"Ms. Davidson herself was appalled not long ago when her students at Duke, who produced witty and incisive blogs for their peers, turned in disgraceful, unpublishable term papers." (Heffernon, August 7, 2011).
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This quote stuck out to me because I felt as if I could really relate to it. When I am talking to friend or telling a story, whether it is in person, over the phone, texting, or emailing I have no problem communicating the message I want to get across. On the other hand, when I am trying to write a term paper, getting my point across becomes much more difficult. I think that more assignments should be more like "free writing" than giving it an intimidating title such as "term paper." This would help students to relax and maybe even enjoy writing when it is assigned.
Reference:
Heffernan, V. (2011, August 7). Education needs a digital upgrade. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/education-needs-a-digital-age-upgrade/?hp
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Below is a link to an article further explaining what Virginia Heffernan believes and is trying to explain to students, parents and teachers.
That is such a great point. You're right. When I'm writing on my friends wall or texting them I have no problem but the intimidation factor of a FINAL PAPER or TERM PAPER scares students and makes it harder for them to write and get their thoughts out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, there's something about using the computer and cell phones that gives a sense of freedom. When your teacher assigns a "term paper", it automatically puts students in a certain frame of mind, and they sort of shut down their creative abilities. If students can think of it as more of a "want to" rather than "need to" paper, it could produce better quality "term papers".
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same way with papers. "Free writing" would be something that you could tell your class to get some stress of their chest. When I hear a teacher tell me I got a 4-6 page paper due soon I know I start freaking out.
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