conventions · e-mail · process · writing process

TM Makes Poor Writers? IDK.

Ruth Ayres

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about texting (or instant messaging or emailing — although that one’s on the way out as far as high school & college kids are concerned) being the root of the problem when it comes to trashy conventions showing up in students’ writing.

However, this jury is still out on that one.  See, I live in both worlds.  I love the non-conventional-capitalization rules in the cyber-world.  (If I know you well, you’ve been privy to one of these non-conventional-capitalization emails — or if I comment on your blog you’ve seen it in action.)  I’ve found that forgoing standard capitalization speeds up my response rate.  Granted it took a bit to get use to avoiding the shift key, but now that I’ve become accustom to it, I really am faster — there’s a lot less deleting when I’ve capitalized the second letter instead of the first — that sort of thing.  Plus I like fitting in the cyber-world in this way.  It keeps me youthful, I suppose.

I write quite conventionally as well.  I’m a stickler when it comes to conventions on my blog posts, in professional emails, and in articles I write.  A stickler.  Period.  (Plus a bit of a risk taker.)  And I’m fast when I type this way too.

I operate in both worlds with ease.  Now, admittedly, I do have to check capitalization with a bit more tenacity than before my foray into the techno-world, but to me, it’s worth it.  I save time and I fit in. 

I propose that instead of being Grim Reapers in our response to TM (and all things techno), that we simply teach our students to live in both worlds.  We teach them to edit with tenacity — to watch out for capitalization errors and the errant “u” or “2.” 

 LMK your thoughts on this one — it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately & I’m still forming my opinions.

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Published by Ruth Ayres

Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.

5 thoughts on “TM Makes Poor Writers? IDK.”

  1. Students need to be able to distinguish between real world and cyber world. It’s lilke code switching with language–isn’t it?

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  2. I think if it gets people excited and interested in writing and communicating, then it’s well worth it. I agree that we teach different writing for different purposes. It’s our job to help students see that. Also, I would rather work with a student on differentiating his/her writing than get a reluctant writer to come out of his/her shell. I text messaging is a wonderful thing.

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  3. We teach students to use different forms/styles of writing for different purposes all the time. Writing a thank you note is quite different from writing a narrative which is different from writing a report. We don’t think twice about teaching those various forms. We just have to let students know what our expectations are for their writing. If they know that text messaging conventions are not acceptable for schoolwork, they will be fine.

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  4. I agree with Ruth. I believe it is our responsibility as teachers to prepare students for the world. If we don’t teach them how to use the technology that is available to them and fit into that world, are we really preparing them for what they will face? We can’t prepare students for the world we grew up in and expect them to succeed in the world that they are going to have to live in.

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  5. I think you live well that way because you know both well. What I am seeing is kids who don’t know any better. They have come up with the language because that is what they are most use to seeing and using. We never had that problem because there was no TM or email type short hand. IMO

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