Entry #8: "Bless, Address, or Press"

 For this entry, I have decided to spend time looking at Ashley Olin's Blog https://ashleyolin618.blogspot.com/. I really enjoyed looking at the 7th entry post which Ashley did on the letter writing genre. Her experiences connected so well with many of my teaching experiences in Kingston, Jamaica. The way Ashley spoke about her experiences coupled with the picture she included just jumped out at me!

The idea of introducing different groups of people using the idea of friendly letters is a great way to show them the true meaning of letters. According to Tompkins, "receiving mail is the real reward of letter writing" (2012, p.117). If we can establish this link at an early age such as what Ashley did, we can create a young generation that's excited about the letter writing process. It's one thing to teach about letter writing, it's another to teach what happens when we send one out. Ashley's experience with cross cultural letter sending is a next level teaching experience. Students can not only see the true purpose of sending letters, but can gain a new perspective. Beyond learning about a new perspective, it also brings to light the idea of what Tompkins called "emphasizing the importance of real audiences" (Tompkins 2012, p.117). I feel that the earlier students can understand that letters have real audiences and real purpose the better!

I often think about teaching correspondence to my students. I feel that the earlier we teach the importance of letters and that there is another person or place on the receiving end would be beneficial. I know 3rd graders would be young to start going into any deep or heavy topics but perhaps by starting the conversation of what happens when you send a letter could lead to great growth and learning. I think about how many students send a text or email and don't consider the consequences of that act. Teaching the importance of sending something out and that it can't always come back to you is a good life skill for our students to acquire. Ashley's post made me want to connect the idea of letter writing to the upper grades. What happens after we teach the formatting of letter writing. Perhaps we need to then shift our focus the purpose behind letters. How can the principles behind letter writing apply to older students. I think after teaching formatting such as emails, we move onto the power of communication. 

Ashley's blog post was a great read because she shared her teaching experiences and how it ties in with Tompkins. Her relating the post to her experience in Africa was what made me want to spend more time reading Ashley's work!