1

Profile of a Writer
Davontae Singleton

EDSE 787
Dr. V. Oglan
University of South Carolina
Fall 2015

Table of Contents

Title

Page 1

Table of Contents

Page 2

Background

Pages 3-4

Writing Interview

Pages 4-7

The Seven Sessions

Pages 8-23

Conference Reflection

Pages 23-24

Published Piece Final Draft

Page 25-26

Published Piece Found Poem

Pages 27

Sample Work

Page 28

Connecting Reading to Practice

Page 32

References

Background Information
Chris and I have met over 2 years ago when he first applied to join the Upward Bound
program at the University of South Carolina. Chris was a freshman at Lower Richland High
School and had lived in the LR area all of his life. He and his family are classified as low income
as is the majority of the students in our Upward Bound program. Lower Richland High School is
housed within Richland County School District 1 and consists of a mixture of student
populations ranging in income levels. Although I have not worked directly with LRHS, about
30% of the students we serve through the Upward Bound program come directly from the same
school and neighborhood. Because I have a relationship with almost every student we serve at
UB, I was able to work with Chris in a one-to-one relationship on multiple occasions. The
students we serve through Upward Bound come to us who Marley three Saturdays out of every
month. The majority of students come so that they are able to receive additional help with their
core classes, as well as mentoring. Chris was one of the students who I first met and took a keen
interest in him. Academically, Chris was not performing to the same level as his peers. He barely
had a C average in all of his court classes, and he also had to work outside of school to help
support his family. I could see that Chris was a very dedicated and motivated student, often citing
that he wanted to attend college once you graduated from high school. When I actually began
working with Chris, I could tell that he had several issues when it came to reading and writing.
Chris also said that his English class was the hardest class due to the fact that he was not doing
very well. When I was able to see Chriss writing for the first time, I had a very clear
understanding that the reason he was not performing well in class, was because he was not only a
struggling writer, but also struggling reader.

When I asked Chris about his peers as well, he would often cite that the majority of them
maintain the same grade point average as he did. During our initial interview, one of thing I told
Chris I needed him to be able to be comfortable in his own writing. I knew for Chris; this was
going to be a very challenging task as he was reading and writing on a middle school grade level.
Not only does Chris struggle in this area, this is a problem that we see across the board with
numerous of our Upward Bound students. It is very difficult to be able to assess and provide
adequate tutoring for students like Chris for the main fact that we serve over 100 students in our
program and are only able to see each student for a very limited amount of time. Being able to
work with Chris provided me with numerous opportunities to be able to understand his
perceptions as it came to writing. I was also able to understand why Chris felt so disconnected
when I came to many of his English classes. Through working with Chris, I was able to help him
create a sense of identity in his own writing. After we met over a few weeks, Chris was able to
become much more analytical and thoughtful in his writings. Not only has his grade slightly
improved in English, but he also attributes our meetings as part of the reason for his success.
Although I still believe that Chris has quite a way to go on becoming a better writer, I am certain
that with one step at a time he will get better. The good thing about Chris being in the district that
he is in now is the fact that the entire district is 1-1, so Chis is able to use a Chromebook
everyday to complete his assignments. All of our activities were done on his Chromebook just
like in class, so we were able to stay consistent with that process.

Interview
Like I stated, I was only able to work with Chris outside of school during Saturday
sessions when we had an Upward Bound session. When I am working with Upward Bound, I

am only able to see each group of students for approximately one hour. Therefore, each of our
sessions lasted a little under one hour as Chris was also there to receive additional tutoring for
other subjects as needed. A few factors hindered Chris and I from meeting regularly like we
initially agreed uponthe biggest was the flooding that occurred. Although this did set us back
one session, Chris and I were able to make it up outside of the Upward Bound program. Please
see below for a sample of his interview:
On a scale of one to 10, how confident are you as a writer?
I believe I am about a 4 when it comes to writing. Ever since I took English classes I have never
been good at it. I always be making bad grades and whatever we be having essays to do, I always
get a little confused and never do well on them. Honestly, I dont even much be liking English
like that mainly because I think my teacher be thinking that we are all on her students in we are
not.
Why do you think your teacher tries to push you so much?
I think she be doing it so that we can be better students in her class. The only problem is that not
all of us are able to do the work that she be wanting us to do. Like for me, I think the books that
we be reading are not that good. If it was something that Id like, maybe I would be wanting to
put more effort into it.
What is one thing you think you do well as a writer?
Something I like to do a lot is make songs. I usually like to make different reps that talk about the
life that I had growing up. Sometimes in class when we get to share our work, I usually just share
a poem. That is what I like to do.
What is one thing you think you do not do well as a writer?

When we have essays in class, I dont think I do very well. For me, I think the books are not
interesting, so I dont be getting into them. If I can get into a book, it is real hard for me to
understand it and then I dont do good on the essays.

