Reaction to "Writing to Learn..."

I really enjoyed reading this article, perhaps because it was interesting, or perhaps because I so enjoy writing. I’m not sure which. In any event, I loved the idea of using writing as a method of deepening the understanding of our students. As the article stated, “writing enhances comprehension,” and one must have a deeper level of understanding of a concept in order to write about it. Writing involves deep thinking, questioning, and grappling with your thoughts. If you are merely answering multiple choice questions about a topic, you are not required to actually learn a great deal about it. However, if you have students write, possibly in essay form, about a topic, they can actually show all that they learned. This is the higher level of processing that we need to get our students to attain.

I also liked how the article referred to writing to learn as a “catalyst for further learning.” Writing is not the destination in learning; it is a beginning point from which we launch into deeper understandings.

The article made me reflect on writing as a life skill. Writing is like math, in that, no matter what your career or path in life, you will always use the two. Teachers really need to get their students comfortable with writing because they will use it the rest of their lives, even if they do not choose to go to college. And as the article stated, in today’s job market, written communication skills are imperative.

I think that most students are intimidated by writing, perhaps because they have not had many positive writing experiences, or because writing was not appropriately modeled for them in school. Writing is a complex process, and so many mistakes will occur in writing. If I know that my writing is going to be scrutinized at length, I am naturally going to be apprehensive to write. I think that the article had a great idea about allowing students to make mistakes in their writing. Let them write, but provide support and feedback to help them improve, but don’t freak children out by making too big of a deal about mistakes. This blog is an excellent way to motivate students to write. Imagine if you started a classroom blog and allotted time each day (or week) for students to contribute to the blog. Kids always want to “play” on the computer.

Concerning the “writing helps students to think critically and creatively,” part of the article, I have to agree with Sarah G, who said in class that school has taken away our creativity. America itself was built by a group of people who thought creatively and “outside the box.” Creativity and entrepreneurship are what made this country the greatest in the world. I think that we are going to see serious repercussions from a lack of creativity in years to come. What business will never be started due to a lack of creativity? What inventions will not be created? What cures to diseases are being stifled all because we are not teaching or allowing our children the freedom to think for themselves and be creative? Perhaps we can be part of the change of atmosphere in classrooms and allow children to be creative and innovative again.