Taylor Jackson

English 683

Dr. Hartman

3 December 2017 Commented [1]: Sorry for the late submission, ya'll. I
checked back here for feedback and realized I forgot to
Philosophy of Teaching Writing upload this last week. Grr.
Commented [2]: Hardest part of school--getting the
due dates with the right class in the right place! Grr--
agree!
Cultivating a Writing Community

Our classroom environment is, intentionally, a safe place to experiment. My students are youngseven
and fivebut they are already learning to share their work with a writing group, as well as helpful, Commented [3]: Do you think you will always teach
appropriate ways to respond to each others work. This allows them to gain confidence and share ideas. your kids at home? Are you going to teach them
throughout their education? Once they graduate will
I also provide a lot of positive feedback and encouragement, because I know how important it can be for you teach in a classroom?
students to know what theyre doing well.

Encouraging Creativity and Making

Creating and engaging in the arts is a huge part of who I am as a writer, and I work to help my students
explore the connections between art and writing. We create pieces from different forms (and
sometimes, pieces with no required form at all), as well as visual and tactile art to go along with our
writing. We have created poems inspired by paintings, illustrated stories with dialogue, and My
students love these experiences, and I find they inspire creative thinking and expressive writing.

Writing Across the Curriculum

I believe that learning is enhanced when education is integrated across multiple areas of the curriculum.
My students and I regularly work together to create pieces of art and writing inspired by our studies in
history, literature, science, cooking, and even math. For example, when we learned the basic structure
of paragraphs, my older student practiced by reviewing facts from our history lessons on the ancient
Greeks, comparing and contrasting what life might have been like for a child in Athens versus Sparta.
Another day, we adapted some of the recipes we have recreated from other cultures weve studied; my
students wrote and illustrated their recipes. Commented [4]: It is nice to see that you are
combining so much in your lesson planning that it
Process Writing encompasses so many curriculum areas.

As a writer and educator, I value Process writing, especially the idea of reseeing ones own work with
fresh eyes (Fowler). Often, young students arent able to complete large swaths of writing at a time, Commented [5]: Good idea! I like how specific this is.
which makes returning to the process to write and revise multiple times essential to success in writing
without burnout or discouragement. I find this also helps them shed some of the natural perfectionism I
have to fight; instead, they are learning that they can always go back to make changes.

Self-Direction
Exploration and self-directed learning are essential to learning, and this is especially true in writing. I
allow my students to follow their interests, and in writing, I encourage them to explore what theyre
passionate about each day. For my older student, that means planning out new American Ninja Warrior
obstacle courses, predicting and listing the top 25 teams in the College Football Playoff Rankings each
week, and stapling together far too many blank sheets of paper to make nonfiction books about birds,
shells, animals, or whatever interests him that week. For my younger student, this means acting out
plots from favorite books and TV shows with his toys, narrating stories while drawing pictures, and
videoing himself constantly. They are learning, above all, that its fun to learn.

Modeling

I am a fellow learner, so whatever we are doing, I prioritize modeling and interaction with the process as
a teacher. Participating in activities with my students energizes and challenges all of us, and infuses
everyday learning with excitement and camaraderie. I rarely assess formally at this point, providing
instead continual feedback, conversation, challenges, questions, and new ideas. School, for us, is an
adventure, and were all on the journey together. Commented [6]: It is nice to model and experience
this together.
Goals

My goals for my students, when it comes to writing, are that they will come to love it as I do (but in their
own ways). I want them to become proficient in different forms of writing, able to follow and break from
formal text structures and grammar standards. Life in the world requires flexibility, creativity,
knowledge, communication, determination, and a sense of wonder, and my writing instruction is
designed to enable my students to develop these traits and skills organically and in an integrated way. I
hope they will find freedom in writing, expressing themselves authentically and having fun with the
process. Commented [7]: Wonderful aspirations!

Works Cited
Fowler, .