It's Tuesday, and Tuesdays are for slicing. Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices!
I resisted the urge to make plans on Friday night, and instead, Garth and I had a peaceful dinner and watched some sports at home. All was calm, all was bright until I pulled out my computer, and, like a moth to a flame, started heading into articles and ideas around the controversies surrounding reading instruction.
One good reference led to another. Before I could engage in the athletic competition on the bigger screen, my head was spinning with claims and statistics, predictions and demands. I read and started wondering about when attacks would begin to focus on writing, as opposed to reading. Sure enough, there was plenty to read about the science of writing, although I'm not sure what research the ideas came from. And then... one particular article caught my attention. The End of High-School English in the Atlantic. (Has anyone read it yet?)
I read parts of it out loud to my husband, and he may or may not have paid more attention to the announcers than to me.
"Garth," I said. "Listen to this: they're comparing this new program to be like the printing press and the light bulb having a baby."
He responded, maybe a little.
"I'll be obsolete before I'm vested," I said.
He responded, maybe a little more. Soccer's a big deal in our house, and the World Cup was in full gear. I closed the computer. I needed my Friday night to calm back down!
In the morning, I woke up to a colleague's text, with the Atlantic article linked.
"Life-changing," my colleague wrote. "I'm using it all the time for my dissertation."
What?
I don't have a great ending for this slice since I'm fascinated to watch where all this is heading, but in the meantime, maybe I should brush up on other skills as my career heads into the realm of the demise of factory workers.
