Philosophy of Teaching Writing
Draft Work
Writer's Autobiography
From an early age, I believe I realized that I enjoyed writing for personal satisfaction rather than writing for other people. I knew the final grade was important for the class, but it was not the reason for why I was writing. If I was entertained by the writing in front of me, I was happy and I felt as though I accomplished something important. Writing is more than a grade for an assignment; it is a form of expression.
The first important memory I have of writing comes from first grade. For Thanksgiving, each student was given a cut-out of a turkey with lines drawn on it where we would write our own story about the Thanksgiving turkey. I did not know then my reasons for keeping this writing, but today I believe I kept it because it was mine. No one else could claim that story and it was mine. Over the next 13 years of schooling, I kept a plastic tub under my bed where I would store every piece of writing. Eventually there were other writings besides those from school. I have notebooks filled with stories, characters, and ideas. I see each of them as a piece of myself that I do not want to lose or throw away.
When I am writing, the best environment for me is a quiet room, some relaxing music, and a notebook on my lap. Using the daybook has allowed me to glue in pictures as well to write from and create stories, or to write down memories. I like keeping a written record of important events in my life. It is my way of keeping people and memories alive so I can share them with others in the future. Also, writing at night seems to be the best time but I am not sure why at this point.
I never feel as though any of my writing is finished; I am always revising and editing. The piece becomes messy but I enjoy that aspect of the writing process. I think it means you truly care about the final product and what you are trying to say through that specific piece of writing.
The first important memory I have of writing comes from first grade. For Thanksgiving, each student was given a cut-out of a turkey with lines drawn on it where we would write our own story about the Thanksgiving turkey. I did not know then my reasons for keeping this writing, but today I believe I kept it because it was mine. No one else could claim that story and it was mine. Over the next 13 years of schooling, I kept a plastic tub under my bed where I would store every piece of writing. Eventually there were other writings besides those from school. I have notebooks filled with stories, characters, and ideas. I see each of them as a piece of myself that I do not want to lose or throw away.
When I am writing, the best environment for me is a quiet room, some relaxing music, and a notebook on my lap. Using the daybook has allowed me to glue in pictures as well to write from and create stories, or to write down memories. I like keeping a written record of important events in my life. It is my way of keeping people and memories alive so I can share them with others in the future. Also, writing at night seems to be the best time but I am not sure why at this point.
I never feel as though any of my writing is finished; I am always revising and editing. The piece becomes messy but I enjoy that aspect of the writing process. I think it means you truly care about the final product and what you are trying to say through that specific piece of writing.
Philosophy of Teaching Writing
DRAFT 1
Philosophy of Teaching Writing
Throughout my years in public school and continuing into my undergraduate education, I have heard the idea “learning by doing.” People learn through continual practice. This idea will be an important part of my English/Language Arts classroom, along with an emphasis on individual progress and collaboration. Specifically, in my writing instruction I want show my students that writing is a process and we must practice every day to achieve growth. The classroom will be a supportive environment where students will be comfortable collaborating through specific formats, such as the daybook and class website. I want to convince every student that they are writers.
Individual progress will be a key aspect in the students’ learning and thinking through writing. First, the students will be required to keep a daybook to record all thinking inside and outside the classroom. To show students that the daybook is an important tool for their learning, I will also write in my own to model its use. With each writing assignment, there will be multiple workshops in class where students will learn to evaluate and respond to their peers writing. These skills will extend into the reading assignments for the class, emphasizing a strong correlation between reading and writing. I will also incorporate specific technology in my classroom instruction. Each class will have their own website that will be updated daily with the agenda, and all handouts for students will be uploaded to the website. This website will also be a place for students to collaborate with one another beyond the classroom. I am currently researching new technologies to incorporate into my classroom instruction while maintaining the traditional writing formats.
The most important idea I want to change in the minds of my students is that I am also a student. By becoming a teacher, I have made a commitment to lifelong learning. The students should know that I do not know the answers to all their questions but I am willing to work with them to find an answer.
DRAFT 2
When I write, I feel free. Free to imagine; to explore; to relive memories; to think. As a student, the freedom to think has become a major part of my education and the way I imagine my classroom environment. I remember in high school that I was not given many opportunities to express my personal thoughts on a topic because the classrooms were teacher-centered. The classroom should be student-centered, giving students the freedom to think in a safe and supportive environment. (I about said “controlled” but I realized that is not the word I want, but I don’t know what else to put). [SH1] It will be a classroom where individual progress in writing is valued above the final product. Also, the classroom will also be a collaborative environment where students would be comfortable sharing and responding to their classmates writing. [SH2]
Writing should be a way for students to express their thoughts in any format of their choosing. Students could make this choice after having experience working with different genres and styles of writing in the classroom. Daily writing practice will be necessary for students to see that writing is a process and takes continual practice to know their individual growth. Individual progress will be a key aspect in the students’ learning and thinking through writing. Students will be required to keep a daybook to record all thinking inside and outside the classroom. To show students that the daybook is an important tool for their learning, I will also write in my own to model its use. With each writing assignment, there will be multiple workshops in class where students will learn to evaluate and respond to their peers writing. I will also incorporate specific technology in my classroom instruction. Each class will have their own website that will be updated daily. This website will also be a place for students to collaborate with one another beyond the classroom and a place for parents to be involved in their students learning. [SH3]
Students should know that I, as teacher, am working along-side them. Writing instruction will involve every individual in the classroom including myself. By showing the students that I am also learning and growing in my writing, I hope to create a classroom writing environment where we all work together to grow as writers.[SH4]
Comments
[SH1]I’m hearing how you are viewing writing. Great! What I wonder, given the audience for this piece and the need to “teacher” in this, if you might go straight from your wonderful opening line to this line about student-centered classroom. What do you think? I’m saying this because, while it’s fine to talk of your student-self, I’m not sure it will go over well, particularly at the beginning. We want to hear teacher, though I think the life-long student/learner
[SH2]I think these are great points, but might need their paragraph/part w/ explanation of what you mean by “individual progress” and what a “collaborative environment” will look like. I think you start to do this in the next paragraph, but I wanted to throw it out there in case you might need to provide more details about it.
