Watch and Learn

Writing is both deeply personal and meant to be shared. It is tiring and rejuvenating. It takes effort, but the reward is well worth it. Do students in the classroom today view themselves as writers? Is writing something that they engage in outside the context of nightly homework assignments? The possibilities of writing are endless, but I do not remember being introduced to these endless possibilities in school. I remember learning the 6 traits of writing and applying them to essays and research papers. This writing was completely separate and non-associated with the writing that I did for pleasure: journaling. Hence, I never took what I learned about writing (6 traits, writing process, etc.) to any writing outside of the curriculum.

When it comes to writing, there is not THE process, but A process to guide you. Good writers make this process their own and produce writing that they feel proud to take ownership of. When asked to reflect on my writing process, I was surprised to realize that I had never genuinely reflected on it before. Good writers know their self and their writing preferences; they know what works best for them. To learn good writing, what better way is there to look at how good writers write? Fortunately, writing is not something that the fortunate are just born with and the unfortunate will never be able to attain to. Good writing is something that is learned and developed through observation and practice.


A great place to begin teaching students good writing is by showing them good writing. Students need examples of good writing and need to be taught how to look at others' writing in such a way that influences their own writing. This can be done in mini lessons, giving the students plenty of time to practice and manipulate the methods in an effort to make them their own. Writing should not be a product of a machine. Good writing is compatible with human emotions and reflects the author behind the work. Students need to know who that person is before they can create the writing that reflects that.