Getting Outside the Classroom Box

In the 2009 NCTE Report, "Writing in the 21st Century," Kathleen Yancey describes a disconnect between students' writing inside and outside of the classroom. Even though we are in an "age of composition," when students are writing more than ever before, that composition is "self-sponsored" (Deborah Brandt) rather than school-related. Students are becoming writers in online spaces: in chat rooms, blogs, comment threads, social media sites, product reviews, the list goes on; however, the kind of writing associated with academia is not happening at the same rate. Yancey suggests that we elevate this kind of self-sponsored writing and she issues:

"a call to action, a call to research and articulate new composition, a call to help our students compose often, compose well, and through these composings, become the citizen writers of our country, the citizen writers of our world, and the writers of our future."

I believe that Wix can be a starting place to answer this call. Not only can Wix offer a space to connect with others in social ways through comments, chat rooms, social media interactivity, and hyperlinks, but it also offers a way for student writers to make a connection between the writing they do outside of school and what they do inside school.

When students are composing on Wix, they are acutely aware that their work could appear to a larger public audience. No longer isolated to the vacuum of classroom instruction, their writing can be shared with their family, friends, and to the public at large. When they know that they have a wider audience, greater attention is applied to how they make meaning and what they are trying to say. The Wix writers become more accountable for what they writer because they are no longer simply writing for the teacher.

Furthermore, if students are going to be writing in these kinds of spaces after they leave my class, then I want to help them learn the skills that will help them navigate those contexts.

Yancey, Kathleen Blake. “Writing in the 21st Century: A Report from NCTE.” National Council of Teachers of English. Urbana, Illinois: NCTE (2009). Print.