agreed on chapter topics which they felt best defined and represented middle schoolers.

In the final stages of production, groups of students rotated use of the eleven computers In the school. They used "The Bank Street Writer" word processing program to do much of the writing. Some ban­ ners, clip a r t, and layouts for the various pages were designed with “The Newsroom" computer program. All drawings are originals by eighth graders.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the following teachers, administrators, secretaries, and O.S.U. students who helped make this book possible. These people gave support, class time, Instruction, and Ideas without which the book could never have been completed.

Dr. Donald Bateman Ms. Beth Masters Ms. Sharon Dorsey Mrs. Ruth McAngus Mr. James Fugate Mrs. Dorothea McCloskey Mr. Rayford Harper Mrs. Patricia Nelson Mrs. Esther Haynes Mr. John Netwnan Ms. Carol Jones Mr. Loren Santiago Mr. Ev King, Jr. Mr. Terrence Schrelber Mrs. Maureen Krelder Mr. James Sims Hrs. Nancy Mack Mr. Winston Swaby Mrs. Shirley Mann Ms. Diane Warner 260

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

THE WEDGEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOLER ...... 2 VERBAL LANGUAGE DICTIONARY ...... 3

TYPICAL CONVERSATIONS ...... 6 #1. Street Scene ...... 6 02. School Hall S c e n e...... 7 #3. Telephone Conversation ...... 8 #4. Telephone Conversation ...... 10

NATURAL WRITING...... 12 Slam B o o k s ...... 13 A utographs...... 14 Sayings...... 15 P o e t r y ...... 16 " W r ite r s " ...... 16 "A G irlfriend's Prayer" ...... 17 "In the P ark" ...... 18 N o te s...... 19 Notefoldlng ...... 19 Abbreviations ...... 20 P h r a s e s ...... 21 N am es...... 22 Typical N o te ...... 23 R a p s ...... 25 "Pure Violence Part I I " ...... 26 "Wedgewood"...... 27 "Wedgewood"...... 28 "Michele's Revenge ...... 29 Graffiti A rt ...... 30

JOKES AND INSULTS...... 31

BREAKDANCING ...... 33 Glossary of Moves ...... 34

MIDDLE SCHOOLER'S TYPICAL ROOM ...... 36 261

Page BASIC READING LIST...... 3X Host Memorable B o o k s ...... 36 What Kiddle Schoolers Plan to Read ...... 39 N ew spapers...... 40 Magazines ...... 41 Reading Time and Place ...... 41

CLOTHES...... 42 School Dress C ode...... 43 J e a n s...... 44 H airdos...... 45 Jew elry...... 48 Make-up ...... 49 Peer Dress Code...... 50 Attitudes Toward Clothing Among Grade Levels ...... 51

SPARE TIME ACTIVITIES...... 52 M o v ie s ...... 52 Shopping Malls and Sports ...... 55 Church, Arcades, Skating Rinks, School Clubs, and Outside Clubs...... 56 TV ...... 57 R ad io...... 58 What Middle Schoolers E a...... t 59 262

Jtottro&actfon

by Jeff Patterson and Rob Kaccabee

in ter vims. grade?lf.SSS^*»S3SS;br"’1“‘ ffedgewoodM l----- students. Tht middle school°?i located The following is an explanation on the matt side of Colum:bus.1 . Ohio. the various groups and the sec- Our language ^rtp-reading c\as * 10ns of th* book they compiled. composed this book as a resu lt'o f •thnohnographic'graphic studiesstudies w*u* di'Lid about The Verbal Language Croup Duriturselves. On ethnographyhy isis • _ athered words used by students at ascription of a culture. Asi ethiethnog­ gedgewocd and th e typical a raphers,______w* were asked to study and tudyconversations and that might be heard. describe th* unique traits of eighth graders. The Clothes Croup described the typical dress and clothes styles won a t Hedgewood, as well as make-up anc supervisor of student teachers at jewelry. The Ohio s ta te university, middle schoolers need to be studied. They Th* N atural N ritm g Croup collect need to be studied for a number of ed examples of th* different types of easons. The first reason is that writing w* do in our spar* time. here are many studies about young rchildren but few about middle The Jokes and Insults Croup choolers. There is also a need to recorded examples of the jokes and S:now what they like, what is insults we us* to crack on each important to them, how they view other. th*ms*r.’*j^*rid how they wish to b* _ ___ _ reason they need to be The Sparetime Activities Croup understood is suicide, the biggest explained what middle schoolers do killer of middle schoolers. This is the away from school. ultimate crying out for understand­ ing. The Breakdanc* Croup described thei# unusualunusual artart ofof break dancing, in­ This book contains th e re su lts of cludinguding tJth* moves, terms, and eloth- studies by groups in our class. The tag worn. studies dealt with many aspects of eighth grade students' lives. These The Basic Reading Croup listed different aspects include the the most popular books, magazines, language we use. what we do in our and newspapers of middle schoolers. sparetime, th* intuits we make, the clothes we wear, the writing we do The Typical Soon Croup described naturally, and our typical bedrooms. th e average middle schoolerS bedroom and its contents. Our groups used three different ways of acquiring data. The three * hoe* th* following chapters major methods were questionnaires, Ea informative and entertaining. field notes and observations, and 263

W edgewood Middle Schooler by Jeff Patterson and Rob Haccabec understand us also I* school art, we n orti anapreakdaneinf. ppar bor» athered information about ourselves Uka to crack, but i u t we lika Mat Jr conduct Ln» Interview* and are eirls. surveys. Moat elrls. as do bora* Uka th e , __ Th* middle schoelarl situation is apposite **x“Th*y Tike to shop, and difficult ta»uH mo are expected to thav.Uka to listen to rock music- •rt up in tln< and totally isnor* Sul frpm th* author*' point* of view, th* teacher, when possible Than their raaonta past-tim* 1* yesslpin*. ■non tradino time approaches, at* are expected to have perfect trade*. Boat of us .worry about the aaaa Our parent* think hithly of ua, opposite sex. aSS^jSreJKS^Se* a* apat ray parentweulX but moat raaaon we worry about trade* fi. middle achoolara do not behave thi* that *oae of u* are usually Vhinkin* Seme think their .parent* do net care about career* ripht now. Re want to about their problem* or protrea* in eat the best education possible Ufa without lea vine our friend*. _Bo*t of Two of the nost important som* o? u» ifav^said w*^*tifim*V*r’ thins* in our live* are friands and School Other* have (aid thatthey the op foil t« i«x It is importantto dislike mutt of their teacher*, la wanted by ether people, aueh a* _ . . , friend» and the. opposite sex. because Some of u* admire older popularity i* also an important student*, brother* and sisters, element in our live*, The opposite famous sinters, or* akine crew*. and sex, such a* boyfriends'eirifrlends, thins* of that nature, however, add* tc this popularity. He need most of u* do not nave any real idols friend* of the opposite sex because to model ourselves after. a t this point in life we need to know we hev* someone to talk to. Our Re believe we have th* best of other friend* usually nek* fun of both world*—we hev* the remsoniny u* and crack on our look* or actions, power of an adult and the honesty Clrjado net mind talk me to boys, rad creativity of a child R a hope apd boys do not undtalkinsto th i* will help you bettor understand Wirls. us as you read ib is book. 264

I

by Rob Maccabee and Jeff Patterson Boon: interi- used as response listeners to a food Th* f ollotSr* verbal laneuM* cnapti of words ■BOOH’ Ha aassad you up.* and P ^ iH I Aedoeuood n _ Box: a.- a portable stereo that je out* npofflb usually Includes a cassette djcttonary in to player''recorder, an'Fa radio, and fowetines fashSft.^or'trerxl- for- Vw wo*t "part this include* a turntable ii an accurate 1st for this year ■His BOX has a T.TJ. on it.1

Chill: V . - to Stop •Hhy don’t you CHILLT*

Cold: add.- t wean, cruel 2. nice, pood; sea Awesone Awesone: adj.- pood, me* T h a t’s an AUESOHZ ear.* ^ u ^ s m COLD whan be b it B Crack: n_- an Insult •His CRACKS are weak, sine* Beat Box: n - a parson who b y ^iti the. sana ones all wakes sounds with hi* aputh to the rhythnic baat of rap nusic Crash: v - to steep •Douyi* Fresh Is a BUT BOX.* t Street: Inter i- used whan desert bin 9 a wall perforwed braakine aova or hip bop Creep: v.- to leave ^ t'^ y ttine lata; 1 have to ■BUT STS Err That's swaat s ra f f iti Crew: n.- a break dendnp Mta> ta ropy an >d«», *r*wp fra/fiti dasipn, or bra aova T h at's a weak CRIB; use the sane *He BITES too auch * tine*

Bobos: a - istxpiM iat Crib: n.- a house brand sheas •His CRIB is th e ■Ha wears BOBOS * corner CrU{o£3'U t,,SrM: CltUM- ou* r* hip: clause- I apree This teacher pives too such homework." C u t *.* to insult TH HIP.* a.- an insult; i m Crack 7 * *“ • th* ruiuiw t CUTS rv« ivir M iri Jan: « - to haee fun or party The nas Dap: interj.- an expression of anper or puilt ■LAG! I Heated to po*

Hop: v.- to buniliete Kickin': adj.- havinp a had ail; stlnkins; w.~ to n Rst saassff/ttsr *• ■His clothes are DCEDT.* Drill: v.- to hit or punch Til SKILL you.* Later: in ter i- departlap re­ nark; pooohye *LATtS. hdneboyf Filthy: adj.- pood, nice; i n Am m m * Lioe: adj.- fu n . ex d tin p That's a FILTHY jacket.' This party is LTUK* Fresh: adj.- pood, nice; see Awesome Those are sons FKCSH Punas.* inter! - used as a re­ sponse by listeners to a pooqmsultinp remark; see Boon Get you topether: dau se- TOR! Be nessed you upr help you out TU GIT YOU TOGITHEK.*

tike: a Hord used as a clause to mean Tnktddiap.^or Hip hop: adj.- used to describe to uk« some thine you said the culture or eraffiti art, rap nusic, and areakdancinp TouVe uply. OKI* ■The F at Boys' are HIP HOP sta rs. Sport: adj.- to dress noil; e.- to near Hoaeboy/homeeirl: a.- a nans used to address someone *L*t me SPOIT those frpa the sane school or a flasses. friend ■Hhat s up, HOHOOTr 266

• T i , « insult ^)o w ^T ^l»'U r OUT at •ffiu tfrlk like you“r* fa (bo H t Trip out y ^ to* « “ •WoT** tofnff to lUkM 007 VUF? I'm u u for doss.*

NIUU Nocked: odj.- bod, untostoful Tbooo fwboc «r«UAOUtU. T h at's o SHUT hoUM.* HiCl^M: adj.- vood. BiOK OM

Th*f» * NltXUi cor * Thicks? n.- *xtr* lon«, wide snooUoM th*t or« n«v*r knoUta or ttod tn th* shoos D M a lU U

ttiitf: v.- to lU tl or copy “they ol*«rs THIU our oovos. S 267

TYPICAL COWER SAT 1 ON Ml by Kevin Vines and Larry Crone Two black male middle sc h o o l students meet in the street In their neighborhood and carry on the following conversation.

