The benefits of blended learning are plenty and the most recent educational standards require digital literacy to be built into every class curriculum. Blended learning enables students to:
- Access vast amounts of online information and professional communities and thus broadening their perspective.
- Interact and engage with professional communities, classmates and instructor more frequently.
- Participate in discussions when/how they are comfortable. Online space becomes a safe environment in which they've had time to reflect and share their thoughts.
-Personalize their experience by moving forward or repeating certain aspects of course curriculum at their own pace.
- Be motived by immediate results and feedback through automated quiz scoring and comments from peers.
- Be 21st Century ready because they are digitally capable, can work and collaborate online, and can solve problems in real world context.
Blogs offer the teacher of writing a way to harness the benefits of blended learning to her/his student's advantage. In my last post I linked to the case study correlating positive writing skill improvement through use of blogs as curriculum. Although the study focused on use of blogs to immerse students in a foreign language, I feel the positive outlook still holds true for writing in English class.
Some highlights from the case study include:
- At first students were surprised they had to blog, the overall experience was very rewarding for them.
- Total word count on ungraded blog assignments were higher than graded blog assignments (I translate this to positively point to student's enjoyment and need for freedom of expression.)
- Citing other research concluding that "writing on computers and communicating in cyberspace is highly motivational", "writing became a 'fun' activity", "students tended to write less self-consciously and were more engaged in the process",
- Overall students improved their use of language and sentence accuracy.
- Student survey reveals that 100% of students feel they are somewhat or much more comfortable communicating in writing after using blogs.
- Student survey reveals that 76.9 % of students liked writing blogs while 15.3 % didn't like it but 7.6 % really liked it. And 69% felt they wrote more because they were writing online.
Finally, I like to share From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It with my students. Its an interesting listing and interview with six blog authors on how their online writing became money-making great selling books! The blogs cover a variety of topics ranging in content from collection of pictures, a collection of quotes, how to start your business, fatherly advise, and others.
Other examples of blogs turned into books can be found at: How to Blog a Book, Popular Blog Turned Book Books, Websites that Became Books, and Blog-Turned-Book Success Stories.
Go ahead and start using blogs. Your students will truly benefit and find their voice.
Happy Writing!
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Blogging Manifesto Part 4/4- Blogs & New Ways of Learning
Blogs and New Ways of Learning
What is often missed in writing class is relevance, context ,and audience. A student hands in a written draft assignment to the teacher, expects feedback, modifies draft into a final written 'paper', hands it in, then its done! That's it -the final assignment is graded and is filed away with little significance to student or teacher.
There are several ways to thinking about teaching and learning that have emerged in the online learning arena. These include: Challenge-Based Learning, Video Communications, and Micro lectures.
Challenge-Based Learning (CBL): are interdisciplinary and involve wider community. CBL begins with big idea/issue that needs to be evaluated, researched, and acted upon by the student. Blogs, wikis, and web cameras are some tools students can use on such projects. Exposing students to CBL opportunities gives their work relevance and context. Students can use their blogs to reach out to the community via surveys or questionnaires, document their research findings, and finally post their take action initiative that help address the big issue. Here are useful examples of student- led challenges and solutions.
Video Communications: The ease of use of cell phone or computer cameras in young hands coupled with ease of online video publishing gives students an added communications medium. Students can be encouraged to create a video production of a fictional story they wrote, documentary of project work, or create a digital story of their choice.
Micro Lectures: Students can be encouraged to create their own micro lecture with the purpose of advising or tutoring an absent peer for example and post it on their blog. Having student present key concepts of a lesson in form of a micro lecture forces them to focus on a single important point of foundational concept.
Blogging Assignments
How to Teach with Blogs is a long but thorough post on how to effectively use blogs for educational purposes. I love that it lists non-negotiable as well as negotiable 'rules' when using blogs in the classroom. It offers educators a lot of flexible ideas when incorporating blogs in the curriculum.
Also check out Using blogging as a learning tool & A better blogging assignment for useful tips and tricks to incorporating blogs in your curriculum. Blogging as Writing Curriculum also gives nice ideas on how to mix prompted and free post assignments.
Two rules I like to stick with in my own classroom:
- Individual personalized blogs work best. They are learner centered offers student ability to create their own online presence...here I am, hear me roar.
- Minimal prompt allows freedom of thought and expression. Student choice of topic and mode of expression (multimedia) give optimal autonomy and independence...log, journaling, photo gallery, storytelling...
Some reasons why I love using blogs in my classroom:
- Open forum builds communities and relationships. Ability to link to others and receive and give back comments allows for communication, reflection, debate, elaboration.
- Blogs offer authentic learning by exposing students to real-world context/topics - drives cognitive learning.
- Blogs drive the message that writing and self-expression in general have long term benefit and go beyond English classroom requirements.
Happy blogging...to you and to your students! Don't be shy, famous blogger Andrew Sullivan writes his personal reflection on blogging:
I take less time, worry less about polish, and care less about the consequences on my blog. That makes for more honest writing. It may not be “serious” in the way, say, a 12-page review of 14th-century Bulgarian poetry in the New Republic is serious. But it’s serious inasmuch as it conveys real ideas and feelings in as unvarnished and honest a form as possible.
Blogging Manifesto Part 3/4 - Blogs & Social Presence
Blogs and Social Presence
I have first hand experienced the negative learning & motivational effects of lack of communication or personal connection in courses when the professor was 'absent' or 'generic' in his/her feedback. I have also experienced negative learning & motivational effects when one-on-one or small group interactions were not part of course work.
This lack of community and interaction made me feel isolated, unmotivated, and with very little relevance to my work. Author Kia Bentley in The Centrality of Social Presence in Online Teaching and Learning defines social presence as the ability to be 'real', 'known', 'connected' and makes learners feel they are treated as human beings. Professors JC Dunlap & PR Lowenthal write, “When their (learner) needs are being taken into account – the more they are likely to learn and learn to learn.”
Bentley further writes, "Social presence has been behaviorally described as relating to a "constellation of cues" in three general categories." Those categories are:
- Affective responses, ie, emotions, humor, self-disclosure, explicit use of feeling words, etc. An interesting blog assignment would be to ask students to reflect on a turning point in their personal lives and write about it. Surely, they will find lots of emotions to express in such a story.
