Reflection 

When I first learned about this course being offered, I was already excited about learning
some new ways to engage students in argument writing just from the title: Arguments to Make
Change, especially in today’s time and the way the first half of 2020 has gone. Students need
effective ways to share their voices and to work their way through arguments as both readers and
writers so that they can contribute to the greater conversations happening. Now, after taking the
course and having written my own argument piece, I can’t wait to totally revamp the way I teach
argument.
In my portfolio, I’ve used claims about argument writing as a repetend to tie all the
pieces together. The way I have formatted my portfolio is something I’m considering doing with
my own students next year. I think it would help them see the progress of their writing, and it
will be a way to illustrate their routine argument practices, generating ideas activities, thoughts
or claims about argument writing, and a larger argument piece.
One of the first aha moments I had at the beginning of this course was the simple fact that
we can’t just tell students to pick a topic. I struggled to come up with topics, until I completed
the various generating ideas activities. And even then, my topic was born out of one of my video
diary entries talking about how we need to change our education system. It wasn’t until
Lindsey’s reply that I realized that this is what I needed to write about. I learned that students
need a variety of opportunities to discover their topics: through writing, through conferencing, or
through speaking with their peers and sharing ideas.
Another aha moment came from the mini-units and our Zoom discussion about their
purpose. It makes complete sense now to teach argument in bite-sized pieces. I always dreaded
note-taking day, when students would take guided notes over the course of an entire period over
claims, what they are, how to write one, where they go; counterclaims, what they are and where
they go; evidence, how to cite and punctuate and lead into quotes; and so on. I know that my
students and I were all exhausted by the end of those class periods. Instead, the C3WP website
and these mini-units are broken down into digestible chunks, and they are easy to follow.
Students would be able to navigate them easily if we start back virtually in the fall.
Lastly, and most importantly, we need to stop teaching argument as a unit and instead
develop routine argument writing over the course of the school year. Our students need to
practice writing different types of argument genres so they can also learn more authentically
about audience and occasion. I explain this more in my final argument piece.
I cannot wait to share with students the writing process I went through to get to the final
product, and how I can empathize with their struggles as they write their own arguments this
year, but also give them tips to conquering obstacles. I know that after the way this year has
started, we will have some interesting and engaging ‘conversations’ (the modern term for
argumentative writing) in our classroom. I hope they too can view themselves as writers and can
use their voices to make arguments for change in our school, our community, and in our society.
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Initial Claim about Argument Writing: 

Argument writing means picking a side: 

you’re either with us, or against us 
mentality.   
 2

Pray, Don’t Pry 

No thank you
to the unasked for advice
from my step mother-in-law
on how to get pregnant.
To the advice from anyone
on that matter,
except those who share my ​experience1
wishing and waiting for that positive sign.
No thank you
to the cliches:
It will happen in God’s time,​
or the not-so-funny remarks:
At least you can still drink,
A baby is a lot of work, I would enjoy your time now.​
No thank you
to the prying questions at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners
from not-so-close and nosy relatives:
No, thank you, though, for asking
if I am pregnant yet again everytime I see you-
Reminding me I’m
still
NOT
pregnant
after fourteen months of trying,
421 days of praying.
How about a yes, please?
Yes please to the prayers
and good vibes,
and the “Baby dust” sprinkled my way,
wishing good luck with conceiving and
hoping that it will happen soon.
To empathizing with my sighs
and to hearing and healing my cries.
To the first “Yes, please,”
in a small, sweet voice,
little blue eyes reflecting my own,
as my son or daughter reaches for a worn down book
and curls up in my lap while I read ​Ginger​ again,
and daddy holds your hand.
Yes, baby,
You can have the world.

1
“Out of 100 couples in the United States, about 12 to 13 of them have trouble becoming pregnant.” “About ten in
100 (6.1 million) women in the United States ages 15–44 have difficulty becoming pregnant or staying pregnant…”
 3

 
 
 
 
 
 
Revised Claim about Argument Writing: 

‘For the sake of argument’ should be used 

to extend, elaborate, and offer new or 
opposing arguments in an open-minded, 
risk-taking, safe environment.   
 4

Yes, I Believe
I believe in a balance of routine
and throwing routing out the window.
I refuse to feel guilty about sleeping in.
I believe in late night conversations
and building hallway camaraderie between classes.

I believe everyone should witness birth and raising young ones-

whether it be puppies, kittens, plants or babies.

Yes, I ​do​ believe that education can improve-

I refuse to accept the cynical idea
that things remain the same.

I believe in advocating for yourself,

for weak, untrained voices,
and for the voiceless.
I believe in hope and faith-
no matter how many times they are tested.

I believe the majority of people are ​kind

and I believe that nature can heal most things,
including herself, if we let her.

I believe in the power of music

to bring people together,
in celebration or
in need of unity.

I believe in falling in love over and over

with many things, every day.

I believe I could l not live without writing:

I believe students ​want​ to learn
and that every person is a reader and a writer.

I believe in blueberry coffee or tea in the morning

and sparkling water in the afternoon.

