Chapter 2

Ok, let me start by acting selfish and say that chapter 2 was as boring as boring can get to me. I’ve been working with computers since I was 8 and all the information that Hicks gave here is old news to me and include things I’ve been doing years before the book came out. Unfortunately many people have not been exposed to RSS or blogs however and what Hicks does in this chapter is great for people new with computers, however if you know what a blog and RSS feeds are then it’s a big SKIP. Now to talk about the content and how Hicks explained it, I think he did a great job. He really talked a lot about RSS feeds and it is something he should. Having an application or website that can compile tons of information from various websites is very useful, BUT most sites that do use RSS are probably not ones that can be used for resource pages as the whole reliability thing comes into question. Speaking of reliability, Wikipedia is a site that needs recognition! They have resources lists and site passages from other places. It has more information than many websites and articles, yet teachers hate it. It’s as reliable as the essay I write so maybe teachers need to realize that. Anyways… one of the ideas I liked most in this chapter was Hicks talking about blogs and how they can be used as a digital notebook. How great is that idea! We’d save trees, can have our students share their writing in a mouse click, and it’s backed up forever! I never thought of using blogs as a notebook for writing in a classroom, but I’m in love with the idea and will definitely use it in my classroom. Last, but not least. I should talk about social bookmarking, something that is finally catching on. Sharing bookmarks with friends is great, but it’s even better when you can annotate them with your own thought and ideas. This is great for a classroom to share thoughts and ideas about an article or news story. The only problem I see with this is that it will NEVER catch on unless Mozilla or Microsoft adds it as a feature to their browsers. People won’t get the toolbar, actually people probably haven’t even heard of the toolbars and won’t until Mozilla adds it. I have found that with computers unless its right there for your use than most people won’t use it. So social bookmarking can only succeed when the browsers add it as their own feature. Chapter 2 was boring to me only because I know computers. For someone just getting to know what a computer can really do and what’s out on the web it’s a great read with good information and ideas.

-Jimmy

CHAPTER 2--Where Should the Line be Drawn???

In chapter 2, I found that an engaging topic was the usages of RSS within the teaching of writing (21). Lets face it; students are generally highly engaged in computers and intricate programs that many teachers aren’t aware of. Therefore, I like how Hicks pushes the inclusion of having students create their own personal spaces online where they learn to safely engage with other students. I liked how he posed the four questions on pages 21-22 that allowed students to feel like their blog would be online for a purpose, relating to their lives and ideas. Some things I wish he had covered more are instances in which things could go wrong on the Internet. I understand that he mentioned how teachers need to teach students the safe ways in which to have their own Blogs. But, a reality is that things can go very wrong. Students could be talking to people they believe are their age and they end up to be people who have negative motives. As great as the Internet is, it is an extremely scary place, a very vulnerable place for young teens to be exploring without the utmost regulations. He only briefly mentions on how it can be dangerous. I think that there should be more descriptions on how to teach students this safety within this chapter. Hicks cannot assume everyone trained as well as he is with the Internet. Many of us aren’t. He also mentions that students could use these blogs as a new notebook for their work, choosing not to publish things publicly if they want. But, personally, I am against this. As a future English teacher, I want to conserve the little we have left of life without technology in my classroom when it comes to writing. This isn’t to say that I want to leave technology out of my classroom by NO MEANS! I think that technology is something that is a part of this generation and it would be foolish for teachers to not prepare their students for the life they will be entering. But, I believe that the blog idea could be used as a mini project one week to help students understand another form of writing. But, I believe students should still understand the beauty and purpose of a pen in their hand and a paper in front of them. Reading this book, I understand that he is trying to create amazing connections with technology in classrooms. But, I believe he should also keep mentioning the importance of not making technology the main focus of a classroom, especially an English classroom. The problem with making a blog the main notebook for a student is that they aren’t learning how to write enough. There isn’t enough room for mistakes. Spell checks pushes students away from learning more than it pushes them closer to it. As much as I believe that many of the things implicated in this chapter is beneficial to a classroom, I believe that, as an English teacher, there should be more mentioning of this being only a section of a classroom’s ways. Not the entire way the class should be ran.

--Kaitlyn 

Digital Writing Workshop PREZI

Being that we just learned how to use a PREZI in class and embed it into our blogs, I thought it would be fun to look at a PREZI that Troy Hicks himself created!

Digital Writing Workshop on Prezi


-Kaitlyn

RSS In Plain English

This is a site mentioned in The Digital Writing Workshop that teaches people how to create an RSS for themselves.  It's easy and entertaining, so check it out!

http://commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

-Megan Nier

Response to Chapter 2: Fostering Choice and Inquiry Through RSS, Social Bookmarking, and Blogging

