Technology

3 of the 4 readings in, I'm seeing differing opinions about technology and how it pertains to writing.

Morgan seems a bit skeptical about the range of technology and suggests more than once that its use will not take hold quickly--"until there is universal access technology--not a likely scenario" (207, Guide to Composition Pedagogies). Well, his essay was written in 1998, and merely 10 years later, technology has become part of our everyday life. In 1998, I was a freshman/sophomore in college and I got my first e-mail address. I also got my first computer (I was one of maybe 4 on my dorm room floor to have my own). In the ten years since, EVERYTHING I have done has revolved around computers. Then only things I hand write in school are grades/comments on papers and material on the chalkboard, and even that is being replaced by an increased use of a SMART board. Today's students are growing up with these technologies as if they have always been there.

Faigley, referring to Michael Lewis's research and writing, says "children are best equipped to adapt to this new social order...no commitments to old institutions and old ways of thinking" (Composition Studies, 175). He is referring to the information available on the Internet, but it pertains to aptitude towards technology and its use.

Using technology in our classrooms is a given, and teaching our students the best ways to use technology with their writing, whether as a word processor or Faigley's Multimedia Essay, is in the best interest of our students. Julie assigned us these blogs, the first of my educational career, without batting an eye or worrying about our access to technology or our fluency with blogs because it expanded the range of cooperative learning. Technology offers hundreds of other ways of enhancing student learning and writing if you look for them and hold ourselves open to growth and exploration.

Never Mind

I figured it out, apparently I was blocked from the system.

Inter-library Loan

Can anyone tell me how to order a book that they have at the Penn State UP campus? I found it on-line and clicked "I want it" but when I put it through, it said the my "privilage has expired". Thanks.

Democracy, Pedagogy, and the Personal Essay by Joel Haefner

John Dewey gets my prize for the quote that I feel has been the most important thing I've read in here so far, "The very idea of education is a freeing of individual capacity in a progressive growth directed to social aims." (513) Now, I'm not going out on a limb claiming to have read other Dewey writing and agree with is point of view, but I think that quote means a lot to writing and its ideology and pedagogy. Isn't that the point of an American education, to be individualistic AND work toward the greater good of the society. Above all, that should be the ideology of writing instruction, to teach our students to write in the way that works best for them. To expose them to all of the different types, genres, purposes, etc. of writing and allow them to pick and chose between methods and create an individual "portfolio" that fits them best.

Haefner puts up arguments about essays as democratic and how best to use them in the classroom. Berthoff encourages teachers to teach the higher meaning of language and how it can create even more meaning for the writer. Last week we read about Trimbur and the collaborative approach and Bizell's inner and out directed theories. Etc., etc., etc. We have read papers (essays) from some very intelligent theorists who are all excellent writers and persuaders (though they use way too many big words for my taste) and sometimes they agree and sometimes they don't, but they all put forth arguments and data and examples and charts that show the true aim of discourse and the best writing ideology.

But is there one pedagogy or ideology that will fit the writing needs of all of America's students? Is one ideology going to fit every student we come across? No way. Individuality is too important to the American. Sure, we have social expectations and norms, but at heart, we embrace our individualism and need to educate our students that way as well, especially in their writing. So as educators, we gauge the needs of our students and pick and choose the methods and pedagogues that will work best. Learning disabled students may need a five paragraph outline. English Language Learners may need more grammar instruction. Students who were never read to may need to be exposed to more types of writing and literature. Well read, high thinking students may need more independence and room to grow. Gardner taught us about the "Multiple Intelligences Theory" and I am a firm believer. Every student has talents and strengths and teaching to the middle, a generalized, this is the way method, is too much for some students and holds others back.

Wow! I'm going to finish my rant now. Sorry, I think I've gotten way off topic here, but I guess I have to learn and grow as I write if I want my students to do the same.

Cognition, Convention, and Certainty by Patricia Bizzell

I wish law makers and makers of educational policy makers would read this article and use a bit of the common sense it offers. There is no "certainty" when it comes to students, and there is no mold into which every student will fit. "...being so situated is the most important thing we have in common" (409). NCLB has created a mold into which all students MUST fit, or else...

