Thursday, September 28, 2017

Spotlighting Student Voices Using the Author's Chair

I finally attempted the “author’s chair” activity, something I had experienced at San Diego Area Writing Project. This protocol calls for students to take a seat in the front of the room to read a piece of their writing, typically a work in progress. I never had the nerve to try before. What if no one volunteered? What if students didn’t respond? What if students weren't interested in each others' ideas?

On this particular day, students had completed a mini-essay, a flash draft. I set up the room, explaining the process. I reminded folks about one of our “class agreements”: No apologies! What we write in class are first drafts, sloppy and scribbly, so there’s no need to say “I’m sorry".  I want students to be be okay with the natural imperfections of an early draft. I want them to develop the nerve they need to share works in progress. 

Another “norm" I'm trying to establish is that no one need editorialize or make commentary when we read our drafts - just read what’s on the paper. I want writers to experience their words as written, and notice that wherever they feel the need to make commentary is precisely where they should do revision.

In all three of my classes, a heavy silence descended into the room once I announced the activity. it took a long, painful two or three minutes of shifting in chairs and nervous giggling before anyone volunteered. I had to bite my tongue, trusting someone would share. After the first reader shared at last, other students snapped their fingers and applauded the reader. I called out one or two words the writer used that were noteworthy, words like “agency”, “creativity”, and “conformity”. I did so to let the reader know their words “landed” on me and for the others in the class to jot down ideas they might use in revision. 

The second and third round of readers were still hesitant to take the chair, but as more students read, a sense of joy and levity unfolded. Students genuinely enjoyed hearing each others' ideas.

I also noted that even without being assigned the actual prompt for the composition on education, students were already taking positions on one of the theorist’s ideas. And several, I was happy to announce to the class, only needed minor tweaking before becoming a solid “nutshell version” or thumbnail draft of a full-blown composition.

Just as important as the cognitive challenge students faced and conquered, their affective take-away were remarkable. Students’ body language indicated they were encouraged by their classmates’ words. Individual readers began to build self-efficacy - they wrote and read an essay, albeit short and sweet. Members of the listening audience saw that perhaps they, too, could have read aloud and been appreciated for their efforts. A sense of "collective efficacy" permeated our classrooms.

Here are two student samples ton Freire’s notion of "modes of education" - PRIOR to direct study of his words (see my last entry). I’ve taken the liberty of doing minor editing - fixing spelling errors and correcting punctuation.

Writing Sample #1: When I think of my mode of education I've mostly experienced was limited education. What was taught to me was specific teachings . . . issued by the district and was not always into depth. Now that I'm in college, the mode of education that I want is unlimited and unfiltered. I want to hear nothing but the truth. And I want to be mind blown and overwhelmed by all the knowledge that's in store for me (I am NOT saying I want to get tested on each single fact). I want to be educated on multiple things! Given the world we live in, we need more students who go after knowledge that they aren't given. We may still be given limited education, but it up to us to educate one another and make sure we stay woke and aware of issues and the society we live in.

Writing Sample #2: When I think of my K-12 experience, the mode of education I’ve mostly experienced is what I call mummy mode. I came up with this name for it because school felt boring and lifeless. I felt so wrapped up in what the school system wanted I could not reach the treasures in my own tomb (my mind). Now I’m in college and the mode of education I want for students is what I call angel mode. by this I mean angels have the freedom to fly and soar, letting the world see their wings. Students should be allowed to have the same mode when it comes to their education and success. Given the world I want to live in, our society needs students who have the freedom to pursue what they want as a career without all the prerequisites that do that do not apply to the career they are striving for. I feel like this would give us a group of proud and passionate professionals in all areas in our near.
This list collects representative student comments about the author's chair process: 
  • I think the hot seat was a nice cause we got to give student the spotlight and listen to what they have to say and not just listen to the teacher, so that was cool. 
  • I felt like it was good for people to share their papers because little did we know we could . . . draft an essay that quickly.
  • Hearing other people share their papers helps me better mine because of the words and ideas getting passed around the room.
  • I enjoyed hearing what other students wrote for their mini essays it helped to see other people's’ point of view.
If you are familiar with Freire's theories about banking and problem solving modes of education, you can see those themes running throughout these writers' flash drafts. With only a little scaffolding, we were able to begin glossing Freire's major concepts based simply on what student writers brought with them to class. 

You know that I was beaming all day long after these classes. I saw students demonstrate their capacity to think along side those we study. And I was inspired to hear and see them influence each other with their words! 


Shout out to UMOJA scholar AA & Acceleration writer NS for their spot-on revision assistance.

No comments:

Post a Comment