The Zine Project: The Blog Quiz

If this article does anything at all, it offers a counterpoint to the touchy paperless classroom debate… but I degrees.

The major connection that keeps recurring throughout our course discussions as well as our readings is the idea that students can be great creators of content, regardless of medium, when the focus is on something that interests them. This is seen in Hobbs’ use of media and Jacobi’s work with the Zine Project.

The initial reluctance of students to conceptualize their out-of-school persona as the leading voice in the “new” English class quickly melts away; and the students find them selves learning ELA principles without even knowing that they are doing so. Along the way, students are also defining themselves through the editing and collaboration processes, which is valuable bonus to during the teenage years.

Another on going connection is students providing the content. This has the role of the teacher change from the master of knowledge to more of a guide that helps to form the students’ ideas through expression, through both creative and academic endeavors.

The premise of having students express themselves and not being chained down to counter-productive curriculums is giving me hope. Once I become a teacher, my students will not be trudging through books that they have no interest in but reading books that interest them. The material that we are covering, when applied, seems to remove the idea of forcing students to do their work.