Writing to Learn

I really enjoyed this article. It made me reflect on my own experiences with writing. The author asserts the difference in learning to write and writing to learn. In middle and high school, I struggled with learning to write. Eventually, I got it. However, I cannot remember one experience where I was writing to learn. The emphasis was ALWAYS on grammar and following the writing process to the letter of the writing process law. I cannot remember one time when the content or thought process was really taken into consideration. I can look back and think on so many lessons where the activities listed in this article would have been more interesting and thought provoking than the same old routines of copying the definition, pop corn reading the chapter, and struggling to summarize. By the end of high school, I had mastered the writing process, and I was a fanatic about correct grammar usage. but here comes the big BUT, in my college courses, they expected me to do more of this writing to learn thing than actual fluffy essay writing. Get this. I was having to write in classes that weren't even English classes. Crazy huh? blogging.. powerpoints.. article critiques.. reflections.. Can you sense my concern? I was in over my head. It wasnt until my junior year of college that I saw how easy it was to incorporate these writing to learn strategies into lessons in all the content areas.

For example, exit tickets. Simple. Quick. Nausea Free. These are a simple way to check for understanding or to prompt a student's thinking that does not require a mini lesson on run ons and comma splices. So.. Why was in my 6th semester in college before I was introduced to this method?

Or.. ABC list. I chose to do this activity in my literature circle last semester, and I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait to use this method in my own classroom. It sounds very basic, but this activitiy called for me to do some heavy duty thinking, as well as make connections. Some of them were some very stretched connections, but I did more thinking than I would have if I was simply called to write a summary.

I also especially like the framed paragraphs. I believe that this guides students who are not especially strong writers. It makes a way for them to think about the critical things that they should be thinking about without sweating the small stuff. I believe that grammar and good writing skills are important, but I cannot help but wonder.. Which is more important, that a student can think critically and use writing to express deeper thoughts - granted there are some grammatical errors? Or is should the focus be on standard English? I am sure that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Also, as a future teacher, How can I find the balance in incorporating these techniques and still teaching the importance of standard English?