Teaching Philosophy (for writing)

                                                                                                    Philosophy of Teaching Writing

            In learning about writing before, during and after reading, grammar, and many other aspects of writing in the secondary school I have been able to develop a balanced philosophy of teaching this concept.  Teaching writing is extremely important to me because it is one of the earlier steps in forming good communication.  To me, good communication is key for all people in order to do well in society.  Writing is something that can be a vent for students and also a type of assignment in which the students wont be doing repetitive problems and one in which students can be creative with. 

            The first step to teaching writing is that of choice.  Students should never be limited to one option for a writing prompt.  This is telling an adolescent what they have to do and we all know how well that turns out.  Instead, offer many options on what the students can pick as a topic or even genre.  This will benefit the child because they can pick something that they have interest in, are confident in, and can complete without having to stress or give up.  Giving choice also increases the likelihood that the student will engage himself or herself and use creativity.  An engaged student will focus more during the direction portion of the class and will put in much more effort than a student who is not engaged.  Creativity is also something that I, as a teacher, will put great emphasis on in the classroom.  I will do my best to give writing prompts and assignments that encourage the students to use the creative side of there brain.  This opens up “windows” for the students in what they can do for there writing. 

            Although grammar is important I think we all need to realize that just as grammar has changed for the past generations, it is in fact changing again.   Language is ever changing and adapting to those changes is a necessity.  In knowing this, I will require proper grammar but in doing so I will have an understanding that some things have changed.  This balance will keep students on there toes as far as proper grammar is concerned but will also open up the opportunity to use new grammar, as long as it is appropriate.  This leads back to some of the strategies that Carol Jago pushes for in the reading we studied called “Papers, Papers, Papers.  Jago states that we as teachers should “Comment rather than correct.”  Rather than correcting every single error in a students paper, Jago believes that we should pick a few, comment on them, and move on to other aspects of the writing such as content.  I hope to use all of these strategies in the classroom to the best of my ability while also keeping an open mind, knowing that these philosophies may need to be changed numerous times throughout my career.