Entry 2: Reflections of a Learner and Teacher

When transitioning into my next life journey of becoming a teacher... it is often easy to forget the importance of never loosing sight of what it means and feels to be a K-12 learner. When you are a young child learning about writing, it is overwhelming and exciting. Overwhelming when you start to learn about writing conventions (spelling, punctuation) and you are still trying to make sense of it all. Exciting because it is your own words and thoughts, a form of self-expression even if not fully realized at a young age. This is why writing often sparks "'fuzzy thinking' and young people not knowing how to access and analyze information and to write with 'a real voice'" (Calkins & Ehrenworth, 2016, p. 8). I learned my writing voice over time, and it took a while. Actually, I thought I had acquired it back in High School but more recently I realized that during College my writing has become more substantial and stronger. Something I am more proud of for sure! Every response I wrote, every essay I turned in, led to where I am today, in which I feel more confident in expressing my thoughts/ideas in a written format (instead of just answering the question). I also know that a big factor of my writing improving was feedback, "given just in time to learners in the midst of work" (Calkins & Ehrenworth, 2016, p. 9). Without teacher comments, peer drafting sessions, or models of improved writing, I would of not grown in my writing abilities. 

As a teacher of writing, I have not taught this skill very frequently. Yet, I have had experience with the notion of how "Writing... is a skill that develops with use. Writers need time to write" (Calkins & Ehrenworth, 2016, p. 8). My own personal time as a teacher has come in reflection journals, where I explore my "fears" and accomplishments in regards to the profession. When I have taught writing, it was for a brief time during student teaching or for a day subbing. The students were older, hence diving deep into some of the conventions of writing was not needed at that time (such as where to start on the page, punctuation, etc.). Their time for writing was often limited, but I recall that they knew the routine to get their journals or chrome books, brainstorm, and write their own ideas. As a teacher, I know that at times when I go to write on the board, as I search for the right thing to say in a written format, I can feel the pressure of spelling my thoughts correctly and formatting them neatly. Thus, I feel that as a teacher of writing, one needs to provide students time with the process and to also demonstrate confidence in their own ability to teach writing. 

Implementing a writing workshop sets students up, because clear goals and a routine is being established. Structure is being provided. It will be important for me to "write alongside... [the] students, at least for the first 5 or 10 minutes; in this way, [I] convey the importance [I] place on writing... engage[ing], listen[ing], react[ing] as a human being" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 19). I have had experience doing this by reading the prewritten daily message on chart paper, but during writing workshop, I would make this become an essential part for students to not just have guidance, but to understand why we write. I also think moving forward, for when I have my own classroom, it will be important to stress "class collaborations: Students supply the ideas for writing, and teachers model how to tackle common writing problems" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 23). Modeling emotion behind punctuation, demonstrating "errors" and corrections, along with talking about different writing forms will be important for me to gain practice in doing, as it is all part of an effective writers workshop! 

References

Calkins, L. & Ehrenworth, M. (2016). Growing extraordinary writers:                Leadership decisions to raise the level of writing across a school and a district.    The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 7-18.