Writing is something that always came relatively easy to me. I was not the best student in High School, though that was primarily due to my lack of effort and enthusiasm. I was certainly capable of doing the work, though baseball and Atari always seemed to come first. But with writing, I was most often able to produce the quality of work my parents expected of me in a short and painless amount of time. As I set such a scenario for you, two problems are clearly recognizable. The first lies in the lack of effort I put forth in my early schooling, and the second is that I recognized very early what my parents expectations of me were, though I failed to explore my own subdued expectations. They were bubbling just beneath the surface of my false façade of a student. It was not until my years in college, and my subsequent experience, although it is still in its infant stages, of teaching High School English that I began to appreciate writing and reading as a useful tool rather than a mechanism for keeping a smile on my parents’ faces. When this released enthusiasm became part of my life, the latter of the scenario’s problems quickly solved the former. He was a professor at SUNY Cortland, Ross Borden. And it was only by a twist of fate that my path was fortunate enough to cross with his. As I signed up for Early British Literature as an undergraduate, I expected simply to carry on with my typical style of enduring English, for my major was in the sciences. I had known from the time I graduated from High School that I was probably most apt to succeed in English, though my personal restraints pushed me away from it. Nonetheless, as I walked through the door to Early British Literature, I had expected a woman professor, as my schedule... ... middle of paper ... ...everal times the same word, definition, or phrase because he or she had acted inappropriately or missed a question. While the punishment is perhaps effective for some teachers, it instills in the student the ideology that writing is a punishment. Thus the student will continue this attitude until someone, like Ross Borden, is effective enough to change it. While the difficulties in teaching students not only to be good writers, but also to enjoy writing are easy to complain about, they are not immediately changeable. Consequently, as a teacher of young writers, one must find a way to make the system work. Ross Borden found a way with me, and I feel I have found a way with many of my students, but not all of them. So I continue to read, and I continue to write, and I continue to teach, though I also continue to struggle with the many problems surrounding the field.
Thinking about a topic to write about is not always easy, and sometimes the process of writing can end up being difficult. Jennifer Jacobson discusses strategies to overcome the struggles that young writers can encounter while writing. I was interested in her book No More “I’m Done!” Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades because I feel like as a future teacher this could be a frequent problem among students. From reading this book, I hoped that I would learn useful strategies that I could use to help students overcome their problems with writing. After reading this book, I do believe that Jacobson has provided me with plenty of methods to use. I was surprised at the depth that she goes into in her text. There is a vast amount
In today's society student writers are constantly focused on the mistakes that they make. While this may be useful in some situations, it does not help in the writing environment. When students constantly edit themselves as they write, they are hindering their thoughts and ideas. In doing this, they will eventually lose their voice. In his essay "Freewriting," Peter Elbow (1998) discusses the process of freewriting and how it allows the reader to freely express their thoughts without the need to edit as they go.
My relationship with writing has been much like roller coaster.Some experiences I had no control over. Other experiences were more influential. Ultimately it wasn’t until I started reading not because I had to read but because I wanted to, that's when my relationship reached change. I would have probably never cared about writing as I do today if it weren't for the critics in my family. When I was a child, my aunts and uncles always been in competition with who's child is better in school. I have always hated reading and writing because of the pressure to prove my family wrong was overwhelming for me. I had to prove them wrong and show them that I was capable of being "smart" which according to them was getting straight A's in all your classes.
When it came about reading and writing I've never liked either of them. I always proffered math or any other subject in general since they always seemed less challenging and gave me less of a hard time. I never used to read anything and when it came to writing I
Although many will argue that great writing will require time and practice, opponents claim that great writing is like a puzzle which means one can put the pieces together to create an astonishing puzzle. This was the case when I was a 10th grade. As a tyro, I didn’t know much about writing elements and styles. Fortunately, one of my English teachers, Mrs. Roberson, change my outlook on writing. She taught me countless techniques. From that point, I started reading books to increase my knowledge and vocabulary. This was an incredibly wondrous experience for me. I was learning new information while expanding my learning capacity. This was stupendous. It was a life-changing moment for me. Throughout my high school journey,
Okay this is a rant post, and it's gonna be kinda shit because I know someone is gonna dm me and be like "Tanner you are being a stupid asshole, you know this is all false." And I am, this post is me talking out of my ass so yes it will be false at times, but if you want you can keep reading.
