Professor McGonagall's Experiment with Creative Writing
Professor Minerva McGonagall looked up from her marking of the year 7 advanced transfiguration exams, took off her petite, oval spectacles and rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her hand. She set her glasses back on her nose and glanced over them at her year 5 transfiguration class. They were all seated individually at their light brown wooden desks that had the carvings from years of previous students engraved into them. The students all had their heads down and their noses in the final chapters of Intermediate Transfiguration, quietly studying the text. Ahhh thought professor McGonagall, it was nice to see all the students firmly on task and concerned about their studies and the upcoming O.W.L.S. Although her class tended to be fairly orderly, at the end of the school year the students seemed to get restless and wanted to nothing to do with schoolwork. But for now, the class was silent and orderly and studiously reading their texts. McGonagall went to turn her attention back to her marking, when she saw Harry Potter quietly slip something from his textbook onto his lap. She sighed in her head, well there goes my focused studious students, she thought. She pushed her worn maple chair back from her great mahogany desk with her hands, the feet of the chair scraping against the hard wooden floor as she moved backward. At the sound of the chair scraping against the floor, all of the students' heads shot up from their textbooks. McGonagall stood up from her desk and made her way down the steps from the platform where her desk sat, her heels clicked on every step as she made her way down to the ground level where the students desks sat. The room was silent except for the echo of McGonagall's heels clicking on the hard wood floor. She could feel the eyes of the students following her as she made her way across the room to Potter's desk. She stopped when she found him and peered down at his desk.
"What is that that you are reading, Potter?" She asked softly, yet sternly.
Harry gulped, and glanced around at all of the students' faces watching him and waiting for his answer. He stopped when he saw Ron's frown of concern, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Hermione's firm look of disapproval. He looked up at Professor McGonagall.
"Um," Harry stammered. "It's Intermediate Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall."
"I meant the book you are trying to hide in your lap, Potter." McGonagall snapped.
Harry sighed; he could see there was no way out of this. He reached down and grabbed the comic book that was sitting in his lap and handed it up to Professor McGonagall.
"The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle," McGonagall read out loud to the class. "Potter, do you think that the escapade of an insane Muggle, with no regard for the law or common sense, is more important to read in my class than the textbook that I provide for you, especially with the O.W.L.S coming up?" She said loud enough for the whole class to hear.
"Um, no Professor." Harry could not look Professor McGonagall in the eye; he stared intently at his desktop as if it were going to magically give him the answer on how to get out of this, but not even desks at Hogwarts could help you with your teachers.
"So why would you bring it into my classroom? Do you feel as if you do not have enough to read in this class?" McGonagall drilled.
"Uhh no Professor, it's just that..." Harry failed to see a way out of this.
"It's just what?"
"Nothing, I'm sorry Professor." Harry conceded.
"You will see me after class, Potter, and we will discuss your reading preferences." McGonagall demanded.
Class was over too soon for Harry. He dreaded talking to McGonagall. After the classroom finally cleared out and Ron gave him a sympathetic pat on the back and Hermione disapprovingly rolled her eyes at him, Harry finally had to face Professor McGonagall. I would sooner be fighting the basilisk in the chamber of secrets than be alone with an angry Professor McGonagall, Harry thought. He slowly and tentatively made his way up the steps to the platform where McGonagall's great mahogany desk sat, a desk that seemed to get bigger and more imposing the further he got up the steps. He reached the edge of the desk and Professor McGonagall looked up from her marking. She took off her glasses and gently set them down on top the exam she was marking.
"You... you wanted to see me Professor?" Harry nervously ventured.
"Yes Potter. I wanted to discuss why you think that your comic book is more appropriate to read in a transfiguration class, than the transfiguration textbook I assign to you." McGonagall pursed her lips and looked up at Harry.
"It's not that I think it is more appropriate or important than transfiguration, Professor. It is just that the brand new issue just came out today and I could not wait to read it. I'm sorry Professor, it will not happen again." Harry tried his best to sound as sincere as he felt.
"That's fine Potter. In fact I am not even that angry. I was actually thinking that I may have been forcing the students to read too much of the textbook anyway." Minerva admitted.
Harry was taken aback. Was McGonagall actually admitting to doing something wrong? Harry didn't know what to say.
"Have a seat Potter." McGonagall suggested.
He grabbed a rickety wooden chair from behind McGonagall's desk and took a seat, curious to hear what McGonagall was going to say next.
"I fear that the students are being overworked with having to study and memorize the textbook for the O.W.L.S. I think that it may get boring and tedious after a while, and the students will start to resent it. And you've proven to me today Potter, that my suspicions were true by bringing in your comic book. So I think I am going to change up the classroom a bit."
