In my response, I have written a reflection on a field trip that I took my class on this past week. I provided a bit of context and reflected on the overall experience. To view my handwritten response, please use this link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you normally write by hand or type? Did you find this task difficult or easy? Explain.

Day to day, I normally type my writing. This is due to the nature of how I communicate with others (by email), and for efficiency purposes. I also like how when typing notes or information, everything is in one place, and I don’t have to keep or store anything. However, in my teaching, I do write by hand a lot. I write on our whiteboard, I use a document camera to model how to set up a page or write scaffolded notes with my students. I also hand write feedback to my students on their work. Overall, this task was relatively easy, since I am used to writing by hand. However, the length of the writing (~500 words) was a bit tiring to write in one sitting in comparison to typing.

 

What did you do when you made a mistake or wanted to change your writing? How did you edit your work? Did your choice of media play a part in how you edited your work?

 

Luckily, I wrote my response in pencil, so I erased things if I made mistakes. I wrote slowly and had a plan in mind for what I was writing, so I knew what I wanted to write. I also wrote the response in multiple sittings. I would write a paragraph or a page and take a break to think or do something else and then come back to it. It allowed for time for me to proofread things and to think about what I wanted to write next. With the absence or autocorrect or underlines for spelling/grammatical errors, I had to be more careful with editing my work. Mistakes were not as obvious in comparison to typing.

 

What do you feel is the most significant difference between writing by hand and using mechanized forms of writing? Which do you prefer and why?

 

I think the most significant difference between writing by hand and using mechanized forms of writing is that writing by hand can be considered as an art form. Unfortunately, handwriting is considered a dying art form because younger generations are more interested in using mechanized forms or writing, whereas handwriting was required for older generations. For myself, I like typing for the efficiency and storage standpoint as previously mentioned, but I also like writing by hand as an art form. I think that there is a time and place to use both, and both forms have their own benefits and drawbacks.