Competency 9 Of Teaching Adolescent Writers

Writing is an essential skill that students will use and apply for the rest of their lives. Teaching students to become strong writers is a daily task and involves writing more than just an essay. Research indicates that by the middle school level students should be writing at least 60 minutes a day. A practice of daily writing helps build writing fluency that transcends across the curriculum. However, this can be a daunting task especially when students don’t like to write. In a time when writing is essential to the curriculum, how do we build a community of lifelong writers? (Especially when we are in the age of standardized testing that limits what and how students are being taught writing.) Many experts state that daily writing in

In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.

On a scale of one to ten, how good of a writer are you? Would you categorize yourself as a two because you hate writing and are poor at the whole writing process? Or maybe an eight because you do not mind it, but could use improvement on revising? There are so many pieces that are required to create a sound paper that has strong content, organization, grammar, and ability to grab the reader’s attention. Because of this, there is no simple, clear-cut definition of “good writing.” Even though “good writing” cannot be easily defined, Nancy Sommers, who teaches and researches at Harvard University where she has served a number of roles over nearly three decades with a focus on the development of high school and college students’ literacies

Weekly, one-page response papers are assigned based on their readings, which helps students understand my writing expectations, and gain confidence as the transition from generalized and vague language to academic writing. In class writing assignments, which deal with key questions from their reading, also helps students make the transition. After reading “Why I Write” by Joan Didion, I invite students to write a short essay about their writing process. Each reading and writing assignment escalates in difficulty, with the intention to build confidence, reduce anxiety, and overcome fear about their writing process, while increasing their academic language.

Writing not only reflects on one’s credibility in literacy, but also how America’s school system has failed students at writing in English courses. As a student, I would describe my writing as “honest, but complex”. For as long as I can remember, writing was always a tool that allowed a person to eloquently express his or her opinions, and analyze writing prompts given by teachers at school. Today, most students in English class solely attempt at getting a good grade rather than thoroughly understanding grammar and writing. Moreover, a solution for this would be allowing more English teachers at school to come together to improve the emphasis on proper language learning as well as the value of writing.

Reading and writing are two very important skills. These skills allow students to be successful, life long learners. Along with many other skills, one place students learn how to read and write is school. As an educator it is my job to ensure that students learn these essential skills, so that they can be successful, life long learners. It is important to know that writing-to-learn is different from learning-to- write. Writing-to-learn is different as the final product is not a piece that has undergone several edits (Knipper & Duggan, 2006). Writing-to-learn is the short informal pieces of writing that can be used in a lesson for students to reflect on subject matter and explore their own learning (Colorado State University, 2015). Where

While doing Project One I learned a lot about how I should be writing in the future. When beginning this assignment, I didn’t think I would learn a lot but to my surprise this project had a positive effect on me as a writer. I have changed my perspective on this class and how it will significantly benefit my future writing skills. I found this the project challenged me because it is the first proper essay I have writing in over two years. I found myself having to go through it a lot after I wrote it. In the past I just quickly threw my thoughts down. I learned from this project I need to be more aware of a lot of things before I write. Next time I will structure my ideas and thoughts more before I begin writing. I think in the future I will

Writing is key in my classroom, even more so than reading. I do not want my students to read the textbook word for word, I want them to use it as a guide, and use readable "Math for Dummies" books if necessary. Writing on the other hand, is the end all be all for my class. They will write in their notes, they will write on their homework, they will write on their quizzes and tests, etc. To even show up to my classroom without a pencil is already off to a bad start for the day. To say that writing is promoted in my classroom is an understatement. Although, there are other methods of writing that I will incorporate in my classroom not discussed here but in Week 4 Discussion 2. Vacca (2008, p.243) states; writing facilities learning by motivating

According to Purcell-Gates (1996), “the amount and nature of exposure children have to writing and text-related practices may be related to how well they understand the way writing functions” (as cited in Graham et al., 2013, p.30). The exposure to writing can greatly benefit children because it provides them background on writing and why it is used. If children have a concept of writing and what it is, they can practice earlier and become more advanced at it than they would have if they had no early introduction to writing at

According to Debrine Mascle, in her article “Writing Self-Efficacy and Written Communication,” the importance of effective writing and communication skills continues to be essential to learning, working, and continuously living in our 21st-century (218). Writing is used to improve learning and to provoke critical thinking. Although there is extensive hidden writing fear among students, it can be overcome by immersing in it and by the help of valuable tools.

