Before committing to an inquiry question, I wanted to get a feel for my classes and frame my question in such a way that I would be meeting the needs of my students. This is an unusual year for me. For 13 years I have taught Grade 8 ELA, 2 accelerated classes and 3 heterogeneous classes. Due to an unusually small 8th grade class, we had an opportunity this year to target at-risk students by providing small classes with extended literacy instruction. I have two of these groups of students this year in addition to my 2 accelerated classes.
A word about our school, the James F. Doughty School in Bangor: We are one of two middle schools in the city, but our demographics are vastly different. Last year 68% of our students qualified for free or reduced lunch. This year we believe we'll surpass 70%. I'm sure many of you are teaching similar populations. BUT, we have a lot to be proud of. For the past 5 or 6 years we have worked hard to create a culture of literacy by instituting new programs to get kids reading. Our reading scores have climbed every year (and as an aside, we were just named last week one of 2 Blue Ribbon Schools in the state), but I feel that our writing curriculum has suffered as a result. Of the 15 students in my 2 "alternative" classes, I would label 12 of them as reluctant writers based on a survey about writing I had them complete as well as an initial writing assignment. (Ugh!) The good news is that they are nearly ALL readers, so my goal is to turn them onto writing. Some of my goals include using Moodle for e-journaling and blogging, allowing more collaborative writing (wikis), writing for an authentic audience, creating multi-media presentations, and allowing more student choice.
So, here's a stab at my question: HOW DOES DIGITAL WRITING AFFECT RELUCTANT WRITERS?
I have a lot to work on! I need to become more comfortable with Moodle (any experts out there?), investigate safe on-line publishing options for students (such as Fan Fiction), and learn much more about digital story telling, creating comics, podcasts, etc.
I'm really excited to be working with these 2 groups of students. They were carefully chosen and grouped so that they would feel safe and connected to school. They are trying to stay in school and do well against all odds. Any and all advice is welcomed!
What a cool class and opportunity! On your inquiry-are you wondering how it will affect both motivation and skills? My advice would be to start out slowly. Like reluctant readers, you have to build stamina. Writing for 3 minutes is fine, and then after a couple of days move up to 5 minutes of sustained writing, etc. Even if they are using engaging technology, if they have no writing stamina it might become frustrating. I can imagine why you are so excited, I can't wait to hear about their progress!
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