Kevin i What'a up, Seymour? L arrn Nothing. Where are you going?

Kevini Up to the mall, homeboy. Larryi Did you hear the new Jam called 'King of the Rock"?

Kevini I've heard it, but 1 don't have It cauae I don't like it that much.

Larryi Did you go to the party Friday? It waa live.

Kevini Now, Larry, you know I w aa on puniahment.

Larryi How did you get on puniahment?

Kevini My mom went to the achool.

Larryi How many paira of thlcka do you have? Kevini One, because 1 don't collect them.

Kevint You aee that box? It waa vlcioua.

Larryi No, what kind waa It? Kevlm It had touch tone buttons and everything else waa digital.

Larryi Watch out for that car.

Kevini Come t o th e mall with me. n Larry TYPICAL CONVERSATION »2

by Kevin Vines Lerry Crone Ken Gray

■alow Is a typical conversation between three black malt middle achoel atudents while In the hall between the change of claaaee. The •tudente are 'cracking* on each other and their friends. This type of conversation using cracks or Insults could take place anywhere between black or white middle school students. The students say these cracks not out e* anger, but for fun or to embarrass someone and sometimes as a contest.

Larryi There go Ken.

Kevini I see that weakback.

Kent So you tryin" to crack?

Kevini So what you say in'?

Larryi Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kevint Ah, Kenneth, did you hear him?

Kent I heard you, Seymour,

Kevini Ah, Larry,

Larryi Big Chin weakling.

Kevini (Whispering to Larry) You ain't lying

Kent Look1

Kevini Be quiet, Chin.

Kent Teeth come out at night.

Kevint Here come Spymaster.

Larryi I'll catch ya'll later.

Keni Alright, Seymour.

Kevint Catch you ninth period, Seymour. 269

TYPICAL CONVERSATION #3

by Tracy Freeeian Jackie Jaqusst

The following I * a telephone conversation between two bfack middle school girls, Tracy and Jack is. Tracr's younger sister, Deann, answers the phone.

i Hello, can I speak to Tracy?

Who is this?

Who is it -tor?

You.

I know. Mines do, too. She always doing something she don't have no business doing.

You got that right. Sometimes I wish I can take her somewhere and drop her off so I didn't have to put up with that little chick.

I know. I feel the same war about mines, too.

You knew, sometimes I wish I were an only child. Sut then I might be lonely.

Not really, because I have a lot of friends.

I would have a lot of friends too, if we didn't have to aiove.

We are going to be moving pretty soon also.

Where are you moving to?

I don't quite know yet. We might be moving to Kentucky but I don't know yet.

I hate moving because you have to go to a new school, s e e t new o friends. Oh, I Just hate it.

I know, 'cause when you first came here didn't nobody like you. because when I saw you, I said, ’Look at her!* tut when you helped Coco and I on that Spanish test, I said, •That's my kind of friend!*

Tracyi tut when I saw you, I'm glad you didn't roll your eyes at me like Diane did. It's good to know there are some mature people in this world. 270

Jackiei Coco still didn't like you until she Kn*w your name.

Tracyi Really1 1 thought so because she was looking at ms *11 funny

Jackiei That's because sh* knew that sh* had saw you somewhere before

Tracyi Oh, 1 see,

Jackiei Don't take it as nothing serious.

Tracyi Jackie, hold on for a minute.

Jackiei O.K.

Tracyt Jackie, 1 have to call you back later or you can call me back 1a t e r .

Jacki* i O.K., by*, 271

TYPICAL C®*/ER»AT10N *4

by Jickte Jaqueit Teisl* Lunsford Trecy Freemen

Th* following is a telephone conversation between two eighth grad* black girl*. Tracy. on* of th* girl*, la calling h*r glrlfri*nd, Jacki*. Jack!*'* yeungar brother, Darrin, who ha* a crush on Tracy answer* th* phone, flirt* with h*r, and I* reluctant to giw* th* phone up to hi* *i*t*r. Jacki* ha* a device called ‘Call Waiting* on her phon* which allow* her to put th* person ah*'* talking to on hold without hanging up. The usual topic of conversation b*tw**n the girl* is bora, what they did at school, or what they ar* going to do. They can call each other names, such a* *na*ty* without getting angry at each other because they are friend*, but if someone els* was to call Tracy or one of her friends ‘nasty,1 th* girls would get up and h i t them. Notice that some word* ar* used In unique way* by student*. ‘Technical’ is useo by Tracy to piean important, ‘boom* is used a* a response by listener* when they hear a good insult.

Tracyi Hello. Can I speak to Jackie?

Darrini Who t* this?

Tracri It'* Tracy. Who do you think?

Darrini Oh, hi, baby. What's up?

Tracyi Aw, nothing much. What ar* you doing?

Darrini Thinking about you.

Tracyi Oh, com* on now. Let me talk to Jacki* 'cause you p blush all over.

Darrini I wish I could see you. here's Jacki*.

Jack i* i He Ilo.

Tracyi Hi, how are you doing?

Jackiei Fin*. Who is this?

Tracyi Who do you think?

Jackiei Well, if you gotta get all smart about it, I' 1/ Just hang up.

Tracyi You ain't bad girl.

Jacki* i I'm bad enough to hang up on you.

Tracyi but you know you won't, becauae you knqw w* have something technical to talk about. J a c k i * t This is Tracy, ain't it? So what's so tachnical that wt hava to talk about7

Tracyi Boys. Boom1 That girl nasty ain't sha?

Jaek111 What boys? And you got that right with your nasty littla sal f .

Tracyi You know what boys I'm talking about. Ewary tima I call you what boys hava I talkad about? On, yaah. I'm not nasty tha way vou'ra talking about.

Baap*

Jackia i Hoid on. Tracy.

Tracyi O k a y .

Jackia i Ha 1 IO.

Tassi a t Can ] spaak to Jackia?

Jack i• i S p a a k i n g .

Tassi a : What ara you doing7

Jackiai Nothing. Taisia, hold on.

Ta ss > ai O k a y .

Jackiai Tracy. I haua to call you back latar 'causa Tassia is on tha othar 1 ina .

Tracyi Alright, ba that wav. That's cool. 273

NANCY FERGUSON CHRISTINA BROUN

•Mritars write for thamsalvta ond net (or thair readers. Art ha* nothing to do with communication between per ton end person, only with communication between different part* of a person's mind.*— Rebecca West, aa quoted in Wogu*, November 1, 1952.

NATURAL WRITING

Middl* achool student* w n t* what thay want (or thantalwaa in thair apart tint at achool and during claaata. Thia natural atriting include* notaa, sayings, and alan booka. Ut hava taarnad that middle achool students art not yet adults, nor ara they chidrtn. Thay ara aonawhara in between, aaarching (or thair own idantitiaa. Thair writing ia ona way thay hava ot trying out dittarant idartitit*. Tha writing thay do naturally, without being ataigntd by thair taachar or ordarad by thair parantt, ahows ut something about thair Iike* and dialikaa. In thia chapttr wa ara going to look at tha diftarant typaa o( writing middle achool atudanta aquatia into thair achool tine or thair apara tint. Tha writing niddla achool atudanta hava been obaarvad to do voluntarily art alan book*, potitt, autographa, aayinga, notaa, drawing*,aigna, rap* and graffiti. Ut ara going to ahou example* of aont of thaaa typaa of writing and dtacnption* of how atudanta naka tha nora elaborate (orna. Wa will alao discus* tha informal rule* of aharing these forma of wr i ting. Ua cant about finding thia information by observing atudanta doing natural writing. Wa also became traah-pickera, aalvaging notaa lying C' tha floor and in tha traah can, and discarded aigns lying on tha playground. Students in tha classroom wrote sanplt note* (or ua. Wa made and passed around si am books. Wa obaarvad tha tempi** not* folding pattern* of th* middle school girls. U* imitated than and verified them with other eighth grad* students. We interviewed atudanta known to be good rapptrt and rap writers. U* had a good time researching natural writing and we hope you have a good time reading our chapter. by Christina Brown and Nancy Ferguson

A slam book is a type of questionnair* booklet that allows people to share personal feelings and experiences. Ue do not quite know when slam books pot started. Our language arts teacher. Hr*. Cantlebary, said that twenty-five years ago, when she was in the eighth grade, si an books were passed around and were called si an book* because th* students would stan then shut so th* teacher wouldn't see -then. There are a lot of different ways and rules to nek* a slanbook. Her* ar* son* of them 1) On th* cower it usually say* anything the student* want it to say. 2) The first page usually says *sign in* and is numbered in the left margin. Th* students sign their nan* neat to a number, 3) All the following pages ar* numbered along the left margin also and have titles at th* top. Students write responses to these peg* headings next to the number they signed in by on the first page. Popular headings for th* page* arei a) best friends b) favorite food and drink c) favorite colors d) best subject *> fauorit* teacher f) boyfriend or girlfriend g) teacher you like or dislike h) worst subject i > faoori te song j> fauorit* group or singer Sian books are usually filled in during schooltin*. They ar* usually filled in immediately after they haw* been handed to you, since it only takes about five minutes. Teachers don't mind having then passed around, as long as they don't disturb the class. Boys do sign slam books but they usually don't start them. Host slam books are made and started by girls. Host slam book* are signed a* soon as they are given to you, unless you don't like that person, then you don't sign their slam book. Adults never sign slam books, In fact, we're not quit* sure if they even know about them. There are usually not any personal questions in a stan book and most students ar* truthful about the answers that they give. After th* slam books ar* all filled in, most student* usually keep them, and then after a while they can look back and remember all of their friends that they had. 275

by Nincy Ferguson and Christina Brown Jo JWNW\\WWW\W\\W>X>NV'^WW^w

This section it on autographs. We came to define autographs as say­ ings, students' signatures and rhymes. People write autographs when they are going to move or just for the fun of it. We started to write them in the fifth grade and we still writ# them 1n the eighth grade. Host boys don't write autographs that much but a few do.

