This I Believe

I believe that writing is essential in communicating ideas and beliefs. Writing allows you to organize your thoughts in a coherent manner. You are forced to organize what you want to say logically in sentences and paragraphs. I believe that writing is a permanent way to record your experiences such as the use of memoir or narratives. I personally have always loved to write. At least once every week I write in journal. I have always loved English classes and if I did not become a History major it is quite likely that I would have become an English major.

As a Teacher I require my students to write a great deal. I like to have the students reflect on what they have learned in their writing usually as an exit slip or in an essay. I think having students write frequently in the classroom allows them to become more comfortable with language and in many cases make better arguments for or against issues in our community.

New technologies have in may have made writing obsolete or at least it appears. But in reality it has just changed the basic formats of writing. For example many teachers are now assigning podcasts rather than written reports. This is a very effective medium for learning. I do have to admit that I can be quite "old school" in that I still want my students to write researched essays, editorials, and defend your position papers on top of producing podcasts and digital stories. Certainly, students write when they create podcasts and digital stories, but they don't necessarily write as formal as they would with a researched essay or more traditional forms of composition.