Reflecting on the Memorandum

Learning how to construct a proper memorandum was something I thought was going to be incredibly challenging and unuseful; However, after writing this paper I feel exactly the opposite. After Professor Kittle described exactly what was expected for this project I felt a ton of weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt the initial handout explanation was confusing, yet the Professor made it much clearer. When I sat down and began this project I found it to run very smoothly. Having read four of the articles used as discussion in this paper I felt like I had great background knowledge in this topic. Not to mention hearing about the other twelve articles from members of our inquiry groups. I think reading the articles in advance and critically analyzing them for salient points really helped when trying to write the discussion segments of this assignment. The three section introduction was the most difficult for me, but was manageable thanks to Professor Kittle's "tips" on the handout. Overall, I think this assignment was very useful for a couple of reasons. First, I feel it was great to have us read informative journal articles about effective teaching, since we are all future teachers. Secondly, incorporating this into an assignment that could be something that we actually might need to construct when we are teachers is useful. I had never previously seen a memorandum, nor know the structure or process of one. Learning how to write this academic paper will really help me if I am instructed to do so in my future career. All in all, this assignment outwardly appearing quite daunting, yet proved to be very useful and informative.

Importance of Correctness

After reading from the book, Rules of Thumb, I have come to answer many questions I have had about correctness. Right away I found a quote to be very interesting, "don't let the fear of errors dominate the experience of writing...(yet) basic errors in writing will distract and turn off even the most determined reader". I found this statement to be of interest because I have let the fear of making errors in grammar, punctuation, etc. take over when I am writing and then I get so stuck I can't move on. I eventually get so frustrated I don't even know where to begin. However, some new tips and tricks on how to remember correct use of punctuation, grammar, and spelling has already reduced some of my anxiety. The most puzzling question I have had, and even discussed with peers with no help in finding an answer, is when you stop writing the number in written form and when you begin to just write it in numeric. I finally found an answer from this book; although, the rule for this changes from professor to professor, the idea of switching to numeric form once you have three or more words is a big help to me. Another issue of correctness that I have over came thanks to this new book is the spelling of some "tricky words". I am world's worst speller and in this book it has a list of "tricky words" and the word "definitely" is on that list. I was almost relieved to see this, because I always misspell that word, I always write "definately" and my spell check always picks it up and I end up feeling like a dumb little kid who never learned how to spell correctly; however, after seeing it classified as a "tricky word" I felt a bit relieved. On a different note, when I was reading over how to use "me or I" I felt a lot better. I always remember the trick, "if you can take away the other name and it sounds correct then you have used to right one" and I always do that and so far have had no problem with that. A final interesting comment about correctness I have is about when to use commas. I think I have been taught the proper way to use a comma about a million times, yet I never can remember; however, having this very handy book will greatly relieve some stress on that topic. Overall, I truly found this book, Rules of Thumb, to be a huge help. I am definitely keeping this a great tool for writing!

Reflecting on Readings About Literacy

Thinking about the various articles I have been reading about literacy and teaching writing in the classroom has brought up some ideas. I have read three different journal articles so far and two of them have been written by actual teachers themselves. I really enjoyed these two articles the most. I think giving examples from experience in the classroom makes the information presented much more significant to me as a future teacher. The articles I have read mainly talk about the idea of giving students topics to write about that are relevant to them, that pertain to their lives so they want to write and do not view it as something that is horrible. The idea of discussing topic ideas in groups prior to writing has also been a topic of interest in the articles. I definitely agree with this notion that having discourse about what is important to the students or something they feel they can elaborate on is a great step towards developing creative and intellectual writers. Discussing with students that not all writing is boring topics that must be done for a test, but that writing can be a way to vent feelings or ideas on may have is an idea I will definitely use in my future classroom. The authors new ways of teaching literacy helped make their students want to write outside of the classroom, which is something I hope to create in my students. I think reading and writing instruction in classrooms today needs to be looked at differently, and I think these ideas presented in the articles are great ideas for how the change can occur. The various ideas the authors suggest to create better writers are definitely useful and will be tools I remember and use when I teach literacy in the classroom.