Sally Harrold's Book Review 3

Rick Monroe. Writing and Thinking with Computers: A Practical and Progressive Approach. NCTE, 1993.

1. General summary of the book, its value for other teachers:

Monroe divides the book into four chapters: 1. Computers in the classroom; 2. Creating a networked computer lab; 3. Extending the uses of technology; and 4. Using computers in other disciplines. He includes an appendix of his learning log procedures, a list of the works cited, and additional resources for teachers. The book is clearly conceived and clearly written; the description of the exercises is thorough, addressing the nuts-and-bolts problems in the classroom and the conceptual underpinnings and use of each exercise. Monroe's approach and his clear writing make the book useful for teachers at all levels.

2. Summary of points of interest for me and how I'll use this in my teaching:

Monroe's practical approach rests on both his teaching experience and his understanding of composition theory. He implements theory in his exercises, explaining and illustrating what he is doing. The exercises show me specific ways to use computers in my writing and literature classes ; it shows ways to effectively use collaborative learning, student (reader) response, different kinds of learning, and different kinds and methods of assessment. The book shows how move theory into practice. It also shows ways to use a LAN effectively. We just installed a LANS in our computer classroom, so these exercises were particularly interesting to me. Finally, I've been interested in using computers frequently in my introductory literature courses, and I now see interesting, sound ways to do so.

Specifically, I liked the ideas of responding to student writing: the read around, pointing, and center of gravity, (good for autobiography classes); the sentence producing exercises on absolutes, appositive, and participles (good for basic writers, WR 121, and autobiography); and the responding to literature exercises : the listing and answering of questions they've had, the different exercises that ask them to role play certain characters, and the dialectical notebook (I used this with summary and interpretation of scenes in A Midsummer Night's Dream last year). I also liked Monroe's checklists for evaluating group interactions and his use of student letters about their learning, as well as his sheet of criteria for evaluating a student essay--derived with the students' participation. All these techniques will help me teach my classes more effectively; I'm ordering this book.

Chapter Two was not so useful for me, because our computer lab already has a LANS. Chapter Three's discussion of creating a file of students' reviews of books they have enjoyed is something I'll incorporate in my introductory fiction course this fall as one of several options they can choose for individual projects. I may also find the desktop publishing valuable with the autobiography course. Primarily, though, I'll find Chapter One's description of specific activities using computers useful. I'll discuss this book with colleagues and keep a copy in the Writing Center.