Bob,

Bob,

I am 55, and I can so relate to your article. I can't tell you how many times I say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it, " or "let's get back to the basics". Your article confirmed to me what I already believed, that writing is very important to our students. I hear kids ALL THE TIME complain (middle schoolers) about having to write, since we have computers/laptops in our classrooms now. They don't think that writing is an important skill, and until now, I really did not know how to explain to them just how important it really is for their learning. Your article also explained to me why these same students struggle with reading. I know, from experience and academic studies, that students learn better the more senses they use, so this makes perfect sense that learning to write letters and words would improve learning of the language as a whole.

As far as our leaders of academia not wanting to "hear" what you have to report, that really doesn't surprise me at all. There are so many of our upper echelon, those who know better because they've got the "right credentials" who have no common sense at all. I can't tell you how many times my own mother (also a teacher) would attend professional developments and come home and say, "what we learned today was what we've always used for teaching, just under another name." Maybe if the powers that be would leave us alone and let us teach, our kids might actually come out alright.....you know, like our generations before us. :) Of course, we would have to return to holding kids accountable for their actions too, instead of letting them off the hook every time that they misbehave because they might have had a bad day. Yes, I am speaking tongue-in-cheek, with a bit of seriousness too.

Anyway, please continue to do what you do. Shout it from the rooftops, if you so desire, until people pay attention!