- Open and interactive communications, ie, asking probing questions, agreeing or disagreeing, offering advise, self-reflection, etc. Reading and commenting on peer's blog posts must be integrated in course assessments; otherwise students will be hard pressed to do it. The RISE Model for meaningful feedback will help students stay on task when writing comments to peers.
- Cohesive responses, ie, personal greetings or referring to group as "us" or "we" for the purpose of sustaining relationships. One of the blog assignments can ask students to reflect on and share a group class experience or class discussion session. Ie, "in class we discussed/collaborated on/understood xyz"...have students read each other's reflections and learn different view points on same situation.
Relationships matter in every transaction, especially in a learning environment. Enhancing Social Presence in Online Learning: Mediation Strategies Applied to Social Networking Tools research from Tsai, Kim, Liu, Goggins, Kumalasari and Laffey (2008) “recognized community as an important factor for fostering interactivity or interaction among participation in an online learning environment.” Building community and establishing communication avenues are essential to building that relationship and social presence is how to do that in an online environment.
Bentley advises that a relaxed culture of acceptance and nurturing must exist yet "power and authority must be balanced with the values of community and co-construction." The other challenge is that of making meaning and awareness that emotional/intellectual interpretations of online exchanges can vary greatly from their intended purposes.
Tune in to next (and final) post on more promising ways to use blogs in blended learning arena.
I have first hand experienced the negative learning & motivational effects of lack of communication or personal connection in courses when the professor was 'absent' or 'generic' in his/her feedback. I have also experienced negative learning & motivational effects when one-on-one or small group interactions were not part of course work.
This lack of community and interaction made me feel isolated, unmotivated, and with very little relevance to my work. Author Kia Bentley in The Centrality of Social Presence in Online Teaching and Learning defines social presence as the ability to be 'real', 'known', 'connected' and makes learners feel they are treated as human beings. Professors JC Dunlap & PR Lowenthal write, “When their (learner) needs are being taken into account – the more they are likely to learn and learn to learn.”
Bentley further writes, "Social presence has been behaviorally described as relating to a "constellation of cues" in three general categories." Those categories are:
- Affective responses, ie, emotions, humor, self-disclosure, explicit use of feeling words, etc. An interesting blog assignment would be to ask students to reflect on a turning point in their personal lives and write about it. Surely, they will find lots of emotions to express in such a story.
- Open and interactive communications, ie, asking probing questions, agreeing or disagreeing, offering advise, self-reflection, etc. Reading and commenting on peer's blog posts must be integrated in course assessments; otherwise students will be hard pressed to do it. The RISE Model for meaningful feedback will help students stay on task when writing comments to peers.
- Cohesive responses, ie, personal greetings or referring to group as "us" or "we" for the purpose of sustaining relationships. One of the blog assignments can ask students to reflect on and share a group class experience or class discussion session. Ie, "in class we discussed/collaborated on/understood xyz"...have students read each other's reflections and learn different view points on same situation.
Relationships matter in every transaction, especially in a learning environment. Enhancing Social Presence in Online Learning: Mediation Strategies Applied to Social Networking Tools research from Tsai, Kim, Liu, Goggins, Kumalasari and Laffey (2008) “recognized community as an important factor for fostering interactivity or interaction among participation in an online learning environment.” Building community and establishing communication avenues are essential to building that relationship and social presence is how to do that in an online environment.
Bentley advises that a relaxed culture of acceptance and nurturing must exist yet "power and authority must be balanced with the values of community and co-construction." The other challenge is that of making meaning and awareness that emotional/intellectual interpretations of online exchanges can vary greatly from their intended purposes.
Tune in to next (and final) post on more promising ways to use blogs in blended learning arena.
Blogging Manifesto Part 2/4 -- Blogs & Blended Learning
Blogs and Blended Learning
In Blogging Manifesto Part 1, I introduced educational visionary Marc Prensky and I start here again referencing his 2011 essay From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom in which he contends that "knowledge" per se has moved from the teacher to the Internet and that student's personal passions have become their only motivation to learn. "Our teachers' job -- in fact their very raison d'etre -- is going through enormous change." Prensky suggests teachers partner with students and really listen to their needs because their educational context itself has changed. Listening to students and meeting their educational needs will help them succeed in their own times and lives.
Listen and watch the following student voices video and continue to read below why blogs integrate well in blended learning classroom environment.
Multiple research on best online teaching & learning practices point to two overarching principles. The principle of active learning and principle of interactivity.
Active Learning
“Active learning requires that students are aware of what they know and what they don't know using metacognitive strategies to monitor their own learning.” (McGee P. & Reis A.) Online writing forces one to consider with great depth what they know, what they are thinking, and how to best communicate it through writing. Awareness of a public audience with an ability to comment (shred apart mercilessly or praise wholeheartedly and anything in-between) engages the writer in ever deeper thinking about their writing intentions and content. This is genuine engagement with both content knowledge and public audience.
Interactivity
“Interactivity may involve instructor to student, student to student, or student to others, materials or resources.”(McGee P. & Reis A) Blogging is amazing because it involves all of above activities. The instructor and students have access to and comment on classmates' blogs. The writer is also interacting with other materials and resources when they provide live links to other online materials. These interactions build community and maintain relationships, a key component to online blended learning.
In Blogging Manifesto Part 1, I introduced educational visionary Marc Prensky and I start here again referencing his 2011 essay From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom in which he contends that "knowledge" per se has moved from the teacher to the Internet and that student's personal passions have become their only motivation to learn. "Our teachers' job -- in fact their very raison d'etre -- is going through enormous change." Prensky suggests teachers partner with students and really listen to their needs because their educational context itself has changed. Listening to students and meeting their educational needs will help them succeed in their own times and lives.
Listen and watch the following student voices video and continue to read below why blogs integrate well in blended learning classroom environment.
Students are already online, wired, and networked. We need to educate them where they are and how they want it. In Blended Course Design: A Synthesis of Best Practices authors Patricia McGee & Abby Reis write that blended learning is "seamlessly operational where the transition between classroom meeting and online component is minimal." The authors estimate that 79% of higher education public institutions offer some sort of blended course offerings.
Multiple research on best online teaching & learning practices point to two overarching principles. The principle of active learning and principle of interactivity.
Active Learning
“Active learning requires that students are aware of what they know and what they don't know using metacognitive strategies to monitor their own learning.” (McGee P. & Reis A.) Online writing forces one to consider with great depth what they know, what they are thinking, and how to best communicate it through writing. Awareness of a public audience with an ability to comment (shred apart mercilessly or praise wholeheartedly and anything in-between) engages the writer in ever deeper thinking about their writing intentions and content. This is genuine engagement with both content knowledge and public audience.
