Teaching the Writing Process

I am sure most people have heard of the writing process but many people either do their writing without much premeditation or are unaware of writing processes and the benefits of these practices. This blog post will focus on the importance of the writing process and the benefits it provides to those who use it when writing a piece.

Writing is not a ubiquitous process. It doesn’t follow a certain format for everyone, but often we are taught we have a prompt or assignment and then we must complete the assignment following those guidelines. However, sometimes we struggle with certain assignments because we have no idea where to begin. The question then becomes, “how do I start this assignment and how can this process be improved upon?” The short answer is pre-writing. Pre writing is the first stage in the writing process. This stage is where you as the teacher models the writing style you want the students to follow or you simply introduce them to the genre of writing. As a writer this is where you will be brainstorming and thinking of details to add to your piece. This stage does not focus so much on grammar or punctuation, but serves as a guide to your writing. The second stage of the writing process is drafting. During this stage ideas are put  into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or implications. At this stage, the focus is not placed on spelling. The draft tends to be writer-centered; it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic

The third stage of this writing process is revising. Revision is the key to effective pieces. Here you think more deeply about your readers’ needs and expectations. The piece becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective? At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear After going through the revising stage, as writer refining your piece is the most important part so it conveys the message that you planned to be conveyed, During this stage it is required that you check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.

NOTE: Don’t edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.

To fully equip us, student teachers with the skills needed to teach students the proper way to utilize the writing process, our lecturer decided to have a few of our classmates play the role of students and we were paired up. We were equipped with the task of teaching introducing the different genres of writing and engaging them in the writing process. Each pair received a different stage and focus, however, for each genre the same piece had to be used. This activity definitely gave us a feel of what we will be facing for teaching practice as it relates to teaching students the different writing mechanics and genres. I am sure my pairs and I got many ideas and suggestions which will be taken advantage of during teaching practice and furthermore when we get back to the classroom. This activity was especially useful since most of us expressed at the beginning of the term one of our fears in the classroom geared towards teaching students to write different genres, and the writing process.