Student Author Discussions

As a language arts teacher, one of the most important things I want to instill in my students is the belief that they are writers. Although all students typically write on a daily basis in school, they generally do not consider themselves to be writers. Instead, they write for their teachers in hopes that they receive a good grade (following all of the teacher’s expectations). Writing becomes a chore to students; something that they only do when it is required. In order to break this vicious writing cycle, it is important that students be treated as professional writers. Utilizing a social networking tool, students can create their own author profile and interact with other student writers in and outside of the immediate classroom.

The social networking tool that I would choose to use in order to implement this and other educational lessons is Ning.com. Ning gives teachers the ability to control what is posted and viewed by students and is already used by many teachers across the nation. I am currently using Ning.com to communicate with other educators who are involved in a year-long professional development opportunity called the Literary Consortium. On the first day of the conference, educators interviewed each other. Since then, our interviews have been posted to our profile page so that we can learn about all attendants of the conference. We are able to communicate about topics that are covered in the conference in a closed network that outside Ning users do not have access to. Using Ning as a social networking tool in the classroom is safe, simple, and effective when there is a need for student collaboration.

One way that I would use Ning in my own classroom would revolve around student writing. Once students were finished a writing piece (narrative, essay, interview, poem, etc.), they would post their final product to their Ning account. Students would create author profiles about themselves based on their experiences with writing. The Ning account would give students the ability to advertise their own writing to other student authors. Once the writing pieces were posted, students would then have the opportunity to read other student writing. Students would then post questions or comments about the writing to the student author’s Ning page. This would give students the ability to read, analyze, and respond to other student writing. At the same time, students would receive feedback on their own writing. Peer feedback is often more significant than teacher feedback to young authors. By using a social networking tool, students would be able to receive a large amount of peer feedback and be able to reflect on other student writing simultaneously.

The Ning network could be created for all of my language arts classes. However, if other teachers were interested, the network could include as many student writers as needed. In my school, I am one of three seventh grade language arts teachers. All of our students wrote a narrative at the beginning of the year. The narratives are displayed in the library for students and teachers to read. We discussed developing an “Ask the Author” unit where our students would first read the narratives from another class. Then on a select day, classes would come together to discuss the stories with the authors. Unfortunately, the difference in schedules between our classes hindered this process. Some classes would not be able to participate because there is not another language arts class during their period on any day. However, through social networking, students could discuss their writing with each other without needing to be together at the same time.

It is essential for teachers who use social networking in their classroom to be fully aware of the problems that they may face when using this technology. Giving students the opportunity to use social networking will give them the freedom to communicate with each other at will. Teachers must discuss the importance of using positive feedback when responding to peer writing. If students use their social networking capabilities to bully or negatively impact each other, then the usefulness of any lesson is depleted. In order to be sure that students are using the social networking tool appropriately, teachers must give clear expectations. Permission forms should be sent home for parents to sign so that families are aware of the online activities their children will be involved in. More importantly students should sign a detailed consent form agreeing to the rules that are in place regarding social networking.

Below are statements that students would need to agree with prior to using social networking in the classroom. (Taken from my district’s technology consent form and adapted for the purposes of the lesson above)

1.I will only use the social networking site (Ning.com) for educational purposes.
2.I will only use appropriate language and polite responses when responding to peer writing.
3.I will not post unethical, illegal, immoral, inappropriate, or obscene material.
4.I will not disclose, use, or disseminate personal information.
5.I will respect network security and not attempt to bypass it.
6.I will treat the computer with care and respect.