Teaching Authentic Writing

                Before I read Pahl and Roswell I never really thought about literature as artifacts but after reading about it, it made so much sense to me especially when they mentioned letters and mails. I began to think of all the ways in which I have literacy artifacts in my own life. In box somewhere in my room I have letters from my best friend from high school. My friend and I would write long letters to each other every day. And even though we were being distracted from real writing and reading we were still doing some form of literature. But I also remember not writing so much in high school. The only times I would write was if it was for an essay assignment or for a letter to my friend. I am glad to have those letters and have artifacts of my life. I think it important to view literature as historical or social artifacts because without these artifacts a lot of knowledge we know today would be absent. All of the ways in which we collect information from people and educators comes in the form of literature. Pahl and Roswell made a good point when they said that literature is a piece of history because whatever is written in the present time will be a reflection of the moment in that time.

I agree that teaching authentic writing is important because everyone has a different story to tell and many have the same story to tell but in their own way. It is important that we embrace students to write in their own voices if not then they are not authentic literacy artifacts. The word facts is a part of the word fact and so what good is writing if it is not factual or true to the person who wrote it. I think about all of the ways in which I have conformed as a write sometimes being someone whose first language is Spanish. I feel like often we are stripped away of our identity and our way of writing whether your first language is English or not. What better way to embrace each other’s identity and culture than to allow each other to write authentically. When we write authentically it rings true to someone out there that feels the same way or has the same perspective. Also it is important that we teach students to write in their own voices skillfully so that it is valued. The power of literature is that it comes from a perspective in which we can identify with and if we do not teach student to write authentically then where does that leave our stories?

Teaching Students Not Skills

Although Morell’s chapters were pretty tough to read through, Morell’s chapter 6 about cyberactivism has made me think about several things: I thought about how Morell made a valid point when he said “with each of these uses came evidence of academic and critical literacy development.” (153) Morell was referring to all of the various ways the internet is used for like “social, academic, and activist-oriented purposes.” (153) I agree that all of the ways in which the internet is used has enhanced literacy. I think about my personal experience with the internet and how much material I read a day. Whether I am reading the latest celebrity gossip or local news, I am constantly reading.  Also not to mention all of the information that is accessible on the internet. People have access to almost every bit of information in the palm of their hands.  With the advancement of technology we have access to all kinds of literature now that expand the knowledge of those that are not able to get educated the traditional way. (School/college) All of the literature online has also helped professors with being able to analyze old text of which physical copies are hard to obtain.

Also the technology of email and things like google drive help students all across the country share ideas and documents with each other. On the other hand, I have heard of classrooms as low as second graders using computer and technology to teach and engage students in the classroom. I am torn in between agreeing and disagreeing with having such advanced technology in such low classroom grades. I think of all the low income schools and kids who have technology requirements from their teacher and cannot afford one or get to a computer. That leaves the upper class kids yet another skill to have that lower class kids will not have. I remember growing up, in my high school there were only a certain amount of computers available to us, and so we might have lacked in skills and knowledge about computers that other kids did in Rhode Island. But I do think that it is a good thing for kids to practice at such a young age so that they are ready for college. Besides having all of the distractions with social media and games there are plenty of tools and websites that enhance a student’s experience of learning.