Sunday, January 31, 2010
week 2-feeling disconnected
I believe, whole-heartedly, in the ability of the written word to change the way one perceives the world. I entered the teaching field and the English Major so that I could share the skill and power that comes with writing well with as many students as I could. I believe that it is our responsibility as future educators to leave our mark on future members of future societies. I wish to see a future in which children can express themselves through powerful works of writing.
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Do you believe that all people should be able to write creatively at a proficient level? Or is it more important to be able to communicate effectively in a one page memo?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest challenge for teachers of writing is that technology,especially mobile, encourage students to use informal text-style writing. The comments from teachers is that students do not know how to write complete sentences and use punctuation correctly.
Students are more fluid with their thoughts and share with a larger audience. Habits are formed very early and this style of writing is reinforced by online attention and feedback that can number in the dozens. Lets face it - it is more feedback than a teacher would give.
I believe that everyone should be able to write creatively at a proficient level in order to function as a part of society that is always changing and thriving as well as a knowledgeable citizen.
ReplyDeleteI feel that in our society today, technology has lead to an increase in students relying heavily on the available resources to help them write a better paper; not necessarily effecting the creative component of writing. For example, I know that I myself sometimes frequently misspell words because I rely on the spell check option to review my spelling. So when I write a paper the old fashioned way I tend to have a lot of misspelled words.
Also, as Professor Bigsby mentioned that writing is being effected by the mobile world because of the trend of texting. I overheard from someone that there may be a whole NEW dictionary for all the abbreviations for the texting lingo. How are we as teachers going to deal with such a dilemma if our future students are growing up with this now?
I agree that our society, in finding new and faster ways to communicate, has completely lost sight of the importance of grammar and the ability to write proficiently. I know that even before texting and AIM, I did not receive adequate grammar instruction in school. It was not until I began studying French grammar that I realized how little I knew about English grammar. Although I used them all the time,I never learned what a direct object or a demonstrative pronoun was until pretty recently. I think if we are ever going to overcome the additional obstacles we are now facing as a result of things like texting, we need to start at a much younger age, before children start forming these bad habits which, as Professor Bigsby pointed out, are hard to correct.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that students have sort of dumbed themselves down with the use of texting and chatting online. Our society has become dependant with technological communication, from phones to the Internet, and as teachers we have to reinforce correct grammar in the classroom. Even little things, such as addressing the differences between the different forms of their, there, and they're can be a step in the right direction. I think that by having students do simple writing tasks in the classroom can keep their minds going and keep that formal-type of writing in their minds as well.
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