ENTRY 4

Throughout discussion and reflection, I have been thinking a lot about authentic instruction and what it means to foster student choice.  I think it's an interesting experience, being a student while learning to be an educator; I am learning about myself as both a learner and teacher by using strategies and completing activities and assignments that I may be using myself with my own students.  It is FAR too often where teachers don't give their students the option to direct their learning by giving them choices, like what book to read, what topic to research, etc..  But I'm beginning to see it goes further than that.


Hicks (2009) discusses this important topic of student choice when he states, "choice, within reason, forms the foundation of a writing workshop; a firm belief that students can and will, with guidance, make appropriate choices as writers directs our thinking as teachers" (p. 15).  I strongly believe that giving students their choice fosters independence, responsibility, and builds character that could quite possibly never form if there was 100% teacher direction.  I'm learning this more as time goes on, especially through the genre pieces project in LTED 618.  Being given complete freedom to choose our project topic, the process by which we complete it, and the product in which is formed has truly been much more difficult than I would have imagined.  I would label myself as someone who is not a surface-level thinker, but someone who thinks deeply about everything, in detail and with great meaning.  So, when given the unlimited choice to pick a topic, I don't immediately think about my vacation or my favorite sport, I think about life, love, happiness.  As much as this is a part of me and I know my character would be drastically different otherwise, I often make things more difficult on myself by wanting to choose the hardest, most complex topic or process by which I complete the project.  I think this is an extremely important realization to take to my classroom, knowing I will have students that are also like me and may need some direction.  The direction I have gotten in class to help me make decisions regarding my project have not been directly instructed, but more subliminally guided, through activities in which help me brainstorm and break down my ideas into a format I can actually organize and work with. 


As a student, I have also been exposed to a great amount of resources available to me to help me through my projects, which I will use as tools for my students as well.  Hicks (2009) discussed the importance of "guiding students through the process of discovery and collaboration with digital writing tools" (p. 17).  Through the use of RSS and bookmarking tools, the access to podcasts and photo essays, and even the use of this blog, I have been able to learn an incredible amount about my topic through others' work and experiences, as well as self-reflection.  I think it is crucial to help students meet their potential by giving them freedom of choice in combination with setting them up with the tools they need to succeed. I am extremely grateful for the process I am going through in my grad classes, to be able to experience what I will have the opportunity to offer my own students someday...hopefully sooner than later.

ENTRY 3

While studying psychology in my undergraduate courses as well as in a graduate action research course, I learned about countless studies in which observed human behavior and how to incorporate research into the classroom.  I feel that doing so could truly benefit the teacher, allowing the studies' findings to drive instruction, and in turn, benefiting the students because they are being taught on a more individual level rather than only using cookie-cutter lessons.  In reflecting more on Hicks' (2009) chapters two and three, and on teaching students to communicate both on the Internet and face-to-face, it makes me think of an interesting study that could be done.  The study I was considering is based on the concepts of students feeling more invincible and comfortable with their writing when communicating digitally as compared to feeling more restrained and impulsive when communicating in a face-to-face conversation.

When students are able to communicate via texting, emailing, online chatting, blogging, etc., they are not only able to think, plan, revise, and edit their work, but they also tend to lower their inhibitions regarding their language and content filters; that is, they often times use a different tone, use different words, and say different things than they would if they were speaking to the exact same person but face-to-face. Conversely, students feel more pressured when communicating in-person; they have less time to think and plan their words, and impulsively saying what they feel now results in immediate consequences that did not exist with digital communication.  (When I say students, I understand most people of all ages demonstrate the same behaviors in both situations, I am simply referring to students for this reflection).  It would be very interesting to see if these two means of communication and the typical behaviors that go along with them changed when combined.  I imagine the study looking something like our grad class did when we had a textbook chapter to outline with a group but had to do all collaborating online without discussion in person, even though we were all sitting in the same room.  The study would consist of students, either with or without relationships, conversing in person but digitally, where they could filter their language and use any and all revision steps they wanted to but the consequences would be immediate as in face-to-face communication because he/she would be sitting next to or across from them.  I hypothesize that students would end up at neutral grounds, where they were cognizant of what they were saying because the person was in close proximity but still also used a good portion of the editing process they would use online at home.  Teachers could carefully track student behaviors as well as have an educational discussion about the study afterward, seeing how students felt about  digitally writing to the person right next to them.  Students may be somewhat familiar to this concept because of "table texting", where text messaging occurs between people in the same room, and other activities of the like; however, similar to how we felt in class doing this, it should be a fairly new idea to most students.  Teachers could use the results to this experiment to guide instruction, teaching students how to balance their digital and face-to-face communication, so there is not too much of any characteristic in either form but instead they are both learned to be respectful, effective, and reliable forms of communication.  I think it's our job as teachers to continually use research-oriented brains to help us re-think our instruction in new, valuable ways, working to always understand our students better to best prepare them for their futures.

