Education reform must start with literacy, particularly writing. Without commendable writing skills, children are doomed to a life of poverty. Writing is essential for obtaining a good paying job, and for promotions. Employers are complaining about the poor writing skills of recent college graduates, which I believe the Information Age is to blame. The Information Age has its pros and cons, but I feel at this moment text messaging, commenting on Myspace and other social networking, as well as e-mailing are lowering the standards for written communications.

Even informal writing should be gramatically correct. Kids do not see the connection between classroom writing and these informal methods. Every year, more and more words are left out of the dictionaries and thesaurus, and they have become foreign to students. Children are lacking passion because they do not realize the power that lies between their ears. If they knew they had a brilliant mind, and didn’t fear the nit-picking teacher holding the red pen, then children would be able to move to the next level of success.

I understand that science and mathematics is important in the Information Age; however, writing is twice as important. What bothers me is the lack of writing skills in teachers, even English teachers. Why do school systems push writing out of the curriculum rather than making it the center of instruction? When children write about a topic, it requires higher-order thinking skills and research skills as well. Students need to learn how to synthesize information– one of the recommendations of Thomas L. Friedman in his bestselling book, The World is Flat. I believe that American’s role in this shift during this Digitial Age is the ability to write and speak commendably. Over the years I have provided PD for my writing program, Choices i Control, and have noticed a disturbing trend. When I started out training teachers on how to incorporate my writing method in the classroom, I assumed that most teachers knew how to write. I begin requesting writing samples from teachers, and requiring them to use my templates to construct their own 5-paragraph essays. When asking volunteers to think of a creative way to write one sentence, just one sentence, there was dead silence. Teachers were embarrassed to share their writing with the rest of the group. I saw the colossal errors present in 85% of their writing, and knew that it would be a challenge implementing my program if I didn’t start providing teachers with a refresher course in writing.

I am trying to gain support for a new initiative called Teachernology. Here is a description of what I plan to do: Teachernology™ is a live remote professional development program for educators, which provides intensive training on incorporating technology use in the classroom and writing across the curriculum. Teacher + Knowledge + Technology equals a powerful combination for closing the Achievement Gap and bridging the Digital Divide. Writing is in a state of emergency in American school systems, and is a major contributing factor to unemployment and poor business writing skills among Americans in all industries and fields. The Information Age is here, yet American schools continuously employ outdated 40+ year-old teaching tactics and socially irrelevant curriculums from the Industrial Age. American children are falling behind, lacking the basic writing skills necessary for authentic self-expression and higher-order thinking. Teachernology™ uses the highly successful i Control Writing Method™ to enhance the writing skills of teachers and students, and provides practice and sharing with interactive webzines. Teachernology™ for Educators is an interactive webzine for teachers and district administrators written by Teachernology™ participants of the remote professional development program. Teachers expand their own writing skills by publishing articles, which focus on best practices for technology use in the classroom and high impact writing instruction across the curriculum.

Teachernology™ for Kids is a webzine for elementary aged children written and designed by the students of Teachernology™ participants. Children write high-interest articles while sharing ideas and diverse viewpoints, expressing their voices creatively. Teachernology™ for Teens is a webzine and social networking site for teenagers written and managed by middle school and high school students of Teachernology™ participants. Teenagers practice their writing and verbal communications skills through written, audio, and video blogging, discussion boards, live chat rooms, instant messaging and weekly writing competitions. Teens learn formal and informal writing techniques necessary for digital communication.

The Teachernology™ Awards Program provides students and teacher participants with rewards and incentives of both intrinsic and extrinsic value. Both teacher participants and students build online portfolios of their writings, showcasing their successes to the world, and serving as inspiration for writers and their audiences. Doug, I would love your feedback, since this is your expertise. I am also looking at both Obama and McCain’s plans for education, and I see nada about increasing or improving writing instruction. I published a video blog about it here: My Video Blog Look forward to getting your feedback. Peace Rachel Kenyata Armour AKA Kenyata Truth

Thinking this may be one of the more profound reminders I’ve had all week. How often do we overlook what is vital in the name of standards? I’m thinking that isn’t what we intended to accomplish with standards, but it is indeed what often happens. Great points.

Loved the surprise ending. This week must have felt good