Assignment #1

Cutting Keystrokes, Improving Communications: Response Technologies for Writing Instruction: By Scott Warnock is about how technologies can be used by teachers to grade and respond to student's written assignments. Warnock starts by discussing the frustration that accompanies learning new technologies but then says that in the long run it will save writing teachers many hours in grading papers. Then he focused on a few different resources available for computer based grading. Warnock explained how students can submit papers electronically then the teacher can grade them via Word with margin comments, Astrix, tracking, etc. He also gave many different Internet resources that allow teachers to add voice comments to papers and even video comments.

When I first started to read this article I did not know how this affected how I taught English/Language Arts. However, I quickly changed my mind. In the class Advanced Expository Writing at Northwest University I would submit ruff drafts of my papers electronically with a short message to Professor Young detailing my issues or concerns for that paper. She would then read and comment on that paper via tracking on Word and send it back to me. I also happened to develop my skills as a writer more in that class than in any other I have taken. Of course I have never thought about the connection before, but perhaps it was due to the use of technology that helped me. Warnock's article made me also realize that with today's electronic generation using e-mail to submit and grade writing assignments might be a more affective way of communicating than the classic paper/hand written comments method. Plus student's would then have an easier time of saving teacher comments to look at a later date.

In my classroom I probably will not require all students to submit papers electronically as some students wont like this method or will not have a computer. However, I will encourage students to do so since it will be easier on me to grade and will be more natural and more affective for them to learn from.

NETS for Teachers: #1 Facilitate and Inspire Learning and Creativity

This standard is most important to me, because I feel that it is the very basic requirement of teaching. If you as a teacher do not inspire learning and creativity (especially as an English teacher) you are failing 100% as a teacher. Students generally do not have any desire to learn that is why it is vital for the teacher to work to inspire learning as well as facilitate learning. If the student does not want to learn what you as a teacher are tyring to teach then they wont. They might be able to cram the information for the test but they will not really learn or remember it, but if you inspire them to want to learn then they will try to remember the content.

This semester I will

• learn technologies that will teach content in creative ways that are more inspiring to the 21st century generation
• use technologies in creative ways that I can encourage students to be creative with
• become efficient in using new technologies so that I can inspire learning by them instead of losing students interest by spending time trying to figure out how a piece of technology works.

NETS for Students: #4 Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

This skill is a vital skill not just in school but to function as an adult. It is usually a huge rite of passage for adolescents to learn how to critically think about an issue and make decisions for themselves without the aid of parents. I believe that if students can effectively learn to do this as adolescents they will make less bad decisions that affect the rest of their lives.

Two assignments that I could give to students to help them meet this goal:

• I can tell students to find a poem read that poem and interpret that poem by doing research on it and applying their past knowledge to it. Then they will use technology creatively to present the poem, their interpretation, and how it could apply to the student's lives.
• I can give students daily journal prompts that would help them develop their skills as a writer but give them prompts that would force them to think critically about issues: such as gay marriage or how would they respond if they saw a fellow student using technology inappropriately in the classroom.