In my teaching, reflection is important to me. Not on purpose, really, but as part of my nature. I mull over things. I wonder out loud and silently. I talk with colleagues. I also participate in a Good2Great Voxer chat.
Good2Great teachers are continuously reflecting. We are always engaging in conversations about our teaching practice. One evening last week, Trevor Bryan and I got into a conversation about the writing process. He made me think when he said, “The writing process is a creative process, and in the creative process, artists and writers are always making bad work. Something that doesn’t work is part of the creative process.”
My burning question was born from this conversation. “How do we honor the process of writing?”
Blogging is a huge part of the writing process in my classroom. I’ve contended that by writing every day on a blog, my students’ writing grows and improves. I still believe that, but I’m not sure I honor the mulling, the brainstorming, the idea gathering. I have stressed to my students that they are writing for an audience.
Jacob decided to write about the movie Moana for his Slice. When I read his post, he was telling the story of the movie…the whole movie. He said, “This is only one third of the movie. I can make more posts.”
Of course he could, but would anyone want to read multiple long posts retelling the Moana story? I posed that question to him and immediately felt a pang in my gut. I wasn’t honoring the process. I was thinking only of the product. I realized that maybe by writing this whole story, Jacob would learn about writing dialogue. He would learn about a story arc. And he wasn’t writing from a book he read. He was writing from a movie he watched. He would have to create the actions with his words.
How often do we stifle our young writers? I know they need to practice. They need to write often. But who am I to tell them they must produce a worthy product every time? As a writer, do I? Not at all.
Sometimes students do not need to write for an audience. I will continue to reflect on this question and watch myself more carefully. Honoring the process is as important, if not more important, that celebrating the product.
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This is such a good wonder. I was at a conference yesterday and a HS teacher presented to librarians on how poetry really helps with this…..with poetry we ask kids to show us something (insert learning target here) and show us that in 10-15 lines. It’s a more challenging for the student to do that then to barf up a complete retelling. It gave me a new appreciation for the value of poetry.
You are right. I’ve asked students to create found poems from Wonderopolis. I believe it adds a layer to the learning. The process of finding the lines and making them fit together is actively working with the material. Thanks for your comment.
It might be interesting to see if the student would be willing to “storyboard it” with an app such as storyboard that.
It is so challenging to decide how to respond to a piece of writing from a student. I guess with this you could focus on one skill that would add to his toolbox, and let him see how that might work. Great question, Margaret. It will also be different for each student, where they’ve been and where they are headed.
Thanks for the soulful reflection: we’ve all been there. I’m hoping you will share your feelings with your student.
Hey Margaret,
Been there, thought that! How many times have I stifled writers because I’ve wanted to get them to do what I think they should do to improve their writing? Even though I tell the kids that they are in charge of their writing. They decide whether or not to take feedback and use it to make their writing better, do I really mean what I say? I’ll be observing myself this week in writing workshop to see how well, or not, I do this. Thanks for the nudge!
Yesterday I watched a webinar with Penny Kittle and she addresses some of these same questions (which I also have). I found it very enlightening. Here is the link but beware, it is 1 1/2 hours long!
http://video.oakland.k12.mi.us/show?video=0a6f9e21b01a
This reminded me of Ralph Fletcher’s recent work – we need to give kids opportunities to write for their own reasons, not just for a grade. Great post and topic, Margaret!
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The process is so important. Honoring it is accepting. Perhaps we can look at the evolving product as the process.
I really like the insight you had about what he was doing. And the idea of bad work being part of the creative process is so important, and so freeing!
“Honoring the process is as important, if not more important, that celebrating the product.” These words are so wise, Margaret. By honoring their struggle, we acknowledge their efforts, even if the results aren’t what we (or they, for that matter) had in mind. Growth doesn’t happen without effort!
It is such a struggle to guide students without judgement. It is nice to know others wrestle with how to teach writing well. I fear that many things that have come out of my mouth have discouraged my young writers rather than encouraged them. Love your thoughts!