The Process Paper -- Blog Post 6

There was a lot that made sense to me in Burke's chapter on The Process Paper. When I was in school, I much preferred to work on these assignments than on product-centered writing (WOD usually) since I felt that I learned more from the process-centered assignments. The opportunities to think through my ideas and for periodic feedback improved my papers and made me much prouder of these than any product-based writing. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. Because on this personal experience and on how Burke emphasizes the value of process writing, the process paper will play a large roll in my classroom. 

Burke states that, when we design a process paper, "we design an experience that takes students through a series of stages as they compose their papers . . . an assignment that takes time -- students' as well as our own -- and demand a level of commitment and attention that we all struggle to muster and maintain" (83). It's interesting that the many checkpoints that lead up to the final paper that improve students' writing are also what can lose students when these are too drawn out or not done intentionally. It is crucial, then, that each checkpoint/stop is "specifically chosen to increase students' engagement and develop those skills, such as generating ideas and revising, with which students most consistently struggle" (84). If checkpoints are made intentionally and students are consistently engaged and invested throughout the process, then they will likely learn the writing skills we so desire for them to gain and then apply these to their other writing. Lots of these checkpoints for Burke involve feedback in conferences, recordings, and through targeted minilessons, yet I wish he would show what some of these checkpoints look like more specifically for him and his students (brainstorming? outlining? peer editing checklists?).

Furthermore, how do we increase student engagement with these assignments? Like many assignments, Burke mentions that having a clear purpose behind the assignment motivates students. In regards to the process paper, this means crafting checkpoints that really make students feel as if they are improving their paper, their writing, and their grade (Burke 85). This, however, seems like a no brainer. Of course personal investment increases student engagement with an assignment. Burke does mention briefly later on that he likes to make sure that his Into the Wild process paper prompt is relevant for his seniors (97-98). Making "relevant" assignments is another way that we can increase student engagement. This can be done by providing a choice of prompts that cater (as much as they can) to student interests and current issues, while also having these be papers on books that students actually enjoy.

Burke mentions that the process paper method can also be applied to personal narrative, but I wish he would have spent some time showing us what this would look like more specifically. He instead talks at length about literary analysis papers, which I honestly found to be more useful than I would have initially thought because of the novel way through which he has students craft their essays. Students, instead of going through the writing process after having read a book, write paragraphs throughout the reading process. This way, they can read carefully and write out their ideas and analysis before they begin their final paper. I really liked this close pairing of reading and writing throughout Burke's literary analysis paper. I would like to incorporate some of his method in my teaching, but will need to be careful to not have students pause too much while reading as to create readicide in my classroom. Discussion throughout this reading and writing is also a great idea to make sure that students get varying perspectives and receive feedback on their analysis, as Burke suggests. 

I see some intersection with the Kittle and Gallagher reading, in that process writing with several opportunities for feedback (much of it verbal) is emphasized. I do wish Kittle and Gallagher had spoken more about the intersection of reading and writing in their assignments like Burke does.

For my in-my-classroom activity, I think that I will create a writing conference worksheet for students to fill out so that they make sure to keep notes from their writing conferences with me and each other. This plays off of Burke's repeatedly mentioning of doing writing conferences with his students. I don't want to create a process paper assignment since I do not know enough about my future unit(s) for that and because I have already done this twice before. This feels like it will be more useful for me and my future students right now, espeically since I worried last year that students forgot the verbal feedback I gave them in writing conferences.