There was a small internet kerfuffle recently
when photos of superstar Beyonce -- without makeup -- were leaked online.
Beyonce, of course, has tons of public
pictures of herself available to the average Googler. She’s a pretty big star
and has been for almost twenty years!
But there’s a difference between
a picture Beyonce meant to share and one she didn’t. There’s a big
difference between public and private.
The internet is full of the
problems like that from politicians to starlets to regular Joes. Because,
really, we write and create things for two different purposes -- for public
(published) use or for private use.
When we look at history,
documents tend to fall into the same two categories -- public (published) and
private. Meaning, stuff that’s meant to be read and stuff that’s not. Often,
there’s a difference between the two.
Abraham Lincoln is a person who
sometimes wrote one thing in his personal writings and said something very
different in his public writings and speeches.
For example, what did Abraham
Lincoln REALLY think about slavery?
His private letters say:
"Do the
people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration
would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them,
about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and
still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV,
"Letter to Alexander H. Stephens" (December 22, 1860), p. 160.
But another
private letter says;
"I am
naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not
remember when I did not so think, and feel." The
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII,
"Letter to Albert G. Hodges" (April 4, 1864), p. 281.
But the Emancipation
Proclamation says
“all persons held as slaves
within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then
be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free;” Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
What beliefs were personal and which
were political? What did he really believe? Did his beliefs evolve?
Or was there a big difference between public and private beliefs?
It’s complicated.
And, it’s hard to tell
without a lot of context surrounding the documents.
And, it’s possible to be
anti-slavery without being an abolitionist. Politics are complicated. People
are complicated.
When we read historical accounts, we find
documents that were meant to be read by others -- newspapers, speeches,
legislation. We also find documents that were NOT necessarily meant to be
written by many others -- shopping lists, receipts, diaries, personal letters.
We do this personally, in our own modern
lives, too. Sometimes we post things publicly on social media or in emails
where we expect others to read them. And then sometimes, we write things just
for ourselves -- like lists, receipts, notes.
So while the idea of writing for public OR
private readers is not new, it’s time to transfer that idea to our classrooms.
We have two basic types of
writing in class:
·
We can have our kids write for public -- that is, for publication,
for others to read, for a
red pen and a big grade. We can have them do final
writing assignments where we expect fully-formed thoughts, correct grammar, and
real punctuation, like essays, articles, posters, blog posts, final projects.
AND SOMETIMES
·
We can have our kids write for private -- for learning, for
themselves to read and think through. “Thinking is clarified by writing”
says the DBQ Project’s Core Beliefs. We give kids “writing for learning” tasks
-- lists, brainstorms, quick writes, document analysis sheets, exit tickets,
etc. -- writing where kids are thinking-on-paper and figuring things out.
Writing where kids don’t necessarily have to have all the right answers
or use full sentences. (This is the kind of writing I LOVED as a teacher
because I didn’t have to grade it too closely.) 
It’s okay to do both. Really,
it’s important to do both.
“Writing for publication” is
often used as a type of summative assessment -- to see how much the students
have learned.
“Writing for learning” is usually used as a
type of formative assessment -- like a check-in to monitor student learning and
see where our students are with content and skills and how we need to adapt or
adjust our teaching.
For ideas of “Writing to Learn”
assignments, check out this handy list from Colorado State University http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop5.cfm
Take a look at your assignments.
Are they “writing for publication” or “writing for learning”? Are you getting
to both in your class? What does each type of writing tell us about
Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery? What does each type of writing tell us
about what our students are learning? As always, I love to hear! Email me newmantr@pcsb.org
-Tracy
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