Repurposing Tech Tools to Support the Writing Process

By Taiesha Fowler

If we compare the writing process to traversing a hill, the upward incline would represent the most difficult phases or the beginning stages: generating ideas during brainstorming, building outlines, and composing a draft of each paragraph. The completed rough draft symbolizes the top of the hill. Many digital writing tools skip these difficult stages and only provide support in the latter phases of composition such as revision suggestions, editing for punctuation, correcting spelling and capitalization, fixing grammar errors, and adjusting for usage mistakes. These skills address the easiest parts of writing or the downhill slope of a hill.

While teaching in a 100% distance learning model, writing instruction presents more challenges than ever. Class sessions are abbreviated. Internet connections are unreliable, making attendance unpredictable.

Introducing new tech tools really means investing time from at least three class sessions to teach all students how to gain access. Instead, I chose to adapt a tool students already know how to access and use. The Google Suite is available to all students. It is free and adaptable.

In a 9th grade Honors English class we have been working on skills that will ultimately lead to a final literary analysis essay on the novel Of Mice and Men. For the gathering ideas phase, we teach students to introduce quotations and analyze how the topics of friendship and loneliness manifest. In October, only 26% of the thirty-one students were able to produce both an introduction and commentary about the quote. My partner teacher and I needed support getting students to ascend the steep slope of these early writing stages.

By displaying the information on a google slide deck, my partner teacher and I explicitly taught how to explicate a quote by providing models and examples as well as providing scaffolds to lead them into obtaining a better grasp on the skill.

In order to bolster discussion, the slide deck also featured quotes that were missing an introduction or an analysis. We prompted students to explain what was missing. We then gave examples of how to fully integrate the quote into a paragraph. The slide deck was also posted on Schoology. A “view only” link is usually put in the chat for students to review later. This time, we provided editing access.

Teachers traditionally use google slides to present information and guide discussion. I created a handout for students to continue practicing the skill. But my partner teacher actually recreated exercises on the google slide deck. By giving editing access to the slide deck, students could practice the skill in class. Her idea provided for a more efficient method of providing practice and feedback. Instead of introducing a new tool to students during the class or later, we leveraged the google tool in a new way. Each student could take one slide to respond. Each slide featured different quotes. In this way, we could view student work in real time and provide feedback (aloud, through private message in the Zoom chat, or commenting on their specific slide).

We were able to assess the whole group’s proficiency in these skills. We noticed most students could venture a paraphrase or summary of the cited text, but analysis proved to be a daunting task for most of the learners. It also revealed gaps in comprehension. Some students attributed the quote to the wrong character or situated the quote incorrectly in the plot.

If I taught this same lesson by introducing new tech tools, this lesson would be negatively impacted by all of the inevitable troubleshooting needed to fully integrate new technology into a classroom, especially during a Zoom session. With minimal distractions and giving students feedback quickly, over 70% of the students completed the final essay at the end of the unit.

After weighing the worth of new writing assistive tech tools against the time and utility, I found it is best to use what students already have. Costs are also a major consideration. To access more nuanced writing support (generating ideas, planning, and drafting), users will most likely have to give up their credit card information to purchase paid subscriptions. The majority of free writing assistive tech only upgrades the spell check and grammar check resources word processors began offering decades ago. As we continue teaching online, I will collaborate with my partner and other educators to re-purpose the Google Suite to support students in the beginning phases of the writing process.