Thing 4: Response to “Teaching Brevity”
Teaching brevity “The mark of great writers is not how many words they use, but which ones. The art of brevity and choosing the right words is a fine one; it is also becoming increasingly important as our information overload continues. Those who master the art of brevity hold great power.”
How can blogging facilitate learning? Writing and reading blogs about topics we are interested in, specifically teaching, connects us with other teachers and students. When we expose ourselves to new ideas, we adopt them and enhance our teaching. In “Teaching Brevity” (blog #9) Arthus Erea discusses the ills and constraints of the dreadful 5- paragraph essay. He talks about the importance of students being more concise with their words versus writing traditional 5 paragraph essays. Teachers tend to depend on this writing model because students need a starting point. However, students often ask me, “How many paragraphs should my essay be?” I tell them, repeatedly, paragraphs do not make up an essay; an essay is made up of paragraphs. They look bemused, but I leave it at that. I show them the box and then ask them to step out of it.
on June 5th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Like you I think blogging is a way to involve students in learning. Its their creation and so they will have more ownership of the information. There still needs to be direction to their efforts…thats the teacher’s job.
Students should always learn better and more completely when they are in control of the learning process. Student- teacher interaction is not the sole component of learning…the information processing needs to be done by the student to ensure retention of the information or skill expected.
I think we are walled in by the historical expectations of school. Our efforts are limited by the bell and motion of students from class to class. How many times have you been in the middle of a good discussion with a student or group and have the bell ring and lose the entire point of the discussion.
Blogging may give a chance to extend that time constraint.