My writing experiences

My writing experiences

Throughout my school experiences, I never question the way I was taught. I believed that whatever strategies utilized in the classroom was the best way for students to grasp various concepts. In my English classes, the constant use of drill and practice became part of us all. Of course, the class became boring after a period of time. Unfortunately, students lack of choice cause them to accept the various teaching techniques implemented in the classroom. The aim of teaching seemed to be the transfer of information from the teacher. There were limited opportunities where students were allowed to be independent learners. This resulted in a class where students lacked interest in the learning process.

In terms of writing, I am not sure that I can boldly say that I was taught writing. Most times when students were given opportunities to write it was for assessment purposes. The teacher would normally teach a particular concept for example, descriptive writing, after we would have a writing exercise which would be collected at the end of the class. The writing process was never practice in the classroom. Only one stage of the writing process was evident in the classroom, which was the publishing stage. This is because students were always required to give up a final product without going through the other stages of the writing process. Based on all the information I have gathered, I believe that my teachers attempted to teach writing. The teachers did nothing to motivate students to write. The constant frowns which appeared on students faces clearly suggested that students hated writing.

In addition, I realize that teachers disadvantaged students in many ways because of their approach to writing. Therefore, in my Language Arts classes, I would ensure that students are given a choice in the selection of reading and writing topics. Since reading and writing are interrelated, it is important that students are provided with adequate reading materials; bearing in mind that reading materials must cater to the interest of students. The use of technology would be an important asset in the classroom to help cater to the different learning styles of students. If students are able to view a visual representation such a video on the topic which they are suppose to write on, I believe that it will be easier for them to make the various connections between ideas. Furthermore, I would find ways to motivate students to write. Students negative attitude have been of concern to teachers over the years, because it is one of the factors that affects students writing performances. However, I believe that if students are motivated to write there will be an improvement in their writing. In order to motivate students to write, I would ensure that students write with a sense of purpose, that is they are aware that they are writing for an audience. Teachers can encourage this by publishing students work in the school library. Also, I use graphic organizers to make writing more interesting. Furthermore, I would ensure that the writing process is taught and students are given adequate practice at each stage. I believe that these goals will help change the negative attitude students have towards writing and help them grow as effective writers.