Post #4

As a prospective English teacher, when in the classroom, I will more than likely be analysing poems, novels, even essays with my students. Often it is necessary when analysing plots and ideas to organize you thoughts. Several tools such as outlines, idea maps, storyboards, and flowcharts are extremely useful in delivering ideas to students in an organized and understandable manner. For example, say we are examing the plot of Hamlet. By developing an outine of the sequence of events and the consequences that develop from them, will make it easier for student to grasp just how things went down. Students as well should use such tools to plot their own ideas when planning to write. As an English teacher, I imagine that essays will be frequent in my class in order to assess my students understanding of material and their progressive writing skills. Idea maps, flow charts, outlines, and storyboards are a great way to organize your thoughts which you plan on incorporating into an essay. It is extremely important that writing is organized and planning before you bring your pencil to the paper is a great way to ensure that you don't deliver a jumbalya of ideas.
As a teacher, I wouldn't require that my student use such tools, rather I would encourage it greatly. Writing is a personal thing. If one student can write magnificently without a plan, then it is up to them to decide whether or not they want to make the step before they write. I would encourage planning for everyone, especially for student who have trouble particulary in conveying organized ideas in their writing. However, i would not make it a mandatory step in the writing process.
In my Intro to Ed. Tech class, I learned how to used Inspiration software, a concept-mapping tool. I find this software extremely useful, in fact, I plan on using it as a teacher. There are so many ideas that can be conveyed. For example; teaching students how to plan out their essays and stories, or trying to organize plots of novels and plays into a coherent diagram that is understandble and can be applied towards analysis of the peice of literature. Concept mapping is important, especially in a subject such as English.