My Writing Philosophy

MY PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING WRITING

The following is a one-page document on my philosophy of teaching writing. Writing is defined according to Michigan State University (2002) as “a form of communication that allows students to put their feelings and ideas on paper, to organize their knowledge and beliefs into convincing arguments, and to convey meaning through well-constructed text. Learning to write occurs in steps whereby students move from scribbling to writing words, writing sentences, writing paragraphs and developing great stories and other publications. At each stage the teacher is a guide that facilitates the gradual progression between stages and to sharpen the skill of writing. This skill sharpens when students are given the opportunity to write daily. Routine writing helps students improve their writing as they are allowed the freedom to write.

Using a writer’s workshop, the teacher would teach and model effective writing. The teaching of writing includes the step by step teaching of the writing process (prewriting, writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing) to include many strategies that students can use as they go through it. Furthermore, teachers should model writing by writing different genres so that the students can use it as a guide. It is also a great way to teach students how to be critical in their writing. There are several trends in writing that the teacher can choose from and different ways to combat challenges faced by students in writing. 

          To help with learning, teachers must give students many strategies and activities for writing and provide one on one feedback. The six traits of writing (Voice, Ideas, Presentation, Conventions, Organization, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency) is a way of teaching, modelling, and assessing the instruction of writing. Moreover, teachers are to encourage much reading as this too helps develop students’ writing skills and allow them to see the connection between reading and writing. In addition, technology should be integrated into writing for example, digital storytelling, blogs, and wikis as a means of publishing and distributing writing. This will cause students to feel like their writing has a purpose rather than to be left inside an exercise book.

My goal for my students is to have them recognize that writing is just an expression of their thoughts and ideas organized in a well- structured manner. It is also my goal to have students appreciate different genres of writing and become critical writers. Furthermore, my ultimate goal is to have my students become good authors and publish their own pieces and/or books. Therefore, to help my students reach these goals I will first create a literacy rich environment containing a writing center, use best practices such as strategy instruction, peer assistance, prewriting activities, process writing approach etc. as well as have writer’s workshops and use technology for the writing and publishing of students' work.