          I really enjoyed Chapter 2 of Troy Hicks' The Digital Writing Workshop.  I thought that a lot of great ideas were presented.  Hicks begins the chapter by talking about the idea of writer's notebooks.  He says, "Students keep writer's notebooks, in which they can compose questions and explore their passions, the idea of inquiry and choice- a defining element of the writing workshop approach- allows students to pick topics, explore genres and styles, develop pieces...it permeates the very essence of the workshop" (15).  I completely agree.  The writing process is developed through someone's ideas and passions, and creating something in which they can express themselves is a great way to create good writing.
         I liked a lot of the ideas that were mentioned in the chapter, but one of my favorites was blogging.  I think that blogging is a great way to get students responding to one another, and I believe it's a great way for students who are more shy to express their ideas.  Hicks recommends using blogging in the way that it is intended, and not as a response to a teacher's discussion question.  "Teachers could invite students to use a blog to post comments on a teacher-initiated discussion.  Yet, this would not be new, as it is simply using a traditional pedagogy with a new technology.  Instead, if students used blogging in the ways that bloggers do- to reflect on their own ideas...this would make the process new" (16).  I completely agree.  It would be nice to have students lead discussions, or use the blogs to reflect on the lesson for the day, and comment on their peers responses.  I think that there is so much that can be done with blogging.
          I also liked the idea that they brought up about Google Docs.  Having students create a group and post their research that they can all access is a great idea.  Students can build off of one another's research and ideas, truly collaborating.  Students would be able to revise eachothers work, making their pieces original and something that everyone has contributed to.  We want students to "produce their own texts and not just become consumers of information" (17).  Overall I was pleased with this chapter and hope to implement these ideas and practices in my classroom. 

-Megan Nier

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Troy Hicks’s The Digital Writing Workshop was very lack luster in my opinion, but for an introduction it did a good job of introducing some of the ideas that a writing workshop includes. The beggening includes a list of the important aspects of a writing workshop and has the reader ask themselves questions based on a writing workshop and including technology with it. Hicks then in this chapter talks about what the rest of the book will be about and how it will merge the idea of a writing workshop with technology. Besides just basic information on what a writing workshop includes and some basics on writing using technologies nothing else is really said, however one thing that I really liked what that at the end of this introductory chapter Hicks recommended that the reader talk to a colleague and have a discussion about some of the things talked about in his book and invites the reader to join his social network on the book. This I thought was such a great idea. A place where other readers of the book can discuss the details of the digital writing workshop and even the inclusion of the author himself. All books should have such an easy way for people to collaborate ideas for us to all become better teachers.

-Jimmy

Check This Out!

Here are some PSA's created through a moviemaking program mentioned in Hicks' The Digital Writing Workshop.  Students worked together in a "workshop" environment to create these PSA's.

http://akabodian7.pbworks.com/PSA

Megan Nier

Response to Chapter 1: Imagining a Digital Writing Workshop

        Throughout Chapter 1 of Troy Hicks' book, The Digital Writing Workshop, he explains the importance of "integrating the core principles of the writing workshop with the emerging technologies for writing" (5).  Rather than integrating old theories about writing and applying them to new technologies, Hicks suggests that we have to approach the writing process in a new way.  The way that people express themselves through digital writing is different and we have to have principles that accommodate that difference.  By using strategies that we know work, and tweaking them to fit the digital age teachers can begin to incorporate digital writing into their English class rooms.
       I do agree with Hicks that technology is changing and as teachers we have to keep up with that technology.  I like how he frames the five core principles of writing and then incorporates technology into those principles.  After reading Chapter 1, I feel that this book is going to help me better understand technology and how to use it in my English class room.

Megan Nier

Regarding Chapter 1: Imagining a Digital Writing Workshop

Not to start off negative, but I wasn’t too happy with the way this book began. Hicks opens with, “Like you, I am a teacher of writing (1).” I don’t like how he assumed that English teachers were going to be the ones reading this book. Anyone has access to purchase this book. Some people are merely curious about different subjects other than their own. If the person reading this is not an English teacher, they might be turned off by this first sentence, causing the author to push the reader away from reading due to not having the ability to connect. But, I enjoyed how Hicks continued to bring forth history in writing that still impacts the world. He writes, “teach the writer, not the writing (1),” reminding the readers that it isn’t so important as to what we write and on what surface to which we write, but how the teacher influences the student to want to write. I liked how he listed the principles he is going to teach in later chapters, including: “student choice, active revision, author’s craft as a basis for construction, publication beyond classroom walls, and broad visions of assessment that include both process and product (1-2).” By doing this, the reader sees what the book contains and decides at this point if they want to continue reading. On page 3 I enjoyed a picture that Hicks of students in middle school that were digitally creating movies. But, there weren’t any other pictures throughout the chapter. I felt that this picture showed how enthusiastic the kids were, giving evidence, and wanted to see more of this throughout the chapter. Sometimes, a picture can show a lot more than you think! On page 5, Hicks comments how “digital literacies” are labeled as “newer literacies.” Though the process of writing via technology might seem new to some people, it really isn’t. Even if this is a term that others are using, I don’t think that it is too accurate. The Internet has boomed for over ten years and digitally writing has been embedded into advertising, businesses, schools, and personal life for as far as I can remember. Though I am only twenty-one years old, more than half of my life has revolved around computers, therefore finding technology something that has been around for a good amount of time. I understand that technology might just be the most recent form of literacy, but when I think of the word new, I think of something that has been created within a few years, which isn’t this case. An aspect that I really think is a good addition is how Hicks addressed negative views on writing workshops where the act of finishing something is more important than the process that develops a work (7). Writing shouldn’t be about the end result, yet about the actions along the way, the journey. That is where the joy in writing is discovered. On page 7, Hick writes, “ We all know that formulas—be they five paragraphs…etc.” I thought that was an awkward way to say a sentence. Though that may be grammatically correct, he lost me briefly because I had to reread the sentence three more times to try to follow what he is trying to say. Sometimes authors have to be careful of trying to sound intellectual because you might just lose a reader or two when it doesn’t match up to the rest of your writing.

-Kaitlyn