Part 1 - My Philosophy on Writing.
Writing is evidence of thought.
If you can't write it simply, then you don't understand the topic. This applies across all content areas and careers. Not everybody needs to write thesis papers, but this is why most certifications have a written test component. Unlike a live verbal discussion, writing takes time to plan and process. You can blank in a conversation out of nervousness. You can only blank in your writing through a lack of understanding.
Writing is your first impression.
People develop an opinion about you through your writing before they have a chance to meet you. Increasingly, as technology stunts our interpersonal growth and drives us further apart while ironically tethering each of us to one another, people will meet you first through social media. Do you not use Facebook or Twitter? The wording in your text, email, resume, or cover letter reveals more about you than you may realize. The Letter of Introduction may be lost to history, but your status update is telling and permanent.
Writing has to mean something.
Authenticity shifts the burden of accountability onto the student. It doesn't matter what the writing assignment is or from which content area it is assigned. Kids like challenges and even a short writing piece takes on more emotional investment when it is tied to the outside world. If a strong connection is made, students will take their work more seriously and own the task.
Further posts in this series will follow the process below.
Writing is evidence of thought.
If you can't write it simply, then you don't understand the topic. This applies across all content areas and careers. Not everybody needs to write thesis papers, but this is why most certifications have a written test component. Unlike a live verbal discussion, writing takes time to plan and process. You can blank in a conversation out of nervousness. You can only blank in your writing through a lack of understanding.
Writing is your first impression.
People develop an opinion about you through your writing before they have a chance to meet you. Increasingly, as technology stunts our interpersonal growth and drives us further apart while ironically tethering each of us to one another, people will meet you first through social media. Do you not use Facebook or Twitter? The wording in your text, email, resume, or cover letter reveals more about you than you may realize. The Letter of Introduction may be lost to history, but your status update is telling and permanent.
Writing has to mean something.
Authenticity shifts the burden of accountability onto the student. It doesn't matter what the writing assignment is or from which content area it is assigned. Kids like challenges and even a short writing piece takes on more emotional investment when it is tied to the outside world. If a strong connection is made, students will take their work more seriously and own the task.
There are several practices that I use with my middle school students that are in line with the philosophy above. I developed these practices with many of my peers over the last few years and wish they were explained this simply when I started teaching.
Further posts in this series will follow the process below.
- Define and explain each practice.
- Link the technique to the Common Core.
- Articulate practical applications.
- Identify avoidable problems.
- Provide tools, samples, and solutions.
This process will break each practice down into its component parts and help me describe the little details that make it sing or make it sink.
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