Writing in the 21st Century

Kathleen Blake Yancey, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Kent Wiliamson, Exec Director of NCTE

How can we help teachers and students with the implications of new tools as they write and connect?

You can’t tell anyone anything, you must invite them in!

The goal of the NCTE this year is to have every American to post a piece of their writing at:
www.galleryofwriting.org on October 20, 2009.

NCTE wants to take a writing gallery back to Washington and share with Congress to show what writing looks like—even today, as some believe it’s a lost art.

What might YOU post and share with others?

We, as a nation, are writing like never before: text messages, video clips, instant messages, cell phones, and yes, even traditional pen and papers. Whether it is done in a notebook or on a blog, writing, in its many forms, has become daily practice for millions of Americans.

People have always written! (Kathleen) Composing is still happening in new and exciting ways.
1940’s people were writing to loved ones who were very far away. It was personal. You could not stop people from writing

THE ERA'S of WRITING:

1950’s Writing was used as a discipline, and even punishment

1960’s Writing became a process for protest…graffiti, protests, marches

1970’s Writing process—the moves you had to make to get to the final product. There were many processes people used to get better at different genres, and to get better at each genre. (prewrite, compose, evaluate, revise, edit, publish)

1980’s Writing became digitized. Inspired students to become ambitious, creative writers—writers who published in the way that publishing companies had solely done prior to this era.

1990’s Writing was about connections. Visuals, colors, images in Power Point for example, aide in writing and communication. It provides opportunities to connect with people in new and exciting ways.

2000’s Writing has far more opportunities than ever before. It’s about web 2.0---connections from school to the world, such as blogging from school to the world: students are being asked to make comments about an author, and respond to other peers in a community based writing which then measures success. It teaches them to be open to other ideas AND how to get along with others and varying perspectives Money can’t buy this motivation!

WRITING IDEAS:

Becoming Jane Austen, create a blog representing a character from a novel, or historical character and perceive the persona of that person, their relationships, etc. and going deep inside to further understanding and learning.

In the past, things have been kept in museums or some sort of archives, but now there is information ecology, such as what is the impact of personal genetic testing?

There is a rumor that blogs are not trustworthy! That is just not true! But how do you know what IS trustworthy? Get out there and give it a go! Give kids an assignment where they can ONLY use blogs to gather information…..and teach them how to know what is trustworthy and NOT trustworthy!
1) academic
2) mainstream

Students map what they find in blogs, and what is trustworthy and what is not! BUT they do get frustrated in the process. As teachers, we must be explicit with teaching, so kids will be explicit.

Show them:
Time Magazine, who has trustworthy information to make connections for kids.
Blogging as Learning in Action--ask students where they see poetry in their culture and how it is poetic. Example she showed: a blog of unnecessary quotation marks:
"**U.S. “outgoing” mail…..with a note that said “that mail is totally shy” gives kids a mix on words! Kids take a different attitude when they put a mix on words.


Experts and laypersons: Composing knowledge (what we saw with Darwin)
Almost every scientist used information from others to gain understanding. Well a citizen scientist, a person who volunteers to be of information gathering process, helps to help find information.

Citizen Journalists composing NEWS
Think of Iran…who in news is trustworthy? Citizen journalists came from a need for information to get out in a trustworthy manner. Gives news services much more reach! Only about 4 years in the making. With hurricane Ike, people posted various escape routes, which were trustworthy, and when people post, there is a usual respect /trust level.

Citizens composting POWER
Iran controversy right now….the coming together of information through Facebook, Twitter, or whatever tool set to communicate together---but it’s the hard decision coming up with what tool to use and when! Sometimes it is a combination of tools that must be used.

Remember the history of writing in the U.S.:
In the 1940’s, you were writing…
In the 1950’s, you were composing…
In the 1960’s, you were addressing…
In the 1970’s, you were revising…
In the 1980’s, you were keyboarding…
In the 1990’s, you were emailing…
In the 2000’s, you were Facebooking around the world…

My, how things have changed!