Post 188: Teacher as a Writer

Post 188: Teacher as a Writer

When I was teaching Creative Writing with my elementary school students in an after school, I would write alongside the students.  We constructed our Creative Writing class as a Writing Workshop with emphasis on writing as a process rather than having writing as a product.

At the time, I was writing a mystery story and I had fun creating the villain and the hero. I remember I had to create false clues to build up the suspense to keep the story going and as I was writing my fun story, the students were also writing theirs as well. Of course, being elementary school students, their stories included talking animals like a Disney story.

I find making writing a community of writers time rather than simply writing time with the teacher as the error correction police as much more fun.

When I was in elementary school, we had assigned times for reading, writing and math. Each of us would be assigned a topic to write and each student at his/her desk would write on that topic with the teacher walking around the classroom to make sure each of us was on task.  I did not find writing fun. I remember I could not wait until recess where I could be free to run around and expend energy. Writing as a Product approach to teaching writing just was not fun.

After I read Nancy Atwell's book, In the Middle, I was introduced to the concept of Writing as a Process and the idea of teaching writing in a workshop where students have portfolios and make multiple drafts with each draft being better and better and having the students sit together to look at each other's papers and the teacher would be writing her story as well.

Now if a student was having problems with grammar, the teacher would give mini=lessons at that students' desk to help that student with his writing. So error correction would take place, but error correction was not the primary function of the teacher in the writing process approach.

I enjoy teaching face to face using the Writing Workshop approach because I get to write with my students and tell my students in real time how the story characters I am writing are shaping up. Students are also able to see how I write and my process of writing which makes writing more fun for them.  Teaching Creative Writing using the Writing Process approach is a great way to motivate elementary students to learn to write.

Teacher as writer 

Ideally, writing teachers are practicing writers. By sharing their writing—particularly when it’s in draft form—teachers model respect for themselves, for their students, and for the act of writing itself. They communicate that they are part of the writing community in the classroom and in the world at large and that they feel safe sharing this part of themselves.