I have looked at blogs, journal articles, and websites in my exploration for ways to teach students components of the writing process. There is a lot information available out there about teaching writing as a process, but I wanted to jot down some of my personal takeaways through my exploration and research on the topic.
Writing is about discovery. When we ask students to write we ask them to make meaning and make new discoveries about topics or even about themselves as the delve through thoughts and ideas. As teachers we should encourage and foster making discoveries in student writing. In order to develop the product we have to discover the process.
We need to let students do the writing. We need to resist marking every little mistake on student papers, and we need to resist taking over a student’s work which takes away their voice. We need to approach student work as a reader, and learn to ask questions about their writing. We should help guide and provoke ideas about their writing with questions. It is an opportunity for us to learn about our students as writers, and be a mentor through the writing process. We might have ideas about where a student should go with their writing, but sit back and let them do the writing.
We teach students to write for life. Sure, we have to teach narrative, persuasive, and academic writing as demanded by curriculum, but the skills and knowledge we impart upon students stay with them for life. There will come a time where student may have to write something like a cover letter to convince an employer to look at their resume, or write a eulogy for a loved who who has passed away. We will have taught students to think deeply and critically about their writing in order to write for any type occasion.
While this quest through discovering ways of teaching the writing process is coming to an end, it is merely a small part of my journey as an English Language Arts teacher. It is my hope that I can instill a sense of confidence in my students through writing, and show them all that writing has to offer. For now my quest has ended, but with each step I take as a teacher I create new beginnings.
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