Texting- The new form of writing?

Taken from the ASCD Smart brief 10-26-2009

Texting may help students improve informal writing skillsDespite a myriad of concerns about the increasing use of text messaging by teens, some teachers and researchers say texting does not interfere with students' ability to use language properly and may in fact help students better express themselves through informal writing. "Writing is good. Writing is expressing thoughts. Expressing thoughts is good. We just don't like their modality," says Larry Rosen, a researcher and author of a book on the issue. Charlotte Observer (N.C.), The (10/26)



Some people on staff responded below....what do you think?

Beth said:
"I think that kids/people learn through a variety of facets. This is just one. There is a great deal of thought that has to go into texting in order to make sure that your point gets across. I can see where the shift has left people "text abbreviating" words, myself inluded...but it is a new form of literacy and our children have to be literate in more than just book and traditional print to survive in todays society.
Gone is the day of paper and pencil...we have to expand our horizons! "

Michelle said:
"Very interesting...Aside from the safety issues, I don't think we need to worry about texting degrading our language. I've used comics in my teaching and have students make their own comic strips. The style of language and vocabulary is not always the most advanced in a comic strip but reading and creating them involve a lot of higher-order thinking. Also, we ESL teachers explicitly teach the difference between formal and informal English and the times that each is appropriate. I love the suggestion from the article about having students "translate" classic literature into text language to demonstrate comprehension! "

Lisa said:
"We discussed this in my technology through literacy master's class. Although informal, it is a new style of writing and we as adults better learn how to do it or we will be left behind. At least the students are writing in some form . . ."

What is new in school?

Well, we are getting ready to finish up our first quarter of the 09-10 school year. I think it has been a great start of the year despite the little hiccups we have had along the way. We have felt some growing pains, shrinking budgets, and expectations for more gains when we are getting less support.

Our Teach 21 group and other technology groups are in full swing. If you have not checked out the teacher or class blogs, you really should. I just found out about one today and as I was reading it, I laughed so hard I was crying. I have enjoyed reading all the blogs I know about. The student responses are great and the insights from the teachers are amazing. I always knew we had a fantastic pool of talent. The blog is a great way to show it from our students to our faculty. If you are one who has a blog and using in your class, please let me know so I can let others know to follow it. I think it is important for the students to receive feedback when they post things. It encourages them to blog even more.

Our theme this year is " A Firm Foundation Builds A Nation". By using even the scant amount of technology we have in our building, you are helping your students develop a firm foundation that will enable them to build on their technological skills and be successful when using technology for more advanced applications later. We have Education City, which is up and running and ready to use. We have Rosetta Stone that is ready to use. We have Orchard and AR. We will also be using FirstinMath with our upper grades. This is a pilot program based of the math game 24. We are moving quickly to the more advanced technological equipment but we need to be comfortable in using what we have before we can become experts in using the new stuff.

Respond with some strategies that you have used with technology this year. Also, share some ways you have used Blogger with your class.

Three Steps for 21st Century Learners

Three Steps for 21st Century Learning

I thought you would enjoy this short video on how the 21st Century demands new approaches to the learning environment.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCB4i7GJuM

Check it out form home. We can't log onto youtube from school. It is really worth the time to watch.

How to Handle Parent Volunteers in Class

How to Handle Parent Volunteers in Class

Posted using ShareThis

Home - Learning Village 2.0.9.16

Home - Learning Village 2.0.9.16

2nd week of school

So far so good. The opening of school has been rather smooth. Everyone seems to be settling in and our students are doing a great job with practicing the 3 R's. We just need to keep practicing and reinforcing our expectations for them and for ourselves.

I have seen some excellent connecting activities and I really appreciate those that have remembered to post them on the school wiki. At last count we had about 17 activities. That is 17 weeks worth of connecting activities for your class. If you have not posted yet- please do. It will be great to have enough activities to get everyone through the year. That would be 42 submissions.

I really like the third grade taking up the bricks idea on their hallway. The students are beginning to understand the we need to build upon the foundation to make a strong community and we are doing that by following the 3 R's- Respectful, Responsible, and Ready.

The learning team meetings went very well today. Kindergarten and 3rd grade did a wonderful job working through the process of unpacking a standard. The more we do it, the easier it will become and it will make your job easier in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing what the other grade levels do this week with unpacking one of their standards. I have been very impressed how the staff has internalized the Single School Culture concept, not only with the academic part- that we have just begun, but also in the climate and behavior piece. You all have just taken up the focus and process naturally. We just need to keep that going and continue to hold our students and each other to higher standards to meet out goals for this year.

Keep up the good work, remember to laugh daily, and make it fun. The scores will come when we remain focused and using high yield strategies in all of our instruction-challenging our students and teaching them to think.

Have a great week.

Trish

Welcome Back South Fork Staff

School starts on Tuesday, August 25th. We have had to make a lot of changes right before school started so I have been very busy hiring new staff and switching staff around to accommodate the changes. I am excited at the new additions but sad to see some people move on to bigger and better positions within the system.

Please welcome Barry Hill to our 4th grade, along with Beth Hodges. It will be the "H" team as it is Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Hodges, and Mr. Hill. We have also added a new kindergarten teacher, Ms. Rachel Hicks. Her assistant has joined us from Kimberly Park ES. Her name is Carol Green.

Ms. Cheryl Wright has taken the position of the Summer School Academy and the SES Coordinator for Title One Schools. She will be great at this position but we will miss her more than we can imagine. Angie Anderson, from 4th grade, has taken on the challenge of being our new Tech Facilitator. Ms. Wright and Mrs. Anderson have been working night and day to get technology lab prepared for the classes to start.

We have made several grade level changes. Mrs. Sanchez moved to 1st grade. Mrs. Quigley moved to 2nd grade, Ms. Allen moved to 3rd grade, and Ms. Knote moved to 5th grade. We have also added Ms. Revelle and Ms. London to our primary reading support staff. Mrs. Hunt has joined out staff for the mornings for ESL. She will be at Brunson ES in the afternoons. Mrs. Dixon will be in a full time support role working mostly with 2nd grade to begin with and then pick up small reading and math groups as the need arises. Please welcome and help all the these new additions and people new to these different grade levels.

It is going to be a fantastic year. We have incorporated the theme this year as, " A Firm Foundation Builds a Nation". This is how we will include the "Essential Skills of the 21st Century", which is our overall school theme for the county school of choice. We had a great beginning of team building with our staff on the 17th. The Theme Team that went to the Teacher Academy this summer, worked on this idea all summer to help unite our staff, students, and community. By all of us working together, our students will become the leaders one day that we need them to be. More to come on that later....

Remember that we will use the blog and wiki to communicate ideas, discuss staff development ideas, and share instructional strategies with each other.

I will be glad to have all the students back at school. It will be nice to have a routine in place.

Trish