How does Nancie Atwell’s story strike you and consider the
subtopics in Peterson’s chapters 1 & 2 as a teacher of writing in your
discipline.
Atwell's
reflection made me feel simultaneously pleased and worried. I am glad that she
finally came to a realization about the best ways in which to teach writing and
to foster the growth of her students in many writing genres. However, I worry
that I will not be able to do the same in my teaching career. I already feel
somewhat stuck in my ways regarding what pieces of writing should be created
and about what topic they should be. How will I give students in a history
class (or any class that I teach) the best opportunities to explore all the genres of
writing in a safe environment where they get both peer feedback and teacher
feedback? I worry that my own experiences in school of succeeding in certain
areas of writing (e.g. essays) and feeling like a failure in others (such as
poetry) will bias my lessons and subsequently prevent students from
experiencing all genres of writing (and the feelings of success and struggle that
arise during the process).
I
disagree with Atwell in terms of worrying about conventions only in the final
draft― I believe that in your mini-lessons you should also remind students of
proper spelling and grammar. I would not expect perfect writing immediately,
but I would hope to see improvement in their rough draft writing as the year
progresses. That way, the quality of student work is gradually increasing during
each opportunity to write. I think the best way of incorporating writing into
any course would be creating a regular routine for students. I can see myself
utilizing Peterson's proposal for classroom organization where students begin
each day with a small piece of writing that can be tracked in their folder. I
believe that students thrive with routines and organization; I can imagine
students enjoying the writing process more when they regularly write and can
see their progress. Overall, I think students will feel fulfilled with their
journey in writing when the process is seamlessly integrated across the
curriculum.
I think you are right about the need to write regularly so that progress can be experienced!
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