Writing About Literature

I have always thought that writing about literature is one of the more exciting aspects of teaching English. It is a way for students to be “essayists, editorialists, playwrights, fiction writers, poets.” I really enjoyed the freedom I was given in college to take something that was important to me in whatever it was that I was reading and roll with it. I want to, in some ways, incorporate that kind of freedom/choice into my middle school classroom. I want students to care about what they are writing and they need to feel like they are having a say in their work in order to really make it significant to them. I think students also must be exposed to a wide variety of writing styles. Some may not like to write an essay all the time, while other students hate poetry work. The multi-genre paper, which I was introduced to when I was in college, is a great way to incorporate many types of writing styles. I loved writing mine and I think it can be incorporated into the classroom quite nicely and easily. It can be used with a unit plan or as a 6 weeks project. In the end, it is something the kids will be proud of doing and they will have a binder-of-sorts of all their accomplishments, together for all to see.

Something interesting, that I agree with, yet had not specifically thought about for a while was the fact that teachers need to be writers. If teachers want to teach writing, they must develop their craft. If they do so, they will discover what works and what does not, what is beneficial, what takes time, where frustrations may set in, and etcetera. Teachers also need to think about the students they will be teaching. Rief gives us questions to as ourselves as writing teachers, “What do I believe and why? How do I shape those beliefs into sound practices in my classroom? Who are the students with whom and from whom I learn, to whom I teach, and for whom I care and have a responsibility.” If we think about these questions before we teach, we may be able to better prepare our lessons and our students for the assignments and challenges to come.

Also, something that I 100% agree with in the reading is that one cannot write without reading. I think it is extremely important for reading and writing to be taught hand in hand and relationships between the two illustrated often. Finally, I think a writers journal or folder is essential for students. It gives them a place to put their ideas, and also, they are all in one spot and much harder to lose.