Week 2: Blog Response and Summary to Atwell

Nancie Atwells story reminds me of my first week of practicum. You go into a classroom with all these expectations, all these polished lesson plans that seem so perfect but as you walk into the classroom you realize they will never actually work  with the group of students you are given. I think what stuck with me most was the concept of adaptability. Teachers need to commit to being lifelong learners and show that to their students. Teachers need to learn how to communicate with students and take the time to conference with students to work on their writing with them. I like the idea of showing students your own work and showing that you have fears and insecurities the same way they may have them. Atwell makes a great point when she says to allow for freedom of writing and not criticizing but rather suggesting changes.

Teaching always changes and new theories and concepts will always arise and it’s important to adapt to them and have students understand that we are all adapting to the changes together. It is also important to highlight to both ourselves and to students that teaching and learning writing is not just in an English class, writing is about communication and should be an emphasis in all classes. Although some classes will not specifically be teaching conventions, teachers are still teaching communication and that’s something we learn how to do through writing. Learning through writing doesn’t just mean learning how to write, it also means taking information and processing it: making sense and meaning of new content.

There were many key points that Atwell points out, but what I loved most was the idea of letting students write in their own form or about things they care about. Real letters, real stories they want to submit. When doing this it is also important to allow students to continuously work on drafts and not worry about conventions right away but rather in later drafts. Writing will less likely cause stress and anxiety and will be more so about learning. As I’ve stated in previous blog posts, writing should be able learning, creativity and exploring new concepts.

Although I believe this to be true I also think Atwell’s journey is one all teachers are bound to face at some point in their careers, no matter how open minded or how committed we are to being life learners. They key is to remember that we are life-long learners and that’s what we are promoting and encouraging within our students as well. Atwell’s story helps us develop and reinforce our own pedagogies.