People write autographs on walls all over the school bathrooms, on the blackboards 1n the classrooms and 1n lockers all over the school.

We will give some sample autographs by people who were going to move and by people who just wanted to write them for fun. The f ir s t example of autographs are by people who were moving away. The two autographs below were written by seventh graders at the end of the school year. These seventh graders knew they were moving away and the autographs they wrote were one way to say good-bye to th eir friends. This type of autograph is similar to a momento left with their friends so they will be remembered.

1) Nancy, You're so funny. You make me laugh To think you want my Autograph. Your friend always, Regina

2) Christina, Good luck 1n the eighth grade and good luck with the guys ::: From, L1sa

The next two autographs were written by students just for fun.

Nancy Christina was was here here 276

aoaPDBDDciDiiaaDa ODODDPdODOQQQOD apoaaaaoPDaDDQQOQQODDOODDDQDOO Middle school students M n t i many different kinds of sayings. Saying* *r* like autographs, except that autographs ar* isor* personal and thtr* is a signatur* at th* end.People writ* sayings in notebooks and on th* walls and doors in th* restrooms.

On* typ* of saying has to do with th* y*ar you will graduate in. H*r* ar* thrt* examples)

*c/o 84* Don't b* a bore! Don't shut th* door! We're th* class of *84*

•c/o 85* Ut don't tak* no j iu*! W«'r« th* class of '83* 'SfS’ e ■c/o B6* 4 . V , U*'r* in th* isi* ! Ut'r* tht class of 66*

Th* s*cond typ* of saying is about boyfriends and girlfriends. It consists of th* boy's name,then Mow**,’ then th* girl's nan*. Th* names could be th* other way around. Her* ar* tom* examples)

Lisa Nick Louts Louts Nick Lisa

Th* third typ* of saying it called a stock phrase. A stock phrat* is whtn a rhyn* is copied and at certain points particular names art filled in to personalii* the rhyn*. Here is an examplei

Pam was here, but now I'm gone. 1 left my name to carry on.

Ut collected the above saying early in th* school year, but at the year went on, th* students shortened it and add*d a date when they used th* saying. Her* is how it changed. .. Vi*61

Son* stock phrases do not involve the us* of names but are popular with students all over th* school. ’Catch you later when th* waves get straighter.* 277

Poems are Beautiful

by Christina Brown and Nancy Ferguson

The middle school students at Wedgewood study poetry 1n th e ir lan­ guage arts class where the teacher hands out famous or popular poetry. Students also learn poetry Informally from their friends. Some students compose their own original poetry 1n their spare time at home or at school. They share their compositions with their close friends and some­ times even with their teachers at school. The student poets adtolt that they share their creations with their friends first to see 1f It's good enough to show the teachers. Then when the students are brave enough to show the teachers they ask for corrections from the teachers.

Me have a sample of an original poem that an eighth grade student created In English class while the teacher was talking.

WRITERS

Wr1ters--me and everyone Wr1ters--col 1 ect, combine, and compile Wr1ters--observe, note* live Wr1ters--punctuate, eliminate Writers--deep In thought Wr1ters--hopeful Writers--understand1ng and sometimes helpful Wr1ters--learn, try, and try again Wr1ters--unearthly, untimely and messy Wr1ters--Just won't qultl

by Dora Wagner 278

r Poems j!;l||! T | l i beautiful 111 '^ 5™ _ J !!S il ililillillilliiiiil £?& ?!p|:j!: by Christina Brown and Haney Ferguson

Some poems shared by students are not original. The authors of these poems are unknown, or have been forgotten. The poems are passed from one student to another. They are copied on notebook paper and kept in the students' notebooks. These poems are not written by students. They are copied and handed around to other students to copy. Below are two examples of poems that were copied by a girl in the eighth grade and kept in her notebook.

A Girlfriend's Prayer

Heavenly Father of Grace, Bless my boyfriend's foxy face.

Bless his hair which always curls. Keep him away from other girls.

Give him strength, you know why. I'll tell you this Lord, this guy ain't shy. Don't te ll him Lord how much ] care, They call us the perfect pair.

I love him Lord, but please don'ttell, Cu2 if Pa found out he'd surely y ell.

Bless the tears I have shed, Bless his precious little head.

He has his fa u lts, you know why. But bless him Lord, cuz he’s ny guy.

Amen. 279

*!*■*■*!*?»*** Poems are i p o t m g Beautiful

In The Perk

In the park where I dwelt, I met a boy I love so well. He sat a girl on his knee, To Id her things he never told me.

Now I know why, this girl Is prettier than I. I ran home, not a word to my mother I said.

Daddy came to n\y door, my door which he broke. Found me hanging from a rope.

He took a knife and cut me down, On rr\y dresser a note he found.

Dig my grave, dig 1t deep. Place marble stone from head to feet.

On my grave place a dove. To show the world I died for love.

These poems ore just copied and kept 1n students' notebooks. 280

by Christina Brown and Nancy Ferguson

Not#* ar# very important to students bccautt they h»lp then communicate with thetr friend* wh#n th#y cannot talk to #ach other face to face. Thi* section of th# natural writing chapter i* about not**. In thi* taction you will t#arn about th# different typ#* of nai*e»,phra*#«, and abrewiations *tud#nt* ut# in their not#*. You will alto l#arn about th# different way* student* fold thtir not#*.

NOTE FOLDING

There are many student* at Uedgewood who writ# not#* to their friend*. Mott student* haw# special way* that they fold th* note*. U# do not know why the student* fold the notes in these certain patterns, probably because it makes the note look more interesting. Some of the not# folding pattern* haw# been around for a while) other* ar# new. Son# students just mad# up their own pattern*, tier* is an example of how to fold a notet 1) Your note should be written on notebook paper.

2) Take the top right hand corner and fold it about 2/3 of the way down on the left, so it is ewen, and look* like th i *-

3) Fold th* bottom up, like this-

4) Fold the right bottom corner over to the right- 5) Fold th# top down, backward*- F 6) Tuck the bottom corner in the slot-

If you follow these directions,you can learn how to fold this type of not*. 281

m t t &

by Christina Brown and Nancy Ferguson

Students also use abbreviations to shorten a note, or 1/ they're In a hurry. Here are some popular abbreviations used In the eighth grade:

S/S/S Sorry So Sloppy

s/s/s Sorry So Short

L/L/L Longer Letter Later > B.K.A. Better Known As

A.K.A. Also Known As

W.K.A. Was Known As S i , V x O.K.A. Otherwise Known As > v W/8/S Write Back Soon

W/B/S/A/P Write Back Soon As Possible

C/M Call Me

L/Y/L/A/S Love You Like A Sis

C/O Class Of

B.U.T.F.S.O. Born Under The Furious SignOf( Zodiac S1an1

*Ot

‘'3 o

% a Z The following phrases are used regularly 1n the notes and letters students write to their friends. They probably use them because It makes the notes seem more Interesting. Here are some examples:

How's life?

What's up? What's been coming down on your side of town?Purple rain on mine.

What's upjhomeglrl? ji What's up>homeboy? % How's love life been?

Until next time

Time out (^ 3 ?

Stay cool

That's all for now.

Gotta go

Talk to you later

No say my way

Later, homeglrl

Later, homeboy I'm qulttln' cause It's time to be spllttln'.

Just chillin' to the utmost Students have created special names that are usually used In the notes they write to each other. These names are sometimes used to call to a close friend also. They are mostly used by black students. Some of these names are created by students because of their member­ ship 1n a gang. The other gang members call them this special name. Creating a special name for each member draws the gang closer together. Some of the groups are social, and some are breaking or dancing groups.

Students use these names probably because they are more Interesting than just your plain old names. These names are sometimes called street names. Street names are names that your friends call you outside of your home. Here are some examples of these special names:

Baby "J" Baby "T" "T" Baby Fresh MJ" Sexy "J" Sweet "J" n 2 b £ - Lady Sweet Baby Face Special •*0“ "Hr. Freeze" Pretty Prep Hr. "J" Sir "T" Break Haster Super "J" -Sroqdfcte Baby Doll Baby Hearts JBU J.hS.0. Pearl Baby "Dr. Fresh" Mr. Ice Kangol K1d CHVI Kankol i b Cheese "T-Bone" Jam Master Klduprook or Kldprock Kid Loose Smash K1d Fresh Keith Byars H1x Haster by Michele Qtnlels

C \ o ~ V -Vcs\yJu\& Pf cW s^ v n o , u p P>C.VpG. “^>0 V\GLo <0^0 fecGG VY\^> P U g V v , V? U\OG UJCX^TV^CX Q j G s^ N VA: O K ! K^c>dG A \^\e_ u ^ W V v cv\u V\OUo 0\pu f ^ d PsOvV^v 3: V\o9€-(C^i^ cvsvd U<\G\d: ckcv^\^\ oce.cisp, &VO-V v\'-5 V\Xo V\\-5 &Vei^K^w\cAv<\ C o m i5 -C\05"V> &^'5oV? rc\€. CV^t) CXvV\^'\C^A^\ X 0 0 ^ 5 6 V\G^J ^ opposed Ao 6 c , '%c\ 'So^tn^. Cv^go XcxWed "" v^ o dV\

X o e W d^ood^ ^\6ouV *\W WGUi O O A- IV OSSAUV a y v c v

A P o u o d . \dc\yxS\ov^ ( d i o ’K a o \K S P ^ • a o o c A ^ / < 5 / ^ , ° a * * - a ( y / Q s ^ c S ; * 4 6o H € n ~ & J l & u u P

286

by Nancy Ferguson

kap music has become popular on local radio station* this year and it has inspired some UJedg*wood students to try a new type 04 natural writing, composing raps. kaps are rhymes that are made up and said in • fast-talking, rhythmic way with a particular beat. ihe music performed behind the rap is created by ’mixing,* ’cutting,’ and ’scratching.* ’Mixing* is the mixing together of two or more songs. ’Cutting* is the actual taking of small bits of a soundtrack. ’Scratching* is done by using a turntable and mixer to make scratching sounds from the record. When students perform the raps themselves, the background music is sometimes cretted by other students who make sound effects with their mouths, or use a piece of furniture as a drum to help keep the beat. kap music originally started in inner-city neighborhoods in big cities such as hiew York, Oetroit, and Chicago. Some of the professional rap recording artiste that are popular with Wedgewood s t u dents include rtun-D.M.C., Kurtis Blow, G randmaster r'tash, Sparky ’0,* koxanne, UiKj, and the Sugar Hill Gang. Students learn raps from the streets, the radio, tapes, and sometimes t.V. and movies, kaps that are professionally written are copied down by student* who want to make a rap. Students may then use parts of these raps along with their own phrases to create a new rap. Unce a student has written a rap, it will be performed. The written version will be passed around for others to read. Many students will make a copy of the rap to keep. Some students write raps and perform them in order to compete against each other to see who is the best r a p p e r . ihere are several different kinds of raps.

