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Participants' Comments What was the most meaningful and useful for you as a teacher... "I found the instructor to be very knowledgeable and helpful. He was an excellent collaborator and resource provider. But the most impressive thing was that ... and if I'm offending any college professorial types out there ... good! ;^) ... he actually used 6-Traits in our writing projects and in his evaluations." "We had a truly international classroom. Only about half us were teaching in the states. Several were teaching in DODS schools overseas. We were a good mix of novice and veteran teachers. The format of the class forced (I was going to use the work encouraged, but that didn't quite cover it) us to pose questions and respond to the questions of at least 3 of our classmates per assignment. This has forged some on-going professional "friendships". Several of us are still continuing the sharing of lesson plans and ideas as well as discussions about theory and practice." "The biggest advantage for me has been that we had to evaluate, evaluate, and evaluate some more.
We used a variety of rubrics, depending on our teaching level. We rated a wide range of student
work ... from third grade level through high school. These ratings were then compared with our
classmates and with "the experts" who had rated the same pieces on the various state assessments and
in other university 6-Trait courses."
 "6+1 Writing Traits is an excellent workshop to
improve your students’ writing. The traits are organized and
very easy to implement. The best part of Traits is that it helps
students be responsible for their improvement."
"I began this course thinking of myself as something of a blank slate with regards to the teaching of writing. I felt that writing was often a hit or miss proposition in my classroom. Today I see that while there are certainly holes in my second grade writing instruction, I'm actually doing more then I thought. I'm not starting from square #1. Today I'm able to categorize and organize what I'm already doing, plus add new things, using the framework of the 6 traits. I feel very fortunate to be taking a course like this so early in my teaching career. Someone mentioned to me recently that while there are many great ideas within the 6 trait model, it's easy to slip back into one's old ways of doing things. Perhaps I'm lucky in that I have no old ways to slip back into. I've had several important realizations as a result of work we've done these past weeks. The first is the specific connections that I now make between reading and writing. Naturally I was always aware that a connection existed. I knew on some level that reading to my kids was beneficial to their writing development. But too often the reading was undirected and without a plan. Today I have an arsenal of literature with which I can model, discuss, and teach specific traits in a focused way. And I don't have to teach writing alone. I now have the great authors of the world to help me. I can point to a piece of literature and say to my kids, "Take a look at what this author has done. We can do something similar in our own writing." Another realization has to do with the word "revision". I've seen, and indeed used, this word countless times, without ever really knowing what it meant. As a step in the writing process I gave it little more than lip service. (Why, I have a Writing Process poster prominently displayed in my room! What more do I need!) At the back of my mind I always figured that revision was for some other grade level, or some other teacher, to address. At one point in her book, Spandel mentions that with the exception of conventions, which is related to editing, the traits are primarily related to revision. This notion hit me square in the face. I now have a clear picture of what revision is, and I have five traits to help me teach it. The Idea of "modeling" has come together for me these past weeks. On a daily basis, if I ask my kids to do, produce, work on, or understand something, I'm usually ready to model it for them in some way. This modeling may take the form of some personal writing of my own, of anonymous papers (which I've been accumulating for some weeks and now have a fairly substantial file of), or of literature in some form. I'm wasting less energy trying to "tell" my kids and spending more energy trying to "show" them what writing is. My challenge in the coming months and years is to digest what I've learned in these past few weeks and apply them to my daily practice. I have some strategies in place which I believe will help me do this. I've been keeping a very short list of activities and lessons aligned with each trait as we've been going along. I feel a short list is all I can manage at the moment. I have a time frame that I plan to spend on each trait through the end of the year. I feel I want to at least touch on each trait with my current class. Then I'll hit the ground running with the traits next year with 180 days ahead of me. Finally, the collaboration and camaraderie of this online experience has been truly
wonderful. Being my first experience in this type of learning environment, I never would have
imagined it possible to feel connected to people through an activity such as this. From colleagues
around the world, to colleagues down the hall, to Dennis in Tahoe, it's been moving and valuable and
an experience I'll carry with me throughout my career."
""I think the best thing I could have done for future students was to
take this class. Writing traits has helped me refresh my teaching skills."
