The Magnificent Writing Process

While all of the different writing processes we discussed in class are important, I really liked Soven's approach to writing. Writing is a process, and usually it is never finished. Even after students turn their paper in and they have received their grade, there is always something that can be improved or added. On the day a paper is due, one of my college professors has the students get into groups and we discuss what we wrote about to our peers. Our peers give us feedback on our paper and then we write a one-page reflection on what we could have added to our paper and the ideas that fellow students had. As a student, it can be frusterating because you realize you could have added something that would have really enhanced your paper, but it is a good learning technique. I think this would be too advanced for a middle school classroom, but I think high-schoolers could do it.

One of the most important things about the writing process is to give students time. Students need time to think about what they are going to write about and time to actually write it. Usually, good ideas do not just pop into our head when the teacher gives the student a writing prompt. Sometimes it will take days to think of a topic to write about. Soven talks about freewriting, which I think is a wonderful idea, especially for students who are stuck and do not know what to write about. Peter Elbow, who is mentioned in Soven's chapter, Teaching the Writing Process, states that students should not stop for anything while freewriting and they should, "Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use...If you get stuck it's fine to write 'I can't think what to say, I can't think what to say' as many times as you want...The only requirement is that you never stop" (35). This pre-writing activity at least gets students to write something down on paper. Usually when students do not know what to write about, they just stare at a blank piece of paper. This usually will not help them come up with an idea. Teachers need to provide pre-writing activities for students who do not have an idea about what to write about.

Soven and Atwell also mention peer writing groups, which I think are an effective way for students to get feedback on their writing, as long as students are not only writing, "I liked your paper" and nothing else. As teachers, we need to provide students with the resources and tools so that students know how to be an effective editor. Talking about peer writing groups, Soven writes, "Students read their papers aloud twice while the other students in their group take notes. After the students reads, the group tells the author their reactions" (49). I also think it is important for students to write down their reactions and ideas to their peers' papers because some students may be too shy to tell the person what they thought of their paper to the rest of the group.

Writing is a long process and teachers need to provide activities for each stage of the writing process to help students generate ideas and revise their papers. Teachers also need to give students time to work on their paper. After students are used to the writing process, hopefully they will become more confident in their writing style and that they enjoy writing!