Writing is a powerful tool that as teachers, both future and present, we must learn to encourage. The skill of writing goes unacknowledged and unappreciated as a tool that we can use in all aspects of our lives. As an aspiring English teacher, I hope to demonstrate to all my students how writing is a creative and useful tool that we use and continue to use each and every day, often without even realizing it. As an English teacher, I will have to teach writing. However, I do not wish to be compared to many of the teachers who nowadays have lost sight of their passion for teaching, specifically writing. My philosophy of teaching writing will continuously inspire young minds and demonstrate to the students just how important writing is. It is my belief that writing is one of the most important tools a student can take away from their education. This is because writing is everywhere. Everyone writes in some way, shape or form, practically on a daily basis. Writing is a skill that is absolutely necessary in order to be successful in any field of work, even when writing is not the primary facet of the job. One of the main focuses of my philosophy of teaching writing can be found in Continuing the Journey 2, written by Ken Lindblom and Leila Christenbury. In the text it states that as teachers, “we want to engage our students in powerful, real writing that engages with the world beyond school.”
In my philosophy of teaching writing, my primary method in teaching writing to students is a Constructivist approach. In this method of teaching the students will be able to fully grasp and develop a better understanding of a topic in depth as opposed to trying to memorize a plethora of information thrown at them. My goal in teaching writing is to serve as a mentor for life-long learning, and to teach for understanding. Too often teachers teach to simply prepare students to pass an exam, which is in no way beneficial to the students in the long-run and in “the world beyond school” as previously quoted. However, a Constructivist approach to teaching writing in the classroom is student-centered, therefore creating a positive environment where the student can thrive, by thinking and creating freely.
In a student-centered approach to teaching writing, I will simply serve as a facilitator whose objective is to guide and prompt the students in order to fulfill a specific objective that will be reflected in their writing. In doing this, I will be accomplishing what I need to in a way that seems as though I am putting it in the hands of the students to figure out. Through Constructivism, students can form an understanding of a set topic on their own. In other words, by making the topic their own they are able to truly internalize the information and in turn understand the information presented to them on a deeper level. In order to do this, I will help them to brainstorm given questions or prompts as a class. When beginning a lesson, I can present questions they may have never thought about before. These questions may have to do with ethics, morals, etc, that will eventually lead back to their writing task. I will present these questions as personalized prompts, given the fact that I am familiar with my class. Although I may not give direct answers, I can help carry them along in the conversation. It is important to have conversations and prompts such as this in order to give the students something to think about on a personal level and have something in mind to start with when going to write about said topic of discussion. Through this class conversation we are giving the students ideas to base their writing off of.
For example, if my class was reading Julius Caesar, I would prompt the class by starting off a discussion about their own friendships and if they would sacrifice that friendship for the greater good. Which then leads me to transition the class discussion to the reading. In that example, the students are internalizing the material by putting it into terms they understand, such as comparing Julius’ friendship to their own, and putting themselves in a similar position. These conversations are essential in teaching writing because it gives the students something to think about on that deeper level, instead of just going off the surface level information they collect from skimming the text.
In addition to class discussions, it is important to incorporate cooperative learning into the teaching of writing as well. Cooperative learning “is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.” This will be a more focused discussion between the students and their peers within the class. These group discussions prompt further thinking for a number of reasons. Within the groups, students are able to speak more freely in a relaxed environment of their peers in which they can dive further into what we have previously discussed as a class. Through these conversations, the students are bringing the real world into their writing. The students will internalize and draw on what they have discussed in order to recall all that information in their writing. Additionally, within these groups the students are able to learn from one another. In this, it is a form of peer review so if there is any misunderstanding, they will most likely correct each other for clarification.
Group discussions among the students and their peers also allows me to asses the students as well as myself. As they have discussions within their groups, I will be monitoring the groups to see if there are any major errors of understanding. This will also serve to self-monitor my teaching so that I can reflect on myself in order to better approach the students. If I see that the students are struggling or misunderstanding a topic, I know I will have adjust and clarify my teaching methods to ensure that the students do not go on to writing with incorrect information. In this, I will once again be guiding them in the right direction, as opposed to telling them what is right or wrong. Discussion between students as well as with the class as a whole help students with the planning stage of the writing process as explained in the video, WWC Recommendation: Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes. Prior to writing, these discussions help the students to “develop goals, generate ideas, gather information and organize their ideas.“
In order to further facilitate a student’s writing journey, I have a few examples of materials and methods I would use in order to guide them when they actually begin to write. The following examples can be found in Jim Burke’s, The 6 Academic Writing Assignments. I found these examples to be the most beneficial because not only does he prove their effectiveness, but they are also styles of teaching writing that I have experienced personally and felt as though they had a positive impact on my own writing as a student. One of the examples Burke discusses is the importance of journaling within the classroom. Journaling can be a cathartic writing exercise for students, as well as a useful way to help them begin their creative flow into a topic they plan to write about. As I have stated in a previous blog, I think that “the best part about this exercise is how Burke connects their activity to the topic they will be discussing in class.” All of these connections that bring a verbal discussion onto paper are excellent ways to facilitate writing for the students.
Another aspect of teaching writing to students is how to go about organizing a piece of writing. Many a time students become frustrated and discouraged due to the fact that they do not know where to begin. In teaching writing I would have students use a graphic organizer in order to help them organize their thoughts in a coherent manner. Burke also uses an organizer called the Topic Target which I have described in a previous blog as well. “With this, not only will the students be able to organize their ideas, but they would be able to use this organizer when they start writing, therefore allowing the ideas to flow more easily and create a thorough and organized final product.”
All in all, I would love to be able to preach a solid, and perfect philosophy on teaching writing, but in all honesty I cannot. Not because I am incapable, but simply because I do not have the experience of teaching writing yet and I can only base my philosophy on what I hope to encounter and execute when I eventually become a teacher. In reality, teaching as a whole is ever changing and my personal philosophy is still developing. The only way I will truly develop a concrete philosophy for teaching writing is through trial and error. But until then, I can continue to gather and retain information and eventually see how that works in my own classroom one day.
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