I don’t remember a time when I had
to write an essay by hand. Maybe it was
in third grade when an essay was only a paragraph. Therefore I do not even know how to write an
essay by hand. I would not know where to
begin. However for standardized tests
students are required to write an essay prompt without being given a chance to
type it on the computer. Are we giving
our students a disadvantage by only having them complete typed essays?
Computers have made the process of
writing lengthy essays a whole lot easier.
You can write a sentence, delete it, and rewrite another in less than a
second. You can also go back to a page
you have just written and add another paragraph to make the paper read
smoothly. There is no question to it if
computers have benefited students in this area.
However, I believe we should have
our students practice writing informal essays by hand. It is a skill that everyone should have and
excel at. We write almost every day and
we should be exercising that skill. I
believe typing is a necessary skill as well but we should not neglect hand
written work.
I agree Suzana. Students have gotten really skilled at typing which is very important. However the back fall of it all is students don't get to practice spelling and grammar and even just writing in general. Then when a standardized test comes around and students must write for an hour straight, it seems like such a toll. Pulling back typing a little may help our students a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that students today are becoming typing whizzes. I have come across students who struggle with hand writing, yet will excel when given the opportunity to type it. That must effect them when it comes time to their state standardized tests. Perhaps in this case, students should not be allowed to type their essays in elementary and grammar school. However I remember that teachers preferred them typed so that they could read them more clearly. I am torn… I wonder what happened to hand-writing your rough draft, and typing your final draft? That’s what we did at my school. At least then you had the chance to do both with each essay.
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