Harry just stared at Professor McGonagall. Could this be true? Was McGonagall actually taking something Harry did and bringing into her classroom?
"Um, how are you going to do that Professor McGonagall?"Harry hesitantly asked, still not sure he could believe this was actually happening.
"First of all, I am going to bring your comic book into my classroom." McGonagall determined.
Harry was dumbfounded. My comic book? McGonagall is actually interested in something that I'm reading?
"Um, how are you going to do that Professor?" Harry was trying really hard to not let his face reveal what was running through his mind.
"Well I know that students are obviously more interested in their own reading than Intermediate Transfiguration, so I thought that I would let them bring their own reading into the classroom and let them write on it. I've also noticed the severe lack of writing lessons in the Hogwarts curriculum, so I am going to incorporate some creative writing into transfiguration."
What? Thought Harry. McGonagall, comic books, creative writing?
"Um, that sounds like a good idea, Professor." Harry was trying to keep a calm, cool demeanor.
"Ok, that's it, you are dismissed Potter." McGonagall suddenly stated.
As McGonagall was watching Harry leave the classroom she thought, well he was certainly surprised wasn't he? She chuckled to herself. I hope the other students are as surprised when they find out what I have in store for them. McGonagall went to work planning her lessons. She spent some time looking up creative writing and "fanfic" as the students called it on the Muggle "internet". Although Muggles seem to do a lot of things very slowly and backward, she thought, this "internet" is a wonderful invention. She consulted the Hogwarts curriculum to see if indeed, this "fanfic" actually coincides with what the ministry thinks should be taught. She found she could somehow make it work and started planning her lessons.
McGonagall was nervous the next day as she stood in the front of her classroom waiting for her students to start filing in. She was hoping that the research she spent so much time on, and the lessons she planned would actually be helpful for her students. She wanted her students to have a nice break from memorizing the textbook and doing spell drills. But she was also worried that they would not take these lessons seriously, or that they would not believe that these more creative lessons could actually be applied to the real wizarding world. She knew that most of her students thought that spells and textbook learning was the only thing they needed to survive and flourish in the adult wizard world. She knew that she would get a lot of backlash from students who just wanted to learn what they needed to know to pass their O.W.L.S and move to the next level, and eventually get out of Hogwarts. However, through her research she learned that creating and learning about fan fiction could actually be helpful to her students, particularly with their writing and communication skills. She decided that this was an important aspect for the students to learn, and it was also important for them to have an outlet to voice their ideas and opinions, without being disrespectfully scrutinized. McGonagall was lost in her thoughts, when she finally looked up she noticed all of the students sitting at their desks, with Intermediate Transfiguration sitting on top, and bewildered looks on their faces. Ok, it's time to see if I can really put these theories into practice, she thought.
"Good Morning class," she bellowed across the room, "put your textbooks away, you will not need those today."
Confused, the students reluctantly placed their textbooks in their desks, with some quiet whispering going on between them, and waited to see what the professor was going to say next.
McGonagall remembered reading that being able to write creatively about something they were interested in, with plot lines and characters already thought out, gave students a vehicle to explore emotions or issues that were going on in their lives. It also gave them a structure to work within, which made it a little easier to write, especially for those struggling students (Black, 2009). She decided she would take this idea and allow students to explore their ideas, emotions, or issues using characters or plotlines from their favourite books, Muggle T.V. shows, movies, video games sports, etc. She determined that instead of jumping right into fan fiction, like she has with other lessons in the past, she would start with an activity that would just be reflecting and thinking. McGonagall surveyed the room, and noticing all the bewildered faces, concluded that she should start the lesson.
"Alright students," McGonagall projected her voice so that all of the students could hear "I want you to take out a piece of parchment and your quill and set it on top of your desk."
The students paused, then took out their parchment and quills, set them on their desks, a little unsurely, and waited for McGonagall to continue.
"Now that you have your materials ready, I want you to close your eyes and take five minutes and think about any ideas that have been rolling around in your head lately." Professor McGonagall went on to explain, "These could be ideas you have about school: anxiety about the upcoming exams, trouble in a certain class, the Gryffindor- Slytherian quidditch match, a difficult teacher; issues in your social life: relationship problems, parenting problems, a certain dark lord; or anything that has been on your mind. I will put these topics on the chalkboard, but feel free to reflect on anything you like." McGonagall took out her wand, and with a swish of her wrist the topics appeared in white chalk on the chalkboard.
The students seemed a little hesitant at first, but in a couple of seconds, all of them had their eyes closed and seemed deep in thought. As McGonagall watched them think, she noticed some smiles creep across the students' faces, some students frowned, and others seemed visibly agitated. At the end of five minutes, she told the students to open their eyes.
