Dave Kemper has been a Contributing Partner with Write Source since 1986. He has co-authored the complete line of Write Source handbooks and writing texts. In addition to his editorial work, Dave has presented at national writing conventions and has conducted writing workshops across the country. His latest project is writing weekly blog entries for UpWrite Press, Write Source’s sibling company, in which he explores a variety of business-writing topics. Prior to his work with Write Source, Dave taught literature and writing for eleven years.
In today’s world, 21st-century skills are all the talk. We heard it first from business leaders who apparently have been disappointed by the quality of recent graduates, not because they aren’t intelligent or eager to do a good job, but because they don’t take enough initiative or they don’t seem creative enough to meet the ever-changing demands of the new business world.
Now we are hearing the same from educators. We are told from all corners that our students need to be tech-savvy communicators, innovators, problem solvers, critical thinkers, and on and on. Numerous educational reports, studies, online chats, and conferences focus on this subject. Essentially, 21st-century skills have become the siren call in education. (more…)
In his inaugural address, President Obama expressed his hope that all Americans take a renewed interest and pride in their country, that they become responsible citizens with a focus on the common good.
All new presidents express this same hope in one form or another when they are about to take office. Any one who remembers John F. Kennedy will never forget his famous inaugural appeal: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (more…)
“Your sense of freedom and play will infuse your writing with energy, and that energy will make your words enjoyable to read.”
—Jack Heffron, author of The Writer’s Idea Book
I still remember, even after all these years, sitting in Ms. Nowitski’s Advanced English class as a high school junior. She was having us develop a research paper following the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee research guide. She waxed eloquently about research skills and, of course, stressed the importance of understanding everything about the research process so we could—ahem—succeed at the next level. (more…)
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein
In one of my recent blog entries—”Just Imagine“—I stressed the importance of creative thinking in the classroom. Since then, I’ve done a bit of research on creativity, focusing mainly on the artistic process.
I first turned to “Thinking Like an Artist” in Mind Matters: Teaching for Thinking by Dan Kirby and Carol Kuykendall. This book has been around awhile (Heinemann, 1991), but it’s still one of the first things I turn to when I have thinking on my mind. (more…)
It’s somewhat ironic; just as I was about to post this blog about helping struggling writers, I read “Best Practices: Students in the Driver’s Seat” by Anthony Cody (Teacher Magazine, January 14, 2009). Cody promotes inquiry-based instruction and problem-based learning, two practices that give students a great deal of control over their learning. I, too, advocate these practices and have, in fact, written about inquiry-based instruction myself: “That’s a Good Question” (October 6, 2008) and “Planning Less, Learning More” (October 23, 2008). (more…)
Reading “Teacher Leader Resolutions for 2009” (Teacher Leaders Network 1/7/09) prompted me to create my own wish list for the upcoming year. My list focuses on what I’d like to see students accomplishing in the writing classroom. (more…)
“To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.”
—Anatole France
Creativity is the metaphoric power of a nine-year-old who calls her unkempt Shih Tzu a “dirty ol’ dust mop.” It’s the vision of a photographer who sees Easter Island sculptures in a series of back-alley shadows. And it is the inventiveness of a gardener who feels the stirrings of a story after digging up an arrowhead.
In Writers INC (third edition), writer Randall VanderMey captures the essence of creativity in the following scenarios:
Where dull thinking (DT) plucks a sandbur off his socks and throws it away, creative thinking (CT) invents Velcro. DT stays angry after having his iPod ripped off. CT wins $100 in a literary contest with a story told from the point of view of the thief.
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“For many decades high schools and colleges have fostered the ‘research paper,’ which has become an exercise in badly done bibliography, often an introduction to the art of plagiarism, and a triumph of meaninglessness—for both writer and reader.”
—Ken Macrorie, author of Searching Writing
According to our Webmaster, some of the most common queries we receive by e-mail come from high school teachers and students who have concerns about research papers. And most of these queries deal with formatting and documentation style: Do I need a title page? How do I cite a Web article that doesn’t have an author or title? How do I list three different books by the same author? I know that all of this information can be confusing, so the fact that teachers and students are contacting us with these questions shows that they want to get things right. (more…)
“I love the taste of words. They have a taste and a weight and a colour as well as a sound and a shape.”
—Philip Pullman
The November 24 Washington Post included an article entitled “Students Dig Deep for Words’ Origins.” The article noted that Phil Rosenthal was one of the few high-school instructors in the United States teaching an etymology course. According to Rosenthal, students take the class because they want to brush up on their vocabulary skills before taking the ACT or SAT, and/or because they have a genuine interest in the history of words. (It was also reported that a few students sign up for the course thinking they will be studying insects.) (more…)
“The universe of discourse is broad indeed and ranges from utilitarian and scientific uses of language to the most artful and playful literature. Likewise, it extends from public communication to private self-communication. Students need to learn how to compose and comprehend the spectrum.”
—James Moffett, co-author of Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12
In earlier posts—including “The Importance of Authenticity,” “Words of Wisdom,” and “Writing Workshop: The Only Way to Go“—I’ve discussed features of effective writing instruction. Three features stand out above all of the others:
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