MtSSAiSt RAPS-One type of message rap is a ’state of the world* rap. It tell* people how the world is and gives advice about how to survive in that world. It may also tell about such issues as war, poverty, or violence. Another type of message rap gives advice to young people on social matters. It may tell them not to drink or take drugs.

bkAGGING kAPS-ihe rapper boasts about how good he is, Sometime* the rapper may brag about his expertise at rap music by telling how well he ’cuts,* ’mixes,’ and ’scratches.*

GGbblk RAPS-'ihi* is a rap in which the rapper insults a person by exaggerating and making negative comments about that person.

Following are three raps by Uedgewood students. ’Pure Violence Part II* is an example of a message rap. The two raps entitled ’Uedgewood’ are examples of bragging raps, and ’Michelle's fcevenge* is an example of a gossip rap. PUR": VI OLEDCi PART II

Jammin' Jr. Freete Crew name night be bad But the nay you boys think, it aakes you look sad. V(hy try to fight when you can plain dance? Just give it all up. Oh* yes, there's a chance. You walk down the Streets in a number of packs as if it ain't for These people with no Bhlrts on your backs. If you want to fight, Just fight to the end. But when it's all over, no one has a friend. Sunaer is the tine when the gangs are the worst. They have to start trouble and think to be first, we’re the Rap Faster 2 who's telling it to you That the stupid silly gangs we have to pull through Trouble ain't cool. Trouble ain't swell. Trouble is The word that puts you in jail. So listen very closely. I don't want to say this every day To all you silly gangs, no one wants to say "PU7C VIOLENCE* by Janes Prentiss 288

WEDGEMOOD

by J u m P re n tla s Other school! may icretin, yell, or shout. But Uedgewood It whit this rip's ibout. 'Cause *we can do It better, ‘c iu n Uedgewood Is fresher, Thit'l • itnlght-up feet with ill the right tict. Our school may look smell and weak. But when 1t comes down to It, we can't be beat. In 'SB we became a little faster, But right now, baby, we're the great mis masters. It took a little time to get the right rhyme. To get the skills mastered, to sound a little faster. Maturity has come to stop the 111 In young.

Ue kick 1t live, pullin' the babes from 9 to 5. No coke up our nose, no dope 1n our veins for us to be acting Insane, well. I hate to quit, but 1 really gots to split.

Prec1ous f "Prentiss"

(°r\y "3oVir\^os* Other schools ney scream, yell, or shout Eut 'Jeogev.-ooi 16 what thin rap's about. V.e are the beet. Forget all the rest. iVhen it cores down to it, we pass all the test. Our school is snail. That Is true, Eut when it cores down to it, you are too. In a couple of years, we'll all be doctors, lawyers, Or house rockers. But right nov; we are still strong Anc young— Eut that don't stop us from having fun!

by Anthony Johnson 290

MI CHILE'S REVENGE

Toe. H.DI Ya, nhat'B up, man? Check out that boy they call He's all stuck up. Oh, why is that? 'Cause he wouldn't give a gir like me no rap.

I called on the phone, I sent you nail But when you didn't talk to me I thought I'd failed.

YOu think you're bad With your Kangol hat, I don't mean to be rude, but your mom

You thought I was in need, And your sister can't read, And your mother's so fat, She can break a cow's back.

Your nose is always runny, Ard you look like Bugs Bunny. There is still one question I have to ask, V/hy did you have to make a fool of me, the H.I.C.H.E.L.E.?

Writer: Anthony Johnson Victim: Michele Daniels

"Michelle's Revenge" 1s • take-off of three popular gossip raps entitled "Roxanne," "Roxanne's Revenge," and "The Real Roxanne." Like the Roxanne raps, two people are talking to each other 1n this student version. Many of the lines are "bites" or direct copies from the three profession­ al raps. Some lines from the original are left out, others are added, and the names are changed to fit the student rap­ per's needs . 291

by Christina Brown

ttraffiti art ha* become wary popular in our school this yaar. Student* define graffiti art as larga murei* on buildings, walls, notebooks, doors, desks, and auan on thair arms or hands, they also writ# it on jaan jackets, pants, and t-*hirtt. Upray paint, markers, airbrushas, and pans ara utad to do tha art work, although it can ba don* with a pane 11 on papar. (ha subject of this graffiti art is mostly straat scanas Involving comnuter trains, skyscrapers, and braakdancing, Horn# slang words such as •♦rash," 'tlaat Street,* or *ic*y," names of professional rap group*, gang namas, or breaking craw* are usually in the mural*. Sine* tha graffiti art cam* from New York City and was first painted on brick wails, students usually draw a brick background for the art work, her this reason the word* *Naw York* or *‘lha Bronx" are sometimes worked Into tha design. The movie "beat Street,' sat in New York City, influenced many Uadgawood studants to start this kind of writing combined with art. Mostly boys do this art work at Uadgawood, but tha girls may- ask boys who are known graffiti artists to decorate their notebook* or jackets, the school's bast graffiti artist may do his art for pay. After seeing samples of hi* work, studants choose a design they want. A good graffiti artist never likas to do eaactly the same design twice. Item# artist* us# an especially good piece of graffiti to challenge another student to try to do a batter piac*. 292

Thie chapter ia about jokaa and inaulta. An a i g M h grader definee a Joke aa a ahort etory meant to ba humorout. An intuit ia defined aa a humorou* comment on tomeone that ia meant to cut than down) an inault ia huiaoroua but ia ueually ahortar than a Jokr.

Jokaa and inaulta art totd by eighth grade atudanta from whan thay gat up In tha norning until thay go to bad at night. Jokaa and inaulta art told moat frequently in tha gymnatium and during lunch tint. Soma atudanta nay tall than in tha claatroon whan thay art with a cloaa friend. Sana people do not crack unltat thair friende art thara to laugh at tha crack. Boya aaan to tall nora jokaa and inaulta than girla. However, girla will inault back it thay art inaultad on by boya firat. Sona of tha rtatont atghth grada atudanta tall Jokaa or inaulta are to gat attention, to practice thair language, to defend thanaalwaa, and, of courat, to hawe fun. Different jokaa are funny to different age lavala. For example, a joke or inault that ia funny to an eighth grader probably would not ba funny to an adult. Alao anybody can tall a joke, but not everybody haa the talent to nake it funny.

Hera are tome examp I at of middle achool inaultai

INSULT «1

Placet Lunchroom Paraonai Tod and Jack

Tad waa aitting at tha firat table, and Jack waa aitting at tha aecond table.

Jacki Look at Tad. Hie meat (atomach) ia hanging over tha table.

INSULT »2

Placet General mutic room Paraonai Paul and Jack

Paul waa minding hie own buemeee.

Jackt Modrock’ (pauaa) Boulder rock! 293

INSULT «3

Placo* Ganaral nuaic room Paraonai Oarran and Bratt

Oarran i You fat hippopotamua! Bratti Thiaf! Thiaff You'ua got crookad taath.

INSULT *4

Placat Gtntral mutic roan Paraonai Tim and Joa

T i m Look at your fat butt. Joai Socka! Sock*’ You'ut got a big rock

Inaulta art wary cannon in niddla achoolara' tiuaa. Hart ia ona middla achool atudant'a opinion about jokaa and inaulta.

‘...Now, in itiddlt achool paopla H u t off of putting aonaona down. If cracKa waan't in middla achool, aona paopla wouldn't conaidtr it a niddla achool. I gutat it'a what makaa achool worth going to for aona paopla. 8ut I, rnytalf, think wt could liua without crackt. But aa long aa you can ahoot back at aonaona, you don't haut nothing to worry about...*

Sana atudanta atata that uaing inaulta whan thay gat to high achool will makt than attm irmaturt to tha oldar atudanta ao ‘crack** may btcana lata fraquant in high achool. 294

This chapter i« about bretkdancmg. Tha definition ot breakdance it * a combination ot gymnastic* and modern dance moves." Breakdancing is done tor tun or tor battle (to tee who if the best). The most common place to do this type ot dancing it on the dance floor at the tKating rink. Boys are usually the ones that breakdance, not girls. There could be one or more groups breaking against each other. To start the contest one person trom one group goes out and throws a move and then gets up and looks challenging!y at the other group. Then a person trom the other group goes out and does a move that can beatthe other group's move. The dancers keep throwing moves back and torth until one group runs out of moves. The group that ran out of moues is the loser. Even students who don't participate in actual breakdancmg know and practice the most popular moves by spinning tacks, brushes, pencils, action figures, rolls of tape, spools of thread, and money. Boys may spin these items to entertain themselves or to compete with a friend to set whose object or man is the best. The students sometimes give their action figures a street name. Other students have participated in the breakdancing fad by imitating the dancer's style ot dress. The people who breakdance wear only fresh (new) shoes like suede or leather Pumas, Adidas, or Keds. The types of clothes the breakdancers wear are Puma, Adidas, or Nike warm-up suits. They wear Kangols, which are safari type hats, or Carets, which arc block framed, non-prescription glasses. Big belt buckles with the person's name or street name (nickname) are also popular. Another extremely popular item is the use of brightly colored thick shoelaces. Breakdancing has also influenced the type of music middle schoolers listen to. Breaking is done to rap music which is talking and rhyming at the same time with a particular beat. The groups that perform the music are Uhodtm, Kurtis Blow, Grand Matter Flash, U.T.F.O., and Roxanne Shante. Host of the instrumental music is out of style for breakdancing. Types of moves the breakdancers would do are called the ‘swipe,* the "I9P0," the "top," the "flare,* the "turtle," and the "eggroll." The dancer would probably do some kind of combination of the moves like doing footwork into a swipe, then top, bounce-up to the head, and spin. To help teachers and students better understand breakdancing, we have developed a short glossary for this section. It begins on the next page. 295

baokspm - The dencei get* on fufni; t tick ana rotate*. . . hi£ leg;legs irouncaround in in a rircl* fir cl and thtn clour t hi* h e i d s p i n Iggroll- Ihir WC-"* 1{ don* just like the 'm u but the dencer rolls on hit shoulders end tort heed.

