I write because….

This video would be helpful to show and then discuss in a classroom of students involved in writing. I found it at the ELA 101 blog.

If you cannot see the video link, pop on over to my blog site and find it there.

I have never thought of myself as a writer, but now that I have started this blog, I am a writer.  I may not be the most concise writer, nor the best, but I am learning my craft.

As a teacher, I need to practice my writing skills so that I can model writing to my students. 

There are many reasons to write, as demonstrated on the video.You need to ask yourself, and your students….

Why do you write?

Technorati Tags: writing,blogs,I write because,education,teachers

One Writer's Beginnings

I just found out about a family member's new blog and I had to write about it. My husband's cousin's wife... my cousin-in-law, I will call her. (Usually I just call her Portia.)

Recently, I applied for a position, part-time, teaching 5th grade writing and social studies.  In my usual over-the-top research and enthusisam for any subject that gets my attention, I began researching various writing sites.  How to teach writing... to the elementary school student.  These days, at least here in NC, there is a push that teachers must also be writers themselves. How else can you teach a student to write if you don't know how to write and haven't experienced writer's block, etc., yourself?

I have never really been a writer, in the past. 

I say that with 137 blog posts to my credit, but I don't feel many of those posts are really writing. 

I just sit down at the computer and start typing - whatever comes into my mind.  I don't "craft" the writing, certainly not like my "cousin-in-law" does.  Portia has a way with words.  I have no idea how long she takes to write these posts and podcasts, but they are really good. 

Now, I am thinking, if I had gotten that job, could I have called upon Portia to be a guest speaker to my students? To ask her to talk about how she decides upon her topics, her words, her ideas.  Yes, I could have and I would have, now that I know this fact about her. 

So, as Portia comments about the internet, blogs, Facebook, and podcasts, etc. the current modes of communication of our children and even some of us oldsters, her comment has hit pay dirt.

I have made a new friend on the internet, that was already someone I knew, but I didn't really "know." 

So tell your friends and family about what you are doing when you start.  Don't be afraid.  There will plenty of support from the Right People!

When you have time and the inclination, stop on by Portia's new blog..

One Writer's Beginnings
...Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More/

Literacy Revolution or More Illiteracy?

Are We Seeing More Illiteracy, Or a Literary Revolution?

from Change.org's Education Blog by Mike Smith

[Photo credit: Shareski]
Mike Smith wonders if there really is more writing going on than ever before!
I think he has a great point here.
If teachers are using the opportunities the internet and blogging allow, just possibly there is more writing going on today.
I just wrote comments to a class of first grade bloggers.  (You can too… go to Kathy Cassidy’s class blog.)
Now today their writing is not spelled well (or for some spelled at all – the teacher was the editor so we could understand what was said!), but I can’t wait to see their writing as it progresses over the school year. 
These students have an audience and they will have a reason to learn to write --- an audience of more than their parents and their teacher.  As students grow in ability and age their writing will take them many places.
These quotes taken from the blog post at Change.org Education seem to agree with my thoughts:

Clive Thompson discusses a potentially huge paradigm shift, asking whether we're seeing a literary revolution rather than increased illiteracy that's aided by Facebook, texting, and "dehydrated language."

Andrea Lunsford, professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford, suggests that young people write far more than any previous generation. Having collected and analyzed 15,000 writing samples she concludes "we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization."

Literacy is doing more than just grow in one direction: It's exploding and branching off into completely new directions.

What are you doing with your students to encourage more writing? 
How do they like it?
[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: writing,education,Kathy Cassidy,change.org Education,Mike Smith,literacy revolution,illiteracy,texting,Facebook,language

SWEET JUSTICE… United Airlines & GUITARS being thrown around!

I have a smile on my face and I am humming a tune.

Revenge is sweet! Actually it is not really revenge as much as it is JUSTICE!

Listen/watch, and if you don’t get the story from the song, there’s more explanation below, or you can go to David Warlick’s blog post at 2 Cents where he has even more links for you.

SORRY for the video being too wide to see it all. Anyone who can give me advice how to make it work I would be appreciative.  (I tried changing the embed code, but it didn’t change anything!) You can click on the title of this bog post to go straight to UTube!

It is especially poetic to me, as several years back, I was running down the tarmac after a US AIR plane and had a different, yet similar (the bad experience part!), resulting experience!

Unfortunately, I did not have the expertise to make a singing video or the notoriety of this group. Plus, I don’t think it was available back then to post it on UTube and get so many people aware of the situation!

Thanks to David Warlick of 2 Cents I was made aware of this story and this video on UTube made by the singing group Sons of Maxwell where as David Warlick says

“after landing in Chicago for a connect to Nebraska, Dave Carroll and band, Sons of Maxwell, were alerted when another passenger exclaimed, “My god they’re throwing guitars out there.”

David was able to relate this to learning and education.  He states that

First of all, we are experiencing and participating with a new information landscape where the message — the spin — is no longer issued exclusively by the few who can afford the spin-mongers and media outlets.  We all have a voice today.

But just having a voice is not nearly enough.  Secondly, a video on YouTube did not make this story.  It was a young man, his band, and a very clever and well-performed song that made it.  They communicated their message compellingly with charm, humor, and bite — and they got the attention and response of a giant.

This is why teaching writing is not nearly enough for our children to be fully empowered members of their society.  It’s not that everyone will produce viral videos for YouTube.  But, because of YouTube and the avalanche of information that characterizes our society, messages must compete for attention to earn audience, customers, collaborators, etc. — and this means that beyond learning to write well, students must learn to communicate with images, sound, video, and animation.  They must have a command of the entire spectrum of content.

I’m sorry for quoting so much of David Warlick’s post, but he says it so well.

So all of this new media is not just “extra fluff” for the classroom teacher. Students and teachers need to learn about it, how to use it, and how to use it effectively to participate in everyday life.

What “extra fluff” are you teaching your students to be ready for what the world is like today?

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: David Warlick,2 Cents,writing,communication,Sons of Maxwell,Dave Carroll,United,US Air