Reflection in the Electronic Writing Classroom

L. Lennie Irvin, San Antonio College

A few illustrations will demonstrate how reflection as observation works in a networked classroom setting:

1) Sharing inventions
I almost always provide an invention exercise for my students to do as they begin working on a writing project. The computer setting makes it easy for students to post these invention pieces into the network (most likely into a bulletin board). By encouraging students to read the posted invention exercises of their peers, students gain addition ideas for their own writing as well as perspective on the assignment as a whole. I have had student share and observe all kinds of different invention exercises from teacher-generated prompts specific to the assignment, to freewriting on the topic, to brainstorming-like chats on the subject, to drafts of outlines. Reading these invention pieces enables students access to the multiplicity of views throughout the whole class that would be nearly impossible to replicate in a non-computer setting. Plus, students can return online to this pool of ideas multiple times out-of-class.

2) Sharing writing that focuses on developing a specific writing skill
Throughout my freshman composition class, I have students write small pieces that work on some specific "writing skill" we are learning and incorporating into larger pieces of writing. One skill we practice while working on writing a narrative essay is description, so at different times we will practice writing descriptively together. We will review various techniques of description and discuss the difference between "showing and not telling." Then we will practice a descriptive writing piece together. Students post these writing pieces into a bulletin board, and then spend some time reading the descriptions of their peers. By reading the descriptions of their peers, students see these techniques of description in action. They see some students who did well with writing descriptively and some who did not do so well. The broad range of writings attempting the same skill provides the student with some critical perspective on what is good and what is bad description.

The particular "writing skill" practiced does not matter. You could have your students learning how to integrate quotes into their text, or how to write introductions, or how to write more complex sentences using parallelism. Students learn about the particular writing technique by doing the technique, but they also learn by observing the "doing" of that technique by others. Although not a requirement, these kinds of exercises and sharings seem to work best as an in-class activity. First, review and demonstrate the writing technique; next have students practice doing the technique themselves; then have students observe these practice texts of their peers. The last step of observational reflection is key to students doub

le-checking their knowledge and adjusting what they will do next time they write.

3) Sharing early drafts
Early in a writing cycle, students could share their first drafts by posting them into the network (it works best in a bulletin board but such sharing of drafts could be done in any number of ways). Once the essays are posted, roughly twenty minutes should be devoted to reading these drafts.

Students gain a lot of perspective on the topic and what it is asking and on other possible ways to approach the topic. They likewise gain a sense of how well they are addressing the topic and task with their own draft.

Guiding the Observation (and hence the reflection)

Although having students observe each other's text is fine, most likely teachers will need to provide some guidance and incentive for reflection to occur. Rather than having students observe an undifferentiated collection of texts and not gain any real insight or perspective, we want students to learn something from reading the texts of their peers. If they just read, the insights and perspective that occur to them as they read will either be lost or not take shape.

One technique to get the most from reflection as observation is to review some of the shared texts together with your students. After the students have read these shared texts, select a few to go over together with the students. Since all the texts are posted in a network, students can easily open the text of a peer. Then with the whole class looking at the same text, you can discuss what this writing piece may demonstrate. The selection of which text to view together could be done by the teacher or by the students.

Another technique to guide students' observations is to ask students to produce some text from their reflective observations. Not only does the requirement to produce some reflective text give students an incentive to read, it forces them to articulate what had been only internal thoughts and give these impressions more definition. Donna Qualley described reflection in this social setting as "bidirectional" and "contrastive":

The encounter with the other results in new information or perspective which we must hold up to our current conception of things. The juxtaposition of two different representations often reveals their ill fit. In order to make sense, we are compelled to identify and examine our own underlying assumptions. Once we actually articulate these tacit beliefs, they themselves become open to reflection, critique, and perhaps, transformation. (Turns of Thought 12)

Sharing texts and having students read them confronts them with the "other," but having them write some reflection on their experience reading the text of their peers pushes them in the ways Qualley describes. Students record what insights they gained, what new perspectives they perceived, what ideas they had confirmed, what beliefs they now question or have changed.

The two adjustments for the teacher who attempts to incorporate observation as reflection into his or her curriculum are the added class time that must be devoted to students reading each other's text and the new imperative to teach students how to read each other's work. In my opinion, more work needs to be done on how to guide students as they read (as they spectate, as they observe, as they reflect upon) each other's writing.