Computers and schoolsEighth graders, gender, and online publishing: A story of teacher and student collaboration
Section snippets
Student writing for the web: One school’s experience
During the 1997 through 1998 school year at Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Lawrence Township, Indianapolis, a group of 35 eighth-grade students embraced the task of creating the school’s first online literary and art magazine, which would be a component of the school’s Web site. Pat had supervised the publishing of numerous print literary magazines of student work and believed that publishing an online magazine would give the students greater experience with technology and a greater
Access: toys for boys
One of the surprising things to grow out of homework and classroom discussions were the gender differences in response to technology and the Internet. Almost every suggestion during the brainstorming sessions came from male students. It wasn’t that Pat didn’t call on females; everyone who had a suggestion participated in the discussion. Many of the girls did not seem to have the vocabulary to take part in the discussion, and they did not seem to be interested. Often, their eyes were glazed
Changing ideas about curriculum
Teaching is exciting as a profession because it is highly creative. Pat found that, despite her nervousness about the magazine project at the beginning of the school year, she may have learned more from students than they learned from her. Writing has always been one of the most significant parts of the curriculum in her classroom. Pat came through the Indiana Writing Project as a teacher–consultant. As a result, Pat believes that writing well is a key to thinking critically and to development
Patricia J. Grabill graduated from Purdue University in 1965 with a BA in English. She received an MA in English from Ball State University in 1968. She is also a teacher–consultant to the Indiana Writing Project at Ball State and currently teaches eighth-grade English/language arts at Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Lawrence Township, Indianapolis.
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Patricia J. Grabill graduated from Purdue University in 1965 with a BA in English. She received an MA in English from Ball State University in 1968. She is also a teacher–consultant to the Indiana Writing Project at Ball State and currently teaches eighth-grade English/language arts at Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Lawrence Township, Indianapolis.
Jeffrey T. Grabill is a 1991 graduate of Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and holds a Master’s degree from Kent State University. He received his PhD from Purdue University and is currently an assistant professor at Georgia State University where his areas of specialization are rhetoric, technical and professional writing, research methodology, and literacy theory. He is also Pat’s son and her mentor for this project.