Writing is a tool used in many subjects, and it has a great deal of importance in our society. In this article written by Fish, the reader is given his perspective on what a writing course should encompass. Fish begins the article by pointing out the problem with english composition classes today. On the first page he mentions how one day ,while grading papers, he noticed that his graduate students did not write clean proper sentences. Fish took it upon himself to find out why students lack simple writing skills and how english composition professors can fix it? After finding the answers to his questions Fish came to the conclusion that the only way to teach writing is by focusing on technique and sentence structure. He believes that once a student masters the skills it takes to write then they can write successfully. Writing is used daily and it is important that we master the ability. Fish has a good argument that supports the focus on writing technique, but he misses the importance of other writing factors such as evidence, audience, and rhetoric.

The ability to write to meet the demands of the curriculum and the state-wide standardized assessment is important for the middle school student, and it is an area of learning they need to acquire. “Writing well is not just an option for young people—it is a necessity. Along with reading comprehension, writing skill is a predictor of academic success and a basic requirement for participation in civic life and in the global economy” (Graham & Perin, 2007).

One of the points most often overlooked by many is the assistance that writing provides in communication and reading skills. Being able to articulate one’s ideas clearly and concisely is an important skill for both writing and speaking as “both focus on skills acquisition in transforming ideas into words by developing, organizing, supporting, and presenting arguments” (Dallimore 2). Knowing how to effectively convey emotion and adapt to different audiences in different settings can help a student become a better communicator even after leaving school. Apart from improving speech, “reading and writing are both functional activities that can be combined to accomplish specific goals, such as learning new ideas presented in a text… they draw upon common knowledge and cognitive processes… both communication activities” (Graham and Hebert 12). Reading and writing complement each other and allow ease of subject comprehension. When students develop good writing skills the understanding of texts will come more easily

Writing in a horizontal line is essential for students in the elementary setting. Writing first begins in preschool, within the following year student’s knowledge of words increases greatly. A student’s writing and reading skills only continue to grow as he/she reaches middle and high school. Students use writing in a variety of different ways especially in the elementary setting. Writing may be used to describe a picture, how the student is feeling, to share information and more. It is essential that students are given the opportunity to demonstrate strong writing skills throughout elementary school. Although writing is essential in the development of students, many students lack the foundational writing skills needed to be effective. Only 25% of students in the National Assessment of Educational Progress were classified as competent writers (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003).

Writing is a literacy component that allows students to communicate their ideas in a coherent and fluent manner. Writing captures the vivid imagination of the writer when all of his abstract ideas are organized in an interesting and cohesive essay. Writing becomes an effective tool in preserving the students’ creativity and reflective writing styles. Therefore, when students produce well-written and organized essays, these essays are products of a tedious and deeply personal process of thinking. The importance of writing encompasses even outside the realms of the classroom as it is a crucial skill students must develop so they will be able to gain communicative competence. However, writing and writing instruction have become a challenged to both students and teachers. As writing is taught in all English subjects, one central issue is the difficulty of teaching students how to write. Writing simply becomes a way to complete a grade. Writing is not simply instructing the students what to write and think since they have difficulty organizing their ideas. Writing is taught as a process that will train students to think coherently and consolidate their ideas properly. Therefore, students must be equipped with the writing skills set forth in the English K to 12 Curriculum Guide (Department of Education 2013) which states that Grade 6 students should be able