I believe our world would be better off

without political parties that divide;
I refuse to believe we do not have better
presidential candidates than what we have-

I believe CHANGE is coming in 2020.

 5

 
 
 
 
Nuanced Claim about Argument Writing: 

Because the term ‘argument’ has a 

negative connotation, we need to teach 
students that argument writing means 
contributing to a larger conversation that 
needs a fresh look. It is important to 
understand multiple perspectives ​before 
making a claim and supporting it with 
evidence.   
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The Education System: A Remix on Argument

An Open Letter to Teacher Prep Programs and Education Policy Makers

Dear Teacher Prep Programs and Education Policy Makers:

Instead of changing the education system- how and what teachers teach- at the high school level
one school or group of teachers at a time, we need to change how ​teachers are prepared​ in
education programs at the college level- how and what ​professors​ teach.

Some professors have been teaching the same strategies and core values for decades, without
consideration of new strategies or best practices and without engaging in current research
revolving around how to best prepare students, by better preparing their teachers. If we can get
teacher prep programs to guarantee teaching current, relevant strategies to pre-service teachers,
current teachers wouldn’t have to seek or attend professional development and graduate classes
so soon into their careers (while also trying to survive RESA).

Additionally, schools need to partner with programs and curriculum coaches who engage in
current education pedagogy and research themselves, and that are in close collaboration with
these updated teacher programs at universities.

In my experience as a teacher beginning my fifth year this fall, I am finally feeling like a ‘good
teacher’. While I had a great education in high school, I still felt wildly unprepared for my
education in college. Why was I just learning that essays didn’t have to be limited to five
paragraphs? An introduction paragraph with a hook, bridge, summary, and thesis statement, only
three body paragraphs with only three main points (one of which must be a counterargument),
and a generic conclusion that restates the main ideas and briefly connects the topic to a larger
conversation.

Why am I learning just now, in my master’s program, how to best teach grammar and argument
writing?

Of course it makes sense to teach and practice argument writing routinely all school year, and
not just in one mega-unit, but rather through mini-units that are digestible for our students.

Of course it makes sense to teach specific grammar lessons when directly applicable to what
students are doing in their writing.

And of course it makes sense to teach students how to write and structure their writing using
mentor texts from the wild (real life outside of academia), and not generic templates that are
modeled after fast food.

It’s time to toss out that soggy hamburger essay and sit down for a nice, five-course meal.
 7

To begin with:
I am tired of teaching the hamburger essay, or any similar format that limits student creativity.

Many teachers claim that templates for structure help students who may struggle with writing.
However, I have seen many students struggle to memorize a particular writing structure and
worry about regurgitating said structure on a standardized assessment.

I am tired of teaching my students that in order to make informed decisions or take stances, they
need to research all perspectives and consult reliable, authoritative, and current sources.

How many years of experience do you have, Mr. Policy Maker, teaching grade school or
college? How many years has it been since the people you may consult have taught? Yet, you
make decisions for education you do ​not​ have the authority to make. How am I supposed to
preach credibility and authority to my students, when you do not practice it?

I am tired of ​talking​ about reform.

Sir Ken Robinson, a leader in creative and cultural education (someone ​with​ the authorization to
make educational decisions), says ‘Bring on the Learning Revolution!’ in his 2010 Ted Talk. He
begins: “Every education system in the world is being reformed at the moment and it’s not
enough. Reform is no use anymore because that’s simply improving a broken model. What we
need is not evolution, but a revolution in education. This has to be transformed into something
else.”

What we need is not e​ volution​, but a ​revolution​ in education​. We need to leave the broken
pieces behind and begin anew.

Mostly, I am tired of taking the back seat: educators need to be behind the wheel. Educators who
are currently teaching need to be driving our system forward.

So here is what I know: 

About Teaching English Language Arts 

The five-paragraph essay does not exist outside of academia. We need to use real examples of
good writing: writing that interests us, excites us, empowers us, and moves us. Students need to
bring in their own ‘writing in the wild’ that they enjoy.

Mentor texts are not exactly a novel idea in the world of education. Neither is imitation or parody
writing. But many educators are unaware of the power that reading a mentor text can have on a
student. Instead of taking notes on and memorizing a particular structure or formula for writing,
students need to breathe in ​all​ the possibilities and ways a piece of writing can be structured.
 8

In writing this open letter, I am trying a new genre of writing because I want my students to view
and accept this as argument writing too. Have I ever written an open letter before? No. But I’ve
seen them on social media, so I searched for some mentor texts to model my own letter after.
Check out Ulcca Joshi Hansen’s, ​Open Letter: To Parents and Non-“Education Reformers”​.
Notice anything about the structure compared to mine? You should.

Teaching grammar in an unauthentic way- through worksheets, on Writing Wednesdays, or as

workbook homework- is not helping students improve their writing skills. These stand-alone
activities aren’t helping students understand or memorize the grammar rules into the next class
period, let alone adulthood.