Interactivity
“Interactivity may involve instructor to student, student to student, or student to others, materials or resources.”(McGee P. & Reis A) Blogging is amazing because it involves all of above activities. The instructor and students have access to and comment on classmates' blogs. The writer is also interacting with other materials and resources when they provide live links to other online materials. These interactions build community and maintain relationships, a key component to online blended learning.
Tune in to the next post discussing importance of social presence in blended learning.
Blogging Manifesto Part 1/4 - Blogs as Curriculum for Digital Native
Blogs as Writing Curriculum
Blogging is an effective and powerful tool to encourage and sharpen the 21st century student's writing and communication skills so they find relevance, context, and live readership for their writing. Andrew Sullivan, famous blogger for past fifteen years explains the essence of blogging as:
Blogging is an effective and powerful tool to encourage and sharpen the 21st century student's writing and communication skills so they find relevance, context, and live readership for their writing. Andrew Sullivan, famous blogger for past fifteen years explains the essence of blogging as:
a genuinely new mode of writing: its provisionality, its conversational essence, its essential errors, its ephemeral core, its nature as the mode in which writing comes as close as it can to speaking extemporaneously.
Writing is a much hated activity among young students and even adults. It seems complicated, scary, and unnecessary altogether. However, simply put, writing is organizing one's thoughts – in order to share them with another - for the purpose of self-expression. Blogs offer students a personalized public space in which to do that. I recommend educators begin small:
- Maintain your own teaching blog or a class blog. This is great modeling for the students.
- Ask students to visit the blog and write comments. Getting the feel for public writing through short comments will introduce students to public writing and pave their way for their own blog posts.
- Get students to read other blogs. Prepare a list of good weblogs with relevant and appropriate content. Good writing begins with good reading, make sure your list is well picked.
- For their first own post, I like to ask students to introduce themselves in whichever way they want; using text, image, or video. They can create it themselves or find something online that they feel represents them well.
- Next, posts can be simple annotated links with a brief highlight of what they felt was important or meaningful about that link.
- In subsequent posts students begin to be more comfortable delving deeper in thought and draw on personal experiences and reflections in their writing.
Blogging presents ways to extend learning beyond the classroom and mere technology integration and truly take advantage of online learning communities as part of a blended teaching/learning initiative. Blogs allow for intricate links to other posts, images, videos, and multimedia in general. Blogs offer a chance to comment and debate and build relationships.
- Maintain your own teaching blog or a class blog. This is great modeling for the students.
- Ask students to visit the blog and write comments. Getting the feel for public writing through short comments will introduce students to public writing and pave their way for their own blog posts.
- Get students to read other blogs. Prepare a list of good weblogs with relevant and appropriate content. Good writing begins with good reading, make sure your list is well picked.
- For their first own post, I like to ask students to introduce themselves in whichever way they want; using text, image, or video. They can create it themselves or find something online that they feel represents them well.
- Next, posts can be simple annotated links with a brief highlight of what they felt was important or meaningful about that link.
- In subsequent posts students begin to be more comfortable delving deeper in thought and draw on personal experiences and reflections in their writing.
Blogs and Digital Natives
Blogging presents ways to extend learning beyond the classroom and mere technology integration and truly take advantage of online learning communities as part of a blended teaching/learning initiative. Blogs allow for intricate links to other posts, images, videos, and multimedia in general. Blogs offer a chance to comment and debate and build relationships.
Educational visionary Marc Prensky has coined the term "Digital Natives" to refer to young generation who has grown up engulfed with new technology and spend majority of their time using it. Prensky refers to scientific data asserting young student brains may have physically changed and that certainly their thinking patterns, the way they think and process information, have changed.
Digital Natives phrase isn't so much about technology as it is about attitude and culture. In his 2001 essay, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Prensky writes:
Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to "serious" work.
Blogs are really good at personal expression and exploration and meet educational needs of 21st century student.
Receiving information really fast: Blog posts are typically, but not always, short and allow for quick topic introductions. Additional follow-up posts can be written to develop topic further and allow deeper levels of thought. But the main goal still remains that a blog post is short and fast.
Parallel process & multi-task: Blog posts encourage linking to relevant information from the internet. Writer is constantly multitasking between reading, writing, thinking and linking to other material out there.
Graphics: Blog posts encourage the use of graphics and video as stand alone or to supplement written text. An interesting student assignment can require the use of only graphics to represent an idea. Or encourage free expression through self-published video as a post.
Random Access: Blog posts encourage and are greatly enhanced when they link to and from other great content on the web. This allows writer and reader to jump from one link to the next and connect idea to each other.
Networked: Blogs have the added connection to a live readership beyond the classroom instructor. The writer is networked with his/her reader and also with other content providers to whom he/she has linked to.
Instant Gratification & Frequent Rewards: The ability to show your personality via personal blog and self-publishing provides instant gratification. Also, what better way to be rewarded and encouraged than when you receive a comment on your blog.
Games: It can be great fun to incorporate less serious game-like posts into blogging assignments. This fun treasure hunt assignment is a great example of incorporating games into classwork.
Tune in Next post on how to further use blogs in a blended classroom environment.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Thoughts Matter More than Topics
I have to say I've been really enjoying blogging for the past few weeks. As a student, I've experienced the freedom of thought without restriction of topic. As a teacher, I've realized that giving students more freedom actually pushes them beyond my and their own expectations.
But still...a teacher cannot simply say, go write! Learners need some form of guidelines to begin their work. I found good advise in Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom. Educator Michelle Lampinen posts her own blogging assignment guidelines which were so helpful for me. She wanted to make sure her assignment addressed the following:
Lampinen then reflects on her and her student's experience with the blogs. It is an insightful article worth reading and duplicating its example in your own classroom.
A comment in response to the article written by Brian Sztabnik drew my attention as well. He writes about his own students' use of blogs, "They begin to realize that their thoughts -- not a prescribed topic's narrow confines -- are what matter. I can't begin to tell you what this does for a student's voice and intellectual confidence!"
And instilling that confidence should really be the ultimate goal of any educator.
