I want to begin by stating the obvious, I know I am no Virginia Woolf or Toni Morrison, but I do consider myself a writer. I write for myself, for academia, and for my career. I make sure that my students see me writing, and more importantly, I want them to observe my struggle and perseverance through the writing process.
Letting my students see the mental roadblocks I face and the constant revisions I make while writing has done wonders for my student’s confidence and their willingness to take more creative risks while writing.
I am constantly reminding my students that writing for yourself and for the public is rewarding, but it can be extremely difficult because it opens your thoughts up to criticism, and challenges you to identify personal vulnerabilities.
My main goal as a teacher is to help my students become real writers and not just experts on the 5 paragraph essay. Let’s be real for a second, this type of formulaic writing will never show up in any other aspects of their lives, including college. I want my students to become writers because I know that writers use their brains in very special ways.
Qualities of a writer:
- observe the environments and people around them more closely
- a strong voice in life and in print
- are always thinking about and collecting new words
- are thinking about an issue or question long before they ever speak out on it
- pay close attention to what other writers are doing with their craft in a critical way
- are reading ALL the time, and reading a variety of texts
- are open to multiple perspectives
- foster a strong sense of empathy for the experiences of others
These are the traits I want to celebrate and foster in my students, so I aim to develop lessons that get my students thinking and acting like real writers.