ENTRY 2

Remembering back to grade school, I can imagine working in small groups during writing workshop.  This period of the day would be spent answering textbook prompts, writing research articles, and composing short stories or poems by following a strict writing process without much flexibility or room for creativity.  Although  my teachers could have done a better job incorporating authentic forms of learning even then, educators now should have no excuse as to why they are not using technology in their writing curriculum.  Digital writing workshops, as described by Hicks (2009), follow a framework in which describes the role of the students, the subject they're writing about, and the spaces in which they are writing.  All parts of the digital writing framework are important to incorporate into the classroom to ensure the greatest amount of growth and success for the students.

Today, we have high expectations of students' abilities to use technology.  I agree with Hicks (2009) in his label of today's students as "digital natives" (p. 129); adults assume students are the most knowledgeable about technology because they were essentially born with it.  However, we as teachers not only need to be aware that some students don't have full access to technology, therefore not being proficient in using it, but also may need to be "[taught] to be conscientious collaborators" (p. 129), since they may know how to logistically use the tools available to them but not to the best of their academic ability.  In my opinion, there are three major aspects of digital writing that teachers could implement into their daily routines to really make a difference. 

First of all, and I think most importantly, teachers must become aware of the fact that today's students often times don't consider the writing they do online to be "real" writing.  Students spend an extreme amount of time on the Internet, writing to friends and family on social network sites, chatting through instant messaging programs, or contacting people they know through email; all of which are writing experiences that students most likely don't view as "writing" because they are so accustomed to it.  If we, as teachers, can make the subject of writing something that is natural and all around them by using the outlets students are already used to  (or at least ones that are similar), we will be able to hopefully change their perspectives from writing being a school chore to an unconscious and possibly even fun process.  Stemming off of this, teachers need to do a better job with acclimating themselves with the materials their students use on a day-to-day basis.  There is a major problem with expecting students to know how to digitally write but then we don't know how to ourselves.  Hicks (2009) also finds this crucial in order to be pedagogically sound and the most helpful to students.  Teachers must use the tools, such as the blogs and wikis they assign their students to use, to become familiar with them, at least to be able to teach.  Actually, there is really no reason why teachers shouldn't make it an authentic learning experience by joining students in the writing process and completing blog entries or collaborating with the students through a wiki, creating a complete community of learners. Doing all of these things will help the idea of writing as a school subject something of the past for students, and should in theory, make it something they thrive on.

The second major way teachers could make digital writing successful for their students is through experimenting with genres.  All too often, teachers follow cookie cutter lesson plans that force students to write within very limiting constraints, not allowing for assignments to be personalized to students needs, interests, or styles; this alone could suppress student literacy growth.  By working to incorporate many forms, styles, and genres of writing into the curriculum, teachers are not only exposing them to the different types of writing so students become familiar with them, but teachers are also helping students to grow as writers.  Unfortunately, teachers unknowingly limit their students' potential by not offering them as many choices as possible.  Students could easily become more successful simply by discovering their strengths, interests or even talents through new genres and writing opportunities.

The third important way teachers could make digital writing successful for their students is through a learning environment catered to both the students needs and wants.  Many times, and in most of the teaching experiences I have had, students are used to writing or working on a computer in a space that is not tailored to what they are working on; that is, students work in a computer lab with desks facing a wall or work on laptops at their desks which are facing each others' backs. However, simply changing the setup of students' digital writing space could make a noticeable difference in their ability to concentrate, their spacial ease of collaborating with other students, or their basic comfortability to spend a long period of time sitting to write.  This does not mean, though, that teachers should be the ones to choose how the classroom is laid out; the students are the ones having to work in the space after all.  Teachers should give students the opportunity to take part in designing and setting up the layout of the classroom, of course using discretion when needed.  In regards to the virtual writing spaces, teachers must spend quality time choosing online programs that are both user friendly as well as aesthetically pleasing; this way, students can easily access their digital writing spaces without hindering their learning experiences.