But still...a teacher cannot simply say, go write! Learners need some form of guidelines to begin their work. I found good advise in Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom. Educator Michelle Lampinen posts her own blogging assignment guidelines which were so helpful for me. She wanted to make sure her assignment addressed the following:
- Address multiple Common Core standards
- Hold students accountable while minimizing stress
- Be structured enough to provide clarity while giving freedom to experiment
- Be varied enough to keep students engaged
- Get students to write for multiple purposes.
Lampinen then reflects on her and her student's experience with the blogs. It is an insightful article worth reading and duplicating its example in your own classroom.
A comment in response to the article written by Brian Sztabnik drew my attention as well. He writes about his own students' use of blogs, "They begin to realize that their thoughts -- not a prescribed topic's narrow confines -- are what matter. I can't begin to tell you what this does for a student's voice and intellectual confidence!"
And instilling that confidence should really be the ultimate goal of any educator.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Race in the Classroom
My good friend introduced me to Teaching Tolerance founded in 1991, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. It "is dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children." The organization "provides free educational materials to teachers and other school practitioners in the U.S. and Canada."
In light of the most recent racial tensions brought on by the Michael Brown & Eric Garner cases, it was refreshing to read an open and honest educator's self assessment of the topic of race in her own classroom written by Kathleen Melville. In Talking With Students About Ferguson and Racism Melville writes:
Two more good reads about race in schools are When Educators Understand Race and Racism as well as Defensive About Diversity Trainings.
In light of the most recent racial tensions brought on by the Michael Brown & Eric Garner cases, it was refreshing to read an open and honest educator's self assessment of the topic of race in her own classroom written by Kathleen Melville. In Talking With Students About Ferguson and Racism Melville writes:
It’s clear to me that my students have learned about race and racism in school. The primary lessons they have learned are that racism is over (with the exception of a few racist individuals) and that it’s impolite to call attention to race, especially at school. How did my students learn these lessons?
They learned from textbooks that treat racial justice as an inevitable result, a goal attained. They learned from media that skirt discussions of race and reinforce the idea that talking about racism only makes it worse. They learned from white teachers who, intentionally or not, communicated their own preference to avoid the issue.She concludes by asking educators to step up their role in promoting social justice and writes,
We need administrators who encourage teachers and students to work for social justice. And most of all, we need diverse networks of colleagues who support this work, people who share honest conversations, who help us to see our own blinders and who challenge us to think critically about race and pedagogy.
Two more good reads about race in schools are When Educators Understand Race and Racism as well as Defensive About Diversity Trainings.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Hello, Is Anybody Out There?
This class, along with the textbook, promises exciting opportunity for social learning through 'connective writing' - the sharing of ideas via blog posts and the conversational potential via reader comments.
Even a list like 100+ examples of use of social media for learning is full of teacher 'oh , ah' excitement over their own classroom uses of social media.
But am I really connecting with my fellow classmates? Yes & no. I diligently read through my classmates' blog posts and comment on the ones which I feel I have a comment on. I hope they appreciate my comments.
But is anyone finding my blog and commenting? The answer is no, not enough! I have twelve posts thus far (not including this one) but only have comments on 3 of them. That's only 25% of my posts. Are the other posts being read? Enjoyed? Learned from? I have no idea...not even one comment from the instructor...hmm...
Some may argue, as expressed in Reflections on Being a Blogger, that blogging is more of a self reflection, a way to be honest and expressive with your own thoughts. But I still argue that receiving comments further clarify those personal reflections and help the writer re-examine what he/she has written.
As we wrap up with week six of the course and having received very little comment on my blog posts, I wonder how to better utilize blogs in my own classrooms so my students can truly benefit from social and connective writing?
Even a list like 100+ examples of use of social media for learning is full of teacher 'oh , ah' excitement over their own classroom uses of social media.
But am I really connecting with my fellow classmates? Yes & no. I diligently read through my classmates' blog posts and comment on the ones which I feel I have a comment on. I hope they appreciate my comments.
But is anyone finding my blog and commenting? The answer is no, not enough! I have twelve posts thus far (not including this one) but only have comments on 3 of them. That's only 25% of my posts. Are the other posts being read? Enjoyed? Learned from? I have no idea...not even one comment from the instructor...hmm...
Some may argue, as expressed in Reflections on Being a Blogger, that blogging is more of a self reflection, a way to be honest and expressive with your own thoughts. But I still argue that receiving comments further clarify those personal reflections and help the writer re-examine what he/she has written.
As we wrap up with week six of the course and having received very little comment on my blog posts, I wonder how to better utilize blogs in my own classrooms so my students can truly benefit from social and connective writing?
Block Scheduling a Good Thing
I've always found it frustrating for myself as a teacher to run from one class to the other, get students settled down, take attendance, address or defer any hanging questions like "I wasn't here yesterday, did I miss something important?", getting the class rolling, only to be sidetracked with "I don't get it!" or "What page are we on?"
It doesn't matter if you are a master teacher or a novice one, you will be faced with distractions that take away from your very precious little time as it is. I've long time been a supporter of block scheduling in schools. I feel this gives both the students and the teachers enough time to settle into their work, have enough time to address/overcome questions above, have time to connect with students with "how was your weekend?", and finally feel enough comfort and continuity to finally focus on the content.
Now with the implementation of common core across the US, teachers are asking for longer class times to accommodate the new subject standards while criticizing the 40 minute periods as insufficient for group work asked of common core. Are American class periods too short for Common Core? gives some great examples of successful block scheduling being used in the classrooms.
Research Spotlight on Block Scheduling gives the pros & cons of block scheduling as well as links to additional research on the topic.
I've always appreciated the 3 hour work cycle proposed by Maria Montessori. It advocates for extended periods of time so students don't lose their flow. Within that time, "students are able to
freely choose work during this cycle and are able to develop better concentration skills and focus through this undisturbed work time...and allows the student the opportunity to engage in a work more thoroughly." Students who complete this 3 hour cycle feel a "sense of accomplishment followed by
calm composure, along with the desire to do more work" (Schmidt).
Furthermore, Montessori writes in The Advanced Montessori Method "frequent change of work causes greater fatigue than continuous work of one kind, and that a sudden interruption is more fatiguing than persistence.” In Montessori, The Science Behind the Genius, Dr. Angline Lillard writes, "“If we choose when to take breaks, then breaks work for us, but if the timing is externally imposed, breaks can be disruptive to concentration.”