Heedspin- The dancer sett on huhi: heedpeed mMith.hit m nn |h : in the eiiill end huh hint/; holding hu. up. Then he rotates hi; legs to the lett or rig h t. He th en puli; up hi; hands end closes hu legs Tickin'- lh e dencer wove* his body end ires like he doesn't hi"* eny stints His body u usually in en upright position There er* tour different types Of ticking students do. t i c k i n g They ere es follows box- The danger aoue* hts adshen__ end eras in the sh ip * of e box. hcppin - The dencer doer tickin motions tut the ection it not a* saooth. He pops" the hend end ere ao"*a*ntf hush the button- e rhythmic aooeaent Of King Tut- The dancer aekes hind* on* in front of ire end hand actions the ot her like you're flail a r to encient r c vp - pushing buttons. tian drawings in the toab of Kins lut. Hive- The eras end hands b o w * like waves in ISM- lh* dencer relites hit water. bod” with one hand on th e tI'XT end th e e n tire body up in the air Ihe body turn; m e circle. Swipe- The dencer startr froa e pushup position He twists his lee* eround lettina his era* go et the sine tine Then he roll* eround on his beck end shoulders Thu ao"* re- sea lies the ection of • windaill.

h e e d spin Top hocking- The dancer ic";i his f»ft bfck and le au sic ling

Toppin - The dancer coaes out pf a swipe and spins on his head end hand with his legs slanted in the eir Turtle- The dancer walks on both hands in a circle with hi* feet.int in the th e eir air. Hi* body l! honsontel to the 3 gro u n d swi pg 296 swipe

Poses

swipe THE MIDDLE SCHOOLER'S TYPICAL ROOM

by Phil Hoover, Ken Gray, Dora Wagner, Pam Jones, Christina Brown, Nancy Ferguson, and Wanda Baker

Id tht* chapter yea will find oat whet meet elddl« ecbool stu- deate have In their bedrooms. We found eut thla Information by doing a survey. Sewing a rooa to youreelf le Important beceuee you have more prlwecy to do rhlnge like talk on the phone, lietan to the radio, watch television, etudy, eat, and rend hooka. It ia nlao a place to write lattera and notea, and It le a good place to chink.

The rapoaelblllty In having your own rooa la that you have to clean It up. One of the problema In having your own room la people coming In end taking thing* without permission. Whoa the door le abut, people don't even knock before coming In. You don't get any privacy that way.

loye* rooma are different from girle' rooma. We found the typi­ cal rooma contained the following ltene.

IOTS Cl BIS a otereo a stereo a night stand otuffed a a bank a curling iron a box (radio) < 7 a box (radio) a telephone a telephone hooka and mages laea books and megasine* tapaa and recorda tepee and records old board games collections computer vldm a blow dryer a dreaeer a dreaeer a sleeping beg makeup pennante Jewelry trophlee a Junky closet sports equipment an old doll weights brushes and combe poetera of women and aporta souvenirs bruahaa, wave greaae, other poetera of animals, boya grooming aide and etara model eara and airplanes supply of chawing gun

loom colora vary from light to dark colora depending on taste. Moat boya have twin or bunk bode. Moat girla have double, twin, or canopy beds. Moat atudanta said they didn't share a room with a brother or slater, but some said thay had to. Reading I* an important paetlme tor Uedgewood atudanta. Thar Ilka to reed atorita about adolaacanta, Iowa atorlea, aycteriee, and adventure etoriea. Thia chaptar talka about tha reading middle achool atudanta do. Tha chaptar intludaa book a tha atudanta hava raad and booka tha atudanta plan to raad. Tha chaptar alao nantiona tha nawapapara tha atudanta reed, including tha aactiona ot tha ntwepapere that atudanta enjoy tha noat. That wilt ba followed by a auction on which magazinaa ara raad by Uadgawood atudanta. Than tha chaptar expleina where and whan tha atudanta lika to raad.

Ua gatharad tha Information in thia chaptar by aurutying aighty-thraa aighth grada atudanta. Ua alao intaruiawad atudanta to aaa it tha atudanta agraadwith our concluaiona.

Tha 'Moat Manorabla Booka* paga givaa twanty-thraa tittaa that atudanta liatad aa thair taworita booka raad. Four ot tha booka ara by Judy Blume, a popular author with Uadgawood atudanta. Studanta Ilka har booka becauee aha writaa about adolaacanta' probiana and bahauior. Othar author a raad by Uadgawood atudanta ara S-E. Hinton, Bauarly Claary, and Lola Duncan. All thaaa authora alao uaa adolaacanta aa thair main charactara in thair booka.

Tha raading last includaa a claaaic old book, Tha Miiard ot Ot. which ia alio an old mouie ahown on tv. Othar booka tron popular ooviaa or tu ahoua wara named ouch aa Indiana Jonaa and tha Tamale ot Doom and Tha Pinballa. Two ot Staphan King'a thriltar booka wara on tha liat ot booka atudanta plan to raad. Ona ot thaaa, CuJo. ia alao a mouia. Booka about muaic atara ouch aa Tha Hlchaal JaeKaon Story ara popular.

Ua can conclude that moat atudanta enjoy raading tha booka thair trianda haue,told tha* about and tha booka trom tauorita aoviaa or tv program. Tha bookliat alao ahowa tha mixture ot adolrecent booka and a taw adult booka. Thia probably ahowa whtre middla achool atudanta ara- not children but beginning to be adulte. MOST MEMORABLE BOOKS

Below la a llat af tha hooka eighth grada alddla achael eta- daata raaaafcered raad lag aeat, Tha H at la la erder (tea tha aaat fraguaatlr aaatloaad to tha laaat (ragautl; a

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T U F1MBALU hr Batar *T“ » 300 WHAT MIDDLE SCHOOLERS PLAN TO READ

by Dor* Wagner and Pan Jones

V* alao aekad atudanta to llat booka thay planned on raading Is tha future. Moat atudanta 11atad books thay had haard about frou othar atudanta, thair tascbars, or aortas, Othar atudanta Juat filled thia aactlon In with "loro a tor Isa,H "good hooka,** "don't know," and "nona." Tha llat belou ia In ordar froa tha aost frequently nantlonad to the laaat frequently nantlonad.

THE OPTSIDEKS by S.E. Hinton

CPJO by Stephan King

PET SEHETAKT by Stephan king

DOKP W A P by Julia Ouaalnghan

THEN AGAIN HATBE 1 WON’T by Judy Sluna 301

wiune l Kimber 1" Newspapers Middle Schoolers Read

,-hw i tb* f*9orit« on* htl> frid iri *t ^U'ijpKfr” i5m VtVKft" it in ond*r from f Uid. The Iitt i t in order fromC h t popui tlit I test popular. on popular to the least.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH COMICS THE BEST-SIDE HESSEHCER SPORTS THE C1T1ZEH JUPRHAL HENS THE HATIOHAL ENQUIRER HACAZIKE STAR ACCEKT THE COLUHBUS CALL AMD POST TRIO IA USA TODAY ENTERTAINMENT

W* qutttiontd eighty-thre* eighth grader* about thair reading of newtpaptrs. About on* third of tht ttudant* taid they raad a daily newspaper. Fifty-tight of the tlghty-thrta students raad a Sunday ntwtpaptr. Ua fatl itott ttudant* raad a Sunday newspaper bacaut* they haw* nora tine to raad on Sunday. Tha Sunday paper it blggtr and tha ccmict andnagaiint taction* ara in color. Tha conic* taction hat nor* in it and tha picture* art larger. Tht Sunday entertainment taction ft alto popular bacauta ft tel It what progrant and nowiat will b* thoun during tha weak. Tht nott popular taction* of the ntwtpaptr art tha conict and tha tportt peg*.

Tht ntwtpaptr it enjoyed by nott ttudant* and uttd at a tourct of information about tha naighborhood, tha city, and tha world. MAGAZINES

The list below shows the magazines eighth graders read, It Is in order from the most popular magazine to the least.

HEN BEAT TIME ______ILuAT ESSENCE SIXTEEN JUNIOR HISS SPORTS ILLUSTRATED U ffi JEI vouw ' ■ ms RIGHT ON! TIGER BEAT HOUR GIRLS Seventeen DIES' HOME JOURNAL PTOETTT b C K LINE s n s r feOCK TN' SOUL PEOPLE

Uedgewood student* say they like to read magazine* because the Information in them i* up-to-date. The pictures, cartoons, and article* in them are interesting to read. The girls say they tike to see the latest styles and fashion trends. Information from the surveys showed that girls read more magazines than boys. Magazines popular with the girls were Teen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Junior -Hi H > Youno Hiss. Coed. Blamour, and The Ladies Hone Journal.

The boys' magazine reading shows their interest in sports, cars, and music. Most boy* said they read Sports Illustrated, Hot Rod, Dynamite. People. and Time. Both boys and girts enjoy reading stories and interviews with famous movie stars and rock stars. Most of the black students said they liked to read Black Beat, Jet, Riaht On. Tioer Beat. Teen Beat. Essence. Rock Line, and Rocfc'n'Soul.

Son* students spend their own money to buy their favorite issues, other students read their friends' magazines. Hagazines are popular in the school library and are checked out often.

