What's on my mind
How do we give students the power to write????
Students will not have the power to write well, until they understand who they are. Who are they? They are a writer. Honestly, who has had a session with the student in which the student actually believed that they were a writer? Students have to realize that they are in control. They are not writing this paper just for the professor, or for an audience; they are writing for themselves.
Now, I know what you are thinking; it really isn’t theirs, they have to do as the teacher instructs. That fact alone still does not make it the teachers’ paper. Why would a student writer not take the assignment given and make it something they own. It has been given them for this very purpose.
Students do not look at themselves in this way. Just yesterday I had a student say that she hates writing papers. Why? Because they are not for her, it is just to fill an assignment. If students look at writing this way, then their writing will always lack something, or at least someone: themselves! I think that I am guilty of this all the time. Where is my confidence as a writer? I always think that I need to worry about who I am writing too, and what discourse community that I am coming from. I should honestly care about what others think, if I do not I will never get anywhere with my writing. But it still comes down to the fact that I write what I want to write when I want to write it. When a professor gives me an assignment, I am afforded the perfect opportunity to become a good writer. The definition of a good writer being: Someone who can fill the given assignment using their own words so that what they want to say is understood. This is extremely difficult. Becoming this good writer is most likely a life long process. However, students need to understand the opportunity that they have and the power that lies in that opportunity. If we want students to write well they have to utilize this opportunity and write for themselves. This brings us to the idea of Purpose vs. Point. If the student cannot find a purpose, besides what the teacher has assigned, in which they can express themselves then the paper will not be complete. If they cannot find their purpose then there will be no point, and the student is left to feel like they have not written anything.
So how do we solve this problem? You tell me. I think that my mind is still toying with the whole idea of empowering the student in order to create good writing. Trying not to be too cheesy, I would start by simply telling the student that they are the writer. I would talk to them about the opportunity that they have every time they are asked to write, and I would do it enthusiastically. I think that asking good question and digging up what the student really thinks is an important tool in empowering them. This takes us back to emotionally charged sessions. They are not all bad. Perhaps we need to bring more emotion into some of our sessions, creating an environment where the student is actually challenged to think and feel and write for themselves. Much more could be said on this subject so I ask… What do you think? How do we empower students to write well? Am I nuts?
Students will not have the power to write well, until they understand who they are. Who are they? They are a writer. Honestly, who has had a session with the student in which the student actually believed that they were a writer? Students have to realize that they are in control. They are not writing this paper just for the professor, or for an audience; they are writing for themselves.
Now, I know what you are thinking; it really isn’t theirs, they have to do as the teacher instructs. That fact alone still does not make it the teachers’ paper. Why would a student writer not take the assignment given and make it something they own. It has been given them for this very purpose.
Students do not look at themselves in this way. Just yesterday I had a student say that she hates writing papers. Why? Because they are not for her, it is just to fill an assignment. If students look at writing this way, then their writing will always lack something, or at least someone: themselves! I think that I am guilty of this all the time. Where is my confidence as a writer? I always think that I need to worry about who I am writing too, and what discourse community that I am coming from. I should honestly care about what others think, if I do not I will never get anywhere with my writing. But it still comes down to the fact that I write what I want to write when I want to write it. When a professor gives me an assignment, I am afforded the perfect opportunity to become a good writer. The definition of a good writer being: Someone who can fill the given assignment using their own words so that what they want to say is understood. This is extremely difficult. Becoming this good writer is most likely a life long process. However, students need to understand the opportunity that they have and the power that lies in that opportunity. If we want students to write well they have to utilize this opportunity and write for themselves. This brings us to the idea of Purpose vs. Point. If the student cannot find a purpose, besides what the teacher has assigned, in which they can express themselves then the paper will not be complete. If they cannot find their purpose then there will be no point, and the student is left to feel like they have not written anything.
So how do we solve this problem? You tell me. I think that my mind is still toying with the whole idea of empowering the student in order to create good writing. Trying not to be too cheesy, I would start by simply telling the student that they are the writer. I would talk to them about the opportunity that they have every time they are asked to write, and I would do it enthusiastically. I think that asking good question and digging up what the student really thinks is an important tool in empowering them. This takes us back to emotionally charged sessions. They are not all bad. Perhaps we need to bring more emotion into some of our sessions, creating an environment where the student is actually challenged to think and feel and write for themselves. Much more could be said on this subject so I ask… What do you think? How do we empower students to write well? Am I nuts?
posted by Anonymous at 11:35 AM
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