After reading the article titled ' Becoming Your Own Expert- Teachers as Writers' made me reevaluate my preconceived notions about teaching writing in the classrooms.
This article highlighted many important points that we as teachers need to be aware of, like writing with students is important because it helps with the classroom interactions between teacher and students and also give students the confidence needed to tackle their writing tasks, especially after witnessing teachers producing sloppy work or struggled themselves to produce written work.
Tom Gillespie stated that " writing makes us experts in teaching writing" I like this particular saying because we as teachers often rely on outside help whether it is a friend, workshops and co-worker to give us pointers in teaching writing when all we needed were ourselves. As I reflect on this quote I realize that on many occasions I am guilty of this because I sometimes lack the confidence I need to teach writing in the classroom.
Two other points stood out to me when reading the article and they were that students should be allow to pick their own topic to write without time constrain and also when giving feedback to, teachers should avoid giving vague comments to students. I felt like these two (2) points were speaking to me specifically. I remember many times during my high school years where I would have to write 2-3 essays and/or stories in a specific time. I struggled with this because I normally write two or three drafts before feeling confident enough to actually write the final piece. Also, I hate to be given ,whether verbal or written vague comments like good work, but need improving. I'm like "which part is good? where needs improving?" These comments can caused frustration because we do not know if the whole written piece needs correcting or just a word here and there needs changing.
My suggestions to teachers are these: Allow students to pick their own topics, this might help with removing some barriers students might have when in comes to reading. Children feels empowered when they are given a choice. Secondly, give comprehensive feedback to students. let them know where and what exactly needs improving or changing and lastly, allow enough time for students to write and rewrite their work, no one works well under pressure especially children.
I agree with the suggestions you made to us teachers Kimberly. I think its a good idea that Gillespie wrote on students choosing what they want to write about, because sometimes they cant relate (no matter how simple it may seem) to the topics we give them. Sometimes they don't even like the topic, and this could hinder their efforts to produce much on it.
ReplyDeleteIts a well stated point that you made that "no one works well under pressure", and as teachers we really pressure the students to produce a paragraph on a given topic within a 1- 2 session time period, sometimes without proper resources when some of us cant even do that. This generates pure frustration and anxiety in the students and we end up damaging their interest and efforts in writing.
There are two points that you highlighted , one is that student should choose their own topic and teachers giving feedback. Students should get that opportunity to choose any topic of their choice to write on, this way you will get more from the students and personal experiences may be written. Students should also get feed back so they know where they going wrong, and how to improve.
ReplyDeleteI endorse the point you made about teachers developing better interactions in the classroom. As teachers it is important for us to develop rapport with our students. This allows us to distinguish between good and struggling students.
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