Reading Tim* and Place

Middle school students said they read during language arts class, the school's mi lent reading time, or whenever they find time. Several students said they didn't read at alt. Th bedroom was the favorite reading place followed by the living room. 303

6886 by Robin Taylor Vicki Hoorn H um fiarland

Cloth** ar* very important to middle cchool etudent*. Students judg* **ch othtr initially by thur appearance. U* wilt deal with several different topic* in thia chaptar. In tht tirat section wa wilt discuss tha written and aatabliahad draaa cod* ot Uado*wood Middle School. That will be followed by a ditcuaaion ot the aingle moat important article ot clothing to Uedgewood students, Jtana. Ue will then tell you about an exclusive interview that wa* held at the Nationwide Beauty Academy in the Great Ueatern Shopping Center, in which three ot our atudenta and on* ot our adainiatratora inquired about hair. Following that there will be aectiona on the ua* ot make-up and jewelry in a Uedgewood student's lit*, which ia to!lowed by an explanation ot the rule* ot the peer culture. And, to aum our chapter up, w* have aelected two atudanta trom each grad* level at Uedgewood Middle School tsixth, aeventh, and eighth) to interview them their teeling* about the ditterent aspect* ot clothing, make-up, and jewelry. 304

SCHOOL DRESS CODE

There are certain rule* at our school stating that cartain articles ot clothing should not b» worn to school. Thaaa rulss make up tha Uadgawood drass coda. This coda is rsuiswad and established yearly by tha studant council, our school's FTO, and tha Uadgawood ads inistrat ion. Tht Uadgawood drass coda was sat up in tha first placa so that no vulgar or distasteful clothing is worn. If nont of that Kind of clothing is worn than wa, the studants, will not ba distracted from our education. Tha Uadgawood drass coda is followed by everyone, tha studants and tha edsinistration. This is a copy of it.

1) Shots must ba worn at all times. 2) Sandals art permitted.< Eicapt in shop or drafting clast.) 3) Socks art to ba worn with all shots except sandals. 4) Hats ara not to be worn in tha school building. 5) Shorts art not to ba worn outside of gym class. d> Halter tops are not to ba worn in school, 7) Neither tuba tops nor tank tops ara to ba worn unites thay covtr tha naval and abdominal area,and a blouse or shirt is worn underneath, B) Sat-thru athletic shirts are not to ba worn unless an appropriate undergarment is worn underneath. 9) Clothing containing suggestive or obscant material is not to ba worn in school. 10) Studants may not wear coats, vasts, jackets, or any othar outer wear intended for outside use in tha classroom or alsawhara in tha school building during tha school day. 11) No colored hairspray is to be worn to school, except on special occasions.

Jtant art tht nott important piece ot clothing to * Uadgawood Middle School ttudtnt. Wt agreed thtt tht ration tor thit it that tht ttudtntt tttl mott contortablt in thtn. Every ttudtnt wtart jtant tit dart out of ttutn, Jn a rtctnt turvty, wt found that thttt art tht nott popular jtant that art worn by a middle achool ttudant. 1) Let jtant or baggitt

Gloria Wanderbiltt art alto popular jtant, worn only by ftmalt niddlt tchool ttudtntt. Chic jtant art another popular brand of jtant worn only by girlt. rtoit atudanta at our tchool gtt thtir jtant from tithtr Wtttland or Eaatland, utually at laiarut, Marriannt, or tht County Stat. Mott ttudtntt liwt by ont of thttt mailt. Somt ttudtntt like thtir jtant loott, but nott ttudtntt prtftr than to bt tight. Stutral girlt havt woundt on thtir indti fingtrt from trying to pull up tht lipptr on thtir tightatt pair of jtant. Ont ttudtnt taid that tht litt on htr bed and htr mother ttickt a coat hangar through tht hook in tht lipptr to pull tht zipper up. Ont ttudtnt wat obttrvtd with tht ttem markt of htr tightatt Jordacht jtant tngrautd in htr Itgt in gym clatt. On a t m occationt, ttudtntt havt bttn known to put thtir jtant in tht bathtub to gtt thtm taturattd. Thit allowt thtm to atratch out and thtn thay art tatitr to put on. After tht wtt jtant havt bttn put on, thay will dry thtm with tht hair drytr, which maktt thtm ahrink back to fit tht body. Tht boyt' jtant aren't too tight. Thit may bt btcautt the boyt art more active, and thty want to mout around mort frttly. Ont boy wort a pair of hit tightttt blut jtant while playing football. Whan he jumped up to catch the ball, they aplit on the t tarns in tht crotch. Ht hatn't worn a pair of tight jtant tinct. Tht utual cott of a pair of jtant it around *15 to *30 dollara. Tht motl a ttudant hat paid for a pair of jtant it about *40, which wat for a pair of Jordacht or Gloria Uandtrbi 11*. Ont middle tchool ttudtnt tatd, *Uhtn you go thopping for a pair of jtant, you want a pair th«t't in ttylt and that will fit right.* Several middle tchool girlt indicated that although they pick thtir own jtant, thtir partntt tttlI pay for thtm. Howtutr, ont middle tchool ttudant taid that her mother wat willing to pay for the Ittt txptntivt jtant, but tinct tht wthttd the mort expensive jtant, tht bought thtm with htr own monty that tht earned from babyeitting. Mott of the jtant that ttudtntt wtar art ttraight ltgt. The ttudtntt think that tht btll bottomt art out of ttylt. Wt will conclude with a etattmant from ont of our moat popular ftmalt ttudtntt, 'You can tall a lot about a ptrton by the way they wtar their jtant.* 306

by Laura Garland m u n i m i l l On Wednesday, December 19, 1964, three students from WedgeMOod Middle School; Robin Taylor, Vicki Moore, and Laura Garland went to Nationwide Beauty Academy to Interview two cosmetology students, Carol Case and Tammy Reed. Sharon Dorsey, a teacher was also present. The purpose of this Inter­ view was to find out Information about hairstyles middle school students wear. The Wedgewood students wanted to In­ clude the Information In a book that their language arts class was writing. The book Included Information on the different as­ pects of middle school students.

INTERVIEW WITH NATIONWIDE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Laura: What kind of hairstyles do most middle school students get?

Tammy: Well, . . . most of the ones I've done get the b1-lev- el . That's where It 1s short 1n front and gets longer 1n the back and 1s usually layered.

Laura: What about the boys?

Tammy: Well, . , . most boys get . . . lately they've been getting that punk . . . long 1n the back and real, real short on top . . . with the ta ll.

Laura: Are there different hairstyles for black girls than for white glrls7

Tammy: Well, no, . . . they klnda . . . they use a lot of curls. The bleck girls wear a lot of curls.

Carol: Yeah,they pick out. Like curly on the top and then like straight. (She moved her hand 1n a downward motion next to her face.)

Tammy: They get a real tight curl, like an Afro»then they they get a lift-lik e pick to pick It out and like make It fuller. Then they use gels to make It tighter.

Laura: Do you think there's an Image or someone most girls are trying to look like? Tammy: Up . . . like a singer, a rock singer or an actor on T.V.

Laura: Do they ever bring 1n pictures?

Carol: Yeeh! They bring In a lot of pictures. Sometimes It's hard to do because they have their own type of hair and the movie star has another type. A lot of guys bring 1n pictures.

Laura : Who do they bring In the most pictures of? 307

Tammy: I saw one the other dayof Sheena Easton.

Carol : Oh, yeah. Tammy: Yeah, and Laura Branlgan.

Carol : Name some of the guys.

TAMMY: Rod Stewart . . . Lorenzo Lamas.

Laura ; Are there any home formulas that they use on their hair, such as washing their hair 1n wine of beer!

Tammy: Some people do.

Carol : Like a lemon rinse or a vinegar rinse. It gives It body.

Tammy: Raw eggs.

Carol : Raw eggs. But you have to do 1t 1n cool water. Tammy: Yeah, If you don't, you'll get scrambled eggs 1n your hair! (laughter)

Laura : How affected are the hairstyles by fads?

Tammy: Very. Very. They're real fashion conscious. Most of the guys I get are younger, and they want their hair just perfect.

Carol : They're worse than the girls nowadays. Tammy: They are. A lot of girls just come In and get a perm and go. But these guys are very particular.

La ura : Do most middle school students, boys and girls, color or tint their hair?

Carol : No, not 1n middle school. They Just leave their hair natural.

Laura : What are the biggest complaints that middle school stu­ dents have about their hair? Are there certain expres­ sions they use to describe their hair?

Carol : This oneguy says, "This has to look totally awesome!" And I'm like, "Okay, (laughter) what 1s that?"

Tammy : They're at a certain age where they really don't know what to do with their hair. They’re not sure what to use or how to use a curling Iron or anything. A lot of girls come 1n here who have never used a curling Iron and want a new style. Andthen you give a new style that has to be blown dry or curled, and they're like, "Nhat do I do? I'm lost." Carol : They have a lot of problems using the curling Iron and the mousse.

Miss Dorsey; Can you teach them how to do it?

Tammy: We can to some extent, but we can't hold their hand while they do It. He try to show them ba­ sically what to do.

Laura ; What kind of utensils do you use7

Carol : Scissors, razors, lifts, picks, perm rods, brush­ es, combs.

Tammy: Thinning shears.

Carol : We also use a razor to thin the hair. A razor cut usually looks better on a guy that has a layered cut, because a razor blends In more and doesn't make it look that chopped.

Laura: How long do most students spend on their hair? Tammy: About a half hour a day.

Laura : Do parents have a say about how their kids get their hair cut?

Carol : The parents are usually flexible, except when the kids want a wild haircut.

Laura : Do you have a last piece of advice for middle schoolers about their hair?

Tammy: Yes. Get a simple haircut.

Laura ; Thanks very much. We'll pass that advice along.

