Sherpa Jen 3/27

Writing is an effective tool for learning in virtually any subject matter because it forces students to examine content in greater detail than during a class discussion. Writing reveals misconceptions and errors that teachers may not be able to accurately evaluate for individual students under normal discussion conditions. Additionally, writing skills will improve when students have to think critically while integrating correct content information into their writing.

Perhaps one of the most effective ways to encourage deeper thought on content and nurture writing skills concurrently is a blog format. Building on others ideas allows you to refine your own through use of incorporating others’ perspectives with your own rationale, through your own lens. Individuals can often overlook conceptions that may come quickly to others which can be resolved by the open forum. Do students take more time to gather their thoughts and express their ideas in their blog posting because they know it will be read by a much larger audience composed of their peers rather than just their instructor?

The blog may be a good alternative to traditional methods of writing assessment. On page 47, Zinsser argues, “Eagerness to read and correct student writing, however, is not a commodity that grows on trees; it’s far easier to just check right and wrong answers.” It would be wonderful if every teacher had the time to correct 125 essays for her five periods of class with 25 students in each of those classes. It would be great if every assignment could be a long, written assignment so the teacher could more accurately assess what learning has taken place for each and every one of those 125 students. However, realistically, even though students may gain knowledge from writing the papers themselves, teachers face the pragmatic problem of time constraints.

To remedy the problem of inherent time restrictions, the blog may be a valid solution. It is a reasonable assumption that classrooms consist of two types of students. On one hand there are the students who more concerned with their grades than what others think of them. In contrast, there are students who value the image their peers have of them to a higher degree than the letter grade they receive. My question is: Would a blog be a novel approach to encourage both types of students because their grade would depend on it AND it would influence the perception their peers had of them?

On a different note, Raquel mentioned how some people are naturally good writers. I believe that those people are good writers because they have metacognitively mastered the writing checklist throughout their education. They may have acquired these skills more easily than other people or because of more explicit instruction. On page 45 Zinsser states, “In history we’ve paid great lip service to the need to write, but we haven’t taken the time in our classes to tell students how it’s done.” I agree with Raquel and Professor McRostie that writing is important across the curriculum, however how does one find the balance between adequate subject matter instruction and fundamental writing reinforcement? At some point, should a teacher be able to assume students have the basic and appropriate writing skills necessary for that level of study?

Please do not hesitate to respond to any of my questions. All your thoughts are welcome. For next week’s sherpa, I nominate Gina “the chemist” Rothwell.