Writing's Future

I often hear talk of where the “future” of writing is going in education. I think it can pretty much be agreed upon across the board that it will be digital in some capacity, but what about the kind of writing?

Many outside of the “digital generation” see digital writing for the flaws that it can undoubtedly have. Sometimes it is short, words can be abbreviated, and thus- it gains the wrap of killing the English language and composition. Now, I do not believe any of this to be true. I support that digital writing is just as legitimate as any other form, but I do think there is an opportunity right now to shape where writing is headed in the education system within these digital forms.

The three main forms of writing I see as being done in school are research, creative, and standardized testing. I include standardized testing as a category so that I can go ahead and eliminate it as I feel it is rigid, archaic, and has no place in a child’s education. Now for the other two:

Research: I never really understood as a student why these papers were so important. Anyone that knows me can tell you that I’m a fly-by-night kind of soul, so I guess they were so strict. It is important for students to learn how to cite, but I’m not sure these papers are the way to do it unless the child is headed for a mathematical or scientific career.

Creative: In my opinion, this is where we need to target student writing. Creative fiction and nonfiction allow students to feel free to make mistakes and learn from them. They are not bound by anything but themselves and teachers have a great opportunity to connect and bring out great work from them. Creative nonfiction has come a long way and students can learn to cite and research based on it. Multigenre projects are an excellent way to accomplish all the goals any educator would set out to have a well-rounded pupil.

What do you think is the next frontier?

Keeping Students Going

As the summer is fast approaching, I have been thinking about the benefits of year-round schools to traditional ones and ways that students can keep learning instead of taking a detrimental two-month break.

I previously worked at a book warehouse that specialized in book fairs for schools. At the time, we were working on bundling books for a project in Virginia where students that were noted as having difficulties in literacy were allowed to choose around five books with a tutor helping them to make sure they were reasonable. The students were charged with reading these books throughout the summer and working with their tutors to complete book reports on each one.

I was so impressed with the program and the ability it would have to keep children engaged in the concepts they had been working on in school and to extend them to possibly get ahead for the next year while other students were just sitting around playing video games for the most part.

Why doesn’t every school have a program like this? I realize that getting free books for students is expensive, but is the cost more than the cost of the remedial education that has to be applied at the beginning of each year to get students back to where they were when they left? It seems like an easy solution to empower our students to be their best and succeed.

Going back to year-round vs. traditional, I think that there is obviously a price incentive when facilities can be used all the time by double and sometimes triple the students but there is also a lot to be said for continuous learning. I used to think they were not a great solution, but my opinion is continually changing with more observation of where children are not being served on extended off-times.

What do you think? Are there other solutions to keep our students learning all the time? 

Growing Young Minds

With the spring pollen assaulting my allergies, I thought it would be fitting to think about how teacher’s can grow and nurture student talent in our individual classrooms.

As you may have realized from my posts, I am a very creative-mind and appreciate things the quirkier the better. I was lucky enough to always have teachers that appreciated my unique ways of doing things. Some students under the ever-increasing pressure of test scores are not having such a lucky experience though.

Why worry?

What makes children different is what gives them a competitive edge in any market. The ability to creatively solve problems and live as a strong individual is invaluable in these economic times where jobs are self-directed and there are not as many personnel available to answer questions that may arise in the workplace.

What can a teacher do?

I’m not sure because I don’t have a classroom, but I have a few ideas!

1. Know your students: If you know what they like, you will know what you need to add into your teaching. Listen to what they do and find out about their extracurricular activities. Make sure you show up to plays and games and compliment your students involved in them in front of the other students the next day in your class. It will give them pride in what they’re doing and encourage them to keep with it.
2. Create open-ended projects: Let them make songs, perform a play, create and athletic game, or anything they feel speaks to them. They will still learn the material, but it will be put into a context that will be exciting for them and hopefully some of the other students with similar hobbies.
3. Leave time for free expressive activities: Post a creative writing topic on the board or let students draw something one day and create a project based on their drawings. The possibilities are endless! 

I would love to hear from current or past teachers about things that have proven successful in your classrooms so that I can improve my future one. Thanks!