The following post is cross posted from NCS Writing Project.
We tell students writing is important. They (will) need to write to communicate, to process, to take tests, to fill out job applications. We tell them they will need to write “when they grow up”, that this is a very important skill. Yet how often do we model writing, especially writing that other people read? If we really believe in the importance of writing wouldn’t it make sense to model it? When I look back at my first blog post, I wrote about blogging for self-reflection, keeping a record, sharing, and conversation, but I never thought about modeling writing. Looking back, I think modeling is one of the most important aspects of blogging because it involves all the others. It also models the risk-taking involved (at least for many of us) in making our thoughts and words public.
David Cutler puts it well in his post To Teach Effective Writing, Model Effective Writing: To teach effective writing, we must be effective writers ourselves. We can’t teach what we don’t know, and when it comes to writing, it’s important to continue honing our craft. If you haven’t engaged in much formal writing since college, you will remain a less effective writing teacher. No matter what subject you teach, try starting a blog, writing articles, or developing short stories — all terrific ways to engage the mind and keep your skills sharp.
I’d love to see folks make a commitment to contribute a blog post to our NCS Writing Project sometime during this semester. If you’re not sure what to write about, here are some suggestions:
- Was there a teacher who inspired you? Why?
- What’s the most important lesson you learned in school?
- Why is writing important?
- What’s one thing you’re going to do differently this year?
- How did you continue your professional learning over the summer? (travel, conferences, etc)
- Do you have a lesson or activity that other teachers might benefit from hearing about?
- Is there a book, article, other blog post that you’d like to offer commentary on?
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Other?
