Writing Better
-Education Matters
Savvy Teachers Find New Way to Combat Students’ Text Messaging Habits while Gearing Up for State Exams
It’s an uphill battle that teachers face every year: how to keep their students on track with their writing, especially in time for their upcoming state exams.
Shorthand text messaging habits like “Wat r u doin 2nite?” and the go-to “TTYL” have only helped to further the problem of shorthand writing. Teachers everywhere are seeing these abbreviated words, terms, and contractions used within their students’ formal writing assignments.
The traditional writing process, which involves drafting, revising, and editing, often becomes too much busy work in today’s world of instant-communicators. As students want to have their papers done as quickly as possible, they resort to these familiar and comfortable shortcuts. How are teachers going to combat their shorthand texting habits and get them prepared for state exams?
Savvy teachers across the nation have found a way to not only prepare their children for the exams but also cut down the time it takes to get students back into their school routine after a break. Many have turned to the School Edition of MY Access!, a web-based computer program created by Vantage Learning and currently used by over one million students in classrooms nationwide.
MY Access! gives teachers and students immediate feedback, enabling students to constantly edit and thus improve their essays. It also lets them write 10-20 times faster than by hand, improving their typing skills as well as their writing skills. Teachers can not only receive immediate feedback on students’ key strengths as well as areas in need of improvement, but also prepare individualized lessons depending on student’s specific shortcomings or challenges. For example, MY Access! School Edition has proven success for students in Alhambra, California, where writing scores went from 20%-70% passing on their state standard STAR exams.