Anthology Submissions
My Long Submission
Editorial for Local Teachers and School Communities
By Greg Keehn, 12th Grade Teacher at Calumet High School
Put Pen to Paper and Save the Computer for Later!
The debate over traditional writing verses online writing is starting to grow in Region schools. The popularity of word processing and computer-based learning has left educators asking, “Should students write using pen and paper, or should they write using computers?” It is a fact of life that things change, but does this mean we should pursue change for change itself? Inherently, parents and educators want what they think is best for students; therefore, educators and their school communities have to decide which mode of writing is best for students. Which approach is best? The answer is pen and paper because traditional pen and paper writing produces better thinkers. .
Research about computer-based writing is relatively new whereas pen and paper have a long, prestigious record of producing good writers. Recent research on the effectiveness of computer writing has yielded mixed results. Researchers like Carolyn Wooten from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have found that a great deal of teacher support must accompany computer-based writing. Likewise, researchers at Sierra Nevada University discovered that students who write using computers tend not to remember what they write. In fact, another study from the International Journal of English Studies found that computer writing lacks effectiveness without the support of sophisticated keystroke and recording technology. Computers cannot emulate the process of traditional pen and paper writing. Do students really need to use computers for writing when handwriting has proven most effective over the past five hundred years? The answer is no! Pen and paper writing is still the most efficient way to teach students the process of planning and revising writing as well as thinking.
Teachers should have students write with pen and paper because doing so encourages a more organic writing process. Using a computer to write tends to result in a more linear process of writing and thinking. An inherent pitfall of word processors is that writing becomes an “all or nothing” proposition. Instead of thinking and compiling thoughts and ideas, student writers press the delete button in place of working out problems with their written works. The limitations and restrictions of word processing software make the computer-based writing process more rigid and less flexible. Gone is the ease of idea and concept movement needed to produce good writing and thinking. According to Dr. Carolyn Boiarsky, a professor at Purdue University Northwest, students who possess superior writing skills are held back by the ”linear” process that the delete button and backspace key impose on young writers. Don’t students need to be global and adaptive thinkers? Do we really want them to approach all of life’s obstacles with a linear mindset? Do we want students to delete good ideas just because those ideas don’t seem to fit? While we want students to be dynamic thinkers, we do not want them to dispose of their written ideas on a whim. Some of the best expressions, ideas, and sayings started life out as writers’ misplaced or imperfect creations. Would the original Star Trek be as famous without its split infinitive “to boldly go where no man has gone before?” If the delete button and backspace key had existed in the 1960’s, would Gene Roddenberry’s inspiring misuse of English have become part of television history? As Boiarsky says, “Language that sounds good should be given a chance.” That is why pen and paper can’t be beat.
Pen and paper writing should be the dominate mode of writing in American schools because according to Dr. Boiarsky, “Writing should be a messy process!” Boiarsky believes that the writing process is diminished and corrupted by a writer’s urge to delete text. To demonstrate the power and flexibility of pen and paper writing, Boiarsky uses pieces of her own writing in her classroom to demonstrate how cutting and pasting can fix choppy writing and misplaced ideas. With what she calls “recursive writing,” Boiarsky shows students how to maintain the structure and integrity of writing without computers. The question we have to ask ourselves is do we want to produce a generation of thinkers or ideas killers. While computers are useful for producing finished products, using pen and paper allows ideas to take shape without the temptation to hit the delete button. Computers should be used to augment pen and paper writing and the writing process, but technology should not replace traditional writing.
So when it comes to teaching writing, teachers should stick with the tried and true tools: pen and paper. These should be the main tools for writing because using pen and paper fosters thinking and forces students to work-out the problems that arise during writing. While the pen and paper are more conducive to the writing process, computers do have a place in writing as well. Students should use computers to publish their writing. In today’s world, finished writing must be polished and professional-looking, and students need to how word process. However, we should not allow the linear format and function of word processing to be imposed on the thinking that should occur during the writing process. By resisting the urge to use word processing , teachers can teach writing in a way that fosters thinking and idea development so that students become thoughtful thinkers and active citizens. As teachers and parent, don’t you think that creating critical thinkers should be the underlining goal of education? So let’s put pen to some paper, and save the computer for later!
Short Submission 1
The School Fool
by Greg Keehn
I’ve no need of school,
because I’m so damn cool.
These are the words of a fool
because school is your one true tool.
Sitting on stools isn’t always cool.
Listening to that creature that
we call the teacher can be
a pain, a chore, and even a bore
I’ve no need of school;
this is not the rule.
Life is like a game of pool
without the tools, it’s not very cool.
So come ye to school, you fool
so that you learn that golden rule,
that only a fool thinks he’s no need for school,
and that is what make him a fatal fool.
Short Submission 2
Journal 6/21/16
By Greg Keehn
The birth of youngest son changed my life forever. It marked a turning point in my adult life because his birth forced me to grow-up on an emotional level. Before Max’s birth, I was what some call a “rugged individualist;” rarely, did I ask for help or advice from anyone because I thought that I had things pretty well figured out. Then came this little being without instructions or diagnostics, a puzzle that I was going to have to figure-out.
From toilet training to feeding, I was forced to change and learn. Calls to my mom, dad, and brother followed. Advice from my wife was sought daily. Yes, this beautiful little gift made his daddy admit that I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.
Today, my sons, Max and Ethan, continue to humble me with their questions and inquiries. I try to answer them when I know, but when I don’t, I say, “I don’t know, but maybe we can find-out together.”
*All submissions are below!