Comments on: The Age of Composition http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition Jeff Utecht - Bangkok, Thailand Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:27:37 +0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Joan Vinall-Cox http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-29885 Joan Vinall-Cox Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:04:47 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-29885 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">Composition teachers - read this! http://tinyurl.com/m7pylp @jeffUtecht</span></span> Composition teachers – read this! http://tinyurl.com/m7pylp @jeffUtecht

]]> By: Joan Vinall-Cox http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-29886 Joan Vinall-Cox Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:45:39 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-29886 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">Teaching writing in the networked age! @jutecht - http://tinyurl.com/m7pylp YES!!!</span></span> Teaching writing in the networked age! @jutecht – http://tinyurl.com/m7pylp YES!!!

]]> By: Digital Literacy vs Networked Literacy | The Thinking Stick http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28914 Digital Literacy vs Networked Literacy | The Thinking Stick Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:10:25 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28914 [...] wrote on this earlier when I first found the Yancey article in a post titled The Age of Composition (worth a read). Yet in that post I really did not flush out what the different between digital [...] [...] wrote on this earlier when I first found the Yancey article in a post titled The Age of Composition (worth a read). Yet in that post I really did not flush out what the different between digital [...]

]]> By: Apture. Ventanas emergentes en tu web « Un poco de cada http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28143 Apture. Ventanas emergentes en tu web « Un poco de cada Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:14:28 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28143 [...] Ventanas emergentes en tu web De casualidad, siguiendo a Jcabello en twitter, encuentro en el artículo que estaba leyendo en ese momento una herramienta que ha llamado mi atención Apture. Logotipo de [...] [...] Ventanas emergentes en tu web De casualidad, siguiendo a Jcabello en twitter, encuentro en el artículo que estaba leyendo en ese momento una herramienta que ha llamado mi atención Apture. Logotipo de [...]

]]> By: Jose Luis Cabello http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-30188 Jose Luis Cabello Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:06:48 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-30188 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">Reading "The Age of Composition" http://tinyurl.com/cftfhz from: @jutecht</span></span> Reading “The Age of Composition” http://tinyurl.com/cftfhz from: @jutecht

]]> By: Deborah http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28104 Deborah Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:01:24 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28104 I think that this model is intriguing, but I agree with SoCal Angel: we still need to teach students to create ideas, organize their thoughts, write for a specific audience, and write coherently. Even with the print model, we shouldn't teach the writing process as a rigid set of stages that you have to go through in an exact order, but as different steps that we move through, and go back and forth through, in the process of composing. For example, students can create an idea, draft, revise, maybe modify their original idea, revise a bit more, edit, write an outline to re-organize their paragraphs, revise a bit more, publish, fix any editing mistakes they notice two days later, etc. I think that the writing process model is fluid enough to adapt itself to a new way of teaching writing that centers around digital literacy. The amazing thing about technology is that it allows us to teach and explore MANY processes of writing--from the very structured one we teach in 6th grade English to the very flexible one we learn to navigate in college. The tools of blogging help us to teach audience in a more authentic, immediate way. Students have SO many more publishing opportunities in the digital age. And technology also opens up the opportunity for collaborative writing, which is something that is rarely explored but has amazing possibilities with students of all ages. Overall, it is just about being open-minded. We can't ignore what we've discovered about how students learn to write best (writing as a process). However, we can't ignore the fact that writing and reading has been utterly and completely transformed by the internet. So, somehow, we find a way to meet in the middle. I think that this model is intriguing, but I agree with SoCal Angel: we still need to teach students to create ideas, organize their thoughts, write for a specific audience, and write coherently. Even with the print model, we shouldn’t teach the writing process as a rigid set of stages that you have to go through in an exact order, but as different steps that we move through, and go back and forth through, in the process of composing. For example, students can create an idea, draft, revise, maybe modify their original idea, revise a bit more, edit, write an outline to re-organize their paragraphs, revise a bit more, publish, fix any editing mistakes they notice two days later, etc.

I think that the writing process model is fluid enough to adapt itself to a new way of teaching writing that centers around digital literacy. The amazing thing about technology is that it allows us to teach and explore MANY processes of writing–from the very structured one we teach in 6th grade English to the very flexible one we learn to navigate in college. The tools of blogging help us to teach audience in a more authentic, immediate way. Students have SO many more publishing opportunities in the digital age. And technology also opens up the opportunity for collaborative writing, which is something that is rarely explored but has amazing possibilities with students of all ages.

