4th assignment: Chapter 4

This was an easy chapter to read. It had familiar information and great ideas. However it did have a few points to ponder. One of the points had to do with word processing and that educators believe word processing is a valuable application but they state some of the uses in education can be controversial. In some classrooms students are allowed to use word processing on writing assignments and these students tend to get lower scores than their peers who hand wrote their assignments. I am not really sure why this occurs. If the assignment was being graded on grammar and the writing process then maybe the word processing should have not been an option. However I do not understand why they would be graded more harshly than others.
I teach third grade and my students use word processing software to write stories. They are starting to understand that the red underlined words mean they are misspelled and the green means grammar. I am teaching them to check the spelling and grammar. When they use the tool on the computer it reviews their mistakes and it offers them alternatives. I think this is a valuable mini language lesson. It is making them think about their writing, what is wrong with it, and how can it be improved.
The other point was about keyboarding skills. Their is a discussion over whether we should teach keyboarding skills or let them learn on their own. Some individuals state that extensive key boarding skills take up valuable time. In the school I teach at we have a computers in each class, a rolling cart with 10 laptops and a computer lab. We do not have a computer teacher however I take my students on our given day. I have had them type stories before. I have not taught them formal keyboarding skills. I have taught them how to sit properly and place their hands on the keyboard correctly. The students abilities are as diverse as their other skills. Some type with good ability and others peck. At this time I do not think it is a big issue. I believe they will develop the skill themselves due to the amount of time they will spend using a keyboard and text messaging.