The book I am reading is about six literacy principles that Newkirk considers important if teachers are to support and enhance students’ literacy skills. As the word literacy suggests, the author is focusing not only on writing but also on how teachers can integrate other literacy skills such as writing and reading in a way that does not privilege any of the literacy skills over others. He argues that this is especially important in this era of testing where emphasis tends to be on reading and not on writing. Newkirk warns that teachers should guard against using writing to enhance reading; rather, they should view writing as a goal in its own right. I agree with him. When I was a practising teacher I remember noticing (and sometimes doing it myself) that writing was used as a tool for teaching not only reading but other learning areas. In these contexts, the focus tended to be on the content and not writing. It did not really matter how students wrote. While I agree with Newkirk’s view about the role that most teachers have assigned to writing, I need to point out that I was a bit puzzled by Newkirk’s emphasis on expressive writing at the expense of other genres such as argumentative, persuasive, and exploratory writing. My question is: By overemphasizing expressive writing, are we not robbing students of other forms of writing that they need in order to achieve academically and to learn different discourses? Furthermore, that students should derive pleasure in literacy, I do not dispute. However, I question Newkirk’s implication that this should occur with every texts that students read including content area textbooks. I think that as long as textbooks are well written, they might be engaging. I believe that when students are engaged, then they will be able to enjoy what they are reading. Perhaps, this is what Newkirk means.

I am reading Newkirk’s book about six literacy principles worth fighting for. Of the three principles that I have read about thus far, I find the one on popular culture as a literacy tool most striking and interesting. The author opens the chapter by pointing out that despite the contribution of popular culture in helping students develop literacy skills, and in this case writing, there is resistance in some sectors. According to Newkirk, this resistance comes, especially from some proponents of the traditional workshop approach. These proponents argue that allowing students to use popular culture lowers the standards of writing. Students do not learn to develop characters, plot, and other established traditional literary devices. The author argues that when students use popular culture they are not just reproducing these texts in a meaningless way; rather, they are appropriating them. As a matter of fact, appropriation occurs all the time in learning contexts even when students are following the traditional linear approach to writing, they are still appropriating some devices. As one author once said, the only person who never appropriated or imitated anyone is Adam. Given this point, I wonder why some people would reject popular in the classroom. My point of view about this topic is that when teachers refuse students to write about popular culture – the culture they are exposed to everyday as part of their lives – students are deprived of making meaning of their lived experiences. They are denied to bring their sociocultural experiences into the classroom. This denial runs contrary to the conception that literacy is a sociocultural practice.
As a matter of fact, who decides what is authentic experience and what is not authentic experience? I am raising this question because the author explains that one reason some teachers do no want their students to write about popular culture is that they do not consider it authentic. This is ridiculous because fictional books which the very same teachers recommend to students are not real facts; they are fictional, and in that sense, they are not authentic. In fact, censoring students in terms of what they can or cannot write about amounts to authoritative power. Having said this, I must point out that I do not suggest that teachers should allow students to write about offensive and other demeaning topics. However, I maintain that as long as students write about topics that are not offensive and immoral in a given context, there is no need to censor.
As the author points out, not only does popular culture gives students a chance to write about topics and things that matter to them, but it also encourages them to experiment with multimodal composition. Given that we are living in the era of the new technologies where multimodal composition is becoming a norm than an exception, I maintain that creating opportunities that will allow students to develop these skills is one of the tasks that today’s teachers are expected to perform. In this, regard teacher can no longer claim that when they allow students to represent their writing through different semiotic tools, they are doing them a favor; they are doing precisely what they are expected to do. In this sense, when a student composes a text using words and drawings, drawings are not used to support the words; rather, they are a writing in their own right. Words, sounds, and images are all synchronized together to convey the whole story; one is not more important than the other. They all have an equally important effect on the writing. Evidently, this requires teachers to rethink their teaching of writing. It is a challenging task that we teachers are facing, but a challenge, I believe, we can take head on and do what is best for students.

