Chapter 5

As a writing teacher I often feel very torn. I need my students to write in a way that shows what they are learning. That they are gaining something from my countless mini-lessons and conferences. But what struck me about this chapter is that in order for them to write well they need to have permission to write poorly first. This resonated for me on a couple of levels. I just sent away the wretched National Boards box containing countless hours of work that started has really bad writing. My sentences were not smooth and fluid and had to be edited quite a lot. I also was writing like it was a college class. The writing you do for National Boards is very different. In order to get any writing down though, I just had to write. I had to add my flowery adjectives and transitions words and hopes and dreams in order to have something that I could then pare down and work into something appropriate.
My students need to have that freedom. That knowledge that the point in what they have to say. We can fix the grammatical stuff later. They need to be able to write and just have freedom to mess up. When my students feel they are writers who have something to say it is amazing what comes out of them. Some of my lowest students are able to write with powerful voice because they have been allowed to share what they have despite the fact that editing them is a nightmare. :) I call my students writers from the moment they walk in my class because like the example of the swimming teacher I know that my belief is pivotal. There is a quote that says, "How do I know what I think until I see what I say." I think that is so important. Spandel says "We don't write to be assessed. We write in order to learn how." I think that is a powerful reminder to me to let my kids write and write and write and just see the mess they create and worry about the mechanics as we come to it because often times they will notice afterwards. You can teach editing, you can fix it but its hard to unlock a voice that has been fenced in by perfection.