"What's Right with Writing" by Linda Rief

Response to Linda Rief’s article What’s Right with Writing

What have we learned about writing and the teaching of writing?

1.     Writing is thinking. Writing is for many a way of working through our thought processes in a more tangible way. Writing is an way to communicate thoughts, understandings, opinions, if we are given enough time, choice, models and responses to do so.

2.     There is no one process that defines the way all writers write. Writing is a recursive process. Although there are many great strategies that we may teach, our students and even our own writing process may vary based upon the form, audience and purpose of that particular piece of writing.

3.     We learn to write by reading extensively and writing for real audiences. This is to emphasize the interest factor, and authenticity. It is hard enough to get our thoughts out on paper most days, and trying to shape our argument to fit a make-believe audience can seem pointless and convoluted.

4.     Writers need constructive criticism. Specific comments help writers cling onto as strengths as a driving force. Specific comments also help students focus in on key elements to be improved. We can’t point out EVERY error in their paper and then expect them to want to revise and go through the demoralizing time and time again.

5.     Evaluation of writing should highlight the strengths of process, content, and conventions, and give the writer the tools and techniques to strengthen the weaknesses.

6.     Writing is reading.

Why does writing matter?

            Writing matters because it is the very act of committing our thoughts to paper that will help us build conviction, authenticity and have accountability to our thoughts. Writing is the place where idea origination, creation, and verbal constructions are collected. The act of writing is creating thoughts on a medium separate from own skull walls. We can separate ourselves from our thoughts and approach them critically, analytically, however we need or want to. Writing can shape our thinking and help develop it fully, while also allowing us to see it in a new light.

What do our students need to help them write well?

1.     Time . I will commit a generous amount of time so that my students can engage in writing daily. I want to provide them with time to process and think. They will not be writing alone. I will be writing with my students to demonstrate that I value and honor the act of writing daily, and for my own writer’s soul and health. I acknowledge, however, that quantity does NOT equate to quality of writing. Daily writing will be supplemented with models, samples and an abundance of literature to help students establish a strong sense of what good writing can look like. (There is a lot out there!)

2.     Choice. Ownership is essential for authentic writing, growth, and motivation in the subject. If students have an interest to start off with in their writing they are more likely to delve into it from a more intrinsic interest, building a love of learning. I hope that students grow more comfortable with using writing as a way to explore their interests and express their thoughts. Writing is another way to instill a love of learning and the joy of exploring the world around them.

3.     Models. Another way to look at reading and writing and their relationship is to compare it to the relationship of “sense and grasshopper.” The sense guides the grasshopper to mastery through shared experiences, listening, observing and apprenticing the ways and habits of the sense. Students should look to well-written essays, literature, and poetry as their sense. They serve as the ultimate and most knowledgeable mentors to the craft students are attempting to improve on each day. Students need an example of what they are striving for. They need to know where they fit into the mix among all the red corrections on their paper. They need to establish in their minds what are some examples of good writing.

4.     Response. As educators we need to create a safe place for students to fail, achieve, and take risk. We need to respond to them and their writing in a way that speaks to their strengths, some weaknesses, and validates their heart and soul they have just displayed for you on the page. Give them something constructive to cling to, and something to change.

What stands in the way of powerful writing instruction?

1.     Me

2.     My school’s administration

3.     Testing anxieties

4.     Testing

5.     But, mainly it’s me. I must hold myself accountable to these statements and implement them reflectively and ardently because I believe in them completely.