Pedagogical practices (i.e. strategies, activities, Web 2.0 tools, etc.) for writing integration

Language arts is a dreaded subject for many students.  All that white space on a blank sheet of paper just waiting to be filled.  It can be overwhelming for some students.  The good news is that there are better ways to get students engaged and excited about writing.  If you look at a students daily life it is filled with writing.  Things like texting, Facebook and other social media outlets take up huge chunks of our students time.  Many times you  hear the complaint that kids today are not communicating face to face but on-line through - WRITING!  We as teachers need to keep this in mind when we complain that our kids hate to write.   They don't hate to write they just want to write about things they are interested in and in ways that mean something to them.   Web 2.0 tools are great ways to encourage kids to write in fun ways.  Glogster allows students to use their visual creativity while writing.  Allowing students to write a blog could be fun for them because they could imagine themselves becoming the next great blogger.  They could be right. Bookemon is amazing and they can easily give the finished products to friends and family.  These tools also allow students to place more focus on their creativity.  Writing can seem very detached from the creative process for some kids but I think if they are writing in a creative format like glogster or bookemon they may see the connection.

I allowed my son, who hates anything to do with handwriting, to do his homework on Glogster and he was so excited.   He had to do the exact same work but it was fun creating a glog.  I am sure there are many kids like him who just need an added element of excitement to make school work fun.  When school work is fun kids work harder.

I also like the idea that writing assignments don't have to be long and complicated.  Just getting kids in the habit of writing down their thoughts - big or small - is so helpful.  It takes some of the anxiety out of the writing process.

We as teachers need to find ways to reach our students where they are and engage them in the learning process.  I think including web 2.0 tools in the writing process is an excellent way to do this.