Considering we are all in college, we've all had more than enough exposure and/or experience with writing. I've saved things from elementary school and I when I look through them, I can see the stages my writing went through. It's something to look back on and think wow, I've come a long way from scribbles :-) When you get to this stage in life, you think you know all there is to know about writing and it becomes kind of a mundane task to complete. However, writing is a process and one can always improve upon this art. It takes a good teacher to help you rediscover how powerful writing can be and challenge someone to become a better writer; such is the case with me. In elementary school we practiced writing on a frequent basis to prepare for the writing portion of the EOG-I still have stories I wrote. Writing can only improve with practice and I think this repetition helped start me on a path of striving for the best work I could/still can produce. I've enjoyed having a blog. I feel like I can express myself more clearly through writing instead of talking. Writing can be just as powerful as speech. I've read somewhere that anything worth writing is worth reading so the connection that these two art forms share is again exemplified by this statement. I think this class has allowed me to see that writing doesn't have to be all serious all the time-even though most of the assignments aren't conducive to a humorous piece of literature but blogging allows me to do whatever suits me.

For my book project, I'm planning to write about an experience I had with driving-don't we all have one of those stories!! The topics my story will cover include advice, humor, difficulties, help, and lessons learned. I know how I want the story to go in my head but the challenge will be making sure the finished product on paper matches my vision. I expect it to be fun but it may be a little tougher than I imagine now. Tompkins writes, "It it difficult--even for adults--to craft well-formed stories incorporating plot and character development and other elements of story structure", (Chapter 9, page 303). I plan on using the bullets on page 308 of our text to make sure I've covered every potential problem in writing my story. To further illustrate the difficulty of writing a story, I found a quote from Nathanial Hawthorne, "Easy reading is damn hard writing" (http://www.quotegarden.com/writing.html). It may be a daunting task but I'm willing to face it!!

Reading and writing are important facets to a language so it's important for students to learn how to implement each one in their daily lives to the best of their ability. If their abilities are inhibited in some way, shape, or form, it's our job as teachers to step in and help bridge the gap from learning to applying. I don't think all is lost if a student struggles with reading or writing because there are other ways for them to be socially active for example, talking. I'm pretty sure that a person may feel scared to socialize with others if he/she has a delay or disability because of the stigma that is associated with having a "problem." Nobody wants to associate with a sub-average student because others may begin to think that you have a problem too. Students may think because their lacking in one area they are deficient in all areas. I also think that a lack in social skills may strengthen a skill in another area. For example, if a student can't read well they may find that writing is their strong suit. If a student struggles in writing a good book again and again will improve their reading. The book says on page 102, "Writers participate in several types of reading activities" and goes on to say, "Readers are writers, too." This demonstrates that reading and writing are interdependent on one another. Readers can improve their writing by reading and writers can improve their reading by writing. The following sentence on page 104 also drives this point home: "Reading contributes to students' writing development, and writing contributes to students' reading development." I've always preferred writing over reading. It takes me longer to read because I don't look forward to it. I rediscovered last semester just how good of a writer I was and I'm sure the amount of reading required for my classes had something to do with it :-) I think that having others know that there is a "problem" can help. This gives excelling students an opportunity to help those who struggle-which fosters socialization. Whatever way teachers decide to help it's up to them-I like the following suggestion, on page 104, "What we need are reading teachers who act as if their students were developing writers and writing teachers who act as if their students were developing readers." Something absolutely needs to be done before the amount of catching up becomes nearly insurmountable.

Learning a language is best accomplished by being immersed in it, especially if you're learning a foreign language. We have two ears so we hear twice as much as we can say. Of course when we're little, that's how we acquire our new way of communication-we listen to what others say. After we learn how to talk, we can write in our own language, and soon read in our own language as well. We learned a couple of weeks ago that the best to increase vocabulary is by reading. When I was little, I had a series of books that went through the alphabet and gave tons of examples of pictures that started with each specific letter. I think just being an inquisitive and curious child helps too. If you hear a word you're not familiar with-ask someone or look it up yourself-I think information acquired first hand sticks around longer. Teachers also play a BIG role in helping us all learn language and not just in language arts class. We all know terms that relate to other areas such as math, science, and social studies. Anyone we come into contact with in our environment helps us learn language.

There are a vast number of words in the English language. However, there are words that are just naturally going to be used on a more frequent basis. I'm sure this has been the case throughout history with any other language ever spoken. Because these words are more popular in usage, it's necessary that our children know them and familiarize themselves with them because of their popularity. One way to accomplish this is through word walls. The more lessons or mini-lessons a teacher does that includes these words, the more comfortable students will feel seeing, saying, and using these words when necessary.

I think seeing an object and recalling its name helps to increase our ability to learn a language. Connecting the pictures that were in my letter books to their physical representation helped me. It's one thing to see a tree in a book but being able to see a tree and touch it in nature makes that connection more concrete. Symbols are visual depictions of objects. I think this is helpful for those people who feel they are visual learners, like me. Symbols help make the connection between the abstract and the concrete. You can't touch a tree in a picture book but seeing and touching a tree outside help the idea of a tree come to life. There are also symbols that companies use. When you think of a check mark you think of the Nike shoe company. Sometimes a company is known more for the symbol than the product but they still help the thoughts of objects become actual, real, and tangible.

Just like reading, people write for various reasons. People write because that's their job. People write to reflect upon their day in their journal or diary. People write because it's part of their assignment. People write because it's easier for them to write how they feel instead of say it aloud. Whatever the reason is, people write. Whatever the reason is, people want to write something that is meaningful to them and possibly the public. Janet Emig once said, "Writing is often our representation of the world made visible. When one reads what another has written, he/she is opening their minds to see things differently from a new perspective. The experiences an author has had also lends itself to the reading process which can certainly entertain an audience. Reading can help someone feel like he/she isn't alone in the world. A reader can identify him/herself as a character in the book.
Reading and writing are both areas that contribute to language arts. Both of these areas help to create language, an art form. By engaging in each of these a student has the opportunity to see if he/she has grasped and successfully utilized what he/she has learned in the classroom. Both reading and writing are processes and have to be taught. Some writing isn't worth reading and it's those works that can turn someone off to the whole idea altogether. But when someone finds a good book, the search to find one better than the last read is relentless.
When someone writes, there are no limits, only what he/she limits him/herself to. Vera John-Steiner has a quote that reads, "Writing is the product of a creative, dynamic learning process that spirals naturally upward and outward toward limitless possibilities." Writing and reading both employ the use of imagination. Writing something and later revisiting that particular piece can be done with a sense of pride, if you were the author, or gratitude, if you were the reader. Reading or writing producing something that has no bounds or limits is exciting. Hopefully, a habit will develop from this entertaining discovery.