Writing Mind Patterns

The Flower-Hayes article looked at how the brain begins the writing process.  Writers do not just write down what they say onto a piece of paper, but there is a complex process occurring as they write.  One of the main processes that occur is a central goal.  Depending on the writer, the main goal can be well laid out, like a complex road or really unclear.  The more you write the clearer the goal and the level of the process becomes second nature.  Younger writers have to practice concepts that older writers have internalized.  Overall, the brain checks and modifies as it creates a body of ideas and knowledge it has synthesized from our brain.  The process of writing creates a process of learning that is much more important than what other theorists have assumed.  All types of writing create a system of learning, also a reshaping of ideas into our own that builds our levels of information and how we process knowledge. 

                 Janet Emig’s article looks at the importance of writing compared to the other types of linguistic usage.  The article categorizes how writing works with language, reading and listening.  How does writing occur?  Writing is a process of verbal ideas being written down into a formal product.  She defines how talking and writing work together and how they define themselves.

                The last article by Janet Eldred, was based on how can education has swung from formal text to incorporating technology was an interesting piece added to the mix.  Mostly, technology has been seen as a minor annoyance that must not be tolerated or as English teachers we are selling our English souls to the enemy.  I have known teachers who refuse to use technology because they want to “teach the classics” or “keep the classroom as a natural learning environment”, seems to me they are simply coming up with ways to hold onto the past and deny the future.  You can still “teach the classics” like the article says but add clip art or blogging.  Also by keeping the classroom environment “natural” technology is becoming a natural part of our everyday society.  You rarely go anywhere now days and not see someone on a phone or laptop.  The article does not try to draw a line in the sand and say the teachers who refuse technology will be left behind, but suggest everyone can find some small way to make it to OZ.

                It took some time for me to understand why Dr.D put all these articles together, but I found common ground among all three.  The first two describe how writing is a fundamental part of our learning process and how it is crucial to how we think and discuss.  The last article deals with technology integration into the writing classroom and how our society’s technology usage is slowly becoming integrated and absorbed into our minds and bodies.  Just like writing, technology will become an essential cog in our writing process and without it our main goal will remain a vague one.

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