Journal+Seven

Meagan Blanchette Zenion March 23rd 2012 The discoveries of a writing intern: Either or. This week class met for one hundred and eighty minutes. During that timeframe we managed to pass back assignment two, hold a debate, have a quick lesson on apostrophes, go to the computer lab, and peer review. The students demonstrated their ability to work collaboratively in large and small groups. The students gained confidence for their paper due the following week. The exchange of papers is on going. The students receive one paper, then they revise. Ms. Zenion receives the paper again, and at the same time the next writing assignment is assembled with a post write. Before assignment two could be handed back, papers needed to be stapled and highlighted for each member of the group. Since this was a collaborative paper Ms. Zenion (because I am not allowed anywhere near a copy machine) made copies of the first round paper. With permission to touch the stapler I separated the copies and highlighted the names for each group.
 * Dogs

//// //// //// //// //// || Cats

//// ||


 * Choc.

//// //// //// || Vanilla

//// //// //// || While I was passing back papers the students checked off what they prefer on their preferences on the board. They had three options;
 * Pepsi

// || Coke

//// //// //// //// //// ||

From the tables there is only an evenly spit student representation on Chocolate vs. Vanilla. That was our debate topic. As the students broke into two groups, the more dominate students got the ball rolling. Their creativity was quite hilarious. Within the ten minutes Vanilla had ten written points. Chocolate had no written arguments and decided Vanilla was going to start. Vanilla started off the debate with “You can’t have apple pie without vanilla ice cream.” One chocolatier yelled “I don’t even like pie.” After that outburst it was hard for chocolate to get back on track. They had arguments that struck laughter such as “there is no such thing as hot vanilla, & it’s not called Charlie and the Vanilla factory.” They were a mess. The debate ended with a boom. Vanilla won. After the debate Ms. Zenion taught something that everyone never understands. The dreaded apostrophe. She simply stated “not knowing how to use an apostrophe is like having a mustard stain on your shirt. It does not matter how nice the shirt is, all people focus on is the stain.” The class was over. However, Ms. Zenion and I decided to take peer review digital. This meant homework for the intern. Together we discussed what needed to be done in order to have a successful peer review. I went home and typed up examples with step-by-step instructions. There were pictures included with every step. After the sample was created, I made everyone a new page where they could post their work. Three hours later I was finally done with the Wiki preparation. I logged on the night prior to our next class and one person had their paper posted. I nearly died. I immediately emailed Ms. Zenion explaining that one person had their paper posted. She replied “No big deal.” On Thursday morning Wrt. 104 migrated to room 501. The lack of a smart board made it difficult for me to explain the digital Wiki peer preview. Some students were left without a computer, a mouse, and some just didn’t have papers. Ms. Zenion was working with students individually while I was too! I looked over two papers and provided feedback. One thing Ms. Zenion has taught me is that she will not rewrite a paper. She refuses to fill in words and alter paragraphs to change the entire tone of the text. I believe that method is effective and makes the students aware of their mistakes. I edited the papers as if I were Ms. Zenion. This week I devoted many hours to the Wiki, and students barely even looked at it. Yet, I always want to do more, and recreate worksheets, for what? That is just the kind of person I am. Also, I am a very happy intern. After three weeks of never meeting after school, Ms. Zenion and I planned our books off. I was very relieved. I feel confident and ready for the final weeks to come. J