It doesn't matter if you are a master teacher or a novice one, you will be faced with distractions that take away from your very precious little time as it is. I've long time been a supporter of block scheduling in schools. I feel this gives both the students and the teachers enough time to settle into their work, have enough time to address/overcome questions above, have time to connect with students with "how was your weekend?", and finally feel enough comfort and continuity to finally focus on the content.
Now with the implementation of common core across the US, teachers are asking for longer class times to accommodate the new subject standards while criticizing the 40 minute periods as insufficient for group work asked of common core. Are American class periods too short for Common Core? gives some great examples of successful block scheduling being used in the classrooms.
Research Spotlight on Block Scheduling gives the pros & cons of block scheduling as well as links to additional research on the topic.
I've always appreciated the 3 hour work cycle proposed by Maria Montessori. It advocates for extended periods of time so students don't lose their flow. Within that time, "students are able to
freely choose work during this cycle and are able to develop better concentration skills and focus through this undisturbed work time...and allows the student the opportunity to engage in a work more thoroughly." Students who complete this 3 hour cycle feel a "sense of accomplishment followed by
calm composure, along with the desire to do more work" (Schmidt).
Furthermore, Montessori writes in The Advanced Montessori Method "frequent change of work causes greater fatigue than continuous work of one kind, and that a sudden interruption is more fatiguing than persistence.” In Montessori, The Science Behind the Genius, Dr. Angline Lillard writes, "“If we choose when to take breaks, then breaks work for us, but if the timing is externally imposed, breaks can be disruptive to concentration.”
Wikipedia: Unfair Bad Rap
Wikipedia is often banned on school and college campuses as an unreliable source of information. The problem isn't so much that it is unreliable, but rather the problem is that Wikipedia is ever changing and therefore cannot really be cited!
Credible Source of Information
Data shows that, on average, Wikipedia entries had similar validity & error percentages as did more traditional encyclopedia such as Britannica. This is actually a commendable statistic given that Britannica hires professional editors while Wikipedia are unpaid professional enthusiasts on given topic.
Addressing issues of accuracy and neutrality and with concerns about quality of content, Larry Sanger, Wikipdia cofounder, started "Citizendium" to "improve on the Wikipedia model by adding 'gentle expert oversight' and requiring contributors to use their real names." Some university professors are even assigning their students Wikipedia editing projects as both a learning tool for the students and a public service to free online content. "Some learning theorists contend that content creation and analysis is a necessary component of learning. Wikipedia can encourage students to analyze what they read, ask questions, and engage in reflective, creative learning. Furthermore, some articles prone to high vandalism are protected and you can be assured that their content will remain credible.
Problem with Citation
Citation problem: "Although Wikipedia's ability to evolve as information changes is beneficial on one level, it also means that even if an article is deemed reliable, citing it a source is problematic because it could change at any time." This can be problematic because a key principle of citation is that your reader can access the original content which you are referencing. If Wikipedia is ever changing, a reader may or may not find the source information that you mentioned. Although an issue, I don't feel this is enough of a case to not use Wikipedia.
With over 4 million web pages written in the English language and consistently ranked in top 10 most visited websites worldwide, educators cannot ignore the ease of accessibility, use, and influence of Wikipedia. Harvard College Writing Program even mentions Wikipedia as a 'low bets' resource but discourages students from using it for scholarly research. Educators will be well advised to teach their students how to use Wikipedia only as a starting point in research but students must also dig deeper and read the original source materials. Here are two good videos explaining this concept.*
*This paragraph, written by me, has previously appeared in class wiki assignment.
Credible Source of Information
Data shows that, on average, Wikipedia entries had similar validity & error percentages as did more traditional encyclopedia such as Britannica. This is actually a commendable statistic given that Britannica hires professional editors while Wikipedia are unpaid professional enthusiasts on given topic.
Addressing issues of accuracy and neutrality and with concerns about quality of content, Larry Sanger, Wikipdia cofounder, started "Citizendium" to "improve on the Wikipedia model by adding 'gentle expert oversight' and requiring contributors to use their real names." Some university professors are even assigning their students Wikipedia editing projects as both a learning tool for the students and a public service to free online content. "Some learning theorists contend that content creation and analysis is a necessary component of learning. Wikipedia can encourage students to analyze what they read, ask questions, and engage in reflective, creative learning. Furthermore, some articles prone to high vandalism are protected and you can be assured that their content will remain credible.
Problem with Citation
Citation problem: "Although Wikipedia's ability to evolve as information changes is beneficial on one level, it also means that even if an article is deemed reliable, citing it a source is problematic because it could change at any time." This can be problematic because a key principle of citation is that your reader can access the original content which you are referencing. If Wikipedia is ever changing, a reader may or may not find the source information that you mentioned. Although an issue, I don't feel this is enough of a case to not use Wikipedia.
With over 4 million web pages written in the English language and consistently ranked in top 10 most visited websites worldwide, educators cannot ignore the ease of accessibility, use, and influence of Wikipedia. Harvard College Writing Program even mentions Wikipedia as a 'low bets' resource but discourages students from using it for scholarly research. Educators will be well advised to teach their students how to use Wikipedia only as a starting point in research but students must also dig deeper and read the original source materials. Here are two good videos explaining this concept.*
*This paragraph, written by me, has previously appeared in class wiki assignment.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Sifting Through Internet Content
I am still trying to put together a lesson plan teaching students how to sift through vast internet content, assess authenticity of content, reliability of author, bias in writing, relevance and context of content.
I ran into this interesting article as an example of the potential junk/jokes out there. "Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List" is an actual science paper accepted by a journal. This 'scholarly' paper contains the words "Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List" repeated over and over again to fill 10 pages! Appropriate with scholarly paper, it also includes a flow chart & scatter plot chart. It is also in publishing format with an abstract, summary, and reference section.
The paper was written and submitted by Stanford Computer Science Associate Professor David Mazieres and Eddie Kohler, Associate Professor at Harvard Computer Science. It was submitted to a bogus, profit-making online journal that accepted it on the spot and even gave it an 'excellent' rating. The paper was submitted as a joke to test the reliability of predatory journal named above.
Internet content ranges the gamut of potential junk like to one above to 2nd graders creating class Prezi or glogster posters and everything in between.
It is an understatement to say it is daunting to sift through internet content. I have a lot of work to do on this lesson plan. Wish me luck!
I ran into this interesting article as an example of the potential junk/jokes out there. "Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List" is an actual science paper accepted by a journal. This 'scholarly' paper contains the words "Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List" repeated over and over again to fill 10 pages! Appropriate with scholarly paper, it also includes a flow chart & scatter plot chart. It is also in publishing format with an abstract, summary, and reference section.
