August 15, 2009

I am sitting here in my family room trying to decide what I can do this next year as a writing teacher to inspire my students and develop a love for the written word. There are varying ideas in books, blogs, websites, and textbooks that are good in mechanics but seem to be lacking in inspiration.
My teacher voice tells me that I must come up with inspiration before good writing will be reality. Passionate writing will produce the most positive results, but how to get middle school students passionate about writing is where I am hitting a blank wall.
I have tried all the methods of grammar, writing process, 6+1 traits of writing, etc. which add tremendous support to students who are already writers, but from experience I have learned all these tools just bore the student who simply does not like to write.
In making my lesson plans for this first week of school it came to me that blogging will certainly be more productive for some of my students who do not like pencil and paper than jouranaling in a notebook. I hope it will be more interesting for students to write about what they are doing in the school year and their revelations in a professional blog unlike facebook where the whole scope of their friends can be critical.
It is my desire that I find a writing method for each student that instills some interest and joy when it is time to write.
This is my first entry into the perils of teaching writing and I am sure there are many more to come. I know students write continually in today's world through text messaging, facebook, and school assignments. I sincerely want to harness this writing into a direction that fosters love for the art.