Catherine's+Response+to+Readings

The first sentence of our book claims, ‍"Teachers have always had a consuming interest in the tools of writing." ‍I have to say from the time I was a small child I loved the smell of freshly sharpened Ticonderga #2 pencils. ‍ There is still nothing quite like finding the perfect pen, with just the right glide over a smooth surface of paper. Blogging/wiki platforms and Google Docs delight me in much the same way. I can spend hours exploring the publishing and collaborating options each provides, and although ‍I am a "digital immigrant" with a clumsy accent ‍, I am intrigued by the ‍"new kind of writing space" ‍ our authors describe. I am happy to reconsider the familiar concepts of audience, purpose, product and welcome the new idea of "rhetorical situation."

== I appreciate the architecture the authors provide by considering the //Functional/Critical/Rhetorical// dimensions of digital writing (p. 13-14). The structure helps me "rethink" what I know about the teaching/learning of writing, and identify my main interest which falls in //Critical// skill category: == On a personal and professional level, technology provides more publishing possibilities, expands my sense of audience, and helps me define my purposes in writing. As always, engaging in writing activities helps me clarify and organize my thinking in meaningful ways. The real power in technology though, is the capacity it provides for collaboration. As a result of technology, my writing has become less an isolated act of meaning-making, and more a "socially situated" attempt to share and communicate understandings. Technology has allowed me to extend my "community of writers" and has allowed me to elicit responses in new ways. I still enjoy nothing more than the intimacy of sitting side-by-side, in the same room, with a respected colleague, pouring over a manuscript I've written in order to improve my writing. My favorite role as writing teacher is gathering with a small group of students in "response groups." I continue to be fascinated by the skills and language required to respond effectively to writers. But, technology has allowed me to consider new ways of gathering response, new ways of co-authoring, and afforded new choices of "rhetorical situations."
 * Promote the understanding of both writing and technology as complex, socially situated, and political tools through which humans act and make meaning (p. 13).

Now, not only do I have assembled in front of me a book, a favorite pencil and pad of paper, I have new platforms to consider. Wikis, blogs, Google Docs each offer slight differences in capabilities. In order to learn the differences, and make the best choice for my purpose, I need to play. It is through play, in addition to confronting the demands of my particular writing contexts that I have slowly increased my fluency in the use of digital tools. As a result, I am more engaged in the "participatory culture" our authors describe (p. 24), and my writing is more often "public and interactive from the earliest stages (p.21). On a practical note, our authors have provided a useful list of ideas, //A Sampler of Writing Process Strategies as Enghanced by Digital Tools// (p. 50-53), that will help us guide our students in their exploration of digital tools. In particular, I am interested in the idea of soliciting feedback from my readers by highlighting or commenting on my own work.

** Chapters 3&4 **
The analogy of //digital ecology//, and the idea of "sustainability" in relation to the teaching of technology is a force-fit for me. I do see a need for "technology advocates" in our schools, but I'm much happier using the word "stewardship" when we're talking about watersheds, or dune ecology than digital environments.