The paper was written and submitted by Stanford Computer Science Associate Professor David Mazieres and Eddie Kohler, Associate Professor at Harvard Computer Science. It was submitted to a bogus, profit-making online journal that accepted it on the spot and even gave it an 'excellent' rating. The paper was submitted as a joke to test the reliability of predatory journal named above.
Internet content ranges the gamut of potential junk like to one above to 2nd graders creating class Prezi or glogster posters and everything in between.
It is an understatement to say it is daunting to sift through internet content. I have a lot of work to do on this lesson plan. Wish me luck!
Friday, November 21, 2014
Wandering off on the Internet
I am putting together a lesson plan on how to sift through the vast amount of content that is out there on the web. This has been a daunting task for me to say the least.
I stumbled upon internet live stats that gives you live statistics on everything that is online. At the time of writing this blog, there are:
But my data above is very boring and static. You have to view the live tab. You can see the counter increase at great speed. You get the idea...it counts everything that is happening on the internet, right now, live, in real time...did I say right now? You have to check it out.
There is also a '1 second' tab on the website which lists things like (at the time of writing this blog):
In the 'watch' tab, you can see the information listed above but represented visually. It also lists interesting facts such as number of devices sold, number of websites hacked, electricity used, CO2 emissions caused by internet usage, and others.
And finally, there is a 'trends & more' tab that has interesting information such as internet users by country, google search market share, and others.
Why do I mention all this? Because it is so easy to get lost in this big world wide web. And with the staggering numbers above, we now know why!
ps- I still haven't started my lesson plan on how to sift through the internet...I wandered off onto one of the 1.1 BILLION webpages.
I stumbled upon internet live stats that gives you live statistics on everything that is online. At the time of writing this blog, there are:
- 3.1 billion internet users in the world
- 1.1 billion total number of websites
- 200 billion emails sent (today)
- 3.7 billion google searches (today)
- 7.4 billion Videos played (today)
- 1.3 billion active Facebook users
But my data above is very boring and static. You have to view the live tab. You can see the counter increase at great speed. You get the idea...it counts everything that is happening on the internet, right now, live, in real time...did I say right now? You have to check it out.
There is also a '1 second' tab on the website which lists things like (at the time of writing this blog):
- 8,073 tweets posted (in one second!)
- 1499 instagram photos uploaded (in one second!)
- 1600 tumblr posts (in one second!)
- 1594 Skype calls (in one second!)
- 24,463 GB of web traffic (in one second!)
- 46,430 Google Searches (in one second!)
In the 'watch' tab, you can see the information listed above but represented visually. It also lists interesting facts such as number of devices sold, number of websites hacked, electricity used, CO2 emissions caused by internet usage, and others.
And finally, there is a 'trends & more' tab that has interesting information such as internet users by country, google search market share, and others.
Why do I mention all this? Because it is so easy to get lost in this big world wide web. And with the staggering numbers above, we now know why!
ps- I still haven't started my lesson plan on how to sift through the internet...I wandered off onto one of the 1.1 BILLION webpages.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Visual Images in English Class
I was recently introduced to the idea of using visual images as sources of content analysis and explicative writing in English class. Commenting on the book titled Reading Images, the New Learning website writes,
Image Detective is a nice interactive website to help students start asking questions related to the images they see. J. Paul Getty Museum Lesson Plans are a good starting point and are linked directly to state and national curriculum standards. Using Photos With English-Language Learners has lots of ideas on how to incorporate photos into lesson plans. For older students, Duke University has published Visual Rhetoric/Visual Literacy: Writing About Photography.
And finally, An Introduction to the Grammar of Visual Design is a well written teacher resource on the importance of teaching visual literacy.
Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen argue for the centrality of visual images in the grammar of communication, which in many social contexts tends to favor ‘verbal’ expression....To sum up: the opposition to the emergence of a new visual literacy is not based on an opposition to the visual media as such, but on an opposition to the visual media in situations where they form an alternative to writing and can therefore be seen as a potential threat to the present dominance of verbal literacy among elite groups.To combat this "dominance of verbal literacy among elite groups", why not combine both visual and verbal literacy in our English writing class. I had never before thought of visual images as 'content' to be examined, deconstructed, explicated, and general sources of discussion points. The J. Paul Getty Museum lists description, reflection, and formal analysis as steps to understanding photography. Surely, these are the same skills we use to understand written content. It also changes things up a bit when we use the same thinking faculties but apply them to different medium.
Image Detective is a nice interactive website to help students start asking questions related to the images they see. J. Paul Getty Museum Lesson Plans are a good starting point and are linked directly to state and national curriculum standards. Using Photos With English-Language Learners has lots of ideas on how to incorporate photos into lesson plans. For older students, Duke University has published Visual Rhetoric/Visual Literacy: Writing About Photography.
And finally, An Introduction to the Grammar of Visual Design is a well written teacher resource on the importance of teaching visual literacy.
Friday, November 14, 2014
These Kids Aced my Test!
A recent onslaught of protests against standardized testing by high school seniors in Colorado got me really excited. I can also imagine the pride of their teachers, administrators and of course their parents.
Irrespective of biology or economics - subjects on the standardized test in question - these kids have proven proficient in how the real world works. They showed us that they can excel in the shenanigans of life. And that is a much more accurate indicator of current academic achievement and predictor of future success - more so than any standardized test data can ever show.
Their opting out and protest is a perfect example of context based Project Based Learning. They researched their legal rights, understood federal mandated testing vs. Colorado testing, rallied the support of the community, exhibited organizational and communication skills, and much more. But most importantly, they exhibited maturity and civility in intellectual discourse.
This short video explains student reservations with the standardized test.
My hat is off to these kids. I congratulate the entire school district and community for producing well rounded independent thinkers. That's a good education right there. I am humbled.
Further Reading:
Most Boulder Valley high-school seniors opt out of statewide tests in protest: November 13, 2014
State Tests Meet Student Resistance: November 10, 2014
Colorado Alert: CMAS for Seniors Opt Out/Refusal: October 11, 2014
Test Opposition Surges Across the Nation: March 2013
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colorado-Parents-Opt-Out-of-State-Tests/517015661652082
Irrespective of biology or economics - subjects on the standardized test in question - these kids have proven proficient in how the real world works. They showed us that they can excel in the shenanigans of life. And that is a much more accurate indicator of current academic achievement and predictor of future success - more so than any standardized test data can ever show.
