Philosophy of Teaching Writing
As a teacher of writing, I believe in helping students understand the complexity of literacy. Literacy is not limited to reading and writing in a “black ink on white paper” format; students encounter many different modes of communication on a daily basis that should be included in classroom instruction. To teach students about multiple literacies, my classroom instruction will be multimodal, incorporating all modes of communication. Every individual possesses their own personal learning style and I believe the multimodal classroom will allow all students to excel in their writing. If certain learning styles are not included in daily instruction, many students will be disadvantaged in expressing their thinking through writing, or composition. I also want to encourage students to explore all modes of communication, especially if they are not comfortable expressing themselves in a specific mode.
One tool I want to use is the daybook: a notebook used by the students and me that will act as a storehouse for all in-class and out-of-class thinking. It will be the central space for students to record all their process work, class notes, daily freewrite activities, personal writing, and anything else they want to include. But for the daybook to become a learning tool for the students, they must see value in using it every day. By modeling ways in which they can use the daybook, I hope students will come to value it as I do.
Through the use of the daybook and classroom instruction, I also want to model the writing process to help the students grow as writers. I do believe that everyone is a writer and together we can help each other to grow in our writing skills. This is why I want to use the workshop approach in the writing classroom. The workshop approach allows students to discuss their ideas and writing with one another. In the process, writing workshops would help students become comfortable working together and discussing writing in a positive space, and to gain new knowledge about their individual writing and how they can grow. During writing groups, each student will read their writing aloud to the other group members who will then respond as a reader and not a critic. Students will help one another
For this to occur, the classroom should be a safe and supportive environment where students will not be judged as a “good writer” or “bad writer.” Instead, students will be assessed according to their growth in writing throughout school year. Assessment of student writing will involve the use of reflection writing for each major writing assignment. In the reflections, students will analyze their individual writing process to show how they arrived at the final piece. Not only will this let me see their process work and growth, but students will begin to understand themselves as a writer when they see their hard work.
My philosophy of writing is ultimately to create a community of writers who value individual progress over the final product. Through the use of the daybook, writing groups, modeling each activity conducted in the classroom, and incorporating multiple modes of communication into daily classroom learning, I hope to foster an environment where students will find purpose in writing and see themselves as writers.