[SH3]Whew! You present a lot of ideas here! Each sentence is almost a “and then I want to do this w/ writing and then and then…” But I never heard many specific details about how you will do, except for the daybook lines, maybe. But assume the reader doesn’t know what this is, so you’ll have to insert an appositive or something that gives them a quick snippet. But mainly, here, I thought, “Slow down and describe this stuff!”
[SH4]This reads very well and I think couples with your earlier idea of modeling. Is modeling something you feel you might expand on more? Kind of as a key part of your philosophy?
Philosophy of Teaching Writing
Throughout my years in public school and continuing into my undergraduate education, I have heard the idea “learning by doing.” People learn through continual practice. This idea will be an important part of my English/Language Arts classroom, along with an emphasis on individual progress and collaboration. Specifically, in my writing instruction I want show my students that writing is a process and we must practice every day to achieve growth. The classroom will be a supportive environment where students will be comfortable collaborating through specific formats, such as the daybook and class website. I want to convince every student that they are writers.
Individual progress will be a key aspect in the students’ learning and thinking through writing. First, the students will be required to keep a daybook to record all thinking inside and outside the classroom. To show students that the daybook is an important tool for their learning, I will also write in my own to model its use. With each writing assignment, there will be multiple workshops in class where students will learn to evaluate and respond to their peers writing. These skills will extend into the reading assignments for the class, emphasizing a strong correlation between reading and writing. I will also incorporate specific technology in my classroom instruction. Each class will have their own website that will be updated daily with the agenda, and all handouts for students will be uploaded to the website. This website will also be a place for students to collaborate with one another beyond the classroom. I am currently researching new technologies to incorporate into my classroom instruction while maintaining the traditional writing formats.
The most important idea I want to change in the minds of my students is that I am also a student. By becoming a teacher, I have made a commitment to lifelong learning. The students should know that I do not know the answers to all their questions but I am willing to work with them to find an answer.
DRAFT 2
When I write, I feel free. Free to imagine; to explore; to relive memories; to think. As a student, the freedom to think has become a major part of my education and the way I imagine my classroom environment. I remember in high school that I was not given many opportunities to express my personal thoughts on a topic because the classrooms were teacher-centered. The classroom should be student-centered, giving students the freedom to think in a safe and supportive environment. (I about said “controlled” but I realized that is not the word I want, but I don’t know what else to put). [SH1] It will be a classroom where individual progress in writing is valued above the final product. Also, the classroom will also be a collaborative environment where students would be comfortable sharing and responding to their classmates writing. [SH2]
Writing should be a way for students to express their thoughts in any format of their choosing. Students could make this choice after having experience working with different genres and styles of writing in the classroom. Daily writing practice will be necessary for students to see that writing is a process and takes continual practice to know their individual growth. Individual progress will be a key aspect in the students’ learning and thinking through writing. Students will be required to keep a daybook to record all thinking inside and outside the classroom. To show students that the daybook is an important tool for their learning, I will also write in my own to model its use. With each writing assignment, there will be multiple workshops in class where students will learn to evaluate and respond to their peers writing. I will also incorporate specific technology in my classroom instruction. Each class will have their own website that will be updated daily. This website will also be a place for students to collaborate with one another beyond the classroom and a place for parents to be involved in their students learning. [SH3]
Students should know that I, as teacher, am working along-side them. Writing instruction will involve every individual in the classroom including myself. By showing the students that I am also learning and growing in my writing, I hope to create a classroom writing environment where we all work together to grow as writers.[SH4]
Comments
[SH1]I’m hearing how you are viewing writing. Great! What I wonder, given the audience for this piece and the need to “teacher” in this, if you might go straight from your wonderful opening line to this line about student-centered classroom. What do you think? I’m saying this because, while it’s fine to talk of your student-self, I’m not sure it will go over well, particularly at the beginning. We want to hear teacher, though I think the life-long student/learner
[SH2]I think these are great points, but might need their paragraph/part w/ explanation of what you mean by “individual progress” and what a “collaborative environment” will look like. I think you start to do this in the next paragraph, but I wanted to throw it out there in case you might need to provide more details about it.
[SH3]Whew! You present a lot of ideas here! Each sentence is almost a “and then I want to do this w/ writing and then and then…” But I never heard many specific details about how you will do, except for the daybook lines, maybe. But assume the reader doesn’t know what this is, so you’ll have to insert an appositive or something that gives them a quick snippet. But mainly, here, I thought, “Slow down and describe this stuff!”
[SH4]This reads very well and I think couples with your earlier idea of modeling. Is modeling something you feel you might expand on more? Kind of as a key part of your philosophy?
Draft 3
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.
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.