When I was an elementary student, the only time I can really vividly picture writing is in first and third grade. In first grade, I remember learning about the different types of writing like, narratives, informative writing, etc. I also recall writing to a friend when it was their birthday and my teacher gathered our papers and made a book for the student who’s birthday it was. In this piece of writing we were to write to the student about something that makes them special or unique because it was their special day. My teacher would write sentence starters on the board for us after we brainstormed some as a class. Some of the sentences looked like, “Madeline is special because_____” and we would finish the sentence with something we came up with ourselves. My teacher did this for spelling purposes. In third grade, I can remember writing almost everyday of the week in school, and I remember that my teacher always emphasized how much she loved writing so it is really glued in my brain. On one specific instance, my teacher allowed us to write an informative piece on any topic we wanted. I chose to write about polar bears and how they were becoming extinct. During writing, my teacher had a line of students behind her desk and she would meet and discuss with each of us and tell us what needed to be worked on and helped us with spelling.
I wrote because my teachers really engraved into my classmates and I the importance of writing, but they found ways to make it engaging and give us the freedom to write about things we enjoyed. When given this opportunity, I was more motivated to write and found myself getting stuck less.
I always enjoyed writing in school, but not enough to write outside of school or when I was not instructed to do so. Writing was subject that I found to be pleasurable compared to other subjects in school because I found it to be more open ended and less product based.
Something that I found helpful in writing was when my teacher modeled what our writing could look like on the projector screen. She did a mini lesson where we formulated a story of some sort as a class and all collaborated while she lead the discussion and put our ideas together. This gave us a clear example of what we were expected to do, while providing us with the freedom to choose a topic as long as it was written in that particular style.
How do you define writing? I define writing as, the formulation of words and language to communicate and create an intended effect or message. Writing can be used to inform, persuade, communicate, question, and answer. Writing is an essential skill that is necessary to become educated, and exercise education. It is also essential in conveying a message or connecting with others.
What do you see as the teacher’s role in children learning to write? I think, as a teacher that is teaching children to write, it is important that the teacher acts as a facilitator to students, but also provides guidance as needed. To me this means that the teacher does not explicitly provide answers to students and leaves room for open-ended growth. The teacher can allow students freedom in their writing while still providing them with expectations and skills they need to be successful in their writing.
What else do you think is important in children learning to write? I think a very important element in children learning to write is freedom to write about what they enjoy, but with structure to what their writing implemented. I do not think teachers should tell students whether their writing is wrong or right, I think they should pull out the good ideas and content the student had, and re-direct them. I believe an important thing for teachers to do is focus on the students process of writing, rather than the product. Many teachers are target-focused due to expectations in their curriculum, but I think there are ways to go about writing, and other subjects that still allow for children to reach a goal in their own way.
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