When you are writing, what is your method? How do you go about writing? Do you do it at
home often or in school mostly?
To be honest we dont be writing as much as you think in school. And plus, when we do, I dont
always like it. I do find that when I am at home, or here it Upward Bound, I get to write more.
But, I get to write things that I like.
What is one thing you would like to improve on as a writer?
I want to be able to do essays like everybody else. My teacher be telling us that we should be
able to do five paragraph essays, but I think those is hardlike I always be getting stuck on how
to start the paper, thats the hardest part for me. If I can get to doing that and then learn how to
keep going, I should be straight.
After my initial meeting with Chris, I was very excited, but also very nervous about
working with him. Just learning that he has so many issues with the process of writing it makes
me very worrisome for the rest of his high school education. One thing that I can remember from
this program is when we were working in EDRD 600 over the summer and I was working with
two students who both explained that the reason they did not like to read was due to the fact that
in their classes, they were not reading things that interest them. I was able to connect this with
Chris as well. Although Chriss class is reading many books that are on par for his grade level, it
is very apparent that these texts are way too challenging for him, thus forcing him to tune out
during class discussions. Chris also described during his interview that because of the fact that he

doesnt pay attention in class it is much more difficult for him to be able to write essays. Even
with this in mind, I was still very intrigued to learn that Chris likes to write poetry. I did notice
that when he would work with myself in years past, he would often show some of his poetry to
the staff. This showed me that Chris has a very unique artistic side that needs to be fostered and
grownthis is the shot that needed to be taken so that he would not completely disconnect from
formal writing. It is my belief that when Chriss able to write poetry, he is very confident in his
abilities. He puts a lot of important on being able to discuss the events of his life, and bringing
those out through his words that he shapes into numerous different poems. Although he
described his poems more so as songs, he was quickly able to understand the concept that rap
lyrics are closely aligned with poetry. When it comes to formal writing, Chris not only lacks
confidence, but he also like the ability to be able to right on the same level as a typical high
school student. He does not have an extensive vocabulary, so it is much more difficult for him to
be able to express and explain himself. It also came as no surprise when Chris disclosed that the
classes in which he had to do minimum writing where the classes he was performing better in.
after knowing much about Chriss writing past, I decided that it would be best for us to spend
time fostering his creative writing, but also spend even more time on developing and learning
how to write formally. I also understood that Chris was not writing and reading on a 10th grade
level, so the majority of the lessons that we would do together would be things that I had
previously taught with my middle school students. Since Chriss goal was to be able to
coherently write a formal essay, that was our end goal.

Session 1
After Chris and I was able to meet, I told him that for the first session I wanted him to
bring in a piece of writing that he had gotten back from his teacher. I wanted to be able to see
exactly how Chris was writingI wanted to check a number of things including teacher
comments. One of the things that I have learned through this program is it is very essential to
provide feedback to students, both positive and things they should improve on. The graded piece
that Chris brought me was from September. It was supposed to be a review and summary of a
story called Noel. Looking at the feedback that Chris received from his teacher, I was able to
understand that Chris had a hard time being able to provide accurate summary using textual
evidence. Being that he was in the 10th grade, this was something that Ive expected him to be
able to do. During the session, I had Chris re-read the short story and we had a conversation
about it afterwards. I was able to see that Chris was able to recall very specific detail from the
story. When we were having a conversation one-on-one, he was able to not only relate to the
story personally, but he was able to comment on numerous of the characters. Not only did this
lead me to believe that in Chriss class he was not Ping as much attention as he should have, but
also that when it came to having discussions about the text, his teacher preferred that it be done
in written form. Looking at the summary that Chris provided, I would have believed that he was
not able to conceptualize the text, but after I was reading it together I know for a fact that he was.
Although he did struggle through reading the short story with me, this did not hinder his overall
understanding. After this session, I decided that I was going to use a book that I had talked with
my sixth-graders, Wump World. Chris and I would use this book as a basis to be able to
understand how to write a summary just as effectively as he was able to discuss it with me as
well as how to write a formal essay.

(Paper will be included)

