My Philosophy of Writing Instruction

Overall Philosophy
Equipping students with the tools they need to write effectively is one of the main goals
of a language educator. As I study English language and education, I learn more ways to teach
writing thoroughly. Writing is a valuable skill that is used in students lives every day in a variety
of settings and mediums, and I hope that through my teaching, students gain fluency in writing,
gain understanding of language, and learn to write as a means of expressing themselves.

Beliefs on the Teaching of Writing

1. Literacy is a privilege, not a punishment.
I will never make students write as a punishment, because I firmly believe that literacy is a right
and privilege that should not be perverted. Many educators would agree with the latter part of
that statement, but in order for students to really believe that fact, my actions must match my
words. Students will not always intrinsically enjoy every writing assignment, but that is an
acceptable fact as long as those assignments are designed to help them become better writers.
With this statement, I must acknowledge that while education is an opportunity for all, the
playing field is not equal, so I must be mindful of pre-existing disparities and biases when I
create assignments so as to not wrong certain students.
2. Practice does not make perfect; it makes progress.
Practice makes perfect is a phrase used often in the mastery of sport, craft, and other skills, but
in the case of writing, practice leads to progress. There is no pinnacle for the mastery of a
language, because languages are constantly changing, and new mediums/techniques for writing
develop over time. Even if there was a defined point of mastery, teachers of high school English
are not judging students against that standard. Our goal is for students to improve (and meet

certain standards as decided by the region). There is no way for students to improve their writing
skills without practicing frequently and purposefully. Regularly scheduled, low-stakes writing
assignments can help students build fluency and gain experience writing for a variety of purposes
(the five-paragraph essay alone is insufficient). If a student has not picked up a pencil (or I
suppose, typed on a laptop) during a ninety-minute class, the instructor has failed.
3. Just as language is a social activity, writing is social and collaborative.
Common connotations of a writer include someone who works in isolation, staring at a computer
screen for inspiration. The process by which many students write reflects this connotation, but
through my teaching, I hope to change that. Writing is the action of marking language, and
language does not exist in isolation. Every piece of writing has an audience (even private
journals), so with every rhetorical choice, a writer is communicating with their audience. Also,
while a culture of social media and blogging might not align with this fact, much of journalism
and scholarly writing relies on a system of peer review. Collaborating on a piece of writing is
common in the professional and academic world, and students should be made aware of this and
through a series of instructor-guided activities, begin sharing their writing with their peers. Many
students harbor fear about sharing writing, but they use language (orally) to talk with their peers
constantly. Through pair-and-share, peer writing conferences, and group feedback, students can
gradually view writing as social, normal, and maybe even fun.

4. Writing has a variety of purposes, mediums, and contexts, and writing

instruction should reflect this fact.
Writing is not merely a means of communicating. Through writing, students can persuade,
entertain, inform, and express. Each of these purposes is related to different mediums, and
teachers should enable their students to practice writing in different contexts and mediums for

different purposes. Teachers should also guide students in developing awareness of this fact, and
one way to do this is the example of oral language. Just as students (likely) do not speak the
same way with their friends as they do to a teacher, they do not text using the same language
patterns as writing a research paper. In addition to traditional writing, teachers should recognize
and embrace that much of the writing done today is multimodal, and students should have the
opportunity to develop skills in multimodal assignments.
5. Being a good writer is a result of skill and habit, and not merely a quality
bestowed at birth to a lucky few.
Good writing is no accident or stroke of luck; it is the result of careful thought, review, and
revision. Some attitudes towards writing today reflect not this statement but a fixed mindset,
stating that some students are good at writing, and some are simply not. This mindset is
extremely discouraging to students struggling with writing, and simultaneously untrue. Writing is
a skill that can be developed through practice, like any other skill. Some students do have preexisting savvy or interest in it, but these skills alone are not enough. To borrow another phrase
used in sports, hard work beats talent when talent doesnt work hard. Just as a piece of writing
can be improved with work, so a students abilities as a writer can grow with time and practice. It
is crucial as a language educator to never doom a student to just not being a good writer when
there is always room to grow with the right guidance.

