Few skills are more important to a child's success in and out of the class room than writing skills. Here are just some of the many things I have learned from teaching and from working with other teachers (and students!) about how to help student writers improve.
- Cultivate positive attitudes. Often, kids who aren't good at writing are painfully aware of this fact. They say things like "I stink at writing" or "I'll never be a good writer" or "I hate writing." Any teacher knows it's nearly impossible to teach a kid with that kind of esteem about his or her ability in a subject. The first thing I suggest to anyone helping to boost a student's writing skills is get rid of all the negative self-evaluation. Remind the student that no one is born able to write, let alone able to write well. Anyone who is a good writer had to work hard to get that way - and the student can do the same.
Writing is a skill to be honed, not something you have or don't "have". I used to start all my English classes off with the reminder that "writing is power." Good writing can do anything from starting a war to getting a guy a job. It's worth putting in the effort to get better -- you get power in return! Plus, remind your student that he or she has things worth saying and those ideas deserve to be well expressed on paper. Once they (sort of) got the idea that being a good writer is important, students will be more open minded about trying to improve.
Writing well can impact their lives. Don't connect writing to punishment. I was told once by an older teacher, and I agree, that if you give kids writing assignments as punishment ('Write 100 words on why you should be quiet in class...") you're saying "Writing isn't fun, it's something you have to do when you're bad." Now, that is certainly NOT the attitude you want kids to have. So, ask your kids their first day, even, how they feel about writing. See what's inside their heads, what's holding them back, and then try to whittle away at their negative writing ideas.
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Author: B. Danesco