From this interview, we have come to the conclusion that hairstyles are very Important to the average middle school student. Hair makes the statement that students are following the styles of the peer culture. 309

JEWELRY

by Sandy Crump

Jewelry i* another article that it worn often by niddla achool atudanta. The girla hare wear it about everyday. Ua are baaing thia information that we'we gathered on obaerwation. From what we have aeen, the boya at Uedgewood wear gold chain* around thair neck*, if anything. A few, however, wear an earring in their left ear. They feel that wearing an earring in their right ear ia a aign of homosexuali ty. The girlt wtar a lot more jewelry than the boya do. The girla wear ring*, earring*, ankle bracelet*, wriat bracelet*, and every other jewelry that it imaginable. But, a* wt tee it, the moat c o m o n ia the earring*. Earring* are worn everyday by juat about every girl that ha* her ear* pierced. If a female atudent at Uedgewood doesn't have her tar* pierced, then i t * uaually btcauae htr parent* won't let her get it done. In aomt caaea like thia, the girl hat one of her friend* pierce htr ear* for her. Thia it done by numbing the tar with ice until all of the feeling ia gone. She then atick* the needle through. Uhen the needle i* completely through the earlobe, the girl take* an earring and puthe* it in the hole that the needle hat made. Uhen all of thit ia accompliahed, the tar it pierced. The next mott common piece of jewelry worn by a Uedgewood Middle School female atudent it a necklace. About 757. of tht girla at Uedgewood around their neck. In tome caaea, they might havt a necklace and earring* that match. But in mott caaea, a girl will only wear a chain with tone type of charm on it. A few girla wear a chain with their boyfriend'* clatt ring on it. Another common piece of jewelry for a female atudent i* a ring. About SOX of the girl* wear a ring. A few of the girl* who have boyfriend* that are in high achool wear thtir boyfriend'* d a t a ring, which ia uaually too big, ao the girl will have to wrap yarn around the ring to make it fit tighter. Uriat and ankle bracelet* are worn by about 2SX of the female atudent*. In the aunmer, when ahorta are worn more often, the ankle bracelet* are worn more often. Uatchea, on the other hand, are eontidered bracelet* by Uedgewood atudent*, and they are worn fay about 65X of the atudent*, male and female. Ue would like to conclude thi* tection of the clothe* chapter with a statement from one of the moat popular girla at Uedgewood. 'Jewelry make* me feel aa if 1 am dressed up all of the time. It give* me an elegant feeling.* 310

Make-up it another important factor for Uadgawood students. Nearly all of tha girlt hart wtar makt-up. To gather information on tht ttudtntt that do and do not wtar makt-up, wt took a survey on tha subject. Tha rtaulta go at followtt

Ninataan boyt and girlt took our survey. Out of tha nineteen, thirteen ttudtntt wear make-up, and six itudantt do not. Out of the fix that do not wear tha make-up, four of them ware boyt. Tha thirteen ttudentt that do wtar it are all girlt. Out of the thirteen that do wear make-upi Eleven wear bate. Eleven wear eyeshadow. Eleven wear powdered cheek blush. Eight matcara. Six wtar lipttick or glott. Three wtar powder. The ttudentt that do wtar make-up tax that thax can buy thtir makt-up mott anywhere. One atudent commented,*lf I tte tome make-up that I like, then I'll buy it. It doetn't matter to me where it'a bought at, at a long at it tooka nice.* The ttudentt at Uedgewood who wear make-up tay that an older relative or friend taught thtm how to put it on. The ttudentt tax that for the mott part, their parentt will buy their make-up, unlett it it very expentive cotmetict. In those catet they have to save up their own money and buy it themselvet. Mott ttudentt started wearing their make-up between the aget of nine and thirteen. A lot of the ttudentt will only wtar one type of makt-up. Every type of make-up hat a brand name. Tht mott common ones are Cover Girl, Avon, and Mary Kay Cotmetict. Mott of the ttudentt started wearing make-up because they thought that it made them look and feel older. But, a few taid that they started wearing it because all of their friends did. Make-up gives the Uedgewood female students telf-confidence and reassurance because they feel at if they can hide their flaws behind the make-up and make themselvet more perfect. 311

In th* beginning of thr cloth** chapter, you haw* read about th* written and **tabliahtd rule* of Uedgewood Hiddlt School, but there ar* othtr rut** of th* p»*r cultur*. Uhat we mean by thia i* that th* •tud*nt* h»rt at Uedgewood **t tom* rule* themselves. Uhat th* mo*t popular students Ilk* and ditlik* stt th* tr*nd*. Bay for instance on* of th* nor* popular girlt at U*dg*wood r*ally liked mini akirta, ao ah* wore them a lot. Th*n all of th* othtr girl* will think that thty look r*ally m e t , ao th*y'11 atart wearing th*« alao. But, if on* of th* not-ao-popular girl* wor* mini akirta alot, then all of th* other girla would probably make fun of her. In othtr word*, th* popular atudenta art th* leader*, and most ewtryont tla* will follow then. There are nany rule* of th* pttr culture. Thi* i* a liat of them that wa* i»ad* out by a atudtnt.

1) No bobo*. 2) No flood* or high water*. 3) Do not wear b*11-bottom*. 4> Newer wtar an ugly col or.(Army gretn, brown,sane ahad** of y*1low.) 5)Don't b* or act immature.

Th* n*w**t atudenta and th* aixth grad* *tud*nt* aoon ltarn of th»a* rule*. Usually it happen* *omthing like thiai A new *tud*nt will arriwt at achool wearing tom* Urangler jtan*. (Ucdgewood atudenta think that they art cheap.) Uhen the othtr atudenta ate thi* peraon wearing Urangler jeans they'll say stuff like, * Where did you get your jeans? At a flea market?* All of th* new atudenta wilt see and hear this, and make a mental note to not wtar Urangler Jean*. Most students at Uedgewood feel that they should be able to haw* more of a variety of choice when it come* to wearing their clothe* at achool. They disagree with th* adsinistration when th* adsinistration say* that certain clothing distract* from the educational environment. They feel that they could learn and study more freely if they didn't have to follow a dress code. Their reason for this is they say that thty would feel more comfortable and not ao restrained. However, there are boundaries that students are aware of when chosing their clothes for a day. One is the published dress code of the achool and the other, more subtle, is the unwritten rules of the peer culture. 312 ,eiotw

Attitudes Toward Clothing Among 6rade Levels

by Robin Taylor

U* wanted to compare th* attitudes toward clothing and hairstyle* of th* various grad* level*. To do thi* w* conducted selected interview* of two students at each middle school grad*. Uhen students enter th* sixth grade, at Uedgewood they look like they are trying to act and dress like they're grown up, but their real features shine through and show that they're not as mature as they would like to be. When th* students are teaoing the eighth grade, they took more mature and they look like they're entering adulthood, because they know more about th* styles and they follow them more strictly. One of th* most common fashions for all grades is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or some type of shirt. Anong th* three grad* levels, the following three brands of jeans are the most populari Jordache, tee, Levis. The boys from all grades wear normal fitting jean*. The boys' jean* are neither tight nor baggy. But on th* other hand girls wear either tight or baggy jeans. The usual cost that a Uedgewood Middle student would pay for a pair of jeans it around 30 to 40 dollars. Most of the boys wear sweatshirts, muscle shirts, polos, and t-shirts. But th* girls wear blouses, sweaters, and polos. Most students at Uedgewood want their hair to look nice. They either get it cut by a professional or a relative. And they usually try to keep th* most popular hairstyle. The majority of middle school students at Uedgewood have their parent* buy their school clothes, usually at the Uestland or Eastland Hall. Uhen it comes to make-up, nearly every girl at Uedgewood wears it. In the sixth grad* some girls whose parents don't allow them to wear cosmetics have mirrors and make-up in their locker to us* when they get to school in th* mornings. But throughout th* day th* make-up wears off before they get home. Th* seventh and eighth grade students are allowed to wear make-up, but most generally boys dent wear it. About 9T/. of the girls have their ears pierced, double pierced, or even triple pierced. Both girls and boy* wear gold or silver chains around their neck. About on* fourth of th* boys have their left ear pierced. Th* reason that th* boys only pierce their left ear once is because any other form of ear-piercing is thought to be gay. 677628^8

BY: TODD RECTOR

•MOVIES*

Our rtinrcti group wanted to 'find out which movies middle school students went to see prior to January, 1969. U* handtd out a survey to a middle achool language arta claaa to collect our information. From th* survey, w* learned that tha movie middle achool atudenta went to aee moat often waa GREMLINS. The most often watched movie, at home, waa FAST TIMES AT R1DGEM0NT HIGH.(Some students watch movies at home on cable t.v.) The twelve students who responded to the survey named thirty-two movies, seventeen of which were named only once, and twelve named twice. Th* other three movies were named more than twice. Of th* movies which were named in th* survey, thirteen were comedies and seven of those comedies starred teenagers as their main characters. Four other movies, that weren't comedies, also starred teenagers. The remaining sixteen films listed in th* survey included horror and adventure movies. u* also found that most middle schoolers go to th* movies with friends or relatives. They usually go on weekends, Friday through Sunday. The last question w* had on the survey was *Name the movies you would like to see.1 U* found the movie that middle schoolers wanted to see most in January, 1965 was the movie MISCHIEF, which also stars a teenager. Th* students who responded to the survey said they like movies with teenage characters because they can relate to th* actions and feelings of these characters better than they can to adult characters. Middle schoolers probably go to the movies on weekends because that is when they have the most time. After school they have homework and chores to do. Ue also found that on the average, middle school students spend three to four hours at th* movie theater whenever they go to see a movie. During the time spent, th* students have to wait in lint (if there is one), buy their tickets, wait to get in and be stated, and watch the movte which lasts about on* and a half to three hours. Three of th* twelve students said they have a V.C.R. (Video Cassette Recorder) at home to tap* and watch movies they want to set, when they want to set them. Four of the twelve students sail that they need permission from their parents to watch a particular film at the movies or at home on cable t.v. Their parents may not want them to watch movies that are too mature tor them or movies with too much violence. Movies Middle School Students £ Have Seen I

Th* following it • list of nowist th*t th* ttudsnt* **ntion*d in th* turvtx. Th* nott popultr nowitt «r* stsrrsd •. Thtst i»ovj*t »r* in •lphab*tictl ordsr, not ntcstttri1? in ordsr Of 1*0*t to l*t*t popultr.

BEAT STREET BEVERLY HILLS COP BREAK IN' ] BREAKIN' 2 CHILDREN OF THE CORN E.T. •FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH FLAMINGO KID FLASHDANCE FOOTLOOSE GHOSTBUSTERS CONAN THE BARBARIAN CONAN THE DESTROYER •GREMLINS KARATE KID LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN NIGHT SHIFT NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET OH GOD, YOU DEVIL POLICE ACADEMY PORKY'S PSYCHO 1 AND II RED DAUN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK SPLASH SPRING BREAK TEMPLE OF DOOM TUILIGHT 2ONE ZAPPED Movies Middle Schooler^ Wanted To See £

Tht +0)1 owing tilltt trt tht now it* that tht itiddlt achool ttudtnt* ttid thty uanttd to ttt.

