2 Websites 10/28

1)  A major part of the struggle to teach English to any age bracket is the fight to promote the final phase of writing, publication.  Scribd.com takes care of that, at least on an electronic front.  As a sort of "Facebook" for writers, the website functions as a publication blog for writers of any age.  The site is broken down into different genres and types of writing, while also offering writers/readers the ability to follow others, similar to blogging functionality.  One feature that distinguishes Scribd in my eyes is actually the deficit of a specific feature: it does not offer cash reparations for prospective authors on the site.  Therefore, the site could exist within the classroom without any threat of monetary influence.  I would use the site to promote flash-fiction writing on a weekly basis within an English classroom, using their weekly submissions as a gauge of sentence construction skills as well as a way for them to have their work privately critiqued (Scribd offers privacy settings and group controls so as to only allow certain readers to access materials).

(the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, 2009)

2)  The New Yorker Fiction Podcast offers a wealth of resources for teachers seeking ways to contextualize certain stories that may seem inaccessible to young writers.  While teaching American Literature, the website could be used to update students on contemporary meanings in something like John Updike's "A & P", read aloud on the podcast by Allegra Goodman.  Because the website is accessible to non-subscribers, the episodes could be used in the classroom or as an independent supplement (all of the readings contain about a 20-minute interview with the new writer about the classic story).  Diversity is an important facet of the modern literary classroom and it abounds in this podcast, as multinational writers and readers are encouraged.