Salutations!
I know it has been a long time since writing, but I've picked up where I left off, only this time I'm moving from reading others primary texts to other forms of writing primary pieces. My earlier research about what constitutes that primary text for consumption revolutionized my beliefs about teaching. Yes, reading the text is reading, but I will always believe in other forms of consumption, but, what about producing other forms? What about after reading, listening, watching or playing the text? Well, you write a paper of course! Or do you have to write a paper? Is that the only way to synthesize your thoughts about a topic? Pencil and paper with a big, pink, rubber eraser? What I told you it is just as beneficial to your learning if you blog about? Act it out? Video record your research paper or draw a picture of the adjectives describing a character? We read, read, read and then we write, write, write, but are we learning? We consume so much, and we create so much, but we connect so very little. A bright, tenth grader can write a research paper about NASA and only the teacher and their two peer editors will ever read that paper. That may be the best paper they will ever write in their life, and it is filed away, read by only three or four people, it's now food for mice in the back of the filing cabinet. I piece of the best work a person will ever do is now only mouse food: left to be eaten bit by bit and never seen again. I want to resurrect those papers! Why shouldn't they a student be able to post their research paper on YouTube, and then share it on their Facebook wall, and after that post a link to it in their blog or email it to their grandma?
Why shouldn't my students feel published?
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