Background: Context of my Research
The findings of my case study on a seventh-grader’s blogging practices were somewhat disappointing. Despite my occassional attempts to teach Olivia embodied, multi-modal, and digital composing practices, I found that when faced with an academic essay assignment, Olivia composed within the comforting confines of “pen and paper.”[1] As a researcher, I observed Olivia’s practices without interference. During our case study observation and interview, my behavior mimicked that of Janet Emig in her “Composing Processes of Twelfth Graders.” I was careful to remain mostly silent—allowing Olivia’s practices to surface without influence. However, my relationship with Olivia cannot be defined solely as subject-and-researcher. I am also her teacher—a position which invites me to interrupt her current practices in order to better understand how more emphasis on digital, multi-modal composing will re-shape her writing conceptions and habits.
[1] I use scare quotes here because, of course, she was actually typing on Word. I hope my point—that her writing was performed solely on the textual level—remains the same.
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