july 11 responses...

Becoming your own expert- teachers as writers
I'm learning through this project just how true this is. I've learned more about teaching writing by these writing assignments than i have in the past year of researching writers' workshop. By being in the midst of writing myself, I can clue in, from my own experience, on what they are thinking and feeling. I agree 100% with Gillespie- writing makes me a better educator.

Whose Writing is it Anyway?
My first two years of teaching were spent in a 3 year old pre-k classroom. It was a wonderful experience. We have a strong emphasis in writing in the early childhood program at my school, so we did daily journals. I saw what the author was speaking of first hand. Those precious little babies (ooh, they would get so mad at me for calling them that!) had so much to say. One child regularly wrote about science fiction items like space ships and aliens. Another child wrote mainly about her favorite memories. Still another wrote about classroom situations, especially when he was being a stinker! Each child has so much to say. Very rarely did their stories have actual words, but they were authors all the same.

Computers and English- Future Tense, Future Perfect?
What an interesting article! Most of what he said has in fact come true. We do have an increase in at home education. We use spell check on a daily basis (but what is a style checker???). More journals than not have switched to online or at the minimum incorporated online features. Technology has changed writing in a way that we can't even begin to imagine.

But, there were other things that may not have come into fruition (or if they have, we use different terminology and I don't know what it is!) To my knowledge, IBM's EPISTLE product is not in constant use. Spelling and grammar is still highly valued and taught in the classrooms, contrary to some predictions. Handwriting still seems to be valued, but sadly, it is becoming less and less prevalant in schools.