How to help students feel like, think like, and talk like real writers

Personally, I have always believed and have now more than ever realized the importance of making a student feel like a real writer. There are five points in particular that I plan to use with my students in the future, and I chose them because I feel that since they have helped me feel better about writing and benefited me in more ways than one, I hope it will do the same for my students one day.  

As a teacher, the first way I would make my students feel like real writers is to be aware of the criticism I give them all personally. We all have received feedback on an essay at some point in time where there is just a short note on your paper from the teacher saying what they did not like, or what you did wrong. That type of criticism is not beneficial to the student and negatively effects a student’s self-esteem as a writer. As a teacher, I would be sure to give positive feedback on each student’s paper alongside constructive criticism. Giving both positive and constructive feedback makes the students feel good about what they have written and shows them everything they did well so that they continue to do those things.

Another idea I would use as a teacher to make my students feel like real writers is offering to publish their work. Whether it be the school newspaper, literary magazine, or an official publishing site, I think having a student see their own work printed in black and white really does wonders to a student’s self-esteem. This will make the student feel like a real writer because of the fact that it was written well enough to be published.

I also think it would be a great idea to write in front of my students. I believe that if I write in front of my students, whether it be editing something or revising a piece of writing, it will teach the students to think like a writer. They could share constructive criticism aloud as a class. According to the article, How to teach students to be real writers – Tips and tools, by Brenda Berg, it further supported this theory in saying that this method “will show them that no one is perfect and it teaches them to think critically.”

Workshops within the classroom are yet another great way to get students to think like real writers. I think it would be effective to have workshops with their peers as well as one on one workshops with the teacher. As the teacher, you know your class best and would be able to pair the less skilled writers with the more advanced students in the class so that they can work and learn from each other. These students will learn to think and talk like real writers because they will see ways in which they can improve by taking advice from one another, as well as learning how to critique each other’s writing in a more constructive manner.

Lastly, I would incorporate weekly vocabulary into my class’s curriculum in order to help them talk like real writers. Often students are not confident because of the vocabulary or lack thereof. This being said, if we were to expand a student’s vocabulary, they would feel more confident in not only their writing, but in discussions in general. The vocabulary could pertain to that week’s lesson plan or a book they are reading. In this the students would have the proper terminology needed to discuss their thoughts like a writer.

All in all, I can definitely see myself implementing these five methods in my classroom in order to help my students feel, think and talk like a real writer, as I feel they are encouraging ways to ensure self-esteem and confidence in the students, which will in turn allow them to become better writers in every aspect.