Noel by Michael Plemmons
Mrs. Hathaway brought the children downstairs single file and seated them on straight-back
chairs around the reception room, boy-girl-boy-girl, seventeen in all. In the corner stood a robust
Christmas tree bedecked with candy canes and tinsel tresses. The air was thick with the scent of
pine and furniture polish as a phantom choir sang Noel to the strains of a vinyl disc orchestra.
Mrs. Hathaway was still fussing over their appearance, fixing the boys neckties and correcting
the girls posture, when the first couple arrived. In hushed tones they spoke with Mrs. Overton at
the front desk. We were thinking about a girl, said the woman. Mrs. Overton smiled broadly
and made a sweeping motion with her hand. We have a wonderful selection of girls, she said.
At this the girls came to attention in their places, each freckle blooming on rosy cheeks. And as
Mrs. Hathaway presented them, each one stood and curtsied on cue. Christa is a lovely child,
age eight . . . Melinda has a beautiful singing voice for carols . . . Stephanie has an exceptionally
sweet temperament. . .. The clients turned to Mrs. Overton and quietly indicated their choice.
She nodded, poker-faced, and prepared the papers. Money changed hands. The girls eyed each
other nervously as Mrs. Overton recited the rental stipulations: You understand that this is only
a 48-hour agreement. The girl must be returned by noon on the day after Christmas or late
charges will be assessed at ten dollars per hour and you will forfeit the insurance deposit. When
everything was in order she looked over at Mrs. Hathaway and said, Melinda, please. A little
squeak of joy escaped into the room as Melinda jumped up and rushed to join her hosts for the
holiday. The other girls watched her go, their hope renewing as another pair of patrons entered
the room from the foyer. Throughout the afternoon they came two by two, childless on Christmas
Eve. They were high-rise dwellers and they were pensioners from South Side bungalows. A few
were first-timers, uneasy, unable to meet the childrens eyes. (The repeat customers, who each
year made up a majority of the business, had reserved their Kristmas Kid by name, weeks in
advance, and had come by in the morning for express pick-up.) Most of those now arriving to
browse among the leftovers were last minute shoppers. May be photocopied for classroom use.
Texts and Lessons for Teaching Literature by Harvey Smokey Daniels and Nancy Steineke,
2013 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann). Reprinted with permission. Continues The girls were in
great demand, especially the youngest candidates in curls. Dimples and bangs, once again, were
very popular. And for the boys, missing teeth and cowlicks were favorite features. Considering
the irregular inventory, business was good. Of the original lot, only two rather plain-looking lads
remained at six oclock, closing time. Both bore the stigma of a pubescent mustache. Mrs.
Overton finished her filing while Mrs. Hathaway affixed the Closed sign on the door,
unplugged the Christmas lights, and drew the window shades all around. The boys sat silent,
watchful. Said Mrs. Overton, I told you about those two pre-teens, didnt I? Yes, maam, you
did. Then why did you bring them down with the others? Well, I was hoping, I guess. Mrs.
Hathaway glanced at her rejected charges. They gazed guiltily into their laps. It did no harm to
give them at least a chance. Mrs. Overton regarded her for a moment, then answered calmly. I
suppose not. She was pleased with the days proceeds, too pleased to argue over a minor
transgression. Anyway, she did not want to discourage a certain degree of compassion, believing
it was one of the qualities that made Mrs. Hathaway an effective matron. Outside it was
beginning to snow. Before leaving, Mrs. Overton wrapped herself in a muffler and donned a
woolen cap. Ill see you day after tomorrow then. Goodnight, maam, said Mrs. Hathaway,
then turning to the boys. Come along. As they slowly ascended the stairs, one of the boys

emitted a peculiar nasal sound, a congested sentiment perhaps. Quiet, child, said Mrs.
Hathaway.
Session 2
The second session that I had with Chris was one that was cut short due to the fact that
Chris needed to Study for some of his other classes. We were able to finish the session, but Chris
and I were never able to actually go over my findings with them. During this session, I asked
Chris to bring in a book that he had been reading. I wanted him to be able to get comfortable
with transferring his words onto paper. Is my belief that Chris is able to conceptualize very basic
and below grade level text, however when it is time for him to produce a written work regarding
that text, he lacks the writing skills to be able to do it. I gave Chris approximately 20 minutes to
be able to re-read the book. Afterwards, he and I had a very informal conversation about the
book. He was able to tell me what it was about, a little of the history, as well as important facts
that he learned as a result of reading the book. I was able to explain to Chris that he does a
fantastic job of being able to have conversations about things that he reads. But only did he
replied that he was able to do so because he actually enjoyed the book that he was reading, but
also because it was a lot easier to discuss the book then write about it. The next thing that I had
Chris do was write his own review about the book. I told him he could be as creative as he
wanted to, the main thing I was looking for was him being able to be specific about details that
occurred in the book as well as write at least three fourths of a page.
I was very surprised when Chris was able to to fulfill the writing length that I suggested
to him, but I was not very surprised at the content that he provided. Chris was able to provide
very good detail in his written summary. I was able to determine that he did this based off of the
fact that we had a conversation about the piece afterwards. Many of the comments that he made
in his written summary were the exact same things that we discussed during our initial

conversation prior to him writing. It also goes without saying that I believe Chris was able to put
much more effort into the summary because this was a book that he personally chose to read and
not one that his teacher required him to read. I believe that the informal conversations I christen
I was able to have was enough to boost his confidence so that he could relate this in his writing. I
was able to track his comprehension of the text even though I have not read it personally aced on
the level of detail that he provided in his conversation. I do not believe that Chris would have
been able to provide the same written summary had he went straight into writing this piece. The
part that I most enjoyed about the session was the fact that I was able to see firsthand just how
important it is for us to allow our students to be able to choose books that they are particularly
interested infor Chris, this freedom was able to boast a fantastic oral conversation in which he
was able to discuss this book. See below:

Butts, Ed. Bodyguards: From Gladiators to the Secret Service. New York: Annick Press,2012.
My book is about bodyguards it talks about how long bodyguard have been around,who
were the first bodyguards and how did they protect their client. Chapter 1 Who were the
very first bodyguards? Chapter 2 Why do kings and queens need bodyguards? Chapter
3 What do bad guys have to do with bodyguards? Chapter 4 Why would bodyguards
betray their client? Chapter 5 What does fame have to do with bodyguards? Chapter 6
What do bodyguards do when theyre on assignment to protect their client? Chapter 7
What do you have to do to become a bodyguard? Chapter 1 In chapter it tells you that
the Egyptians had the very first bodyguards.The first chapter talks about the best
bodyguards in Egypt,Greece,Rome and Japan.In Egypt it talks about the best bodyguard
for the Pharaoh and what he did after he retired. In Greece it talks about how 6partan
bodyguards were ready to protect Greece even though they were outnumbered and

