You don't have to taste it to know the toast is burnt

Sometimes, naming something, and then having that label or tag catch on gives credibility to an activity. One of the latest is the term social networking. Historically, there were barn raisings where something was accomplished, and quilting bees...and well, wakes, but lately, gathering on the Internet in one area or another has been labeled as social networking.

Now, if we add the word collaboration, we can use it in K16 environments, and assign grades for partcipation. The latest issue of English Journal is devoted to collaboration and the use of technology to promote collaboration...two articles immediately caught my eye. The first one, Collaboration and Social Interaction in English Classrooms, and the second, Collaborating Like Never Before: Reading and Writing Through a Wiki. I will read each of them thoroughly, considering my eyes are currently blurred from grading papers,....tomorrow.

I will reserve any opinions on the articles until I have read them, not simply scanned them.

Currently, I am tired of collaboration among students being used as an excuse by teachers who do not want to grade papers. Too many students are exiting 12th grade with marginal reading skills and even lower writing skills. But heavens...can they text, using text English...gasp) and then want to carry this use of language into academic settings.

Blogging here is at its end. I have to figure out how I am going to incorporate blogging and a Wiki into a class called, Written Analysis, which I will be helping to redesign while I teach it. I am looking forward to...teachers are known for enjoying "psychic income" no increase in pay...but a sense of accomplishing something.