Title Ideas

I just spent some time looking over the group project and have been thinking about titles again. Why are titles so hard? Anyway...here are a few ideas:

• Writing Revelations
• The Evolution of Words

Yancey and Selfe

I can't believe this is our last blog! Time sure does fly. Thanks for a great semester everyone.

As I read both of the pieces this week, one main theme stood out to me: the need to incorporate multi-modalities within the traditional composition classroom. 

Although Selfe focuses on aurality and Yancey discusses technologies in general, both women share the concern that the look and feel of a composition classroom, its students, and methods of teaching how to write and what constitutes as writing, needs to be addressed. There are many questions surrounding the definition of writing as we move forward.

Another similarity both articles address is that the use of traditional writing combined with the inclusion of multimedia, can enhance the message and creativity of compositions. Selfe demonstrated this with the examples she included (I read this article a while back for another class and was able to check out her links-some very impressive work), and Yancey with her sidebar explanations of how she enhanced her own speech with visuals and lighting. Both again, share the belief that teaching writing in this manner has the ability to reach out to populations of students who normally struggle or do not do well in composition classes. 

As with any new shifts in education, there are complications. Teacher training, or lack there of, is a main concern. How do teachers learn about all of these wonderful tools at their fingertips? Training needs to be provided for them, and it often is not. Therefore, many students do not gain or benefit from the use of working with multi modalities. In addition, there may be time constraints due to curriculum guidelines. Yancey calls for curriculum reform. This would allow for jam-packed curricula to be updated to allow for new writing opportunities.

As I read these articles, I couldn't help thinking about our own class and the pieces that we are constructing for our final project. This project is coming to life with the use of technology, aurality, many types of visuals, and written text. I think we provide a great model for the points Yancey and Selfe are addressing.