Introduction

Last spring, this very famous author came to my school to share some of her insight into her writing of MANY children's books. http://www.patriciapolacco.com/ As most of you most likely already know, Ms. Palocco was a struggling reader and writer whose life was changed by a teacher who was determined to help her be a reader and writer. Her story is certainly one which demonstrates the potential power of teachers to change lives every day. Her story is also one which stresses that every one of us has MANY stories to tell. ALL our lives are made up of pretty interesting people and events - if we stop to think about it!  I've heard Ms. Palocco speak to large groups of students and teachers several times over the past 25 years; however, last year, I somehow had the privilege of sitting next to her and sharing stories over lunch. Trust me, we were not alone, there were about 30 other teachers in the room! In reality, she really didn't even look at me.....but I digress.  Ms. Palocco talked about how she wrote every day on her notebook computer that fit into her purse! She talked about her own adapting to writing....from yellow legal pads to computers and then laptops prior to her finding of a notebook computer. She said she was glad she had the resources to add these new technologies to her repertoire because she really does use them! She said she still has and uses the yellow legal pads - but mostly for planning and jotting down ideas.  Interestingly, when she was asked about kids writing on computers, she said she did not think that our students needed to go that route until the were much older - maybe even middle or high school. She was not a big fan of kids needing fancy computer labs in order to perceive themselves as writers. She proposed that our jobs as teachers was to empower our students to talk about their own stories and to understand that we do indeed all have stories to tell.  I must admit that I thought a lot about her comments as I sat in my schools brand new $$$$$ Apple Computer lab which is used for "publishing"...and as I worked on my very fabulous but not very portable desktop computer which I use for drafting and publishing....and I think a lot about her comments as my students write every day on draft paper in their classrooms.....  I am not sure if she is right about writing in the 21st Century; but I really do not think we can ask students to write in a manner that adults do not write! Let's face it, even the SAT and GREs are taken on a computer! The whole topic has me thinking and wondering if it is TEACHERS who are afraid of the technology or if there is no real need to go that way until later in the process of learning to be a writer. Trust me, I do not know the answer to this question - I guess it really is an ESSENTIAL QUESTION about writing in this age.  I do think, however, that it is a question that YOU as the professionals who will carry writing through the 21st Century MUST address.