As someone who has always loved writing, I hope it won’t be too hard for me to relate to students who may not enjoy it. Recalling my own school days, I know there were always some writing assignments that I didn’t find enjoyable or downright disliked, and I hope to minimize these assignments in my own classroom. Sometimes they’re necessary, but a lot of times they’re not. While in my classroom, I want my students to learn to write, but more importantly I want them to like to write. Some may argue that liking writing is not something that can be taught, but I think students can learn to enjoy writing if they are given the right assignments.
I knew I wasn’t bad at writing but I never thought I was great at it either. I think one of these reasons is because I had never really cared about and/or related to the subjects I was writing about. But because of Mrs. Shaw’s class I was taught that I couldn’t just write, I could take joy in it. This argument is supported in Lenhart et. al.’s article, “Writing, Technology, and Teens,” stating:
In the pedagogical world I have since perceived, the teacher is almost solely in control of the development of his/her students. And more often than not, an encouraging, attentive, positive and guiding teacher will have a class full of blossoming writers. On the other hand, I’ve observed that with negative commentary, harsh judgments and insufficient time and ability to escort them to their writing peak, students may come to a standstill in their development as writers; some may come to detest it because of insufficient guidance which may lead to confusion, and some may come to the conclusion that they have simply failed as writers. The fact that a teacher’s approach, caused and/or influenced by a variety of reasons, which I will elaborate, further on, may be the culprit for the vast amount of students who feel they cannot write, is a grave, grave travesty--but not one we can not combat.
There are many different types of events that shape who we are as writers and how we view literacy. Reading and writing is viewed as a chore among a number of people because of bad experiences they had when they were first starting to read and write. In my experience reading and writing has always been something to rejoice, not renounce, and that is because I have had positive memories about them.
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together,” (Penney). Walking into English class in the third or sixth period every day used to be a scary challenge, but now it is slightly less terrifying. In class, I have learned from my mistakes. I grew as a reader, because, before seventh grade, I would almost never read books as a form of entertainment. As a writer, I learned to always edit before I turn in an assignment, and use creative vocabulary. Lastly, as a person, I had to learn how to have more patience when dealing with difficult classmates. Over the course of the year, I have grown as a reader, a writer, and a person good life skills.
It has been my experience that young student writers can be very vulnerable to harsh criticism from a teacher or person in authority. And in my own case, that criticism didn’t disappear at the end of the semester but in fact, stayed with me for many years. I still have to push that ghost of criticism out of my head when I sometimes have difficulty with my writing. For the most part, the wounds from the red pen have healed and the scaring has been greatly reduced. Since the process of writing is difficult enough without discouraging words from teachers, it is imperative that harsh criticism be chased out of the writing classroom for the good of all students.
Although adequate writing skills are indispensable for life, leisure, and employment, quite a few students do not learn how to write effectively. Since writing is an exercise in thinking, it is important to balance the process of writing with the mechanics of writing. The areas of the brain involved in the writing task are varied yet interrelated; therefore, a student’s individual needs will determine the method of instruction they receive. Many students who have low expectations for their own academic success will not make even minimal efforts to complete a...
Scholars from the Institute of Research on Learning at the University of Kansas (Schumacker & Deschler, 2009), writing about the demands of writing for students stated: “according to thei...
Looking back to the beginning of 7th grade English class I now realized of all the great things I have accomplished this year for English class. I am proud of how hard I worked this year and how my English has gotten better. I am proud to have been part of Ms D's English class and she is a phenomenal teacher. I think that one day I will be able to work as a English teacher like Ms D or I will become a journalist. Although I must say that when I first entered English class I had so many different thoughts. The first thought was about the teacher. I didn?t know if I would have been able to get along with Ms. D because she had looked like a professional person in which doesn?t play around. I was nervous but I knew I would have to try my best to get along with her. When class began I saw how Ms D loved to make her students write essays and that is what I knew I was good at. I saw how she was organized and she wasn?t strict nor she wasn?t mean. Ms. D was actually pretty great and funny. When class had first began I felt strong about my reading because my father used to make me read the newspaper about the age of 5 years old and at home I would have to speak loudly and clearly in front of her or else the things in which I wanted wouldn?t be granted in front of me. I knew that I wasn?t perfect but I knew that I would have to work on my vocabulary because in my country we usually didn?t speak proper English and I knew that the way that you talk is the way you would normally read and it?s the way you would write. I knew that I would have to throw away my bad English and learned English the right way. I feel excellent about reading now and I am more confident than before. I fee...