Help! My Students Write Like They Text: Teaching Code-Switching to Improve Writing [Hardcover]

IMHO, LOL, OIC, OMG. If youve recently graded middle school or high school writing, chances are youve read terms like these; or my favorite, wtf - idk which also happened to be an answer on a students quiz. As a middle school English teacher, I became more and more perplexed to see students using texting talk on their homework, and classroom writing assignments; not to mention answers on the writing portion of the state standardized test. My students were not differentiating appropriate writing contexts. The answers written on the unit test were written the same way that they invited their friends to hang @ *$ (Starbucks).
How do we as educators and parents allow students to creatively express themselves, support them academically, and prepare them for a professional world built on written and verbal communication? Herein lies this text. Hopefully it will alleviate the concerns of those who are worried about the disintegration of the English language and help those ISO (in search of) strategies to support textspeaking learners.

Jenny French has served as an English teacher, instructional coach, assistant professor, and school consultant. She is currently Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment for a school district in southern Indiana where she lives with her husband, four children, and two corgis.

OMG! This book is a real eye-opener to educators everywhere who tend to discount todays screenagers and the texting codes they use to communicate. In a very accessible way, Dr. French presents practical strategies to use that blend research-based practices with classroom applications that create real breakthroughs to improved writing skills for our digital native students. The ideas presented will motivate even the most reluctant writer. Furthermore, this book is a very helpful tool for limited-texting teachers to feel more confident and competent in making writing instruction more relevant and real to all of their students. Kathy Perez,ls$