Hello! I'm an seventh grade English teacher in Las Cruces. I have two kiddos, ages 3 and 1. This is my second attempt at blogging, so we'll see how it goes. I'm definitely not a consistent blogger. I haven't written a blog since I was required to for my Reading and Writing Digital Texts class last semester. But, as I restart the process I am actually excited to get reacquainted with blogging. The book I'll be referring to in these blog is Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steinke. So far I've only read the first chapter, but just the first chapter got me really excited about reading the rest.
The first chapter begins by discussing how we are currently in a writing crisis...or are we? With headlines decrying our education system regularly, and standardized test scores remaining stagnant (yes, they say, stagnant, not declining!) it would seem that our students are not learning a thing about writing. According to the tests, they cannot articulate thoughts in an organized, informed fashion. However, the book's authors point out that our students are actually writing, and writing a lot. "They are texting their friends on cell phones, writing and receiving instant messages, maintaining robust email correspondences, blogging, creating websites, updating their MySpace pages, publishing their poems or stories online, creating labyrinthine fantasy tales and games, composing songs and lyrics with software like GarageBand, making and sharing video clips, hanging in chat rooms, or joining threaded discussions" (p. 3). Of course, we are all aware that there are is a real digital divide, but many of our students are doing these writing tasks, and without anyone making them.
So what's the problem, why do our kids say they hate writing? The book claims, "We are not tapping kids' vast out-of-school authoring experience. The kids are busy composing and publishing with us or without us and we are not building a bridge from what they are writing to what we know and can share" (p.4). The authors promise that in the remainder of the book, they will offer activities that will help students in the areas of writing to learn (note taking, journaling, outlines, diagrams) and public writing (speeches, poems, editorials, historical accounts), what teacher wouldn't be excited about that?
The book's focus is middle and high school, which is also exciting to me as a middle school teacher. As I continue to read and blog, I hope to find some useful ideas I will be able to use in my class, and that I can include in this blog for others to "steal."
Wow! Thats sounds awesome and I couldn't agree more! Technology is definitely something that we teachers need to incorporate into our curriculum. I think of my 7 year old son... he is amazingly proficient with a computer for his age, then I look at all his other friends and they all seem to interact with technology so naturally. The youth of today are constantly interacting through their devices--they are engaged in what they are doing. I look forward to hearing more about bridging that divide!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you picked a great book. Technology has secured a prominent place all of our lives. It seems if we don't pick up on learning any part of it, we will be left behind. I know we as a class are studying literacy as it pertains to a classroom, but I could tell you some stories of how "technology ignored" became difficult to overcome.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion technology moves so fast, so much faster than educational policy.
I agree with all of your comments. Technology is here to stay and it keeps getting bigger and faster. This is not something that we as teacher need to feel fearful about, but rather get in-touch with it and find how to incorporate it in our classrooms. I'm sure we have all been mesmerized ,just like our students in the fashionable/useful technological advances that we have, because they aren't only a new toy, but they allow us to interact in a very unique way. I think it's wonderful that students are posting their writing somewhere to be seen, but I only wish they were a bit more educated on what they should publish.
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