I................Blog ................Four

Smith and Graves, good cop bad cop, both are trying to get us to understand the same thing only using differing methods.
Smith has a lot to say but couched in a scholarly language that is often hard to decipher. I did like his image of the brain, floating in isolation, not sensing anything merely disseminating information to the rest of the body.
Nelson's essay is much more user friendly, easier to access. But I don't agree with her suggestion that we are losing our language skill through overexposure. I remember reading some research on TV and language in an ESL course this summer. The paper was trying to determine how much language skill kids pick up from television & other media. The research seems to indicate not much. What we get out of watching does not influence our language nearly as much as human voice--a teacher or parent. More exposure to artificial language does not equal more influence.
I think that TV, as several other of the class have said, is taking the place of reading and writing outside of school. I would think that for most kids text messaging is the only time they express themselves with writing out of the classroom. This has to have its consequences on their language. Reflective thought goes into writing a thank you letter but little reflection would go into a thank you e-mail I would think. Reflection is replaced by speed and conveinence.
9 Rights always a good read. "A mind freed is a powerful thing. A mind buffeted from all sides must spend most of its energy defending the fortress of inner tranquility that is essential to a writer's survival." Great stuff! How can I not be inspired,--I want to use this stuff in the classroom.