"Alright students," She stated, "now that you've had some think time, I want you draw a line down the middle of your paper. On one side of the line I want you to write down everything you just thought about."
Hermione's hand shot up.
"Yes Miss Granger?"
"Sorry professor, but what does this have to do with transfiguration?"
McGonagall suppressed an irritated sigh, "Miss Granger, the purpose of this assignment is to get you to explore your ideas and any issues you may be dealing with. Sometimes it is helpful to take a couple of minutes to reflect on things and write them down. And I think it would be prudent to not assume that everything done in the classroom has to directly relate to school or the subject."
Hermione sheepishly put her head down and returned to her parchment.
While the students were writing, McGonagall took the opportunity to walk around the room and glance at the students' ideas, to assess whether they were actually exploring their minds, or just taking a quick nap. She was particularly pleased to see that every student was writing feverishly, and that their ideas seemed well thought out and significant to them. Some issues she couldn't comprehend, such as Ron's "Quidditch: Irish vs. Bulgaria", or Dean Thomas's "exploding spells" or Hermione's "DA", nevertheless, they all seemed to be well explored and to have a considerable meaning. After she noticed that the vast majority of the students were finished, she told them to write characters or plot lines from a book, Muggle video game, television show, movie, sports team, or anything else they were interested in that would help them explore an issue or idea they came up with and how. Again, she put the ideas on the chalkboard.
Pavarti Patil raised her hand.
"Yes Pavarti?" McGonagall asked.
"What do you mean by helping us to explore the issue, Professor?"
"Good question." Minerva replied. "I meant that if there is a character or a plot line that you identify with, or that can help you understand an idea or an issue, include it in the list and tell me how they would be able to help you, or how you identify with them. For example, if my issue was academic problems, and there was a character who was facing similar problems, or who I just really related with, I would include it."
Minerva gave them the rest of the class time to think of the characters, and reflect on their issues, and chose one that they thought was really important to them, and circle both the issue, and the character/plot line that coincides with it. She then collected the parchment at the end of class, to assess whether the students took the time to explore and reflect as she had asked. She looked over the students' ideas and issues to check that there was some reflection. She looked for such things as actual physical writing, a range of issues or ideas or a common theme, possible comments on ideas, she decided that as long as anything substantial was on the parchment (a paragraph, single words or sentences, or even a drawing) that could be considered exploration, she could not judge on how people explored their thoughts. She also checked to see that they chose a topic, and character or plotline to write on. Before the students left, she told them to bring in the type of media that had the character or plotline they chose to class the next day. Later that night, she read over the parchment, did a quick formal assessment to see if they fulfilled the requirements of the activity, and planned her next lesson. She checked the Hogwarts Program of Studies to see that she was still following curriculum requirements, and decided that the activity fit with outcome 4.1.3, which states, "take ownership of text creation, by selecting or crafting a topic, concept or idea that is personally meaningful and engaging" (Alberta Learning,2000). Although she helped the students focus their thoughts a little bit, she decided that the activity still fit with the outcome. She thought that the students took ownership by thinking of an issue or idea that affected them and that is meaningful, and they chose a character or plotline that they are interested in or know intimately to go with that idea. After determining that this outcome fit very well, she got her next lesson ready.
The next morning students walked into the classroom with various types of media in their hands. Some students brought books, some brought wands, and others brought Muggle computer games or video games, Ron Weasely brought a snitch, of all things, Minerva thought. All of the students seemed very excited and anxious to explain their media choice to the other students. Before McGonagall settled the class down, she mentally went over the article she read on fan fiction and multi-modality. She learned that the reason fan fiction tends to be so popular with teens is that they not only get to express what they want, but they can get creative with the way they express it (Curwood, Lammers, & Magnifico, 2013), and McGonagall wanted to bring that into her classroom.
