Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 08

What does the SAT writing assessment consist of? A 25-minute writing sample and an objective test of “editing.” This objective test involves recognition of, and ability to correct, such problems as dangling and misplaced modifiers, parallel structure, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, pronoun reference, etc. These are the kinds of problems that I focus on in the grammar program and on 10-minute essays and major writing assignments. Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for writing Assessments,” p. 180.

Putting students to work immediately in the first ten minutes of class is a good idea. What are some alternatives to 10-minute essays for classes who are not scheduled for them? Daily spelling test. Or a daily grammar test. Put a problem on the board and the students try to correct it. The problems can come from the students’ writing or from the textbook. Either takes relatively little time to correct. The grammar exercise is another way of preparing students for state and SAT editing tests. Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for Writing Assessments,” p. 180.

Before computers and word processing, learning to write was tedious and revising non-existent. Revised and edited papers were made almost illegible by cross-outs and insertions. The revised paper had to be rewritten in its entirety, even if 90% of the paper was fine. Most students wrote longhand, which was very tedious and time-consuming. Even typing was tedious, requiring instruction in how to type and only made slightly easier by white-out and erasable bond. Therefore, most students hated to revise—and didn’t.
With word processing, students could easily insert, delete and rearrange text and the finished product always looked great. Ease of revision was the computer’s gift to student writers. Word processing changed students’ attitude toward writing. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.

Issues, now forgotten, with the introduction of the computer in writing instruction. Should all students be taught how to type the correct way? Impractical. Hiring teachers of typing would be a budget buster.
How encourage English teachers to teach their students to use word processing when the teacher was more afraid of the computer than the students? Supervisor taught word processing to the teacher’s classes while the teacher observed and then took over.
Should handwriting continue to be taught? Students still need to write long hand in writing assessments. Legibility continues to be the goal. In addition, students need to learn how to use different tools for composing. For example, when I am not sure of what I want to say, I still brainstorm and write first drafts on yellow pads with pencil. When I am writing memos and other not-so-important documents, I will compose using the key board.
Since word processing’s best use is to aid in revision, I still have students brainstorm and draft longhand, type the draft into the word processor and then revise on the computer. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.

What is the future of writing instruction in the era of computers and word processing? So long as words are the medium of communication, students will still need to learn how to brainstorm their topics, construct their theses and write rough drafts. They will need to write introductory material, use topic sentences with paragraphs, revise and edit. Multi-media devices like pictures, charts and sound will continue to be illustrative of the text. Chapter 12, “Computers, Writing Instruction and the Future,” p. 248.

How encourage teachers of other subjects to support the teaching of writing? Agree in general on the steps in the writing process; use subject-area journals in which students reflect on what they understand and don’t understand; agree on the organization of essay exams and on teaching the research paper. Chapter 13, “Writing Across the Curriculum,” p. 253.