home

Welcome to your very own class wiki. As you already know, one of my personal goals is to keep you in a "constant state of composition," as educator Donald Graves once wrote. Graves was wise; you will only improve your writing skills by writing, and writing //frequently//. Many of your writing assignments will be "low stakes" assignments, which means I will not be marking grammar errors and I will certainly not be comparing your writing to that of your classmates. We are all at different levels of comfort when it comes to writing. Not only that, but even the best writers have days when they feel like pulling their hair out with frustration; I respect your right to struggle through the very difficult process of writing. I struggle, too. That said, I //will// notice the effort you put into your writing and I expect you to post writing and responses that you can be proud of.

This wiki will be used for various purposes throughout the year. Sometimes you will respond to a question about the literature we are reading. Generally, these responses will be brief - a few sentences, perhaps - and may require you to read what your classmates have written and respond to their ideas, too. The great thing about wikis is how interactive they are. In essence, it is a chat room - but please limit your responses to the question at hand (and please keep them appropriate); if you are looking for a date to the school dance, you'll have to do that some other way. I will not only be monitoring your posts, but more importantly, responding on occasion myself. I can't resist.

Other times, there may be more extensive writing prompts that ask you to write one or two full paragraphs. It is possible that I will ask you to attach these as Word documents rather than filling our wiki with pages and pages of text. I will let you know.

And finally, my hope is that by the end of the year we can compile some of your favorite writing from 2009-2010 and post it on this site. This gives you the opportunity to "publish" your work, allow your classmates to read what you have written, and genuinely be proud of all that you have accomplished. Again, writing is **hard work** and writing //frequently// is even harder. By the end of the year, you may have written more than ever before...and it will show as little by little you become a stronger, more confident writer.

Thanks for being a part of my class and a part of this wiki. I look forward to reading what you have to say. Mrs. Finley