Minerva quieted the class down, and finally started her lesson on fan fiction. She went over what fan fiction was and gave the students some examples she found on Muggle fan fiction websites. She then explained that the students were going to create their own. She said they already had an idea for a plotline with their issue, and they already chose what they are going to write their fan fiction on in terms of their character or whatever media they decided to bring, now they have to plan how they were going to write and in what medium. She explained that fan fiction is not just writing stories that are spinoffs of other stories, that people create fan fiction to explore ideas of their own with already made stories that they identify with, they do this by building a website profile for a character, or making an art scene, or a video game plot, or a fictional biography, etc. She explained that literacy has such a broad definition that almost anything counted. In order to bring the theory on fan fiction McGonagall learned into her classroom she gave the students a choice on the medium in which they want to present their fan fiction. There was a class discussion on deciding which medium would best fit which purposes and why. She gave the class a little bit of time to brainstorm which medium they wanted to use for their creation. She offered help or suggestions when needed, and cast a spell which made the different examples of fan fiction float around the room, and students could grab them and study them when they needed inspiration or ideas. After a quick consideration to see if all the students had time to brainstorm ideas for their medium, she settled the class down again. She explained that there were some parameters to the medium that they chose. The medium obviously had to be feasible using the Muggle computers that the school had, and it had to be created within the time constraints of the unit, other than that, the students had free creative license. At the end of the lesson, McGonagall asked the students to write their name, issue or idea, and medium in which they were going to create their fan fiction and hand it in to her. In this way, she could determine whether the medium they chose could/would be appropriate for their issue, and she could assess that they took the time to consider an appropriate medium and whether the medium could be facilitated through the school. She hoped that with this activity and assignment the students would be able to experiment with different means of communicating, and that they would be motivated because they could express themselves in almost any way they wanted. She also wanted the students to grasp that literacy can mean many different things, and it was not just reading textbooks and writing essays. After class Minerva went back to planning lessons for this unit, she also checked to make sure the medium activity fit with an outcome, she found that it fit with outcome 1.1.2, "experiment with a variety of strategies, activities and resources to explore ideas, observations, opinions, experiences and emotions" (Alberta Learning, 2000). She decided that this outcome fit well with students using different modalities to create their fan fiction because the students had to experiment with different ways of expressing themselves and communicating their ideas, thoughts and emotions. She thought that the students are already using different resources by looking at different types of fan fiction; they are experimenting with a variety of strategies because they are finding different ways to communicate their ideas. She also determined that the students are exploring their emotions, etc. by creating a piece of fan fiction that centers on an issue or idea that is affecting them. She thought that the simple act of writing about an issue is exploring it.
For the next few days the students enthusiastically worked on their fan fiction pieces. They began planning out what they were going to write and in which medium. McGonagall was there to help students decide how to write their piece and where it should go, how to use certain pieces of Muggle software, provide tips if the students got stuck or experienced writer's block. When McGonagall determined that the students' projects were fairly well planned out, she added another dimension to the project. She wanted the students to learn that the English language was not set in stone, that the students could play around a bit with it and it could still be functional. So she took an analogy she read in her research and applied it to her classroom. The analogy was the Muggle material of fibreglass being compared to language. The author wrote that the original intention of fibreglass was to be used for Muggle military airplanes, and now the material has been adapted to automobiles, pole-vaulting poles, and fishing rods, and that this idea of adaptation could be used for language (Roozen, 2009). Minerva wanted to bring this idea into her classroom. After a few days of planning and beginning writing stages, Minerva told the class that they had to incorporate some sort of language adaptation. She explained that this could be slang, or 'text talk', a different dialect, however, the adaptation had to fit a purpose, students could not just throw it in because it was required; they needed to learn that language can be molded to fit their needs. Minerva decided that in order to assess whether they adapted the language correctly and purposefully, she would look at the projects after they were handed in and look for any sort of language adaptation that fit with the medium they were using, and the issue or idea they were writing about. The language also had to have a purpose, to get an idea across or to show personality, and if they did not adapt the language there would have to be a purpose to that as well. It also had to make sense in that a character could not just adopt a dialect out of nowhere. She explained the criteria to her students and included it on the project sheet. As always, McGonagall checked the curriculum to see if her idea fit with the outcomes. She found that outcome 4.2.4, "use unconventional punctuation, spelling and sentence structure for effect, when appropriate" (Alberta Learning, 2000) fit very well with her idea. The outcome obviously fit because the project itself requires the students to change and adapt the English language to fit their creative writing needs. Now that the students knew what topic they were going to be writing on and some of the requirements they needed, they needed to learn who their audience was.
McGonagall decided that before the students got too into writing their pieces she was going to tell her students who their audience was. She thought that it was important for students to keep audience in mind when they were doing writing of any sort. She also read in an article that students were much more motivated to write and finish a project when they had an authentic audience to write to (Kell, 2009). Bearing that in mind she told her students the next dimension of the project. When the students came into the classroom and were settled in their desks, McGonagall explained how different audiences affect the way a person writes. After her lecture on audience, she told the students that they were going to be writing for a real audience. She clarified that when the students were finished their projects, and when she looked them over, the projects were going to be put onto a Muggle fan fiction website (under a pseudonym of course) where they were going to be looked at by other fans of whatever fiction they chose. Instantly, six hands shot up.
