Blog #2: Dominic Lopez

 

          Here are a few things that I have been thinking about this week from the readings and class discussions: 

-In the book, the author mentions that students tend to write how they think they want them to write. They try to mimic academic writing or use the teacher’s writing as a guide for how to write instead of writing to develop their own style. We can teach students to write for themselves and for audiences other than the teacher.

-When teaching writing, we should reflect on our own writing and writing experiences to see what areas we can improve so that we can pass this on to our students. We should see what we can change that is in place for teaching writing in the classroom. We should still be writing even though we are teachers. 

-Students should write for each other and discuss their writing with one another. Writing is not an isolated activity but a social one. I like the idea of working alongside a student as they write and getting them to expand their ideas rather than harshly correcting them. 

-Examples of good student writing are useful for showing students how these writers solved knowing what to write about and how to write about it. The focus should be on how these writers write and their process rather than just what the writing says. It is critical to show students these examples after they have completed their prewriting and first drafts. 

-I like the idea of not grading a student’s first draft and their freewriting because it keeps students from writing what they think you want to read and allows them to not be afraid to write freely. If they don’t worry about grades in their initial writing, they will express themselves effectively in their writing and not let writer’s block keep them from writing. 

-I think it’s useful when in the book the author points out that students writing need to know three things: what does the student know about the subject they are writing about, who is the reader, and what does the reader need to know to understand the subject that the student is writing about. This gives students a guide to plan out their writing and to know how each step of the writing process works.

 

-I think that students using other mediums such as visuals and interactive activities with classmates before beginning to write is an intriguing way of introducing students to ideas they can use in their writing. It helps students to see writing from a different perspective and to ease into it from mediums they might be more comfortable working with.