"As I read over the weekly notes in my reflective journal, I see the long journey I traveled in a short span of time. As the weeks have sped by, the clarity of what this Trait based writing and assessment is all about has taken shape. My thinking has changed weekly and my frustrations diminished gradually. My excitement in discovering something new has been tremendous and its application to my classes rewarding. I learned that I can work under stress, but really don't like being rushed. I detest spending hours on the computer and prefer to take my courses in a regular classroom, yet I appreciate the time I save by working on e-mails at night. There were many, many things that have been reaffirmed about
my teaching during this course, besides other new things that I
learned. Most certainly that this Trait based course will help me
make many beneficial changes in my teaching and grading. It is as if
a new window has been opened, and when I look out, I see the same
view in a different light."
""Bingo! Now I see the whole picture. It was essential for me to first learn the individual traits, then synthesize the information into a whole and lastly take it apart so that I could effectively instruct my students. Now, and only now, do I feel ready to enthusiastically jump into the wonderful new world of writing ....6-traits style. As I look back to the beginning weeks of the class, I was in awe and a bit intimidated with the expanse of experience many of the other class participants already had. We have no state guidelines or district mandates to adhere to and I only had a couple of 6-traits workshops in my background. However, I appreciated how open and supportive everyone was in sharing ideas and insights and now feel much more competent in the overall topic of writing instruction. This course will definitely have applications in other areas of my life. Now, I will look with a more critical eye at my own writing and those of others. My antennas will now be out as I read books and other media for samples of low and high traits to use as examples. Just the other day I cut out of the newspaper public reactions to a movie and had the students rate them with the goal of becoming more aware of insightful and helpful comments. This was my first online class and I found this style of instruction
especially helpful while working overseas where few in-service
opportunities exist. The class expectations were clear and
activities well organized. I attempted to respond thoughtfully and
appreciated the extra time for consideration before sending off my
thoughts. How many times in classes have I thought of a response or
answer after it was too late? As a classmate said, communication is a key
element in this style of instruction."
"This course is relevant to becoming a better writing
instructor and evaluator, especially for those of us who have
taught for a long time and have less familiarity with the Traits
program. The format is user friendly and flexible."
"This course has already had an impact on my teaching in business classes, and I am eager to be able to put the Traits information to use in English courses as well. While I began the course with trepidations about being a non-English instructor, I felt my business writing background and experience working in offices would prove valuable. I felt right at home using the Internet since I teach these courses. What I have learned from this class is already impacting my current courses. Instead of grading the second draft of resumes for my students as I usually do, I modeled how to create a resume, gave out worksheets to get students started, and used peer review / editing in class. Students are finally ready to turn in finished products now & they are doing so well compared to previous years. I have been very impressed with the results I am getting already
"When I first signed up for this assessment class, I
expected to learn and practice the 6-traits.
This class turned out to be so much more.
Module Four especially was filled with a plethora of
ways to expand, enrich, and define my teaching of writing.
Techniques I have used in the past and 'shelved'
have been renewed. Novel and creative ideas appeared at every turn."
"I was already sold on the concept of the 6-trait type of assessment prior to taking the class, and I had taken a short course prior to this one. What I was not prepared for in this course was how wonderfully rich and challenging the dialogue would be. To be truthful, I began this year in a somewhat cynical mode--not really quite having given up on ever producing writers who were self-aware, but I was somewhat skeptical of my ability to teach the traits well enough to make a significant impact on their thinking. I am more than pleased on what actually happened throughout the course and during my time with my students." "What ended up working well was that our nine weeks together overlapped with my nine-week junior writing course, which made it possible for me to focus on each trait with the students as we focused on them together in our class. Each time we began a new trait, I tried to introduce that trait to the students. I was also able to try out a good number of ideas at the time instead of waiting until later and forgetting about them." "Prior to the course I had pretty much given up on them really learning grammar-- figured if they had it they had it and if they didn't they probably really weren't ever going to completely get it. When a 17-year old junior asks you what a verb is, you kind of just want to throw your hands up in the air and ask "Why me??" After reading the lessons on conventions, though, I do believe I need to change my tune. If I provide them with the tools and the instruction, as with the other traits I think they can improve." "I am probably most pleased with the transference of the traits into other courses my students were taking, primarily an American Literature course with me. I had 4 students who were in both the writing and lit course, and it was interesting to watch them unconsciously use the language of the traits as they responded to the literature. They become aware of writers' word choices and voices and read through 6-trait eyes. They also responded in their journals using trait language, which was exciting to hear and see. I was a bit surprised, but I had several students volunteer to appear with me at a school board meeting to explain and highlight what using the traits has taught them." "Overall, I have gained a great deal from the course.
I am completely sold on the necessity of a common set of
expectations for writing and the need for a language
to communicate those expectations. I am convinced we can help kids."
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