Comments on: Some Questions on Composition

By: Teach Writing

Teach Writing — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:50:36 +0000

The age of writing? No. The age of communication? Yes. That being said, there is very little difference between writing and most any other form of communication. The thought process that works in one form of communication will work in most any form of communication.

Most of what is wrong in the world today is wrong because of poor communication. If anything has changed, it is that people don’t have the time to figure out what the other person is trying to say.

The only way I know to teach good communication is to teach good writing. From there you have a base to build on.

Has anything changed in what is important in writing? I think it has always been about achieving the purpose of the communication. If your audience is about to hop on a plane, you either have to get right to the point, or be so compelling that they will miss their flight.

We have always taught students to write to their audience. The audience has changed, but not so much the writing process. Write to your audience. I think it is easier for kids to understand their audience than ever before.

By: Writing: Are we Teaching it Wrong? «Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Writing: Are we Teaching it Wrong? «Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:10:49 +0000

[...] connective writing. Bud has already led me to some key resources. He's also wrestling with some great questions. Again, I'm not suggesting that the writing process, 6 +1 Traits of Writing isn't valuable. [...]

By: David Truss

David Truss — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:56:43 +0000

This hit me to the core:
That we now have more tools for making marks, and that we have new kinds of marks – photographs, videos, complex visualizations – doesn’t make the essential task of making meaning any easier.
I see so many student ‘presentations’ that are ‘pretty’ but lack composition. Sometimes I think technology just decorates mediocrity. As we begin to focus more on the quality of the writing, we will see the true power of technology to share great work… be it a tweet by an aspiring poet or a master’s thesis by a thought leader published in an open journal, (rather than a stuffy journal buried in the isles of a distant library).
David Truss´s last [type] ..First Day of School 2010 &8211 a Google Search Story

By: Bud Hunt

Bud Hunt — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:58:21 +0000

Kristin,

Glad you found me. It’s a good place to be. That said, I’m going to completely disagree – what made that poem precious wasn’t where it was published – any idea where it was first published? It’s how it resonated. I don’t think the place of publication matters as much as the text.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:41:02 +0000

Wow. I was on the hunt for blogs of people involved with St. Vrain’s to get an idea of the culture in the school district. (I’m a PIE candidate hoping to find a home in one of your Language Arts classrooms!) Boy, did I find a gem with your blog!

William Carlos Williams wrote a poem called “Red Wheelbarrow.” It is 90 characters total. Twitter allows 140. If it had originally appeared on Twitter, would we teach it in our classrooms? Probably not, simply because I think it would be lost in the shuffle. Twitter isn’t really made for literature. A solid quotable? Maybe. Poetry? A shakier maybe. Although I have friends who write 140 character stories, I have yet to see one that I would read anywhere but my computer screen. Are they all still compositions? Yes… many in the same way that the National Enquirer is considered a “newspaper.”

By: Healigan

Healigan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:43:38 +0000

Bud: I don’t have any answers to these questions, but I am thinking about them always. The one that causes me the least agita is “what is composition?” because I still recognize authentic writing when my kids produce it. They recognize it too, when they produce good writing, and when they read it. It can be a tweet, a blog post, an essay, a letter, a comment on facebook, an iMovie or podcast, all of these and more. All of them have their foundation in clear thinking about a topic, an understanding of the audience, and knowledge. Teaching it is not always exciting, but when we work, the good writing happens, no matter the tools or medium.
I teach high school, so I am not a believer in the dictum that learning will always be fun. By high school, work is involved–in writing, in learning, in teaching, in life. Learning together MUST be engaging, but work is work. Good writing is work. Most good things in life come from work: on a page, on an iPad, in a tweet, in a blog post, and all the new forms to come. (I just noticed old media are “on” and new media are “in” hmmm)

By: Tweets that mention » Some Questions on Composition Bud the Teacher -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention » Some Questions on Composition Bud the Teacher -- Topsy.com — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:46:46 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by KevinHodgson, Franki Sibberson. Franki Sibberson said: RT @dogtrax: @budtheteacher has a great post as he mulls over what we mean by "composition" these days http://bit.ly/9RDfQ6 #nwp [...]

By: Kevin Hodgson

Kevin Hodgson — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:27:21 +0000

Bud
Great post, and it is such an important idea: what is composition these days anyway? While so much of it is rooted in how we have always done it (writing remains at the heart of communication), our definitions of composition are always in shift, it seems.

You write that we need to “….convey the power of language and to help make our students critical participants in the literacies and literatures of our/their/our futures/our pasts.”

That’s it in a nutshell for me.

Kevin
Kevin Hodgson´s last [type] ..The Return of Day in a Sentence

By: Should Students Be Required to Blog? « Open Teacher Talk

Should Students Be Required to Blog? « Open Teacher Talk — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:21:26 +0000

[...] of making connections; i.e. “Connective writing” as discussed by Will Richardson and Bud Hunt. Do you require your students to blog? July 22nd, 2010 | Tags: 7 days | Category: [...]

By: Tweets that mention » Some Questions on Composition Bud the Teacher -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention » Some Questions on Composition Bud the Teacher -- Topsy.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:43:25 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bud Hunt, Michael Josefowicz and Paul W. Hankins, Michael Josefowicz. Michael Josefowicz said: @budtheteacher thx for http://bit.ly/ajtP0j Yes! "Writing has never been more important than in this digital age." Got time for a quick Q? [...]