Linking Assignment #1 – Adriana S.

“Task 4: Manual Scripts and Potato Printing” was a fun activity and closely related to the types of fun activities we often do with young children.  As a mom to a six-year old and a former Kindergarten teacher, I connected with Adriana S.‘s reflection and the reference she makes to “Mat Man” from the program Handwriting without Tears.  In this program, children begin to learn to write by practicing curves and lines before progressing to letters.  Adriana S. makes the astute observation that “learning to write is similar to the evolution of the history and mechanization of writing. First students identify the parts they need to use to create the letters, then they use a pencil, and once writing is mastered, they start using a keyboard”.  I really appreciated this observation, as I have been reflecting on it a lot when thinking about the “changing spaces of reading and writing” and what this looks like for children. If teachers understand the history of how humans acquired literacy, it does seem to become clear that we need to make sure that we are creating opportunities for students to acquire these skills in a logical progression.

However, I often worry at the Elementary level that we do not provide students with the opportunities to utilize technology in a useful way as it relates to literacy, especially in writing, early enough. Why do we require students to spend years printing/writing with a pencil, when most of the writing they will do will be digital? I am definitely not someone who would advocate for eliminating printing/writing with a pencil from the curriculum, as I think that there are many components that are still important and relevant including fine motor development and that writing with a pencil helps to establish letter identification and concepts about print. However, I do think there tends to be a reluctance amongst many teachers of primary aged students to allow them to use technology to write, as they see the ability to print/write with a pencil as the main goal and want to see mastery before moving on. However, I think that is something that needs to be examined, especially if printing/writing with a pencil is simply a stepping stone in learning to communicate ideas and create.  This mastery with a pencil may not be required before technology is introduced as a tool for writing if the ultimate goal and objective is to be able to write, create, and communicate using technology.