fighting an army of fearsome immortals.It also talks about how general Alexander was a
really good general. When he was about to be killed one of his bodyguards through a
spear through the attackers head and was rewarded.In chapter 2 they talk about why
kings and queens need bodyguards.Kings and Queens need bodyguards because of all
the assassination attempts.This next one isnt exactly royalty but he was a president
kinda Hitler also had bodyguards.The chapter also talks about how dead bodyguards
sometimes stick around to still serve there master.It also talks about a king who made a
mighty army of Amazons or an army of all girls.So if you want to be a king or Queen
think about all of assassinations that have happened.In chapter 3 it talks about how bad
guys need bodyguards.Bad guys need bodyguards so if their pulling a heist they have
someone to watch there back.In one story there is one guy named Big Al and he ordered
one-way rides for other gangsters.Since he did not sell to this one gangster group they
came to another place he owned a restaurant.They open fired on his restaurant and
killed every one except Big Al.He didnt die because of one of his bodyguards through
himself on Big Al and Big Al survived.In chapter 4 it talks about how bodyguards betray
or fail.In one story a bodyguard betrayed a king.So the king got a threatening letter not to
go to the ball.He did it anyway his bodyguard was supposed to protect him.So this guy
who was part of the killing distracted the king. His bodyguard pulled out a gun then
BANG!

Session 3
Although session 3 did not happen for two weeks after session 2, it was still very
effective. In the session I wanted to be able to begin our work on Wump World, as this was the
text that Chris and I would be working with as we progressed through learning how to formally
write a 5 paragraph essay. During this session, Chris and I had to meet in the library due to the

fact that he was unable to attend the Upward Bound session and because of this, he and I had less
than 40 minutes to be able to meet. I do believe that the time crunch did not allow us to fully
work through the text the way I wanted us to, but I also believe that my selection of the text was
one that Chris did not primarily seem interested in working with. Wump World, by Bill Pete is a
childrens book, one that I used in my internship with a 6th grade class. The book serves as an
allegory to help promote positive influences on the environment. The reason I chose this book
was because I felt that Chris would be able to comprehend the text, but also because I felt that
Chris would enjoy reading something that was short and interesting. During this session, I did a
lot of pre reading strategies with Chris just to gage his understanding of what an allegory was
and why it is usedhe was not able to tell me. So, instead of going into lecture on the
importance of an allegory, I explained to him what it was and why we use it. He then responded
that this sounded like The Lorax by Dr. Seuss! After having this discussion, Chris and I had a
discussion about what we thought Wump World would be about just after we read the information
found on the back of the book. He was able to connect a lot of his thoughts to the Dr. Seuss book
that he had read when he was younger. We then read the book together, me reading just a little
more than than only for the simple fact that I did understand that he was a struggling reader and I
did not want him to become frustrated during the reading process. Upon completing the book, I
told Chris that we would both do another summary of the text. Because I knew he was not
particularly interested in reading this book, I was curious to know how his writing would differ.
One thing that is important to note is the fact that Chris and I did not have a conversation about
the book after we were done reading itI wanted his writing to be genuine and real. As he was
writing, I did the same thing being mindful to try and keep my summary to the same length as
the one he provided to me. See below for his summary:

The main characters are the wumps and the pollutants.The setting is at the Wump world.
The main problem is that the pollutants come and try to pollute the land and ruin
everything. One main event is the pollutants build buildings every were. Finally, the last
main event is the wumps go hide and dont fight. The climax is the world becomes to
polluted for the pollutants and they leave.

It is very evident that in this summary, Chris did not write to the same level as in the
second session that we had with each other. I believe that this is again due to the fact that we had
limited time in this session, but also because Chris and I did not have a discussion about the book
once we were done reading it. I do believe that Chris was able to understand the text, he was just
not able to put his thoughts into words the way he wanted to.
Session 4
The purpose of the fourth session was so that Chris and I would be able to begin working
on our formal essay. I wanted to be able to take the next three sessions and take each part of the
essay a piece so that Chris would not become intimidated, and also be able to work on them
separately. I created the lesson in which the only thing we worked on was the introduction, I
explained to Chris that this was one of the most important parts of the essay as it allows the
reader to know exactly what his entire paper would be about as well as explain his position.
When I asked Chris how he felt about writing an introduction, he explained to me that this was
usually the part where he had the most trouble. He often did not know how to get started, and
spent the majority of his time just coming up with a topic sentence. So for this lesson, Chris and I
spent almost half of our session coming up with different ways that we could begin writing an
introduction paragraph. At the conclusion of this conversation, Chris and I decided that the best
way to begin an introduction is to have a good hooking sentence so that it will capture the

readers attention from the very beginning. Once Chris and I were done coming up with hooking
sentences for our introduction paragraph, I took the time to explain to him how the rest of the
paragraph should flow. I explained to him that in his introduction he needed to come up with
some way to introduce the topic of his paper. Chris then explained to me that the way his teacher
likes for them to do this is by answering the five W questions (who, what, where, when, why, and
how). Although I do not think that this is the most effective way to write an introduction
paragraph, I decided to stick with this method because this is what Chris was already used to.
Once Chriss able to answer the 5 W questions, we move on into putting those statements into
paragraph form. The introduction that Chris came up with is below:
Youre in a world with little sheep like creatures called the wumps. They are hairy, fuzzy
and friendly but then blue and purple ugly alien things fell out of the sky.The pollutions
are trying to take over the Wump world. The leader of the pollutions is Chief
Pollution.The world is too polluted for anything to live there.The pollutions try to live on
the Wump world and pollute it. The wumps hide and do nothing to save their world.

