Writing Activities

Nick recently put up a very interesting post on writing activities in class.

He writes:

"In a writing class, just about anything can be tried. A sampler of ideas:

* as writing journals (duh).
* as reading response journals.
* as research spaces where students post notes on research ideas and processes.
* as writing-sharing spaces, where essay drafts are posted and the comment feature lets classmates offer feedback.
* as place for students to write about things that don't fit into the class, but arise from having been in the class -- the tangents, outtakes, and other ideas that percolate but often are left unattended.
* as a place to post and comment on photos.
* as a place to put audio notes and ideas as they occur -- get a good idea on the way to someplace and not near a pen, or keyboard? Audioblog it with your cell phone.
* as a place for assigned writing topics -- civic discourses, questions about reading, continuations of class discussions and other bits of homework and classwork that usually come in as bits on bits of paper can come in as bytes on blogs. More of the work of the class can be captured and saved by students, and reviewed and reflected on by teachers."