Ms. Burton’s Class Writes …. kind of
By Valerie Burton
In my classes, writing is crucial and essential. Not the kind of writing that I would like, to express ourselves and share interests and reveal random ideas. Writing in my class is done to evaluate a student’s ability to respond to writing prompts given during testing. I want to change that. I want students to realize that there is power behind words, I want students to want to write.
How do I teach writing? … How Do I Teach Writing?!?>?!?>?!? Hmmmm. Good question. How do I teach writing? I teach writing by explaining a writing type, showing an example of the assigned writing type, discussing the rubric that will be used to grade the writing piece and then providing feedback and comments about the finished writing piece that I would like the student to use.
My main concern about my students’ writing is that THEY DO NO WRITE. They only do the minimal of what I assign them to do so that they can pass my class. If I tell them to compose a response that must be at least 75 words and give at least 2 points of reference from the story, it bothers me to see them counting out the words and them try to write more to satisfy my requirements. (Yes, I know that they are merely following my instructions but it still bothers me.) What I really want them to do is first try to connect to the piece to determine how they feel about the topic, find the points of reference and then Be Brilliiant. What I get is a student who is a mass of confusion as they look back through the story and try to find 2 things that might mention the topic of our discussion and then they copy and begin word counting.
My students do not write for the sake of writing and they do not see writing as a way of expressing themselves. To them, writing is that horrible task that their teachers and the state assessors make them do for a grade.
Why? Why is it so hard for them to put their thoughts on paper? I know that many of them do not think that they have anything to say. If you don’t have anything to say, how can you feel comfortable writing? I hope that I can use this class writing class to help find ways to engage them so that they tap into their creativity and use writing as an outlet. I want my kids to find out that they do have something to say and they have people who want to hear it.
I hope that the Greater New Orleans Writing Project will help me to provide them with opportunities to create meaningful writing products for their ePortfolios. I want to get some techniques and activities to use with my students that will help them see the value and purpose of writing. Whether it is to communicate clearly to get a job, win a scholarship, request a refund, or complaining to the editor, being about to get your point across is very important. I hope that we can write often enough about meaningful topics that writing will not be such a chore for them.
I know that writing is hard to do because you want to get each and every comma and verb correct but it should also be enjoyable and creative. What I wish for my students is that they find their voice and have opportunities to use it. I know that my writing sounds like me, my ideas and my opinions and I want them to find their voice so that their writing will sound like them, their ideas and their opinions.
This is a part of my Greater New Orleans Writing Project’s application, we had to describe how we teach writing in our classroom and what we hope to gain from the experience.