Session 5
On this particular day, Chris and I met but I could tell that he had a lot on his mind. We
were just returning from the flood, and Chris was needing to make up on a lot of work for his
teacher. They were out of school for over a week and students were needing to do a lot of
makeup work because grades were due relatively soon after. When it your time is that Chris was
required to do was to write a summary of a book that he had previously read. Chris and I decided
that we would use this time to not only write the body paragraphs of our essay, but also use this
in his class as well. With This particular lesson, I want to Chris to be able to use the same skills
that we had talked about a few weeks ago that pertain to his introduction paragraph. I wanted

him to be able to the detailed and every paragraph, but this time I also wanted him to use support
from the text. In order for us to do this, I decided that we needed to take a break from Wump
World, and discuss how we should go about doing this using another book that he had read. I
created a very simple document for him to be able to do this and he just needed to fill it out.
Upon completing this document, Chris and I went through each part of it and I explained to him
how they connected to the different body paragraphs. One thing that is important to note about
the session was as Chris and I were discussing how to go about creating a successful body
paragraph, he did this chart using yet another book that he had personally picked out. See below
for the chart:

Write your answers in complete sentences.

Title ____Spirit animals________________________________________
Author ___________Brandon Mull____________________

Main Characters: List at least three of them and write a description for each
one.
There names are Conor,Zerif,Meilin,Rollan
Setting: Write specific information about the time period and different places
the story occurs.
The story takes place in erdas a magical land was when you turn 11 you drink
a tipe of nectar that can give you a spirit animal
Conflict/Problem: What is the goal of the main character (s)? What problems
make this goal difficult to They need to stop an evil uprising people keep
trying to stop them from

Story Map
Summary of the beginning of the novel : Be sure to include three or more
important events.

One part of the beginning of the story is that Conor was the last one to drink
the nectar in his home and he summoned briggan the wolf one of the fallen.
Another thing that happened is that Abeke summoned uaza a leopard
another one of the fallen she is a great hunter and loves a bow and arrow.
Finally Meilin summoned Jhi a giant panda meilin likes hand on hand combat
or any combat with any weapon.
Summary of the middle of the novel: Be sure to include three or more
important events.
Abekes bond with her animal his strengthened when shes tricked into
fighting a fake assassin she gets a tattoo just under her elbow were spirit
animal rests.Meilin also gets a tattoo on the back of her hand with Jhi on it
were he rests.Finally Conor,Meilin and Rollan all meet at the green cloak
tower.
Summary of the ending of the novel: Be sure to include three or more
important events.
The main characters had to defeat a ram named apraxia stranger defeated
the ram by throwing it off the edge of a cliff. The stranger was killed by serif
an evil man.
Solution: How is the main problem solved? How would you have solved the
problem?
They threw the ram over an edge. I would have cut its head off.
Theme: What general message is the author trying to tell you?
With a team you can accomplish anything
Personal Connection: Which part (s) of the book are the most memorable to
you and how does it apply to you? The story applies to me because they have
a big problem they have to solve and have to also solve big problems.

Once Chris was able to complete this chart, we were able to break down how you would
add each of these parts into your three body paragraphs. I explained to him that each of the main
points would consist as your topic for each of your paragraphs. The only thing that he needed to
do would be to go back to find textual evidence to back up most of his claims. Once he was able
to understand this process, we decided to move back into our conversation with the Wump World
so that Chris would be able to complete his body paragraphs for that text. One thing that I
noticed in this session was that he needed to go back to look through the book in order to provide

details within each of his body paragraphs. After Chris was able to finish his three body
paragraphs, I had him add in his introduction paragraph that we have been working on prior to
this meeting. Once we had finished reading through this, it was as if a light bulb jumped on for
Chris. He was able to see that each part of this process was all a step that he its a take so that he
would be able to write an entire essay. He was able to conceptualize that if he breaks down each
part of his essay, he would be able to do exceptionally well. After completing this session, Chris
had an entire rough draft of his estimate. The only thing I asked him to work on before our next
session, which was the next day, is for him to write a conclusion paragraph on his own. When I
asked him if he felt confident doing this, said that he would give it to do it without a problem. It
was extremely important that he finished this essay prior to our meeting the next day because we
needed to work on revising and editing his essay. Throughout this entire process, I told Chris that
he did not need to worry about spelling or grammar mistakes, the main thing that I wanted him to
focus on was him being able to get his point across using the words that he could. Not only do I
believe that this helped him, but it also gave him a little bit more room to feel relaxed and in a
stress free environment. Compared to the first time that I had Chris write for me, I noticed that he
was not as tense and he seemed a lot more focused.
Session 6
Our second to last session was one that I think was very beneficial for a number of ways.
Not only was Chris able to complete his entire rough draft of this essay, but he was very proud of
the work that he produced. I wanted the session to be the last session that we worked on
yesterday, so I wanted us to be able to focus primarily on editing and revising. I could tell that
Chris was big coming a little bored with this project, but I needed us to be able to finish this
through so that he would be able to see just how important the writing process actually is. I