Designing a Classroom Environment

My classroom will be characterized by an attitude of positivity shaped on a growth
mindset model. One quote that I hope to embody (and have prominently displayed) is by coach
John Wooden, who once said Success is never final; failure is never fatal; the only thing that
counts is courage. As I mentioned in belief statement #5, making mistakes is part of the process

of writing and learning. I hope to build rapport with my students in this regard by modeling
writing live in front of them. Being as Im human, I will make mistakes, and I plan to also share
my own writing from the past (error-ridden and all). By doing this I can show -- not just tell -students that academic skills can always develop with hard work.
In order to create a safe space for expression, I will ensure students that journal entries
remain private as long as there is no information about anyone being hurt/the students hurting
themselves. I will not force students to share their writing, especially when prompts are deeply
personal. However, though I will not force students to share their work, I will encourage them to
share and be honest about their writing with me and their peers. I will do this by introducing the
practices of peer review/pair-and-share early on in the school year (see belief statement #3). I
also hope to create a classroom contract with the students that describes respectful ways of
behaving in the context of class activities. This code of conduct will describe what is acceptable
and unacceptable while students share their work (especially personal journal entries) including
listening intently, asking thoughtful questions, and nodding in agreement and not including
giggling, making distracting gestures, interrupting with comments, etc. From the very first day of
class, I will establish the habit of daily writing, likely as a bell-ringer activity, which not only
develops fluency but also helps with classroom management.

Designing a Writing Curriculum

The writing curriculum I design will be accommodating to students of different writing
abilities while holding all students to high standards of achievement. While not every student
will enjoy every assignment, I hope by the end of the year every student can identify a writing
assignment that they enjoy and that made them think about the world differently (belief
statements #1 and #4). I hope to juggle several perspectives in forming my curriculum and not

just adhere to one. I will use a combination of high and low-stakes writing, formative and
summative assessments, and a variety of mediums/contexts in order to develop writing as a
transferable skill. Any writing curriculum I create will have students write every time they are in
my classroom to develop fluency. I will also apply my knowledge of my students (ELLs, IEPs,
etc.) to the activities I choose, making sure they are appropriate and relevant for all students, and
modify as necessary. I will also use my knowledge of linguistics, dialect interference, and the
fixed-code fallacy when assessing students writing, knowing that some of their written language
patterns are a result of oral language interference. I will respond to this occurrence (for it is
bound to happen) by using my knowledge of phrase-structure grammar to educate students about
school language (standard English) and being aware of (and at peace with) their own dialects.

Technology
As an educator in the twenty-first century, I will use the technology available to me to
equip my students for an increasingly digital workforce and academic world. I look forward to
using technology for students with special needs in order to make the lessons/assignments
accessible to them. However, I will not neglect handwritten writing assignments on a whole.
Cognitively speaking, the process of writing with a pencil/pen and typing are different, and using
both will benefit the students. Multimodal writing assignments can be an effective way of
integrating technology. Not integrating technology at all (or using it merely as a digital
substitution for note taking) is a disservice to students in todays world.
It is important to be careful when using technology in the classroom and to understand
the students variety of accessibility to technology in their homes, whether that be internet
connection or proper devices (if any). Even if a school has a bring-your-own-device policy,

students might not have internet connection at home. A peer of mine from high school went to
the local Dunkin Donuts for hours after school every day because her family could not afford an
internet connection at home. On the positive side, technology can play a key role in writing about
social justice, as social media and online research resources are necessary when exploring
current events from many different perspectives. The use of technology like Smore, Animoto, or
short video production can also help students discover new interests and proclivities, perhaps
even helping them to find a future career.

Assessment and Feedback

My approach to grading writing will always be to provide feedback that is useful to the
student. In class, we performed a role play of a writing conference with a peer, and it showed me
that feedback is truly only helpful if it is specific. Good job! or awkward do not give the
student any direction to go in. More helpful feedback would be Good job creating complex
sentences! or try using a different verb here (while indicating the instance) are much more
useful for students.
I hope to point out in student work not only the aspects of their writing that need
development, but also the positive things. Feedback should always be framed with a growth
mindset and never condemn a students skill entirely. From seemingly poor pieces of writing,
students might find good ideas and patterns, so it is always important to save documents and
refer to them later. Regarding the marking of errors, simply marking the error itself without
explanation does not equip the student to prevent the mistake from happening again. I hope to

guide students in learning the grammar of standard, academic English by distinguishing between
dialect interference, convention errors, and simple blunders.

Conclusion
Instructing writing is not a simple task and requires much forethought. As I learn more
about the English language, pedagogy, and writing, I hope to amend this philosophy. Not all
students will go on to use scholarly or academic forms of writing in their lives, but all students
will encounter written language on a daily basis. At the very least, I hope to guide their fluency
and willingness to write, as writing can mean so much if you simply practice.