"Yes Ron?" Inquired McGonagall
"Um Professor, how do we know how to write to our audience and who they are?"
"Well you are writing to people who are already fans of whatever you chose to write about, you have to keep in mind that they will already know the back story or characters, so you don't have to explain it. You also have to realize that they should know the English language fairly well so you don't have to talk down to them. You also do not have to worry so much about matters of correctness because you are not writing formally to anyone. You just have to make sure that it will make sense to anyone who reads it. Neville?"
"But, but, what if we don't want to post it Professor?" Stammered Neville Longbottom
"I am not going to force you Longbottom, but I think it will be beneficial for you to learn how to write for a specific audience. If you do not want to post it however, I will read it, keeping in mind that I am a fan fiction audience, not a teacher. Deal?" Asked McGonagall.
"Um, yes Professor." Replied Neville, with his eyes downcast.
McGonagall decided that she was going to assess that her students wrote with their audience in mind by checking if they used any nuances that only a fan of the genre would understand. She was also going to see that they used motifs, words, etc. that were familiar to that type of genre. She determined a quick Muggle Google search should provide that information. And of course, the comments from the readers on the internet should help with determining whether they understood the piece, and if they felt it was written for them. She would also look for informality in the piece. She also determined that she would look for any sort of information that is not explicitly told in the piece, but is obviously from the back story of the genre. For example, she would look for geographical names, objects used, names of other characters, events where the history is not explained. Using these criteria, she thought she could determine that her students understood how to write to different audiences and what factors go into writing for a variety of audiences. She felt that writing for a specific authentic audience fit with outcome 4.1.1 in the Hogwarts curriculum, which states, "address audience factors that affect text creation" (Alberta Learning, 2000). She decided that because the students were told that they were writing to a real audience, and that they had to consider what that audience already knows and what they will understand, the students were thinking about the audience factors that will affect their creative writing projects.
After a few weeks of the students enthusiastically working on their fan fiction projects, McGonagall decided that it was time to start wrapping things up, and introduced the final facet in the writing project. When the students were finished their projects and were about to hand them in for McGonagall to look them over and post them, she explained one more requirement of the project. McGonagall read that a reason why teens enjoyed posting their fan fiction onto a website was that they received immediate and helpful feedback (Land, 2010). In the same article she read that having others critique their writing and critiquing another's writing helps students improve as writers. Taking this information, McGonagall decided that she would include the instant feedback into her classroom. She explained to the students that after she posted their fan fiction onto the Muggle website, they had to wait for a couple of days and then check for feedback on their writing piece. After receiving about three pieces of constructive feedback, they had to take those pieces of advice and incorporate it into their fan fiction. After they had revised their piece, they had to hand the final version into McGonagall. Minerva decided that she was going to assess that they actually took the criticism into account by requiring the students to include the direct comments, with a citation, in their piece. She thought that making the students cite the comment would make them accountable for providing an actual reader's comment, and would discourage the students from making up their own comments. She resolved that the students who did not wish to post their fan fiction could find someone who knew the genre they were writing about and get them to give them feedback; she would also give them the option of going to teachers or other students. She would assess if students met the criteria of including critiques in their fan fiction piece and revising their writing based on the critique, by looking at the critiques provided and judging whether the students made corrections based on the suggestions. She knew that there could be some issues that would come up such as students lying about their critique, or students not receiving any constructive comments, or any comments at all. She decided in that case, she would have the students come up with their own ideas on how they could improve their work, and revise it in that way. She again found the outcome that fit with this activity, which was outcome 1.2.1 in the Hogwarts curriculum, which stated, "compare own ideas, perspectives and interpretations with those of others, through a variety of means, to expand perceptions and understandings when exploring and responding to texts" (Alberta Learning, 2000). Minerva believed this outcome fit because she thought that the students were giving their own ideas, perspectives, etc. on the media they chose to do their fan fiction on, and the feedback that they were going to get from the readers of their pieces would be a comparison of their own ideas. She also thought that the different feedback that the students would receive would expand their perceptions and understandings.
Minerva felt confident in her unit. She believed that this project gave the students a chance to explore any issues they were dealing with or any ideas they had on any topic. She also considered that giving a medium that the students were personally interested in, or that was significant to them made the unit that much more meaningful, and gave the students a chance to be creative and explore their thoughts in different ways. She really liked that she forced the students to play around with language, and she hoped that this project showed them that literacy and language is not just knowing a spell or memorizing the textbook. Although she thought that practicing spells was important, she also believed that giving the students a creative and constructive outlet to explore their thoughts and feelings was crucial. She hoped that she can provide many more units like this, on top of teaching spells and lessons from the textbook.