ATLANTA MURDERS AVENGING ANGEL BEVERLY HILLS COP BREAK IN' I BREAK IN' II FALCON W O THE SNOUMAN FASTFORUARD GHOSTBUSTERS HEAVEN HELP US KARATE KID KILLING FIELDS Ml CKEY AND t«UD •MISCHIEF PURPLE RAIN TEACHERS 316

by Hike Lanplntn

In thi* section of th* ch*pt»r th* spare-time group triad to find out how middle tchooltr* *p*nd thfir sport tint. Tht group tilt studtnt* night have job*, participate or watch sports, and thty night go to tht shopping nail. When ut surveyed tht studtnts, nost of th* middl* tchooltr* said thty liKtd to go to th* shopping mall. In my opinion, 1 think most of th* studtnts 1 surveyed go to tht shopping nail to b* mi th friends and brows*.If th* m d d l * tchooltr gats with hit or htr partnts, thty usually walk ahtad or bthind th*ir partntt. Th* students art embarrassed when s**n with their parents by other classmates. The girls I surveyed liked to go to clothing stores and the boys like to go to electronic and athletic stores. Both girls and boys like to go to pet and record shops. Middle schoolers stay In tach of the stores for about 13 minutes *ach,and usually stay about two hours in tht mal1.

Tht second most popular activity middle schoolers do during their spar* time it watch sports such as football, basketball and baseball. The sport most watchtd by middle schooltrs it football. Hore than half of the students 1 surveyed watch sports. Twict at many boys watch sports as girls. 1 think most of the students watch sports because thty Iikt a player on thtir favorite team and they would like to play that sport whtn they get older. Not that many students participate in sports. Out of 28 students only 8 play sports. Tht spare-time activity ltett don* by middlt schoolers is having a job. More girls hsut jobs than boys. Tht job most don* by middlt schoolers it babysitting^ the atcond job most often done is having a paper route.

From doing my research, I learned that all of th* middle schoolers 1ikt to do spare-time activities with friends. Thty like to share the tun with th* people they are d o s e to. 317

Church, Arcades Skating School Club* and Outside Clubs

by Jackie Jaquess The sparetime activities groin Th* "AUOL" is an exaggerated «*nt*d to find out; how middle school alk. where the dancer take* one h sud en ts spendth*stu eir sparetime. In Rirge step then a smaal bounce toth t e order to do th i tie handedJ out aif, rhythm, lhe dancar brings th* su rv ey to our 616 th h gradegrade lailanguage second foot up even witn the first a r ts das*. li In the survey we asked foot and bounces again. The arm student* abo aboutt th eir th e ir attendance atte a tstudent* movement follow* th e feet. The arm church, arcades, skating— rinks, that is on the same side as the school dubs, and clubsoutside ou of moving foot is always raised., schi , . Lots of people go to the skating iestioned students about>ut rinks. Kindergarteners, elementary Sendanc* a t church. The students, high school students, and show that overei _1 ^ 2 of th e even people out of school go. ivoryv e ry - :h on Sui Sundays,_____ one is onI f th* f dance floor ancmd, g or ne stu stude d en ts go skating. Pisafw8.walurchpp _ _ _ _ 1 days u ring Some middle school students tha week and on Tun3ay, too to clubs. “Just Just aboutabouti^ 1 <3 of ^ He guessedsed that thi ' a lot of i tne students we surveyed go to school students visited arcades,li so school dubs.. They mainly go to com- we asked theg students.studi He found> out put«r club^ C^ristiap p y b , pandv gym. of the students visit- i&Zi^uFa^-Kgiar*£r“' ed*5 ri.arcades, host of th**?u3ent* activity period. y i slit ft'a 'r c a <1 #— i *o n>— ri da y an J About Uiof the students Saturday,turday, moremore.than than*P eny *qther day surveyed belong to. to duos clubs outsou school. These may be social, ?jf.rL ______, ______lag* mere or rg^giou* the two most popular video games played., The object oPGalaga*is to TtissafM? •.■»«>« i. shoot alien spaceships 3 with® gunfire and get the pcwerpellets. Then then ysical movemen the ghostmonster* turn blue so you can eat them.and get,points. . ... Some middle school stu d en ts like to go tp skating rinks. He found out that almost M of the studentsgo ge to kating rinks. They mostly go on Jriday and Saturday nights. Host pie go sk atin g ju s t to dance. At popular usa bast skating rink udents dance as much as they skate. Students are now doir ' fprep," thy t l t p / and th e “At The prep is a dance with a lot of shoulder movement. The dancer ticks with one shoulder and then the other. . The head bobs ana moves to­ ward th e shoulder. Arms are bent a t th e elbow, w rists are loose, and h an d s move to the rhythm . One hand move­ ment th a t is sometimes dc------prgp hat fhy hand*

*p is sh o rt dar into any part of doing is doneby by pi placing »t infront fri or the other and loing a small dip T.V Viewing

by Fred Harrison

A popular television poll says the average student by the time he graduates from high school spends more time In front of the TV set than 1n the classroom. Our survey of eighth grade students proves this Information. Most of the eighth graders watch TV 30 hours on weekdays and about 20 hours on weekends. This Is a total of 50 hours of TV a week compared to 35 hours 1n the classroom. The students think that their parents and older brothers or sisters. If they work, watch less TV than they do. Younger brothers or s is ­ ters are thought to watch about the same. Situation comedies where the character learns a lesson about life were the most popular shows for the students. The Bill Cosby Show has been this year's favorite. Other popular shows Include: Punky Brewster. Silver Spoons. It's Your Hove, Family Ties an3 G1rme a Break. Shows that have an adolescent's point of view like Facts of Life or Different Strokes are well liked. Middle schoolers also love the humor in such shows as The Jeffersons and Three's Company.

Some of the more adventure and action programs that are popu­ lar are Miami Vice. knight Wider, and The A Team. Students also said they watched movies made for television about social Issues such as suicide, drug abuse, or child abuse. Most students watch a part of the nightly news.

MTV (music television) 1s extremely popular with students who have cable television. Those who don't have cable television watch the music video programs that local stations air.

There are some differences between the viewing habits of boys and girls. The girls watch soap operas during the day whenever they can. General Hospital and The Guiding Light are two favorites. Oynasty^ Dallas, and Knot's Landing arewatched 1n the even­ ing and sometimes even discussed with friends at school. Boys watch more sports than girls. Football 1s especially popular. One sport that both boys and girls are watching more now 1s wrestling which 1s carried on the cable channels. Tastes also differ In cartoons. The boys like cartoons featuring various superheroes and they like Fat Albert. Girls like cute character cartoons such as Smurfs.

Host middle schoolers like to watch game shows. Two that are popular are Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune. The students like to play the games along with the contestants.

Television is an Important part of an eighth grader's Hfe. They get Information about the world from 1t and I t entertains them. 319

R a d i o ■ ? . . n . * / / ---- 7

r r i’ i"i‘r i*r r iJ iV i'"r‘‘illTirrtrr ri' i' r i' i‘i' i,rvril7tri by Tessla Lunsford

We wanted to find out what radio stations middle schoolers listen to. He sur­ veyed the eighth graders in our language arts class. The radio stations eighth graders listen to most were 92X FM and Z103 FH. Two other stations, 96X FM and 106 FM, were also popular with some students. The reason we think the top radio station was 92X FM was because we have more whites than blacks In our 5th and 7th period class. 92X FM 1s listened to by more whites than blacks. The radio station that black middle school students listen to is Z103 FM. The "Columbus Dispatch" said that Z103 FM (WZZT) 1s an "urban contemporary radio station that probably plays more rap than any other black station 1n town." 92X FM plays more popular music.

The survey shows that middle school students listen to the radio before they go to school from six o'clock a.m. to seven o'clock a.m. and after they come home from school from three o'clock p.m. to eleven o'clock p.m. Using th is Information we can conclude that most middle school students leave the radio on for background during their out of school hours. About i of our language arts class says that their parents let them listen to the radio while doing their homework. Two people say that they are not allowed to listen to the radio while doing their homework.

In our survey we found "Fat Boys'1 was the most popular song middle school stu­ dents liste n to with "Five Minutes of Funk" a close second. Middle school stu­ dents mentioned 17 songs as ones they Hked to listen to. Most songs were men­ tioned once or twice. Twelve of the 17 songs had been recorded by black per- forme-:. Almost half of the songs named were selections of rap songs. Bob Kra'.er, manager of WZZT, said "young kids are totally sold on rap already, and to acconmodate them we've (WZZT) got a special two-hour show Sunday nights devoted exclusively to the latest rap. Kramer's 14 year-old son, Ken, hosts the show."

The performers and groups eighth graders like to hear are New Citation, Prince, Madonna, Tina Marie, T1na Turner, Lionel R1ch1e, Michael Jackson, Clymax, Germaine Jackson, Kool and the Gang, the Commodores, Ready for the World, U.T.F.O., Roxanne Shante, Chaka Khan, Sparky Dee, and Run D.M.C.

Music 1s Important 1n the lives of middle schoolers. Some students say It relaxes them and makes them feel good. Music they say 1s one way of expressing Ideas about the world. The "We are the Children" song 1s a good example. Stu­ dents feel that music will remain Important 1n their lives as they grow older. 320 What Middle Schoolers Eat

by Mark Simpson

Middle schoolers love to eat, but most of us ere choosy about whit we eat and where we eat. Mothers complain that we are always hungry. To find out more about the eating habits of the typical middle schooler, I did some Interviews.

The most popular restaurants are:

McDonalds G.D. Rltzy's Elby's Wendy's Burger King Pizza Hut

The favorite foods are:

pl2za cheeseburgers french fries hot dogs steak

Most middle schoolers spend at least a portion of their own spending money on various snacks. The favorites are: Honey Buns Twinkles potato chips popcorn Dorltos Frltos Fudgerounds ,

Candy bars are another popular snack. Among others they like:

Twix Reese's Pieces Skor Snickers s Now and Later Is another type of chewy candy that Is popular with middle schoolers. One girl said as soon as she gets home from school, she heads to the store to buy a snack, usually a Twix candy bar. She says she Just can't get through a day without one. The favorite soda pops are Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Dr. Pepper. When they are not eating, middle schoolerslike to chew gum. They like fru it flavors such as strawberry, orange, watermelon, and tropical punch.

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