Today is Tuesday the third week since we started with the writing project. Like the first and the second week, this week will go by like lightening. What have I accomplished? So much has been going on — video shooting, blogging, sharing of ideas with colleagues, the list goes on and on and on. But here is what I know for sure I have accomplished – getting a first hand experience in shooting video footage, importing the footage, and editing the video clips. They say the proof is in the pudding. This is particularly true for me; I experimented with the new technologies. While I had read and knew a lot about some of these technologies, I had never tried them personally. Because I am trying these technologies out, I now relate better to some of the things I have read about it. For example, before coming to the project I had read some studies that talk about challenges and successes in planning the use of technology. Right now, I am struggling with how I will harmonize the images, sounds, and words in my video. This is especially important because inasmuch as images convey a message, so do sounds and words. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out which music goes where and why. In other words, I was thinking about the effect of the music on the images and words. I have found out that harmonizing these elements successfully is no easy task if the video is to be a meaningful text. Interestingly, as challenging as this activity is, I am also having fun. I am really enjoying doing it. I’m looking forward to the finished product of the project.

I have just started reading one of the books that are part of prroject. Since I have not done much reading of the reading, it is still too early for me to know what exactly to expect from this book. However, from what I have read thus far, I can say that the book is about meaningful integration of  technology into the teaching of writing. I am using the word ‘meaningful’ because there is a section in the book that laments the reductive approach of some writing programs that use technology. According to the authors, these programs are nothing more than word-processing programs whose focus are on the writing mechanics, structure, organization, and spelling. They do not do justice to rhetorical features like voice. Furthermore, the authors complain that these programs tend to lean more on states standards; as a result, they fail to cater for authentic writing process that writing is supposed to be about. 

Another concern that the authors raise is that ,in general, most teachers are still not well prepared to teach writing. Here I am talking about traditional alphabetic writing, let alone writing that involves technology. In support of this assertion, the authors cite some studies such as that of Hillocks. Given the emphasis that reading is getting, this is not surprising; it is reading and not writing that is tested in most standardized statewide tests. If for the most part, curriculum drives instruction, then it comes as no surprise that writing is not getting as much attention as reading. 

I am impressed with the way the book is organized; it addresses all the levels – elementary through college. This is particularly important because students can write at any grade level and maturational stage. Even those that we may consider as too young, do write. Here one may think of emergent writers with their preconventional writing. Through this form writing, they understand that we write to convey messages. With the proliferation of the use of technology, these children are going to learn that in this era writing is no longer a linear process but a multimodal process. People use different modes to convey a message; they can use words, images, sounds. Also, there is no longer a fixed structure in writing; people no longer move from one paragraph to another; but they navigate texts in unpredictable ways. What comes to mind here are hypertext links.  Not only do people move between one word text to another, but they move between one mode to another; between word text to audio text and to images. Furthermore, as people compose they move from one genre to another. For example, a text may start as a narrative, then becomes persuasive and then argumentative. Apparently, there is the blurring of genres and modes. I am looking forward to learning more about how one can incorporate technology to make writing a meaningful and enriching experience for all involved. 

Today is the end of the first week since the beginning of the writing project. Well, the week has passed by without me even realizing it. Yes, this has been the week of technology and writing. It all started on Monday when we were assigned MacBooks. ” A MacBook?” I thought aloud to myself. “I wondered how I will cope since I am unfamiliar with it. Well, we got started. “It does not seem as intimidating as I have thought,” that was me talking to myself. Then came the second day. We received video cameras and tripods. I took a deep breadth. I had never used a video camera before. I held my breath, trusting myself, my colleagues, and of course, the fellows who were helping us with technology. I was right. In the very first task that were were assigned to do, my colleague’s knowledge about videos came in handy. She showed me how to take video shots. I was amazed at how fast I learned this process. I had thought that it was going to be a main challenge. Well, the third day came. Then it was time to learn to edit the videos we had taken the previous day. For some reason, my MacBook decided to act up on me; it just froze. It  meant that I was left behind since I could not follow the instructions that the fellow who assisted with us technology was giving to the group. When my computer eventually cooperated, I was already behind. Anyway, with the assistance of helpful fellows I was able to catch up with the group. I must admit, that day I did not cruise as I did the previous day. As a result, I began to panic. With the reassurance that I got from my colleagues and fellows, I felt confident again. Since Wednesday we have been editing our video clips. One of the things that I have learned and found fascinating is separating the video from sound. I am still not sure how to do this because I have not gotten enough practice. I am sure though that the more I do it, the more I will learn to do it. Learning how to incorporate technology in my writing is going to be an enriching experience, especially in this era where technology is influencing and even shaping our lives in ways that are unimaginable. As I immerse myself in the experience, I hope it is going to be worth it. 