needed Chris to understand that not all writing is going to be perfect the first time, sometimes
you need to make multiple revisions and edit it more than before.
I also explained to Chris that part of being a good writer is also being able to except
critiques from others as well. During the session, I had Chris give his Final draft to one of his
Friends who was also in the program to evaluate for him. I told Chris that upon reading the
evaluation from his friend, unfortunately, Chris was not able to save the SAE prior to making the
changes, so we are only able to see what came about afterwards. In this lesson, I was able to sit
back and watch as Chris engaged with another student about his own writing. Throughout this
process, I believe that this was a very big step for Chris as this is not something that he was very
comfortable doing beforehand. He excepted the criticism very well, and went back to make some
revisions to his paperprimarily in the introduction. As a result of this lesson, I was able to that
Chris was becoming a lot more comfortable with his own writing, but also that he was trusting of
his own classmates to be critical of it too. I believe that this is a direct result of Chris and I
working in a very relaxed environment, but also due to us having multiple conversations about
how no ones writing is perfect. I was fortunate that throughout this process, Chris was able to
see me write as wellthis gave him a first hand look at how I go about the writing process,
making sure to do every step (write, revise, and edit). Not only was Chris able to have a live
writing workshop up with his own writing, he was also able to ask questions and get feedback
immediately. See below for the writing workshop:
(Final draft will be included)

Name: ___Chris_________ Proofreader _____James______

Directions: You will have a peer proofread your paper. They must write his/her
name on the line above and then answer the following questions while reading

your paper.
Introduction:
4. Did your peer include the following?
__yes____ a hook?
__not really____ a sentence that connected with the book?
___yes___ a Thesis Statement
2. Did your peer indent the first line of the paragraph? __yes_____
3. Did the hook grab your attention? ___sort of_____
4. Is the paragraph the appropriate length? _____yes____
First Body Paragraph:
4. Did your peer include the following?
__yes_____ a Topic Sentence
2. Did your peer include a transitional word? _____yes____
3. Did your peer include six sentences? _____yes_____
4. Which change did your peer talk about (Setting, Himself, Relationships) setting
Second Body Paragraph:
4. Did your peer include the following:?
yes
_______ a Topic Sentence
2. Did your peer include a transitional word? ___yes______
3. Did your peer include six sentences? ____yes______
4. Which change did your peer talk about (Setting, Himself, Relationships) himself
Third Body Paragraph:
4. Did your peer include the following:?
____yes___ a Topic Sentence

2. Did your peer include a transitional word? ____yes_____

3. Did your peer include six sentences? ___yes_______
4. Which change did your peer talk about (Setting, Himself, Relationships)relationships
Conclusion:
1. Does the concluding paragraph refer back to the main ideas of the thesis? ___no___
2. Is it free from new or irrelevant information? ___yes____
3. Does it make a real world or personal connection? ___no____
Grammar:
1. Is the essay free of spelling mistakes? If not, mark them. ____yes____
2. Is the essay free of punctuation mistakes? If not, mark them. ___yes_____
3. Is the essay free of contractions? If not, mark them. ______yes____
4. Is the essay free of numbers? If not, mark them. ____yes______
5. Is the essay free of run-on sentences? If not, mark them. ____yes____
4. Is the title underlined or italicized? ___yes_______
Short Answer:
4. Was the essay effective? Did it explain the topic well?
Yes Chris created the essay well I really liked it
2. In what ways could the author have explained himself/herself to you better?
Chris could have made the essay more clear what he was talking about.
3. Are there any areas where word choice could have been improved? For example,
did the author use words like stuff and things or a lot? Suggest other, more
intellectual, words.
No he did not use any of those words.
4. If you were grading this paper, what would you give it?
I would give a B- because he needed to explain himself more.
Provide any more suggestions here:

Session 7
The final session to christen my head was one in which I did not want us to have to focus
on anything formal. I felt that Chris had came in a long way in his writing, and he was a lot more

confident in his abilities to be able to write a formal essay. Although he did not bring any copy of
an in class essay that he had to do, he was very excited to share that he thought it went
exceedingly well. For this last session, I wanted to be able to do something that Chris would be
extremely interested in. I want us to be able to work with poetry as I felt this was something that
Chris had not had the opportunity to do with me. This engagement Incorporated technology
(Prezi) as I wanted Chris to create his own poem relating to Wump World and explain how it tied
in to the overall theme of the short story. Before we started this whole process, I explained to
Chris that I did not want him to write as if he were writing a song, I wanted him to be able to
write down ideas and phrases that he thought of which could relate and flowwhat ever came to
his mind. I explained to him that this was how you will create a found poem. I told Chris that
found poetry is a little bit different from the poetry that he typically creates, it is created using
words or phrases from the book that we have read. I am just at that this will be a little
challenging for Chris, he was used to creating his own poetry using his own words, But the
purpose of this activity was for him to be able to think abstractly yet concretely. As Chris was
also working on this poem, I again wanted him to see myself as a writer, so I also created the
phone poem to show with him.
Once Chris was able to come up with a very simple poem, he was able to related to his
own personal life as well. Otherwise do not have the present that he created, he explained that his
home was created to show that just like the wumps had their homes destroyed, they came back
stronger then before because they stuck together and this was almost like his own life. His family
has had many ups and downs, but because they were able to stay together, they always whether
whatever obstacle is thrown at them. At this moment, I was so impressed with his thinking and
his ability to create something so beautiful and moving that I told him that he had a very special

