What Young Writers Need (Blog #5)

We're living in a time where students are turning in less and less writing and doing less and less reading. This comes down to a multitude of different things that negatively affects a young person's ideology of reading and writing. One thing that directly affects writing is feedback.

Feedback on students' writings can come from a numerous number of people with varying levels of the understanding of writing. All forms of feedback directly affect the student's outlook on writing and can have either a negative or positive impact on them. We'll start with the first thing people would think of when it comes to feedback... Teachers

Teachers can have a profound impact on students' writings by providing concrete feedback throughout the writing process. This doesn't mean writing a grade and notes at the end of the paper, but rather providing feedback and helping students throughout the writing process as a whole. Yes, this means from prewriting/brainstorming all the way to the "final" product. Another key in feedback that a teacher can provide is allowing students chances to correct their "final" paper for a chance to increase their final grade. In doing this, it would show students that writing is a continuous thing that is not as finite as school can make it seem to be.

Another key resource that can provide wonderful feedback to students are tutors/writing coaches

Tutors allow students to have an opportunity to get help with their writings from someone outside of their classroom. They are typically great readers/writers and can help guide students along their writing path. It is a great way for students to reach out if they aren't comfortable with their teacher or need a different approach to writing than what they're getting in the classroom. From what I've learned as being a writing coach, is that we are essential in lifting students' spirits in regards to writing. We have the opportunity to help students who believe that they are not good writers understand that we are all at different points in our writing journey. We are here to validate them and help guide them.

The final point of reflection is often overlooked or underutilized in the classroom... Peer editing

Peer review is a powerful resource that is underutilized or used incorrectly in the classroom. It is important to see what your peers think of your work because they're, usually, the most important viewpoint of the students. If a peer states they love an idea another student presents, a friendship may form or even students may learn from each other. Peer review is often used incorrectly by having students grammar check each others papers, but this is not only unfair to the students but also damaging their views on writing and review. 

Check out this LINK to see some brief bullet points on the benefits that peer review has on the classroom.

Outside of feedback it is essential for teachers to create an inclusive space that allows options for students writing. I've seen that students create more powerful works when it matters to them. If they're interested in the topic, they're more likely to participate. Take Haddix's example about this when they stated "students engaged in a variety of topics and writing genres including hip-hop music, dance, creative writing, and cartooning" (263). By creating a variety of relatable content, there was a lot more engagement. It is up to teachers to create relatable content in order to spring an interest in writing. Otherwise writing will continue to be loathed by youths, and therefore adults too.