How does Nancie Atwell’s story strike you and consider the subjects in Peterson’s chapters 1 & 2 as a teacher of writing in your discipline?
Nancie Atwell’s experiences teaching in
rural Maine depict the importance of giving students wiggle-room when writing.
When she describes Jeff, the student that was 16 in the eighth grade and was
behind the other students in regards to reading and writing, Atwell makes it
evident that she struggled to find different ways to help him improve his
abilities. What I noted was that Jeff excelled greatly when given less rules to
follow when writing compared to the other students. Although it is important to
offer students guidelines to follow when completing a writing activity, they
can benefit greatly when given the freedom to accomplish the task in a way that
appeals to them. In Jeff’s case, it meant that he was drawing images of his
thoughts before putting pen to paper to write his responses; this was part of
his personal process to siphon through his thoughts and formulate a coherent
means of conveying them. Peterson puts forth the notion of students learning
best through the writing process than actually writing in the first two
chapters of his textbook.
Although writing essays, short stories, etc. are ways in which students can convey certain thoughts or fulfill certain requirements for a given course, they retain less information and learn less when simply asked to write a structured work. Rather, allowing them to free write, make outlines, or draw images (as in Jeff’s situation), students are working on formulating their thoughts and deciphering what they deem important and irrelevant. Thus, becoming comfortable with their personal writing process and discovering the best way for them to formulate their ideas/thoughts will help them become better writers in the long run. As Atwell showcased, by the end of the year, Jeff had improved much more than the other students and his writing process became significantly shorter – he began to rely less on drawing and began writing immediately. This story only further emphasizes Peterson’s notion that students learn more through the writing process than by actually writing.
Although writing essays, short stories, etc. are ways in which students can convey certain thoughts or fulfill certain requirements for a given course, they retain less information and learn less when simply asked to write a structured work. Rather, allowing them to free write, make outlines, or draw images (as in Jeff’s situation), students are working on formulating their thoughts and deciphering what they deem important and irrelevant. Thus, becoming comfortable with their personal writing process and discovering the best way for them to formulate their ideas/thoughts will help them become better writers in the long run. As Atwell showcased, by the end of the year, Jeff had improved much more than the other students and his writing process became significantly shorter – he began to rely less on drawing and began writing immediately. This story only further emphasizes Peterson’s notion that students learn more through the writing process than by actually writing.
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