Writing in Digital Environments Project

Risking and Revising in Voices from the Middle

The March 2004 issue of Voices from the Middle, an NCTE publication, contains a section on web logs in the article, "Lessons Learned from Integrating Technology in a Writer's Workshop". Will and Ann's collaboration between their student bloggers is mentioned. Authors Patricia A. Watson and Jan Guidry Lacina discuss the idea that digital documents can allow for more risk taking by student writers due to the ease of revision. Using a blog as a writer's notebook provides a space for experimenting with technique. Also mentioned are Marsha Ratzel's site and Pam's Edublog News. It's great to see all of these blogging educators mentioned in this journal. At the recent Public Library Association conference, Anna Quindlin admitted that she didn't like to write. I've been a fan of her writing for many years and was shocked and then relieved by her words. She said that she liked "having written". I also enjoy writing more after I've finished and find that I write much more now that I have electronic tools to assist me in risking and revising.

Preparing For Young Guest Authors

We are at Redmond Jr. High testing the site and preparing for a blog with a guest author. It will be fun to add students as guest authors and test the real school application of previewing their posts prior to publication. After attending the Public Library Association Conference last week, I'm excited to begin to extend the experience of reading, writing, and communicating with authors using web logs and chats.