Everything about this week's assigned reading "Teaching Writing Authentically" by Carly D. Lidvall was thrilling to me. As I expressed in class last week, I want resources, and Lidvall has provided a gold mine of tools and resources within roughly sixty pages. The first thing that struck me as being interesting about this reading is that it is the write-up of a student's capstone experience, which made it seem much more accessible. I graduated with my bachelor's degree not too long ago, and I knew students who had to do this kind of write up to summarize their experiences student teaching, and so I was immediately interested to see the experiences that Lidvall chose to report on.
I completely agree the assertion that Lidvall makes in the first paragraph of her abstract, that "Student interest in writing begins once students see a real reason for writing" (3). Although I am not a teacher, I can easily think back to my time as a student, and I remember it being far more interesting to write when the topic was something that piqued my interest. However, I have always had the propensity to express myself through writing, and this is not the case for every student. This is all the more pertinent when a student is less prone to pick up a pen and write. I believe that a student is going to be far more interested in writing when he or she realizes that the writing experience doesn't have to be painful. Not all writing is book reports on required reading, or essay answers about the themes in books that he or she never cared about to begin with. Although there is merit in book reports and analyzing themes, truly effective writing instruction should inspire students to see the possibilities beyond school.
This brings me to my next thought, which Lidvall also addressed: relevance and real-world use. As I mentioned in class last week, I like when things can be practically applied. Although I love theory, I am happiest when I can read something, apply it in real life situations, and see results. For this reason, I appreciated Lidvall's proposal that "writing instruction in schools should closely model the writing found in real world situations. Authentic writing activities attempt to replicate the writing that students experience in the real world. I couldn't agree more.
Authenticity in writing instruction is a fascinating idea, and a way in which I would try to introduce writing to a group of students. Kids are born to ask questions and not stop asking until they receive answers, and I can only imagine the questions asked when faced with certain assignments:
"Why do I have to do this?"
"How will this ever affect my life?"
"Why do I need to know this?"
There are very real reasons to write. Every day of their adult lives, people make money by drafting proposals, editing documents, writing articles, movie scripts, books, etc. The options are endless. Although, regardless, not every student is going to be interested in writing, I agree strongly with the idea of teaching authentically. This approach may teach a kid that it is possible for him to express himself, or that a talent she has has real-life applicability.
This article provided a wealth of helpful information, strategies, and techniques to improve authentic writing instruction and create supportive environments to inspire interest in writing. Reading through, I appreciated Lidvall's note that writing instruction is not one-size-fits-all, and that writing instruction should vary: "Teaching authentically means meeting students where they are and teaching them from that place" (10). This, in my opinion, is crucial. Not every student learns in the same way, and it may take serious work from a teacher to attempt to engage different students in different ways. Writing is deeply personal, and not every kid is going to respond in the same way. Some may be more resistant.
I particularly enjoyed the section regarding "Rationale for the Curriculum," because this section struck close to home in regard to my own interests. Lidvall used the example of a student newspaper as "an authentic form of writing that enables students to write for an audience, learn a variety of formats, and write about issues that are important to them" (18). Throughout my college career I worked on the student newspaper, and this experience opened my eyes to the points of view from students of all majors and worldviews. When someone wants to say something, and they want a platform on which it will be displayed, students newspapers are valuable resources. I loved this case study, because I feel that students of all ages would be able to appreciate the newspaper platform. I personally have watched students, myself included, come alive when given the opportunity, and I found the newspaper case study to be fascinating. As Lidvall walked through each step of her thought process, objectives, goals, lesson plan, and materials, I found myself growing excited and wanting to try this out myself. Authentic writing instruction is such an exciting idea, and I feel that this example is a fantastic resource. This is an excellent example of everything I could want to gain out of this class and use for my own.
"Teacher-Writers: Then, Now, Next" by Anne Elrod Whitney, Troy Hicksm Leah Zuidema, James E. Fredricksen, and Robert P. Yagelski provided an interesting tie-in to the first article. Whereas Lidvall focused on making writing an authentic process for the student, this article gives more attention to the teacher's job as a writer, so as to keep them up to date and relatable to the students they teach.
I agree with this mindset as well. I believe that the worst thing a teacher could do is to lose touch with his or her students, and fall into the mindset that the assignments are only to be given and graded. As in any career, a great professional is the one who practices and is constantly working to improve him/herself. Whitney et. al. focused briefly on the "Then" history of teacher-writers, before moving on to the primary focus of the article, the "Now," and where teachers have found their role in recent years.
In recent years, there have been movements toward collaboration between teachers, to foster mentor environments, where teachers can connect with other teachers and receive support as researchers as well as educators. In addition to support, teachers involved in such programs find collaboration opportunities, where they can "co-create knowledge" (179). I find this idea to be interesting, because I think it could work as a way to keep educators sharp. I like the idea of teachers working together to help each other improve, because learning is an on-going experience. Just like writing authentically is important for students, it is also important for the adults who guide them. I very much liked the idea of "teacher-writers being authors in every sense: professionals who claim authority with their own words and their work" (179).
Although I originally found this article to be much drier than the first, I found it to tie in quite nicely in regard to the idea of authenticity. When I find myself in a teaching position, it is very important to me that I stay relevant, publish, and collaborate with other educators to be the best teacher that I can be, and help my students in every way possible.
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