POP QUIZ:

1. POP QUIZ: Part One: Name These Five People: 3: 1: 2:

2. 4: 5: Write your answers down on a separate piece of paper, labeled by numbers 1 through 5. Now add numbers 6 through 10, and move onto the next section.

3. Now, name these five people: 7: 6: 8:

4. 9: When you are done, check your answers on the next page. 10:

5. Ernest Hemingway Charles Dickens John Steinbeck 4. Fyodor Dostoevsky 5. Algernon Charles Swinburne 6. Miley Cyrus (Singer/Actress) 7. “Snooki” (Reality TV Actor) 8. Justin Bieber (Singer) 9. “J Woww” (Reality TV Actor) 10. Farrah Abraham (Reality TV Actor) Answers: If you answered all correctly, then congratulations! You are a knowledgeable source on historical and contemporary authors alike. If you could only answer questions 1-5, keep patting yourself on the back. However, if you could only answer 6-10, you most likely have been robbed of a proper education, or have grown up the “I’ll just Google it” generation. What do all ten of these people have in common?

6. ALL OF THEM HAVE PUBLISHED BOOKS!

7. Two things Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Dickens, Steinbeck and Swinburne all have in common: They were taught with minimalistic values, and wrote about what they saw and what they knew, and it was completely original. Secondly, they are remembered as great literary classics; before the internet, SMART board, or I-pad were invented.

8. Farming is to Agriculture as Grammar is to Writing… There is not one without the other. If students are not subjected to in-class writing exercises guided by their teachers with the opportunity to converse with their peers, they will not gain a concrete understanding of the fundamentals of language that are crucial to maintaining a set of standards for written and verbal language that carry on into adulthood. Although there are limited studies on the benefits of writing with pen or pencil on paper as opposed to typing, there are many opinions in favor of the old-fashioned style. One study provided some promising results in favor of physical writing: “Researchers Anne Mangen, of the University of Stavanger in Norway, and Jean-Luc Velay, a French neuroscientist, said their research indicates the increase in digital writing in schools needs to be examined more closely… The researchers found that writing by hand is fundamentally different from typing on a computer, and people who are learning new letters—such as children learning to read for the first time, or as adults picking up a second language with new characters— retain the information best when writing the letters by hand, according to Velay’s research.The physical act of holding a pencil and shaping letters sends feedback signals to the brain. This leaves a ‘motor memory,’ which later makes it easier to recall the information connected with the movement, according to the study” (Saiyed, Gulnaz).

9. Use What You Already Have! (Books, that is). “After a great deal of debate in the last century over whether to teach grammar at all, most researchers now agree that grammar instruction can improve student writing if the grammar is taught ‘in context’ (Goode, 2000; Sams, 2003; Sedgwick, 1989)” (Di Tommaso, Kathrynn). Students are more likely to remember grammar lessons when they are learned through classroom activities that use a longer text, expanded over a continuous period of time. Bringing attention back to group and classroom activities using the curriculum texts gives the students an advantage of working with each other that is not as easily gained digitally.

10. Classroom Attention “The idea of just putting in a computer is a huge failure unless [schools] have a computer policy for teaching technology in the schools.” (Prabhu, Maya) -Alan Heaps, Vice President for Advocacy at the College Board The success of a classroom is dependent on the teacher’s ability to command their audiences attention – with or without the use of a computer. Using technology requires teacher-training on the use of the equipment as well as the implementation of a policy for usages and procedures. Additionally, there are inevitable follow-up costs for updating and maintaining equipment. Unless the teacher has a working knowledge of the digital equipment they are using in class, it can become a distraction to the class and once attention is lost, it is not easily regained.

11. Possible Problems Teaching English/Grammar/Writing to a classroom of students who know English as their first language, with some students who are learning English as a second language. It happens. Your job is to tweak things for them, you are a teacher– that’s what you’re supposed to do. While there are definite benefits and advantages to using digital aids for teaching writing to second-language learners, these benefits are only as effective as the teacher’s own understanding of the technology and it’s purposes. Not a lot of evidence supporting the thoughts that “Instant Messaging” speak is negatively affecting student’s writing; maybe because no one has sent an IM since 2006. Costs: They are inevitable. Budget money will go either to books, whiteboard markers, and other materials for the classroom (often comes out of teacher’s own pocket), or it will be spent on projectors, computer software, and other forms of digital learning that, unlike the trusty pen and paper method; WILL at one point or another experience malfunctions and take away valuable classroom time, and possibly funds that could be otherwise delegated to productive means.

12. Works Cited Di Tommaso, Kathrynn. "Research to Practice." National College Transition Network — Promising Practices: Learning from Developmental Education. NCTN, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2013. Prabhu, Maya. "Technology a Key Tool in Writing Instruction." Technology a Key Tool in Writing Instruction. ESchoolMedia & ESchoolNews, 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. Saiyed, Gulnaz. "Writing by Hand Better for Learning, Study Shows." Medill.Northwestern.edu. Medill Reports - Medill School of Journalism - Northwestern University, 27 Jan. 201`. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.