Their opting out and protest is a perfect example of context based Project Based Learning. They researched their legal rights, understood federal mandated testing vs. Colorado testing, rallied the support of the community, exhibited organizational and communication skills, and much more. But most importantly, they exhibited maturity and civility in intellectual discourse.
This short video explains student reservations with the standardized test.
My hat is off to these kids. I congratulate the entire school district and community for producing well rounded independent thinkers. That's a good education right there. I am humbled.
Further Reading:
Most Boulder Valley high-school seniors opt out of statewide tests in protest: November 13, 2014
State Tests Meet Student Resistance: November 10, 2014
Colorado Alert: CMAS for Seniors Opt Out/Refusal: October 11, 2014
Test Opposition Surges Across the Nation: March 2013
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colorado-Parents-Opt-Out-of-State-Tests/517015661652082
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Online Education
I am so overwhelmed this week. My head is a jumble of thoughts and assignments and deadlines. All interconnected, but the lines still need to be drawn out more clearly. We start by asking what is the future of online education and whether schools should be required to offer online Education?
I personally attest to the positive impact online education has had on me. I'm currently working toward an online Master degree with Central Michigan University - from my home location in southern California - at whatever time I can squeeze in between my responsibilities as a mom to three wonderful but extremely busy kids. I'm loving the convenience of my schedule/studies and the anticipated completion - without compromising my family life.
I'm also concurrently enrolled in a MOOC with Professor Denise Comer from Duke University English Composition: Achieving Expertise. I'm using this class as a professional development course for myself as it covers the same topics that I teach. Our textbook says we cannot be good writers if we are not good readers. I don't think we can be good teachers if we are not good students either. I'm studying with an exceptional instructor - who has more subject matter expertise and more teaching experience than I do.
I find the course content appealing and the writing prompts exceptionally clever. When I signed up for the MOOC I knew I was not going to be able to finish the coursework, I was only interested in reading/viewing the instructional materials. So far, I've learned a lot from Professor Denise and I'm enjoying and benefitting from the class.
The downside to MOOCs? I found a nice reply from a past participant of the same course John Warner: I'm Failing my MOOC. He too is an instructor of English and enrolled in the class as a professional development course. But he feel ill! And although he agrees the content was at par if not superior to traditional classes, he writes "Without sufficient incentive to catch up in my MOOC, one hiccup was enough to put me off track." He goes on to write, "At the same time, for me, it reinforces that the content by itself is a very limited part of what matters in terms of teaching and learning. This feeling is perhaps biased by my discipline (writing/literature) and relatively small courses (20 students max), but as good as Prof. Comer’s content is, and as engaging and nice as she appears to be on screen, she and I don’t have a relationship, and when it comes to learning, relationships matter."
Relationship or not...the fact that free, accessible, high quality content is out there for anyone's taking is - in my mind - true democratization of education. Bring your own incentive!
I personally attest to the positive impact online education has had on me. I'm currently working toward an online Master degree with Central Michigan University - from my home location in southern California - at whatever time I can squeeze in between my responsibilities as a mom to three wonderful but extremely busy kids. I'm loving the convenience of my schedule/studies and the anticipated completion - without compromising my family life.
I'm also concurrently enrolled in a MOOC with Professor Denise Comer from Duke University English Composition: Achieving Expertise. I'm using this class as a professional development course for myself as it covers the same topics that I teach. Our textbook says we cannot be good writers if we are not good readers. I don't think we can be good teachers if we are not good students either. I'm studying with an exceptional instructor - who has more subject matter expertise and more teaching experience than I do.
I find the course content appealing and the writing prompts exceptionally clever. When I signed up for the MOOC I knew I was not going to be able to finish the coursework, I was only interested in reading/viewing the instructional materials. So far, I've learned a lot from Professor Denise and I'm enjoying and benefitting from the class.
The downside to MOOCs? I found a nice reply from a past participant of the same course John Warner: I'm Failing my MOOC. He too is an instructor of English and enrolled in the class as a professional development course. But he feel ill! And although he agrees the content was at par if not superior to traditional classes, he writes "Without sufficient incentive to catch up in my MOOC, one hiccup was enough to put me off track." He goes on to write, "At the same time, for me, it reinforces that the content by itself is a very limited part of what matters in terms of teaching and learning. This feeling is perhaps biased by my discipline (writing/literature) and relatively small courses (20 students max), but as good as Prof. Comer’s content is, and as engaging and nice as she appears to be on screen, she and I don’t have a relationship, and when it comes to learning, relationships matter."
Relationship or not...the fact that free, accessible, high quality content is out there for anyone's taking is - in my mind - true democratization of education. Bring your own incentive!
Friday, November 7, 2014
Blogging Anxiety
In a previous class we were asked to create a blog and post our assignments to it. That 'blog' served as an online reservoir of assignments completed outside of the blog. It was not blogging. But nonetheless, my work was online and it didn't bother me much.
For this class, we were again asked to create our own blog and actually do some blogging; and I was comfortable with the first two posts from last week.
But something happened this week. Something dawned on me!
A blog post is so completely public...transparent, searchable, permanent. A reflection of my authority -- or utter lack thereof.
Yes, we read this in Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. - but reading it is different than experiencing it.
I'm fairly confident in my work, but when I'm not - I remind myself that its just a single assignment in my expanding portfolio - that the instructor will surely understand its shortcomings, award me a grade, and we all move-on - burying the assignment somewhere not to be touched again.
But its not like that anymore. Its not only the instructor reading it...its not just an assignment...it is on the WIDE WORLD WEB. Others are free to read - to comment - to criticism - to refute - to reference!
"My God, where did you read all that nonsense?"
"Oh, it was on Heba's blog."
Yes, of course, the potential to engage with a broader audience is a powerful characteristic of a blog. The learning element of a conversation....the back and forth synthesis of ideas and thoughts.
But still, I am the main voice. I am the one on stage, under the spotlight; and there is no after show celebration (a grade posted and an assignment checked off as complete). Because the show doesn't really end, it is still online and the audience can applaud or boo at anytime.
I'm much more aware of what I think and write and who or what I link to. Those English composition courses stressing critical reading and analysis - finding credible sources - synthesizing of information. Its not lip service anymore...it is real and required and reflects on me personally, academically and professionally.