gifthis voice. I told Chris that even though writing is still not something he is 100%
comfortable with, he should continue practicing until he is able to completely write down his
thoughts on paper and have them match. I explain to Chris that as a writer, it is not our job to
always be able to start and finish, rather to be able to express our true feelings. Chris does that
through poetry, but the next step is for him to be able to do that 100% formally. Not only did
Chris publish his Final draft of yes it we worked on, he also published this phone poem as well. I
asked him if he had any parting words as we finalize our last session, the only thing he said was,
I guess it aint that bad after all. If you ask me, this was a job well done on Chriss part. The
fact that Chris was able to use his home language in addition to his creative genes makes the
whole process seem more worthwhile.
(Poem will be included)
Conference Reflection
Now that Im done working with Chris, Ive had the time to go back in really reflect on
this experience. I believe due to the nature of the program in which I work, Chris and I were not
able to meet as extensively or as much as I would have liked to. I completely understand that
Chriss sole job is to be able to come to our program so that hes able to seek additional help in
his core classes. I recognize that Chris partaking in this conference with me was not and added
benefit to the teacher who assigned him his grades, rather an exploratory conference in which he
would be able to gain advice and skills on how to become a better writer. Additionally, I believe
that although I set out to obtain one main goal with Chris, I could have been done so much more
with him. The only limitation in this was the fact of that Chris was not only a struggling writer,
but also struggling reader. I recognized that in order for us to be able to get to the level that we
both want him to be at, it would take a lot more than seven meetings to get to that goal.

Therefore, I decided that it would be best if Chris and I focus on obtainable goal, which would
set him up for future success. Although I do believe that Chris gained quite a bit out of this
experience, there is no real guarantee that his teacher will see that as well. It is clear to me now
Im that Chris is a very different type of learner. He is stated numerous times that his teacher
does not go over information as well as she could in class, especially after students have been
reading. I can tell that for Chris, this is his downfall. In order for Chris to be able to only connect
all the pieces any type of any type of literature that he is reading, it is imperative that he have
some sort of conversation regarding the piece and this is not being done in his English class on a
consistent basis.
In regards to the lessons that I planned for Chris, I do believe that they were goodmany
of them required us to go over very simple things like the process of writing an essay, which
made me feel as though we could not grow together until he understood the structure of writing. I
believe that with us working around other students, sometimes this posed a bit of uneasiness for
Chris because he really did not want others to know that he was struggling as a writereven
though the majority of my Upward Bound students are struggling. For Chris, I think the parts
that he enjoyed the most were the conference he had with another student regarding his own
writinghe was able to take something that we had been working on for a while and show it off!
He was extremely proud of his finished piece, and so was I. The final session in which Chris was
able to relax and work on poetry, although very different from the poems that he usually makes,
it allowed him to naturally flow back into his own natural element.
Overall, I am pleased with the encounters that I have had with Chris as I have seen
growth in him. The only problem that we had was the fact that he is in a district that is 1-1, so
everything that he does is on his laptop which makes things a lot more difficult to keep up with

and I did not always get finalized pieces of artifacts that we would work on. I do hope to be able
to do this again with more students as I transition to becoming a teacher of writing as I have
gained such valuable skills on how to work with a struggling writer. Also, Chris as taught me so
much as it relates to what I do not want to do with my students, I am hoping that he will continue
the skills that I taught him as he is still far below grade levelbut only time will tell.

Published Final Draft: Wump World Essay

You're in a world with little sheep like creatures called the wumps. They are hairy, fuzzy
and friendly but then blue and purple ugly alien things fell out of the sky. The pollutions are
trying to take over the Wump world. The leader of the pollutions is Chief Pollution. The world is
too polluted for anything to live there. The pollutions try to live on the Wump world and pollute it.
The Wump World is a happy, grassy place for the Wumps. The Wumps are a species of animals
that have theyre own world. The problem is that the Wump World soon become terrorized and
polluted by the Pollutions. So the Pollutions take over and cut up trees, smoke up the air, and
other bad things. While the pollutions are doing that, the Wumps are hiding away from them to
be safe and not killed. After, the Pollutions realized what they were doing and decided to move
somewhere else because it was to polluted and the Wumps had their world back, and the world
became better and cleaner.
The story takes place in a beautiful world called the Wump world. On this planet little
cute, fluffy and fuzzy sheep like creatures live. Then these ugly purple and blue things fell out of
the sky. They were called the pollutions and they were invading the Wump world! These little
wumps couldnt defend themselves so they hid. While the wumps are hiding these giant cranes
come out and destroy the Wump world! The pollutions leader is Chief Pollution.

The pollutions demolished the Wump world. They put sewage in the lakes and got
smoke in the air. The wumps hid in the caverns. They ate what grass they had and drank from
the pools in the caverns. An angry mob formed in front of the chiefs home. They could not live
there. So the chief ordered three pilots to go find a new better world. Only one came back.
Since the world was so polluted the pollutions left and never came back. The wumps
waited for a while underground just to make sure it was safe. Then the biggest Wump broke the
wumps out of their cement covered caverns. The wumps looked around the city for grass or
trees. Then they found a field with a lot of grass and trees. But the world would never be the
same.
The wumps were invaded by the pollutions and they destroyed the world. In the end the
pollutions left and the wumps could live again. I would give the story a because it tells what
would happen if we keep polluting our world. The story made me think about what would
happen to sheep if we keep polluting the world. I would recommend this book because it
teaches you not to pollute. I learned to stop other people from polluting.

