THE STORY OF A TWITTER CHAT: REINVENTING WRITING IN THE 21st CENTURY

Yesterday, I joineed #satchatwc on Twitter moderated by acclaimed blogger Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher, who is also the author of Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools That Are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever.  This is a must-read book by all English teachers who want to learn more about the key shifts in writing instruction necessary to move their students forward in today’s world utilizing digital tools. Personally, I can say that it helped me a lot to update the way I teach writing. Her slideshare and her blog post about her book will give you a better picture why it must be on your bookshelf. In the video below you can listen to Vicki giving tips on how to reinvent writing.

As you can imagine, yesterday’s #satchatwc was based on Reinventing Writing. Vicki kindly started by helping the new participants how to join the chat. Here is her video to join and follow a twitter chat with any hashtag showing you how to use the free Hootsuite and free Twubs services.

She then posted 6 questions for the participants:

Finally, the discussion started. Wow, I was amazed by the enthusiasm of the teachers, the quality and the rapid flow of the discussion. I don’t believe that I have learned so many things in such a short time. All teachers agreed on the fact that writing electronically is an essential part of the 21st century education, adding that students’ motivation for writing has increased with the integration of tech tools. Moreover, technology makes collaborative writing much easier.

Students need to understand how to hyperlink, create infographics, select graphics, curate video as part of writing. A well rounded writer is experienced with many tools and selects the best one for the creative task at hand. One teacher recommended using ThingLink.com  as it allows students to use pics and annotation, as well as links and video.

Moreover, students need a community of writers and an audience as they make a huge difference in engagement & excitement. Digital brochures, posters, Prezis, multimedia help kids reach their audience. Many teachers agreed that students are more engaged and motivated when they are writing for an authentic audience.

Some teachers suggested asking students for ideas to write about as it is also important & empowering for them, adding that that the more authentic the task is, the more engaged the students are. They said it is important to teach writing for life that extends far beyond graduation as a reflective & life practice! They focused on the concept of teaching students to share their voice rather than teaching writing. In that respect, blogging and other social media tools and platforms introduce a whole new level of relevance to kids’ writing to build passion, purpose, and fun. Tweeting is also good writing practice as it forces the habit of concise expression and connects students to the world.

Nearly all teachers agreed that writing doesn’t have to be the old 5 paragraph essay all the time because students should understand different styles of writing for different purposes. They should be exposed to mentor texts and real world writing that is not essay writing! The more students are interacting, talking & storytelling, the richer their written words will be! Consequently, writing should be a daily habit enabling them to be creative and express their thoughts.

Many teachers said that writing should be integrated across content areas each day, emphasizing the benefits of urging students to produce more curricular pieces of personal interest in ELA classes. They agreed on providing high quality literacy instruction with reading and writing happening daily in the classroom as reading & writing across the curriculum is a powerful way to improve literacy across the curriculum. Therefore, it is a must to design a curriculum where writing is integrated, not taught in the isolation of the ELA block.

While discussing creative writing, a teacher suggested a wonderful website, Write About, a website offering visual writing ideas for students at all ages and different interests  to spark their curiosity and imagination. I will definitely use it with my students together with Noisli which plays ambient sounds to create a mood for creative writing.

Twitter chats are great for learning, exchanging and sharing ideas. After all, as Steven Anderson says: