Students, write for the world: display your work on the Web.

MORE STUDENTS THAN EVER BEFORE ARE GETTING PUBLISHED

Thousands of students are publishing their writing every day on the World Wide Web. The interest in and participation by students in online publication projects is phenomenal. For example, the Global SchoolNet Foundation sponsored a contest inviting students to "share and unite" with local communities to identify specific information (e.g., local leaders, historical landmarks, local specialties, and so on) and publish it through the Internet. Since 1995, over a half-million students from 1500 schools have participated in the International Schools CyberFair. 350,000 students at 4,000 schools in more than 90 countries participate in the global telecommunications iEARN network to tackle real problems and make a difference in peoples' lives. Much of their work is published, ePals Classroom Exchange connects more than 27,000 classrooms with more than 1.7 million students in 130 countries around the world.

KEY FINDINGS OF A REVIEW OF LITERATURE REGARDING PUBLISHING'S BENEFITS

Why are more and more students self-publishing their work on the Internet? Publishing on this medium is faster and far less expensive than traditional ways of publishing. Moreover, classroom and school Web sites can display their students' work. Teachers are also encouraging and guiding their students in this process because they know and understand the benefits of student publishing. The author conducted research entitled "The Benefits of Student Publishing" for Jay Mathews, columnist for The Washington Post. The entire text appears on http://www.publishingstudents.com. Key findings follow.

* Research repeatedly points to publication as a beneficial and integral addition to any writing program.

* Studies show that combining publishing with effective teaching strategies produces the best results in student writing.

* Virtually all students are motivated to do their very best writing and revising when writing for publication.

* Writing is rewriting, and the literature clearly shows that student publications have an impact on increasing students' interest and efforts in editing and revising.

* In writing for publication, student writers are writing according to purpose and for an intended audience. The literature clearly states the powerful role that publication plays in helping young writers learn to write and continue writing for an audience.

* Scholars advocate placing learners in situations where they use or experience disciplinary knowledge in more realistic or authentic ways than they do in traditional classrooms. Online publishing allows teachers to place students in learning situations in which they experience academic disciplines in more authentic ways than they had previously.

* Research and studies show that writing produced for peers on an online network is often better than that produced for local peers and teachers.

* Being involved in e-mail and other online publishing projects with students from other countries help students understand and appreciate different cultures.

* Millions of students have their writing displayed or "published" in various Web-based publishing mediums.

STUDENTS COMMUNICATING WITH PEERS AROUND THE WORLD

Considering the times that we live in, it is more imperative than ever that students learn how to communicate with, understand, and appreciate their global peers and their languages, cultures, and beliefs. To succeed in today's global environment, students increasingly need to acquire and develop international skills that allow them to understand and work with people from other countries. All students should have opportunities to work with their global peers and publish their work on the Internet or in a traditional format. It is the teachers' obligation to seek out and encourage their students to participate in publishing projects, especially those involving students from other countries. The Internet offers countless opportunities for students and teachers alike. Not only will the participants benefit, but the public will too.

WHAT STUDENT PUBLISHING DOES TO THE WORLD--TOUCHING OUR HEARTS

Writing authority Donald Graves (1978) says, "In writing, kids find themselves, and through their words, we discover both them and us." Calkins (1991) adds, "Sending writing out into the world is important for what it does to the writers. But it is equally important for what it does to the world," and for readers, whether a mile or an ocean away Professor Takao Mimura at the Graduate School of Education in Joetsu University of Education (in Joetsu, Japan) recounted how his former high school students reacted to true stories in Treasures 3: Stories & Art by Students in Japan & Oregon:

"The first thing I did with Treasures 3 was choose some works from the book and introduce them to the students. This was because I wanted to know how they would react to them and to examine its effect on their creativity of expression.

Incredible things happened in my class. A student who was translating a work, "Remembering My Mother," was moved and became tearful. She couldn't go on translating it into Japanese. The rest of the class sank into complete silence. It was my first experience seeing students moved so deeply by a work.

A normally authorized textbook could not possibly bring about such a response because they do not contain personal writing and most textbooks are written by adults, and not young men or women the age of the students. I found students sympathized more easily with a work by someone of the same generation. The experiences were told vividly and from the bottom of the authors' hearts."

The staff at Sunnyside School in Clackamas, Oregon told how a book of students' writing and art touched their students. "Stories have been shared, read and reread, and laughed and cried over Treasures: Stories & Art by Students in Oregon has given our students an awareness of life and the world around them as experienced by children of their own ages."

STUDENT-PUBLISHED WORK HELPS US UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER

Immigrant students often write about their homeland experiences and submit these narratives for publication. Some students who submitted work to the Treasures anthologies (compilations of student nonfiction writing and poems and art based on real-life experiences) wrote about escaping from communist countries, leaving their families and homelands, living life on the streets as orphans, and surviving hardships under communist regimes. When their stories were published in one of the Treasures books, many readers became aware for the first time of their situations and better understood what some of our young people had gone through.

Thu Thuy Nguyen, a Vietnamese high school student who read her heart-wrenching poem "When Time is Gone" at a public reading in Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon demonstrated strength and courage. Her voice trembled as she wiped away her tears, and the audience members wiped away theirs. They were moved by her and her words.

   WHEN TIME IS GONE

   How I felt the day before I escaped
   on the boat from my country.

   The evening ended the day,
   That evening I can never forget.
   All my family were sitting together.
   We just looked at each other.
   No one talked and laughed,
   Just sad and quiet.
   I could hear their breath
   and their hearts beating.

   That was the last day,
   hour, minute, I had together
   with my family.
   They all gave advice to me.
   I was ready to go in a few minutes.
   They knew when I left
   There would never be a day to be back.
   But they had a plan for my future.
   I didn't know what it would be
   like going away
   from my country, my family.
   I thought when I left my country
   it would be like I went to visit friends
   and came back in a few days.
   But I was wrong.
   When time is gone
   It can never come back.

(Treasures 3: Stories & Art by Students in Japan & Oregon, 1994)

ONLINE PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES: DISPLAY YOUR STUDENTS' WRITING AND ART ON THE WEB

If your students cannot or do not want to have their work published in books or magazines, then have them try the Internet. It holds unlimited opportunities for young writers to display their work to a larger audience. While your students begin exploring the following links, encourage them to have fun reading students' writing and viewing their artwork. Perhaps one day, other students will be enjoying your students' work on the Web.

* Giggle Poetry (http://www.gigglepoetry.com/index.cfm) is the premier Web site for humorous children's verse on the Web.

* International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) (http://www.iearn.org/) is a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

* Kids on the Net (http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/) features writing by children, ages 6 to 16. at home and at school all over the world.

* KidLink (http://www.kidlink.org/) is a non-profit, grassroots organization working to help children and youth through the secondary school level be involved in a global dialogue. Also, students can submit their artwork to the Kidlink Gallery of Computer Art.

* Kid News (http://kidnews.com/) is a free news and writing service for students and teachers from around the globe and has published thousands of young authors from every continent except Antarctica.

* MidLink Magazine (http://longwood.cs.ucf.edu/~MidLink/) is an electronic magazine for kids ages 10 to 15. Its mission is to highlight original exemplary work from creative classrooms around the globe.

* Skipping Stones (http://www.skippingstones.org/) is a nonprofit children's magazine that encourages cooperation, creativity and celebration of cultural and environmental richness.

* The Poetry Zone (http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/index2.htm) is a Web site set up primarily to enable children and teenagers to publish their own poetry and reviews.

* U.N. Voices of Youth Page (http://www.unicef.org/voy/) Students can share their opinions, ideas, and art about what affects children in the world today (e.g., Children and Work, Children's Rights, Children and War, etc.).

* WagingPeace.org (http://www.wagingpeace.org/new/youtharea/index.htm). The Youth Outreach Initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation "initiates and supports opportunities for youth to contribute toward a world at peace, free from the threat of nuclear weapons."

* ZuZu (http://zuzu.org/) is a forum for expression for those explorers who stumble upon it.

PARTICIPATE IN OUR INTERNATIONAL ONLINE PUBLICATION PROJECT

Following the publication of Treasures 3, Professor Shima, my Japanese counterpart for that project, told me that students and teachers might be interested in submitting their responses to the stories and poems they read in Treasures 3. Selected pieces would be displayed on a Web site. Later he introduced me to Mr. Takao Mimura, at that time a high school English teacher, who was willing to be my counterpart on the project.

Imagine readers having the chance to respond in writing to stories they read. What a great idea and wonderful opportunity! Their written responses or impressions will also serve as kernels of classroom discussion. Students will also see the various ways in which others react and respond to a published student narrative. As they discuss impressions and the stories and poems, students will think about them in relationship to themselves and their lives. Initially, Mr. Mimura and I began seeking impressions that contained responses to the style and content of a piece. Then we noticed that some students submitted a narrative or poem of a personal experience inspired by reading work in Treasures 3 We changed our guidelines to encourage students to include such retellings along with their impressions. After all, reading brings forth moments and memories in readers lives. Why not write about them? We want this project to be inclusive, so we are inviting teachers and students from around the world to join us and submit impressions. We are going to display as many impressions and stories as we can on the www.publishingstudents.com website. Mr. Mimura and I are spreading the word through our networks of colleagues via the Internet. So far, students from Guam France, Malaysia, USA, Siberia, and Japan have submitted writing. We hope that your students will participate.

IMPRESSIONS GUIDELINES

If you are interested in participating in this project and in obtaining more information, please e-mail me a message at [e-mail]. Please tell your students about this project. Below are some guidelines for them to follow. Also, tell interested teachers you know about Impressions.

Impressions Guidelines:

1. Go to my Web site at www.publishing students.com and click on the Impressions link. There you will be able to read various students' stories from Treasures 3 and sample submissions. (It is unnecessary to do so to participate in this project but interested teachers may buy copies of Treasures 3. Cost plus shipping is S10.00 for the first copy. Profits from sales go towards maintaining the Web site.)

2. Write your impressions of stories in Treasures 3 in first person and in your own words.

3. You may submit more than one impression. In your impressions, include your thoughts, opinions, responses, and feelings regarding the story. Provide as many details as possible.

4. Reading the stories might inspire you to recall a similar experience of your own. If you want, write about that experience and submit your narrative of it along with your impression.

5. Along with your impression, include your name, your address, name and address of your school, grade, and the name of the teacher who assisted you. 6. Please e-mail your impressions to me at my e-mail address, which is [e-mail]

A WORD FROM ME TO YOUR STUDENTS

Students, your words do make a difference. We want to hear what you have to say. We will learn much from your honesty and insights. In the process, you will discover much about yourself and what you can accomplish. Perhaps the hardest step in any author's work is sitting down and starting. Go to my Web site and read other students' writing. Be inspired and moved to write. Aa you write a piece for the Impressions project, remember that you will be writing for the world.

Calkins, Lucy McCormick. Living Between the Lines. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1991.

Graves, Donald. "Balance the Basics: Let Them Write." Papers on Research about Learning. New York: Ford Foundation, 1978.

Chris Weber is an ESL teacher in Portland, Oregon and founder of the Oregon Students Writing & Art Foundation. For more than 20 years, he has been working with students on their publications in and out of the classroom. His latest book, Publishing with Students, was reviewed in the January 2003 issue of KLIATT. He has also supervised student editors in creating the award-winning Treasures series, anthologies of student writing and art used in the U.S. and abroad. His Web site (www.publishingstudents.com) provides teachers and librarians with additional resources and support for publishing students' writing.