Published Piece: Found Poem

Zoink!
They couldnt leave
They had to stay
But why
Pollutions
Traveling from planet to planet
They moved
Caverns
Hungry
Finally
Pollutions
They left!
Planet to planet
In the end
All was well.

Connecting Reading to Practice

Over the semester in EDSE 787, I have been able to read many different things that both
serves as a model for what to do with that my classroom, but also backs it up with different
theories that are relevant to education today. I was excited that I was able to incorporate so many
different best practice models not only in this experience with Chris, but also in my internship
experience. Like many others, I hold a common value within my classroomwriting. I truly
believe that Urbanski says it best in her book, Using the Workshop Approach in the High School
Classroom:
People do not expect to go out and run the Boston Marathon without training.
They do not expect to run even a mile when they have never run more than the
two steps it takes to get in front of someone in the fast food line. Why would they
expect to sit down and write the great American novel is they have never before
spent time trying to compose? (p. 3)
Writing is something that is not always easy, not even for teachers of writing. I want the best
things that we are able to do is to instill a value of writing within each of our students no matter
their level of ability. Urbanksi discusses the importance in writing often within the classroom.
One of the only ways that students will be able to become more comfortable with their own
writing, and getting better at it, is to keep writing. Not only is it relevant and also important, but I
also believe that when we allow our students to get their free thoughts out on paper, we are able
to help them translate into words things that they may not get to say in an open dialogue. For
Chris, I was very thankful that I was able to see this being done, just in a different way. Many
people keep writers journals to keep their thoughts aligned, but for Chris, he keeps a book of
poems and lyrics that he creates. Fletcher (1996) discusses why it is so important for our students

to have writers notebooks that we actually have them use. Not only does this create a system in
which students will expect writing to be in integral part of my classroom, but they will come to
see that I value them as writers just as much as they should value themselves. I enjoy the fact that
the Urbanski lets teachers know that writing is something that is a process. Students are not
going to be able to just pick up and go with it, I was able to see this first hand with Chriswe
need to go one step at a time.
Another reading that I found to be very practical was Burkes piece on Creating a
Community of Writers. One thing that Burke discusses in his piece is the fact that when you are
in the writing process, students need to be able to work together. Writing should not be an
isolated task in which students are not able to collaborate. Both educators and the general public
have suffered for too long under the delusion that reading and writing are essentially solitary
skills that develop best through isolated, individualistic practice (Burke, 2003). I was able to see
this first hand when Chris was very excited to share his phone written work with one of his
friends. Seeing the two of them take part in creating their own community, if even for short time,
gave Chris the confidence to be able to ask questions about what his writing looks like. I believe
this is something that needs to be transferred within the classroom. Often times when teachers
are assigning essays, it isnt individualistic task in which students are unable to connect and
collaborate with others. It is my own teaching philosophy that if I want my students to create a
community amongst themselves, they need to be able to enter act like a community. I am very
certain that if Chriss friend was also involved in this project, both of their overall writing skills
would have improved as they wouldve had each other for support.
One final piece that I also found to be extremely helpful throughout this process was
Cindy ODonnells book, The Best Writing Teachers are Writers Themselves. What I enjoyed so

much about her book was the fact that she broke down so many different things that we as
teachers are not doing in our classroom. I believe her book ties him greatly with Burkes and
Urbanksis

piecesif we want our students to write, not only do they need the environment

to do that, but they also need to see us as someone who writes as well. I want my students to be
able to see me go through the writing process and make mistakes just like I expect them to do.
Again, writing is not something that you are able to just picked up and do, it is time, patience,
and lots of practice. This was the main focus for my sessions with Chris, I needed him to be able
to see that even though the end result was was what was one effort it took to get there was
immense.
I found the majority of the readings rock this course extremely helpful and I am excited
to be able to use them in my own classroom next year. As a new teacher, I am aware of certain
things that I need to be doing within my classroom in order to cook and engage my students. I do
not want them to being in an environment where they feel that theyre writing has to be an
isolated task, I want them to feel free to ask questions and engage in dialogue with myself and
their fellow classmates. Thanks to Chris, I was able to understand just a little bit more about the
process of teaching writing to someone who struggles. If anything, he reminded me just how
patient and kind I needed to be as well as it is very easy to deter a student from reaching their
ultimate goalfor Chris, this goal was just to be able to write a simple 5 paragraph formal essay.

References
Burke, J. (2003). Create a community of writers. Writing reminders: tools, tips, and techniques
(pp.1-5). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fletcher, R. (1996). Breathing in Breathing out: Keeping a Writer's Notebook. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
ODonnel-Allen, Cindy (2013). The best writing teachers are writers themselves. Washington
D.C.: The Atlantic.
Urbanski, C. (2006). Using the workshop approach in the high school English classroom.
modeling effective writing, reading, and thinking strategies for student success. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press