Using technology to represent my writing process is another experience that is going to be new to me. I have never done anything like that. How am I going to do this? How am I going to synchronize music, images, and text? Should I write a script? All these are questions I am wrestling with right now. Because I believe that writing is also a social process, I decided to ask some friends to help me with brainstorming ideas for the writing process.  While our brainstorming  session was helpful in that it gave me some confidence about some of the things that I had jotted down, I am still not sure how exactly I am going to do my writing process. I am hoping that after tomorrow when we will have taken the shots, I will have a better idea of what I am doing. Right now, I am still struggling with ideas. 

 

 

Learning to read and write has been a struggle for me. This is particularly the case because I did not grow up in a community or family where there was a lot of reading and literacy engagement. I must hasten to say that this does not mean that we did not have our own literacy practices. We did. However, ours was different from those literacy practices that are common to most Western countries. Our grandparents, parents, and other elder members of the community narrated stories to us. It was from those stories that we learned story grammar, that is, how a story could be organized. In my own family, I remember my father telling us stories. My father was a great story teller. Sometimes when he wanted to talk to us, he would tell a story. There is this one that stood out to me; it still does even today. The story was about two boys who were siblings. They used to herd cattle together. One day one of them was bitten by a snake while looking after the cattle. Because of this incident, the family gave the boy special treatment; he stopped going to the fields and was  fed with amasi, that is, sour milk that is served with hard porridge. Hmm yum yum! To this day most children like amasi. In traditional Zulu culture milk was stored in a calabash in order to turn it into sour milk, amasi. Because this food is delicious we have a saying that goes “Angeke usinike esingaboni” ( Lit. You will hide the food from an old blind woman). It is no surprise that the other sibling felt jealous. He wanted to be fed with amasi. 

He thought very hard about what he could do in order to get the same attention that his brother was getting. It eventually dawned to him that he needed to go to the same place where his brother was bitten by a snake. He needed to find the snake. Once he finalized the idea, he woke up the following morning and set for the place where his brother was bitten by the snake. On the first day, he did not find the snake. The following day he tried again. Still, no luck. There next day, there was still nothing. When he was about to give up, what?  He couldn’t believe it!  He was beyond himself with joy. A big snake was under one of the big rocks. He approached the snake and teased it. Nothing happened; the snake just looked at him. He tried to infuriate the snake by pushing it with a stick, there was still no response. He threw stones at the snake, still nothing happened. Oh, what about this “Silwanyana silwanyana simehlwana  ndolwane awungilume nami ngongiwe ngamasi (Lit. An animal with sharp fiercesome eyes bite me so that I can also be fed with amasi, the sour milk.” The animal did not move. It stared at him. He sang the song again and again and again. When he was about to give up, “Ngofo!”, That was the adder biting the boy. What! He could not believe it!  At long last, his dream has come true.  Excitedly, he started to walk back home. 

“Oh, my God! What is this.? The pain? This cannot be happening?”  he thought aloud. “I need to get home. I need my mother to stop caring for my brother. Now, this is my turn now. The boy started having problem with breathing.  The pain was becoming more and more unbearable. When he was at the gate, he fell down. His mother came running to him as she called out the boy’s name. “Mandla, Mandla . . . ” Everyone came out running. There was the boy! The foam was everywhere in his mouth. “I have been bitten by a snake. Please help me!” He said with a faint voice. Was he dying? The family called for a traditional doctor to come and help with traditional medicine. By the time the doctor got there, it was too late. The boy had died. 

“Now, you see my children,” my father would say. “Do not be jealous when I do good things for others. You will all get a chance to receive attention.”

Up to this day, I have never forgotten this story. It was meaning-making. This was literacy but a different kind of literacy. 

 

It was funny to do all the activities this morning. I especially liked the activity on transparencies. I  hope we will be doing a lot of interesting activities like that one.

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