write-in

There is a general consensus among teachers and researchers that reading and writing are changing, driven by pressures of emerging technologies.

Response: Absolutely valid concern. However, the original premises of good writing are not changing; the forms in with they are delivered are changing. There is a fear that students will lose the art of writing, which in so many cases, takes a long time to develop, if at all. But I think the idea of engagement comes into play, and students are already used to "putting thoughts to paper" as a constant, since they have their fingers on the keyboards most of the time. If this is the prime way they communicate, we, as educators, have to bring good writing to this form. I think taking small steps with writing is a step, improving their writing/communication systematically, using new forms of writing. I also think the idea of sharing writing (googledocs, etc.) is a critical form of improving writing. I find students are not used to searing their work/thoughts, but as an exercise, in small doses at first, it can ultimately improve their writing output.

July 10--Response to the blogging article

Combining both the rudiments of reading and writing with the knowledge of technical skills will best prepare our students for the 21st century. Blogging is a quick way to respond to any reading or writing. However, it is necessary to be able to drill down, and get to the point, or meat, of what is being said in a quick and concise way. I think we need to teach our students to summarize readings in 25 words or less, while also teaching them to find the important points of a piece. On one hand, I notice in students' writing that they don't always have enough detail, and on the other hand I need to have them briefly get to the point of the reading/writing piece. Blogging is a great way to teach students to write--it is brief, and to can be done often, allowing for practice in so many thinking/technical skills.

July 11 2012 Responding to reading w/writing, and doing it well, is the ultimate illustration of understanding. If we can comprehend, and then synthesize, we have then understood what we have read, and are fully literate. Now, in terms of producing what we consume, yes, this does make sense. Art begets art, writing begets writing. We eat food, plant seeds, produce more food, the cycle of life. Will new technologies help us to do this in a better way? A more concise way? Or will the technologies, for most, enable laziness, a quickness, so as not to give meaning the time it deserves? And what is meant by "writing new media?" Does this pertain to writing new software, or does it just mean we are writing in new forms of media?

July 12 2012 Some of the considerations that would help students craft a quality piece of writing would include practice in the basics of good writing, and their knowledge of using technology to write. The basics of good writing could be practiced by writing short, concise pieces, sharing them, and analyzing them, as well rewriting to strengthen the writing. Ideas, voice and organization emerge both in a knowledge of and an awareness of these elements when writing. The process of writing from our heads happens all the time what we use a word processor. Granted, the audience may change when we blog, and we could even get more formal when blogging depending who we need to reach, but the premise of writing from our heads is always there. the form shouldn't exclude the rules of good writing; however, a basic awareness of the rules is a necessary factor in creating solidly written pieces.

July 13, 2010

"Whether we speak, as Yancey does, of a textured literacy or as Lankshear and Knobel do, of "post typographic forms of texts" (2006,p.25), it is clear that our understanding of what writing is has expanded. And yet state or federally mandated standardized testing has had the effect of reducing the definition of what good writing entails."

"Ironically, as electronic technologies create new possibilities for writing, educational publishing companies are using technology to teach a reductive construction of writing."

OK--so a response to this. The bottom line, whether we like it or not, is __money.__ If a test-generating company is churning out the tests, in a form that is quick, easy and money-making, they will continue to glut the market with them until someone in charge tells them to stop, or revamp the tests. Business leaders, academics who have been removed from the classroom, and myriad others who have not set foot in the classroom, (at least not recently), seem to have the say on the type of tests that are generated. Until the results are in, and we have enough accumulated data, (it takes years), the reductive construction of writing will be taught in classrooms so students can pass the current, money-making high- stakes tests.