But that isn't reality. That isn't even utopia or something to aspire to, that's boring. I don't want robots in my class, I like having different personalities and ideas and challenges in the classroom and guess what, that's how the rest of the world outside education works as well.

Though I am an opponent of NCLB, I have often defended the law and the types of tests given because right now, they are the only way to collect data on ALL students, disaggregate the data, and compare student learning (or teacher instruction). But should all students be assessed the same way? Should students in Las Vegas be taught and assessed in the same way as students in small town Pennsylvania?

Yes, I can see the benefits for a standard curriculum to a certain extent, but should students from inner city school districts be held to the same standards as students from higher socio-economical neighborhoods? That is a question that can, and maybe should, be discussed at great length. Though arguing against it, Bizzell still concedes "there is no way to escape all discourse communities, stand outside them and pronounce judgment" (408).

Having such a large base of students (millions and millions), it is very difficult (even impossible) to create ideological perfection. Maybe that's why according to the constitution, education and educational funding isn't guaranteed at the federal level, but at the state level. NCLB is a federal program, so technically, is it constitutionally legal?

"Consensus and Difference in Collaborative Learning" by John Trimbur

Anyone who has been a part of the public education system during the last ten years has heard of the term Collaborative Learning. Learning while working together, it makes sense and it works in the classroom, but I have simply taken it for granted, and Trimbur has given some insight into why it works.

Pedro Beade, through Trimbar, "worries that consensus might be used to justfiy the practices of 'a crazy, totalitarian state'" (462). Others see consensus "stifl[ing] individual voice and creativity". But I think quite the opposite. In a teacher led classroom, where the teacher does 100% of the teaching and the students do 100% of the learning, the teacher imparts his/her expertise onto the students and again to quote Trimbar using "intellectual hoarding". This sounds more like a crazy totalitarian state. Of course, the teacher offers knowledge as reading, life experiences, and training has enabled them to do so, but the idea of learning collaboratively, where the teacher is part of the same learning community, is brilliant. I have been the authority, but I also relish the opportunity when through discussion, a student brings forth a prediction I never thought of, or an interpretation that never crossed my mind. This happens even more often between students, and is a beautiful experience.

Trimbar's whole essay depends wholy on the redefinition of consensus, "a strategy that structures differences by organizing them in relation to each other" (468). This means that consensus isn't everybody agreeing, or even everybody agreeing to disagree (468), its everybody agreeing that each group member comes with different life experiences and different talents to offer to the whole. Students can assimilate learning and work together to a common goal, learning more and accepting differing opinions for what they are, intelligent viewpoints that each learning hasn't thought of yet. It "enables individuals to participate actively and meaningfully in group life" (463).

Now, Trimbar refers to utopia quite a bit toward the end of the essay, and my description of collaborative learning sounds every bit the part, but utopia rarely occurs in the real world classroom. Modeling, teaching, practicing, redirecting, encouraging, students to work collaboratively must occur at all levels of education and even teachers need to learn how to effectively collaborate with their students. It's definitely not easy, but nothing meaningful and worth it ever is.

Three Mysteries... by Peter Elbow

I often find myself wondering if I really have anything to write about, only to sit down and begin, and find the words pouring out of me. This has been the case for most of my posts for this class and fits beautifully with Elbow's thoughts on freewriting and "You still have to try a bit..." (Elbow, 12). I find myself getting frustrated each time I hear "I don't know what to write!" because I have heard it SOOOOOO many times and it always seems to come from either unmotivated or lazy students. Somewhere at my core, I feel stubbornness emitting from the student and by golly, the only one allowed to be stubborn in my classroom is me! I've learned to push past the frustration and ask guiding questions that usually light the bulb above their heads and get them writing, but I hadn't really put much thought into teaching the students how to turn that bulb on themselves. For most of the kids, it comes natural, so I guess I have just accepted that a few need the kick in the pants instead of just teaching them to fish for themselves (too many metaphors?).

I really like the idea of inkshedding (Elbow, 13). I think with a lot of modeling and preparing, it can effectively help students freewrite positively and gain from the experience. I'd like to try this with my stubborn students as a possible strategy.