And what of it at the end? This long post and anguishing thoughts over a mere twenty-two page views as of November 5th! Not twenty-two hundred. Not twenty-two thousand. And certainly not 2.2 million. Twenty-two page views, that's it!?
Oh well, a girl can dream of stardom and popularity... yes, even some criticism, why not? “The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” Norman Vincent Peale, Minister & Author of The Power of Positive Thinking.
I end with this image recently posted on author Elizabeth Gilbert's facebook page.
For now...this post is good enough. And I'm happy with that.
For this class, we were again asked to create our own blog and actually do some blogging; and I was comfortable with the first two posts from last week.
But something happened this week. Something dawned on me!
A blog post is so completely public...transparent, searchable, permanent. A reflection of my authority -- or utter lack thereof.
Yes, we read this in Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. - but reading it is different than experiencing it.
I'm fairly confident in my work, but when I'm not - I remind myself that its just a single assignment in my expanding portfolio - that the instructor will surely understand its shortcomings, award me a grade, and we all move-on - burying the assignment somewhere not to be touched again.
But its not like that anymore. Its not only the instructor reading it...its not just an assignment...it is on the WIDE WORLD WEB. Others are free to read - to comment - to criticism - to refute - to reference!
"My God, where did you read all that nonsense?"
"Oh, it was on Heba's blog."
Yes, of course, the potential to engage with a broader audience is a powerful characteristic of a blog. The learning element of a conversation....the back and forth synthesis of ideas and thoughts.
But still, I am the main voice. I am the one on stage, under the spotlight; and there is no after show celebration (a grade posted and an assignment checked off as complete). Because the show doesn't really end, it is still online and the audience can applaud or boo at anytime.
I'm much more aware of what I think and write and who or what I link to. Those English composition courses stressing critical reading and analysis - finding credible sources - synthesizing of information. Its not lip service anymore...it is real and required and reflects on me personally, academically and professionally.
And what of it at the end? This long post and anguishing thoughts over a mere twenty-two page views as of November 5th! Not twenty-two hundred. Not twenty-two thousand. And certainly not 2.2 million. Twenty-two page views, that's it!?
Oh well, a girl can dream of stardom and popularity... yes, even some criticism, why not? “The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” Norman Vincent Peale, Minister & Author of The Power of Positive Thinking.
I end with this image recently posted on author Elizabeth Gilbert's facebook page.
For now...this post is good enough. And I'm happy with that.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
I don't have a Twitter Account (GASP)
I don't have a twitter account. And I don't feel like I need one. It is such a time waster; full of non-sense, irrelevant, self-absorbed and random information. I don't really care whether my neighbor is having coffee with our another neighbor at my favorite coffee spot and I wasn't invited. I don't have time for any of that. I don't need big companies or political campaigns to bombard me with their messages or try to sell me a great deal only available for the next 3 second. I may be called a geek and don't really follow celebrities, musicians, fashion models, or whatever and whoever else may post on twitter.
That was all before I read The Construction of a Twitter Aesthetic. Eric Jarosinski, professor at U Penn, started to tweet out of boredom and built a twitter persona that was "extremely liberating". It brought back his passion for more literary works of Frankfurt school philosophers, namely their aphorisms. He has been approached by German book publishers, opinion pages, and cultural magazines.
That's more like the twitter I would want to join. One that is "a viable platform for metacognition, forcing users to be brief and to the point - an important skill in thinking clearly and communicating effectively."
That was all before I read The Construction of a Twitter Aesthetic. Eric Jarosinski, professor at U Penn, started to tweet out of boredom and built a twitter persona that was "extremely liberating". It brought back his passion for more literary works of Frankfurt school philosophers, namely their aphorisms. He has been approached by German book publishers, opinion pages, and cultural magazines.
That's more like the twitter I would want to join. One that is "a viable platform for metacognition, forcing users to be brief and to the point - an important skill in thinking clearly and communicating effectively."
Friday, October 31, 2014
Writing: a Skill for All Fields
I love to write. No wait, I hate to write. No, I do love it....ugh, what am I trying to say?
Writing is frustrating, and cumbersome. Yet liberating and encouraging. Writing helps you organize your thoughts but not before you actually think you've lost your mind. It helps you communicate effectively but not before you think you are a nut case. It is gut wrenching when you hit the publish button. And reassuring when you get that first comment back.
I emphasis with my students that writing is for everyone and is an essential skill required in many areas of life. But how can they believe me? They are taking college freshman English because it is a requirement to graduate.
I often begin class by showing them this writing process animation video. It emphasizes that writing is a skill, not an inherent ability, that can be improved. The video also highlights that writing is needed in everyday life and in many fields.
I was excited when I recently read STEM and Writing: A Super Combination, an interview with Dr. Spyridon Michalakis, Physicist from Caltech. Michalakis says, "As a quantum physicist, maintaining the public's interest while discussing quantum mechanics requires the use of every genre of writing I can think of."..."Writing affords me an exquisite freedom in both style and subject matter." Wow, writing is needed outside of English Composition class? Now that's a thought for my students!
Oh, how I love for my students to hear this from someone else. I'm not torturing them! I'm helping them succeed in their chosen field.
And check this out...From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It. 6 examples of online work successfully turned into a book; one short blog at a time.
Writing is frustrating, and cumbersome. Yet liberating and encouraging. Writing helps you organize your thoughts but not before you actually think you've lost your mind. It helps you communicate effectively but not before you think you are a nut case. It is gut wrenching when you hit the publish button. And reassuring when you get that first comment back.
I emphasis with my students that writing is for everyone and is an essential skill required in many areas of life. But how can they believe me? They are taking college freshman English because it is a requirement to graduate.
I often begin class by showing them this writing process animation video. It emphasizes that writing is a skill, not an inherent ability, that can be improved. The video also highlights that writing is needed in everyday life and in many fields.
I was excited when I recently read STEM and Writing: A Super Combination, an interview with Dr. Spyridon Michalakis, Physicist from Caltech. Michalakis says, "As a quantum physicist, maintaining the public's interest while discussing quantum mechanics requires the use of every genre of writing I can think of."..."Writing affords me an exquisite freedom in both style and subject matter." Wow, writing is needed outside of English Composition class? Now that's a thought for my students!
Oh, how I love for my students to hear this from someone else. I'm not torturing them! I'm helping them succeed in their chosen field.
And check this out...From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It. 6 examples of online work successfully turned into a book; one short blog at a time.
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