My Future As An Educator

Writing is an essential skill that students will use and apply for the rest of their lives. Teaching students to become strong writers is a daily task and involves writing more than just an essay. Research indicates that by the middle school level students should be writing at least 60 minutes a day. A practice of daily writing helps build writing fluency that transcends across the curriculum. However, this can be a daunting task especially when students don’t like to write. In a time when writing is essential to the curriculum, how do we build a community of lifelong writers? (Especially when we are in the age of standardized testing that limits what and how students are being taught writing.) Many experts state that daily writing in

As a child, I devoured as many words as possible. Living in a rural area of Northern Michigan, books helped me pass the time and gave me chances to use my imagination. I collected books; I wanted a library like the one that the Beast gave to Belle in my favorite Disney movie. Some of my childhood favorites included classics such as Harold and the Purple Crayon, Ramona and Beezus, and anything by Shel Silverstein or Roald

In the article “Best Practices in Teaching Writing”, Charles Whitaker outlines eight points on helping students succeed as writers. The first

Teachers, parents, and friends often tell students exactly what the writing process should entail and how long it should take. However, the older I get, the more I realize that the writing process varies not only from person to person, but also from one writing project to the next. Throughout my years of life, I have written countless papers, ranging from a persuasive speech to an extensive research paper, and each project requires an altered version of my personal writing process. While each individual has his own writing process, there can be many similarities between different writing processes. Finding one’s individual writing process takes trial, error, and repetition. When an individual finally uncovers his unique writing process, better thought, work, and writing is produced.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

In our society, people communicate through various ways. One of the most essential way is writing. Through writing, people convey their thoughts and ideas, connect to others, and pass on wisdom generations by generations. More importantly, writing effectively promotes the advancement of society. Though some people have not realized the how writing benefits from writing, the author of the article “How to Read Like A Writer”, Mike Bunn illustrates that focusing more on the rhetorical “strategies” and structure rather than the content can improve our own writing.

This course offers numerous opportunities to improve our writing. In this class, I not only enhanced the skills I already had, but also learned new writing concepts. Before I took this class, I knew that my writing is poor, and I have always wanted to improve it; however, I did not know how and what aspects of writing to improve. So, I came into this class with the ambition to improve my writing, and I have accomplished my goal although there is still room for improvement. At this point of this course, I have learned the elements that successful writing is composed of, and I am now able to categorize the various techniques that can work together to define strong

Kelly Gallagher discusses how to promote students’ writing in chapter four of Teaching Adolescent Writers. Gallagher assesses his students’ writing from the beginning to know where his classroom stands: “Each of my thirty-eight freshman students completed a timed writing piece on the second day of school and turned them in without their names on the papers” (73). This allowed Gallagher to assess his classroom as a whole instead of as individuals. He took this writing and sorted into piles he assumed were “heavy readers (defined as those who frequently read for fun),… moderate readers, and… light readers” (73). Gallagher based these predictions on the diction, sentence structure and variety, essay development, craft, and punctuation and editing skills (74). As Gallagher asserts, these predictions are not entirely accurate, but they allowed him to understand that the majority of heavy readers are skilled writers because they have an underlying foundation for their writing in their reading. This does not mean that all good readers are good writers. Gallagher asserts, “Reading alone does not explain why some of my readers write well and others don’t” (75). He goes on to create a formula explaining that reading paired with an “exposure to intensive hands-on writing instruction” lead to students becoming better

The writing center at Union Institute & University exists to help writers here at Union. We work in tandem with faculty to help students improve their craft of writing. Writing center tutors can guide students, helping them become confident, powerful writers. But for us to help them, students must be curious; they have to believe they can improve, and they have to be willing to work toward that end. As instructors, we must ask ourselves what we can do to facilitate these characteristics in students.

Logan Pearsall Smith once said, “Fine writers should split hairs together, and sit side by side, like friendly apes, to pick the fleas from each other’s fur.” All be it an overwhelmingly disgusting image, Smith’s words are true when it comes the art and science of putting pencil to paper. In the classroom, students should be able to be vulnerable, honest, accountable and “real” in their writing so that they may grow to become better writers. It is the responsibility of the teacher to insure a quality learning environment that is conducive to these three factors. Observing the writing process and identifying the experiences within, be them personal, direct or indirect, contribute to how the educator teaches students using best practices.

One of the biggest milestones as a baby is saying your first word, then that word becomes a sentence, and those sentences become paragraphs, and before you know it those paragraphs become a whole book. Reading and writing are such an essential part of everyday life and they play a large role in shaping who we are as people. Growing up, I have had a sense of determination that has helped me to blossom throughout my literacy journey in order to be where I am today.

Effective writing is becoming a real concern among teachers and college professors. As a matter of fact, the quality of writing appears to be worse than it used to be. In past years, studies have proven that there is a constant decline in people's writing ability. This article, Student Writing: Strategies to Reverse Ongoing Decline, gives you some insight as to the decline and ways to improve your writing skills.

Writing can be a difficult craft to understand and even begin to master, so it was refreshing to have this fact adressed within the first few pages of On Writing Well. Zinsser's reassuring voice telling me that when given the right tools and knowledge, anyone can write, instantly made me know I was going to like learning from him. I had never before heard an author, or writer of any nature for that matter, tell me such a thing. This sense of understanding would continue on as I read, for this would be only the first of many useful tips I would be given while reading this book.

Ideally, when I graduate, I would like to enter the credential program at Cal Poly Pomona. As an English Education major, I feel like this is the next logical step for me as I seek to move forward on my path of becoming a teacher. The opportunities that await me in the credential program truly excite me because I have always found my studies of English Education to be very rewarding and purposeful. I have found this to be especially true now because I am currently in the process of conducting observation hours at local high schools in Pomona as part of my English Education curriculum. When I am in the classroom, I immediately feel a sense of joy, purpose, and productivity. Outside of the classroom, I do have experience teaching as a leader for a club on campus; I am a Woman’s Bible Study Leader for Cal Poly Cru and I have found this experience of teaching college students to be the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding experience I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of. It can become overwhelming as doubts and deadlines tend to sneak in on me from time to time, but I know that being a teacher is worth every ounce of pressure because of the positive impact that a teacher has the ability to make on a student. There is an incredible statistic that states that “On average a teacher affects 3,000 children over the course of their career” (Bickley). This opportunity stirs my heart like nothing else because when I was in high school, I had an incredible teacher named

As a future educator learning from others is the most important thing listening to a teacher's battles in the classroom from a teacher that has only taught a year to one that has been teaching for twenty year. The fact that we get to ask questions is ridiculously important for our futures in the classroom. Although, the teacher that was interviewed was a new teacher which we can relate to, the fact that he had to manage the fact that he is now in control of a class instead of just observing. He had a lot of insight, even though the school he teaches in is small. He answered every question to the best of his abilities. His insight was great for me because I want to teach in a small school that does not serve many students. This interview helped by the fact that he is not that far from our age and we will be in his shoes sooner rather than later, he was opening our eyes to the real world of teaching and the fact that you may have your heart set on one thing, but it will not happen the way you want it.