As a teacher now, having a writing rubric to assess my students, I know where my 'writing flaws' lie. I am strong in "voice" though- and I suppose I'm strong enough in that area to make up for the short-comings! I've written a few children's books (and learning to be a better artist in order to illustrate them) and hope to get the motivation to do something with them one day soon. All of my ideas for these books have come from my experiences with children. Their minds amaze me every day! I feel blessed every time I get to read what they have written!
Now usually, a majority of the students that start in my class are not very strong writers. This generation of students are skilled in many areas in which my generation was not but writing doesn't seem to be one of them. Although this makes my job harder- I LOVE it! I love to teach writing, (I'm pretty good at it!), and I really enjoy seeing the students exponentially grow in this area! The current class I have has already practically tripled their writing abilities this year.
I'm going to give you my secrets to success. Not tooting my horn here or anything- but I really have been blessed with the ability to teach writing well and maybe you want to know too?
1) You have to model writing. Show your writing abilities. Your faults. Your interests. Your attempts, failures, and successes. They need to see that it's a process.
2) Show the students/children/etc that famous and popular authors have to follow a process too. Show them that they are 'normal' people. Show them that there are lots of great literary works out there but also that there are lots of weak ones too. Sometimes by the same person!
3)Maybe this should be number one- because it's very important. Allow them to be comfortable writing! This is often the biggest hurdle for people to cross in the process of writing. They often worry so much about their attempts being judged or just not being -perfect- right away. Many of my teacher & other adult peers have trouble with this too. This is usually the first thing I establish in my classroom. It's OK to mess up, to fall short, or to need improvement. In fact- it's even better to have something to improve upon!
4)Finally, give them a purpose. My students write for many reasons, in several subject areas but I always see the best results- most authentic writing, when they know something will come of their writing.
Now that you have a look into my writing instruction, let me give you a look into why I love to teach writing. The following is a compilation of third grade writings. There is a lot to read, but trust me- it's worth every moment of your time!
The first is an apology letter I received recently from a student who had gotten in trouble the previous day.
Next for you, I have a letter I found in a student's desk. She doesn't know I found it! I had a substitute for a couple days because I was having my girlfriend visit for a couple days. (She lives 10 hours away!!) This is what I found folded up in the back.
Isn't that awesome!? It's cool because she wanted to say how much she missed me (like shame on me for being out!) but she also took a moment to show her support of me being out! ('It will be a "suprice" and 'Did she have fun?')
Now this past week I did a writing prompt with my students and we picked a really cool one! The prompt was: "Pretend your grandpa told you not to use his special shampoo but you did anyway. Write about what happened." The following are just a few of my favorites!!!!
That one is so funny! I LOVE the -POW- in it and all the terrible punishments!
This one is two pages long (hang in there!) but it's by one of my best writers. She will be published one day- I have no doubt about that!
I hope you've enjoyed those! You can't honestly read them and not feel your mood lighten and your outlook on life refreshed. :) Writing is so much fun and I want to encourage you to find your place in the 'writing realm'. It's truly a hobby for everyone!
-Michael
