Blog Entry #4

Blog  Entry #4

Student Choice versus Mandates

          As literacy teachers, we are constantly reminded of how important student choice is to motivation and success in writing.  Yet, as we all know, today’s schools require students to write “on demand” (Hicks, 2009, p. 15).  State exams ask students to produce written expository text on any number of subjects, without allowing them time for preparation.  We learned in Tompkins that the prewriting stage in the writing process is where students should spend 70% of their writing time (Tompkins, 2008, pg. 8).  According to Tompkins, students may use this time to consider topic, purpose, audience, form, and ideas.  There is little room for this approach in today’s curriculum. 

          People gravitate towards subjects that interest them.  Students are no different.  When we ask them to write a five paragraph essay on a topic of the teachers choosing, and include requirements and demands on the content, we are essentially taking away their right to write and learn about something that is truly meaningful to them.  I know the word “right” in the previous sentence may sound a bit dramatic, but I think that everyone has a story to tell, and we all have the right to learn how to tell that story in a meaningful way.  How does a teacher find the balance between academic literacy demands on students and fostering a love for writing in a heterogeneous classroom?

          To add to this dilemma, the current technological advances in publishing capabilities have changed the demands placed on students and teachers alike.

Digital writing tools such as RSS and social bookmarking have changed the rules of the writing game.  Some things remain the same, but the technology used today has truly changed the way we write, what we write about, who we write for, and why we write at all. 

As an information consumer, I am constantly inundated with data from a number on self-inflicted choices J.  I find myself filtering, screening, and scanning more than I actively read for comprehension and reflection opportunities.  After reading Hicks’ chapter on these digital tools, I now have a new way to organize and hopefully assess this information.  I hope this leads to a new, improved, and more efficient system of writing for me.

As a literacy teacher, I struggle with how to introduce these new literacies and the tools that come with them to students that are already struggling with reading or writing.  It’s not enough to use these technologies to do the same activities that can be done within a classroom environment.  This is harder than it sounds.  There are some obstacles to overcome.  First, teachers must learn and use the technology themselves in order to be able to teach it in an effective manner.  While I can’t speak for everyone, I myself am not a fan of technological change.  It frightens me because it changes so quickly and has lasting effects.  I’m sure someone, somewhere, at some time said the Internet was just a trend.  Schools should give teachers as much technology training as possible.  Their student’s future success in a technological world depends on it.

The second obstacle is about providing students with a digital environment in which they can truly collaborate rather than using the digital tools to do the same old things they’ve always done before, except now they use technology to do them.  Students need to learn the value of a blog, or a wiki as literacy tools.  Tools that not only let the student create content, but also to publish and gain feedback on their ideas. 

This is the way in which students grow as writers and as people.

References

Hicks, T. (2009).  The digital writing workshop.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Tompkins, G.E. (2008),  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (5^th ed.).

          Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.