Sunday, January 25, 2009

Really Reading Romano

Isn't this a cool text? When I began the first chapter, and encountered "Liz," the teacher that keeps a sketchbook for her notes, I thought to myself, "So that's why I'm always doodling, it's a vital component of my literacy skills!" As I continued to read, I realized that multigenre practices, such as Liz's notes, are generally discouraged in the secondary schools. Instead, teachers must focus on the five-star essay. Why? Tradition and precedent, of course. Unless students can effectively navigate through the five-paragraph formula, they won't be able to make the leap into college (where, as we all know, more tedious hoops await). Worse, they will not score adequately on the state writing proficiency tests.
While Romano is careful to note that academic essays (as well as other forms of paradigmatic thinking, such as textbooks, editorials, articles, etc.) should be an important part of every students' education, he also acknowledges other alternatives. These alternatives, which represent narrative ways of knowing, render "experience or phenomenon" through stories, poetry, drama, and even visual arts.
Looking back on my own academic career, I can recall only a handful of assignments that allowed me to utilize my narrative way of knowing. However, during the third and fourth years of my undergraduate studies, I was finally given a number of different opportunities to really write creatively. I appreciated classes that placed emphasis on my narrative knowledge and would love to provide students with that type of course. I think multigenre writing is the perfect tool for this because it allows students to place more value on their personal interaction the subject matter.


4 comments:

  1. I like what you say here, Sam, about "ways of knowing." Do multiple genres multiply our ways of knowing? Romano would argue (convincingly), yes. And isn't that an important goal we have for our students?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree, Sam. I really appreciate opportunities to express myself in creative and fun ways and I definitely want to give my students opportunities to do the same.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like how you focus here on the ideas in Romano as an additional way into writing for students. I am anxious about the prospect of churning out students more willing and able to write multi-genre papers than that which they will be asked to do in college, but can definitely see the multi-genre paper working its way into my regular rotation for purposes of differentiation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was also excited by the pairing of a sketchbook and a creative writing piece. On Monday, my cooperating teacher had her students draw out the events happening in the short story we were reading and it really seemed to enhance their reading of the text! I also really like the idea of multigenre papers because, as you said "because it allows students to place more value on their personal interaction the subject matter." and isn't that what creative writing (and writing in general all about)? We want to have a personal connection and interaction with what we're writing, whether it's a 10 page literary analysis or a poem about the loss of a close family member

    ReplyDelete