My thoughts after reading the article ‘Becoming Your Own Expert – Teachers as Writers’
Not everyone is a good writer. Allow me to clarify when I say ‘writer’. No, I don’t mean a writer as in someone who writes neatly. From my research ‘A writer can be described as a person who uses written words to communicate their ideas.’
Why should educators/teachers become better writers?
“The world of writing is a mural, not a snapshot. Students’ notions of genre should be expansive, not narrow” says Tom Romano. You may or may not agree with Tom Romano, but I know I do. It is the teacher’s responsibility to assist students to become creative and independent thinkers. But how can we as teachers help our students if we ourselves are not good writers? According to Donald Graves, “You can’t ask someone to sing a duet with you until you know the tune itself.” It is therefore essential that we as teachers must educate ourselves on the importance of writing. We must also practice the skills of writing if we would like to become better and effective writing teachers.
The author stated that “Students often think that experienced writers find writing easy...” When we as teachers model the writing process in front of our students they would then realize that writing is neither easy nor does the writer have ‘magic ability’. When we write with our students they would realize that a good writer is only born when there is continuous practice. A good writer is born after writing numerous drafts before each final product.
A person can read without writing, but he cannot write without reading. If we neglect writing, it is also at the expense of reading. - Linda Reif
Mohanie, I absolutely agree that teachers should be knowledgeable about the importance of writing in order to be successful in assisting our students in being good writers as well and help them advance to higher levels. From my perspective, many students avoid writing since it is time consuming, and they sometimes struggle to find the appropriate words to express their ideas (this is something I can relate to). Which is why we should stress the importance of practicing because practice makes perfect! I believe it is important for teachers to model the writing process, including brainstorming and drafts, for their students in order for them to be creative and effective with their writing.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree as well. Often times we as teacher's feel we are perfect. Learning is an ongoing process and is the art of writing. If a child is frustrated with the writing process it may be because he or she was not properly taught and given enough practice in the steps or to it may be a reflection of the teacher's own frustration with the writing processes
ReplyDeleteMohanie, I agree that writing can be a struggle and that it is important that as teachers we practice in order to perfect our craft. In doing so, we will be able to be able to help our students when we return to the classroom. It is important that we help students realize that writing takes time and that it isn't a one shot and done deal.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is well written and constructed. Your points on why teachers should become better writers are spot on. I full heartedly believe in order for a teacher to effectively teach students and train them that they themselves should continually try to better themselves in the areas they are trying to teach. Today, many teachers avoid bettering their skills and sometimes do not demonstrate to students the writing process. I hope other teachers will be able to read this and transform/improve the way they approach the writing process.
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