Blogging and New Literacies

In the article Blogging And New Literacies, author Diane Penrod explains the new found trend of writing since it is now a concept intertwined with cyberspace-and whenever cyberspace is involved, it's a trend commonly followed.  In fact, Penrod labels those that cannot write online published pieces as being "information illiterate" because writing now encompasses the internet.  So long as one can convey the mechanics of writing, the possibilities on the internet are endless.

Unfortunately, the mechanics of writing are introduced in elementary school and more often than not, improper teaching methods lead many astray and often disliking the subject altogether.  To captivate with writing, to create more opportunities to free-write, to explore with writing and to take risks with what may not be seen as the norm, such are the concepts we ought to be enforcing in our classrooms, and yet we emphasize STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE.  I'm interning in a third grade classroom at the moment and it drives me crazy when students are assigned an entry which often don't even like, only to have them go back to their seat and day dream instead of write in their entry.  I don't blame them.  If I had to write about the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me and then worry about my teacher reading it, I'd likely choose to stare at the wall too.  Teachers shouldn't be afraid of providing students with a choice, especially when it comes to writing.  Topics can definitely be suggested, but when they're enforced is where I draw the line.

Penrod mentions that blogging can be a more hands-on approach to writing.  I couldn't agree more.  The personalized touch to blogs makes it come to life.  Words and sentences convey more meaning when there is little restricting the writer.  While third graders may not be able to maintain a blog, the idea that there is more freedom to writing in blogs can begin with a simple journal.  A third grader who enjoys writing during writing time in his or her composition notebook may very well grow up to love and desire to write, simply because he or she had free reign to create personalized pieces of literature. 

Penrod is anti-stand in front of the room and lecture to students about a prompt you handed out.  She insists that the teacher must transfer skills to students, there is a methodology to which this can be done in an interactive and effective manner.  In fact, the book I am reading within my reading group lists many different strategies for educators to teach elementary aged students to write.  The book is called 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide and some of its lessons and strategies are so creative that I plan to implement them during my independent teaching.  I especially enjoyed the chapter on teaching conventions because as I've seen in my third grade class, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling are hard concepts to grasp if taught improperly.  I can't say I'll be great at getting through to my students, but i doubt the lesson ideas in the book will fail me...and if they do I'll blog about it.