In “Grammar Without Grammar: Just Playing Around, Writing,” Deborah Dean shares how
imitation writing using sentence models ultimately improved her students’ writing. They
practiced imitating interesting sentences composed in varying structures and each day students
wrote a few sentences in the beginning of class resembling the models.

Dean writes that “With few exceptions, all could follow the structures without knowing the
names for them. Sometimes, some of the attempts were awkward or clumsy, but those examples
were often more useful for discussion, as students suggested ways their peers could revise or
rephrase what they had written. This was a time to experiment…” (87).

They didn’t discuss parts of speech or parts of sentences in grammatical terms. But they were
playing with language and revising and learning to express themselves more clearly using the
written language. Dean says that these imitation activities were a way for students to “consider
different ways of expressing an idea, and to begin to understand that many options for expressing
an idea or thought exist- and that they had the ability to work to find more effective
constructions” (87).

If I had tried writing this essay using the five-paragraph template, many of these thoughts would
have been left out, or less emphasized because they would have drowned amid lengthy
paragraphs.

In a virtual discussion with Deborah Dean on June 26, 2020, she compared this concept of
teaching grammar without actually naming the parts to the concept of driving for many of us.
She said that people don’t need to know the names of something that they already do. For
example: many drivers do not know the names of most of the car parts that work together to
function, but the drivers can still drive; if something isn’t working, they can go to an expert who
does know the parts and how they function. Likewise with writing and English education, people
can turn to the experts of language.

Thinking about teacher prep programs, many require students to take at least one grammar
course. And yes, they still have to diagram sentences and name parts of speech. However, in my
 9

experience as a student in the one required grammar class, never did we learn how to effectively
teach grammar to our future students. In fact, this grammar course was nostalgic for me as it took
me back to middle school writing classes. Why? Because we used the same grammar workbook.
Seven or eight years later. And you know what? It was like I was relearning the names of
everything that I had learned in middle school because I had forgotten many of them. But I knew
how to use the grammar.

Since this way of teaching grammar and writing essays doesn’t seem to be working, it is time we
give mentor texts a try. After all, Debbie Dean did say that “Mentor texts are the answer to
everything.”

About Teacher Prep Programs and Professional Development 

Here’s something revolutionary-

TEACHERS.

TEACHING.

TEACHERS.

Attending another professional development day on collecting and using student data, increasing
teacher and student morale, or whatever else is on the Director of Personnel’s agenda, is not
making us better teachers. The only skill we’re developing is how to check boxes and move on to
more surface-level, non-differentiated training.

About Revolutionizing vs. Evolving Education 

Okay, so I don’t remember much about the American Revolution. What I do know is that it takes
leaders, followers, experts, and allies or partnerships to succeed in a revolution.

Teacher preparation programs at universities and grade schools need to establish partnerships
with organizations and experts in different fields. For starters, Language Arts departments should
join the National Writing Project and their state writing project if applicable. The writing
projects are great resources for educators (and not just for teachers of writing). Their core belief
is that teachers teach teachers.

Look to teachers who are continuously researching, revamping their classrooms and curriculums
regularly. These are the teachers who make improvements in their classrooms based not off of
state assessment data or the ever-changing standards, but based on ​what​ ​students​ ​need​. The
students in their rooms. Not last year’s students, or students in big city schools when they teach
in a small rural school.
 10

Sir Ken Robinson claims that “when we look at reforming education and transforming it, it isn’t
like cloning a system...It’s about customizing to your circumstances and personalizing education
to the people you’re actually teaching.”

Again, time to toss out that burger essay, and whatever else isn’t working for ​your​ students.
C3WP​ is another great resource: this writing program comes from the National Writing Project
and its acronym stands for College, Career, and Community Writers Program. It’s time to
acknowledge a few things.

One, that our students are all writers.

Two, that teachers need to prepare these student writers for all levels of writing they will
encounter in their lives, and not just college writing. This is where we can bring in career and
community experts to give students practice with writing for different occasions and audiences.

The next Bath and Body Works descriptive scent writer might be in one of our classrooms.

Or the next scholarly article, lab report, social media influencer, video game, or grant writer
might be in one of our classrooms.

“...it’s not about scaling a new solution; it’s about creating a movement in education in which
people develop their own solutions, but with external support based on a personalized
curriculum.” Robinson says we need to revolutionize education by matching teachers up with
experts in different fields and working together. How fun would it be to invite someone from
Bath and Body Works or someone from the local newspaper into your classroom to play with
writing? I know I would get to check the ‘community involvement’ box off my quarterly Ohio
Improvement Plan guide.

This generation of students is writing more now than ever. We need to acknowledge and praise
that across the nation. Then we need to change the way we prepare our teachers so that they are
culturally, pedagogically, and creatively relevant and effective in preparing our students for
real-world learning.

 
 
Works Cited 

Dean, Deborah. “Grammar without Grammar: Just Playing Around, Writing.” ​The English
Journal​, vol. 91, no. 2, Nov. 2001, pp. 86–89.

Robinson, Sir Ken. TED, 2010,

www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_learning_revolution#t-238779.