6 THE RIGHT TO SEE OTHERS WRITE

Last week during this difficult time for educators, I participated in a Zoom meeting Connecting the Network hosted by the Minnesota Writing Project.  It was/is an attempt to provide an avenue for sharing ideas.  I learned that MWP has created a blog https://mwpconnect.wordpress.com that provides another place to find support. I was also reminded of the great resources the National Writing Project; among these is nwp.org where I would recommend checking out The Latest. It will lead you to another useful blog where you can find more helpful ideas. 

How did I learn to teach writing?  As an English major, I, of course, wrote several papers during my college days; however, I didn’t have a specific course on the writing process – I do remember a rhetoric book that set up expectations for different types of writing (expository, argumentative, comparison/contrast, etc.) that we basically followed; however, I really think that I wrote the assigned essays around my understanding of what was needed in a speech.  I knew that an introduction needed to catch the reader’s attention, and I understood the organization of ideas.  I don’t remember meeting/sharing writing in any form of a conference group.  So when I began to teach, I basically had students writing the way that I wrote.  It wasn’t until I became involved with the National Writing Project that I began to gain understanding and resources for TEACHING writing.  

Being able to show our students our own writing process – from generating an idea to creating a final piece is invaluable.  How do you compose?  Do you use a computer or write by hand?  I admitted to my students that composing on the computer felt too final for me (of course over the years that feeling has changed). Also, I tend to be a “chunk” writer; I start and restart sections several times before I am confident enough to commit to one version.  I find that I need to take a break – go for a walk (compose in my head), listen to some music, etc.  In sharing my draft (s) with others, I am most comfortable if I can identify what I think works and where I need more help.  

My association with MWP (Minnesota Writing Project), an organization of K-College educators was extremely influential in providing support for using writing groups.  In summer institutes and ongoing workshops teachers worked together, sharing successes (and failures) in creating writing groups in their classrooms.  We discussed the advantages/disadvantages of writing groups that remained together throughout the entire course, as well as creating new groups for each aspect of the writing process (generating ideas, drafting, revising, etc.). We investigated the effectiveness of creating groups by interests, by gender, and also size of the group.  In our summer institutes our writing groups were a mix of teachers from different grade levels and school districts.  We discovered that we gained so much from each other’s writing process.  We returned to our classrooms more confident/comfortable to share our own writing and to use writing groups.  Not only did my students gain from my sharing, but also from their fellow students. I vividly remember one student after a conference group asking me, “Why can’t I write like ____?” which opened an opportunity for me to suggest possible ways to improve.  

By modeling our own process for our students, and by having students work in conference groups from generating through drafting, we are making the invisible, visible.  We can do this, if not in person, through the wonders of technology!