Overall, it is just about being open-minded. We can’t ignore what we’ve discovered about how students learn to write best (writing as a process). However, we can’t ignore the fact that writing and reading has been utterly and completely transformed by the internet. So, somehow, we find a way to meet in the middle.

]]> By: Latest & Greatest Links (weekly) | Tip of the Iceberg http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28103 Latest & Greatest Links (weekly) | Tip of the Iceberg Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:30:49 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28103 [...] The Age of Composition « The Thinking Stick [...] [...] The Age of Composition « The Thinking Stick [...]

]]> By: Nancy http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28102 Nancy Sat, 21 Mar 2009 09:16:13 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28102 Tim Ryland Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5xFMmK5Ujs Ewan McIntosh: http://edu.blogs.com/ Tim Ryland Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5xFMmK5Ujs
Ewan McIntosh: http://edu.blogs.com/

]]> By: Nancy http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28101 Nancy Sat, 21 Mar 2009 08:51:18 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28101 I studied writing in college. My most inspiring teachers never taught process or techniques but rather stated, you learn to write by writing and by reading. We wrote, shared, critiqued and had reading assignments for each class. Reflecting on why something I’ve read is moving or has clarity, from an admired published writer or blogger, is the most helpful for me in terms of improving my writing. I've also read several books on writing in the past, but they didn't click for me because the author's process didn't make sense for me. Process in any task is different for everyone- we learn and express ourselves in different ways. Actually, it wasn’t until my students had a real audience of penpals, online writing buddies across the country or heard their writing recorded on audio for our class blog, did they really start revising in earnest. Those audiences were so much more meaningful for my students than their classmates or myself. I guess it really comes down to the final product, for example expository writing is written well with a prescribed format, which we alter personally as we grow in writing. Whenever you want personal expression though, it needs to be approached individually and is more difficult to prescribe. Slightly off topic, I recently viewed this video (via a workshop with Ewan McIntosh) showing a teacher in Scotland, Tim Ryland, teaching writing using the video game Myst. It’s not just the game but that he is sitting among the students, they are all facing one direction (not in a circle), and the teacher either asks the student to repeat or he repeats a quality phrase. What is so powerful in this scenario is actively writing with your tribe, getting immediate feedback and reflection, not having to be face to face when sharing, and reading and reflecting on published writing. I studied writing in college. My most inspiring teachers never taught process or techniques but rather stated, you learn to write by writing and by reading. We wrote, shared, critiqued and had reading assignments for each class. Reflecting on why something I’ve read is moving or has clarity, from an admired published writer or blogger, is the most helpful for me in terms of improving my writing.
I’ve also read several books on writing in the past, but they didn’t click for me because the author’s process didn’t make sense for me. Process in any task is different for everyone- we learn and express ourselves in different ways. Actually, it wasn’t until my students had a real audience of penpals, online writing buddies across the country or heard their writing recorded on audio for our class blog, did they really start revising in earnest. Those audiences were so much more meaningful for my students than their classmates or myself.
I guess it really comes down to the final product, for example expository writing is written well with a prescribed format, which we alter personally as we grow in writing. Whenever you want personal expression though, it needs to be approached individually and is more difficult to prescribe.

Slightly off topic, I recently viewed this video (via a workshop with Ewan McIntosh) showing a teacher in Scotland, Tim Ryland, teaching writing using the video game Myst. It’s not just the game but that he is sitting among the students, they are all facing one direction (not in a circle), and the teacher either asks the student to repeat or he repeats a quality phrase. What is so powerful in this scenario is actively writing with your tribe, getting immediate feedback and reflection, not having to be face to face when sharing, and reading and reflecting on published writing.

]]> By: Twitter Posts - last 24 hours | Martin Pluss http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-age-of-composition/comment-page-1#comment-28099 Twitter Posts - last 24 hours | Martin Pluss Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:30:36 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922#comment-28099 [...] I really like The Thinking Stick’s blog articles www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922 Thanks Jeff [...] [...] I really like The Thinking Stick’s blog articles http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=922 Thanks Jeff [...]

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