Technology & Writing

I have always been a huge proponent of incorporating technology into the classroom. I have also realized that students do not realize how much writing they actually do on a daily basis. From Facebook to Twitter to texting, students are doing more writing than what was done in the past. However, is this writing actually hindering their formal writing or is it benefiting it? Honestly, I do not know.

As The National Commission on Writing did an study on technology and writing, it was interesting to see that students feel they are not well prepared. Although high school students may not always actively engage or want to participate in writing activities, I was shocked that students want to be able to "write good." I understand that most students want to do well in college. I also understand that students need writing activities that are relevant, creative, and have an interesting motive/audience. So, is this where technology should come into play?

When students are improving their writing, it should be enjoyable as they are learning. Writing should not be something they dread doing. Writing should be something they learn to enjoy because writing is done multiple times throughout the day. Why not apply technology appropriately as a way to strengthen writing?

A Little Bit of Something

As I look back at how I have used my blog, I find that I use it as a reflection tool. It allows me to take what I have read, written, or am thinking about and reflect on how it relates back to the course or topic for the week. This blog has been essential in allowing me to work through some issues or even venting (with reflection afterwards) on certain practices or assumptions. I have enjoyed using this blog, and I actually hope to keep it going on reflection of what I am reading or doing in my classroom.

Writing, to me, is the ability to take a thought that is being processed and put it down on paper or some piece of technology (phone, computer, etc.). Writing is a grocery list. Writing is a memoir. Writing is an e-mail. Writing is a research paper. Writing is a Facebook wall post. Writing is a formal letter to a friend. Writing is a memorandum. Writing is comparative analysis paper. Writing is a text message. Writing is a blog post. Ultimately, writing is almost unlimited. Without writing, how would a person be able to visually process a thought?

Just a Recap

Since this last week was spent finalizing my case study, I thought I wouldn't have much to say. Actually, originally I wasn't going to post anything, but I decided that doing a quick recap of my case study might do a little good.

Things I found that I did not expect:
1. Retrieving the information was a LONG process. I did an electronic interview. I thought it would be accessible for the people I was working with. However, it took me almost four weeks to get the needed information.

2. I thought sifting through the information was going to be a heavy task. Fortunately, many of the responses were similar.

3. I was stressing out the weekend before that I would not be able to finalize the case study (as I did not get my last response until this past Friday). However, the information was easy to work with. This made writing the actual "findings" section of the case study to be a fairly easy process.

What I learned:
1. Literacy is a complicated term.

2. Teachers of all grade levels and experiences share the basic element of literacy (reading, writing, and understanding). However, how each applies it to their classrooms differs.

3. I'm super interested in finding out how people of all subject areas view literacy. If this was just English, I wonder what literacy is for a math teacher or history teacher.