From: dehogue@sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us
To: <webpals@english.sxu.edu>
Date:
Subject: [Webpals]
cyberjournals
This has been
one of those revelatory days: I understand how powerful this cyber approach can
be. I have just read most of the cyberjournal entries my students wrote for
February. Their suggested topic was to write about their web pals and how that
has been an interesting or valuable experience.
I had imagined
it would be fun for my ninth graders to meet someone online and that they maybe
would learn something about themselves. I had no idea how much, how fast.
What I learned
is that my students, in general, crave the attention of adults more than I
knew. I learned that they want to do well for their web pals, even to work
harder than I expect them to. I learned that they appreciate the comments made
about their writing and their web pages. I also learned that my students will
be sad when this experiment is over.
It's amazing,
maybe predestined (though I don't really believe in that), how well the pairs
of web pals ended up. So many of my students report common
interests. It's uncanny, as if there were a matchmaking effort. What
this tells me is that what my students publish on their web pages really does
reveal things about them and others can know them by what they publish.
I am worried
that the adults in the experiment will not take the correspondence to heart in
the same way their freshmen web pals have. And yet, this is the perfect
opportunity for SXU students to get to know the heart and mind of a typical
teenager.
This experiment
has been a resounding success so far, and this is without a lot of discussion
about writing. And yet, I feel it is critical that the momentum go that way.
The SXU students learning to be teachers, no matter the subject matter, have a
unique opportunity to interact with a student about writing. The experience can
teach them something about themselves as well as about students and writing.
I urge the SXU
students to be careful: don't make promises to correspond after the experiment
is over, don't get too personal, and don't be too harsh. I have the feeling
that some of my students have become too attached to their new friends, almost
like we all do when we have a crush on someone. It's not that these freshmen
are fragile, but they are children, they are inexperienced, and they will trust
with all their heart until they are hurt. I don't mean to imply that anyone at
SXU intends to hurt; from what I can tell, the emails have been completely
appropriate, friendly, and caring. It's just that from what some of my students
have said, they may think this temporary relationship could develop into
something long lasting.
Overall, I am
sincerely and happily impressed with this email experiment so far.
To see what I
mean, please read the SFHS cyberjournals, not just of
your web pal, but of as many as you can. It will be interesting and engaging.
Until later,
Dawn