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(note: My teaching philosophy focuses on student centered learning and authentic assignments. It is based on research and from personal experience with effective learning environments.)

My philosophy of teaching writing is that every student has the ability to improve his or her writing. In order to optimize this improvement, there are certain things I can do as a teacher.

Facilitate individuals, not classes: Every student I teach has a specifically unique background that will affect how I will be able to facilitate better writing. In order to achieve a “zone of proximal development” I will need to understand not only where my students are as writers, but also the experiences that have made them who they are today. If I focus only on their writing today, I will undermine the effect of background, former learning patterns and their current views on writing in their lives. Getting into the “zone of proximal development” will be dependent on my ability to understand not only where a student “is,” but also where they come from.

Promoting writing as a process of improvement: Writing is a process to make a product better. In learning how to make a better product, we learn to see writing as a process. I see both product and process as related to one another, rather than a choice or preference I have to make as a teacher. I believe that the more we write, the more we see that good writing requires a realization of both process and product. I know personally that every good piece I ever wrote was part of an important process that resulted in a worthwhile product. The process I underwent would have been worthless if I had not seen results at the end. At the same time, prewriting, revising, and all other aspects of writing made my product the best it could be. It is important to not leave students in the dark about how product and process work together. I believe that teaching them an effective process of writing allows students to learn how to write better products, which in turn, shows them the importance of the process.

Real assignments make real writers: As a writing teacher I will strive to make authentic assignments. What I mean by authentic is writing with real audiences, and real purpose that creates meaning and life in assignments. In my observations of high school, students are more likely to put forth a strong effort if their writing is going to be published the school newspaper. If students see purpose for their writing, there is a much higher chance that the writing will improve.

Teach the language as it is taught naturally: When children learn languages, they start by observing, and then move to trial and error. They develop their own sense of language through feedback, and then the cycle of “observe, try, get feedback” starts over. An understanding of grammar and structure of language can be acquired without being expressly taught, and the notion of teaching a small child grammar is absurd. It is just as absurd believing that later on they will need to be taught grammar specifically, when up to that point they have learned the language fine without it. Teaching students to read, write, and speak a language with their peers is far more important than making sure they spell every word right or punctuate every sentence. Their learning a language should be seen as a process leading to a better understanding of the language. This means that every step towards understanding is not seen as right or wrong, but as part of a journey towards an ultimate goal. As a student progresses, it is possible to keep the feedback cycle going and address grammar/syntax/spelling issues as they arise.

Assessment as a two-way street: Assessment serves two main purposes. One is to evaluate the progress of students. Assessment should place students on a figurative map that shows how far they have come, and where they need to go. The second purpose of assessment is to show the teacher what has worked in the teaching and what needs to be improved. By knowing where students are, it is possible for a teacher to extract feedback about their own teaching. Assessment is then tied to planning. As a teacher learns about where the teacher and students are, the teacher can adjust their plans accordingly.

Prepare for the unexpected: Planning is crucial to good teaching. A teacher must have a long term plan for their class and include general goals for themselves and students. In doing this, the teacher is able to structure their classroom to promote an environment of organization as well as learning progress. However, planning is not a script that we follow as teachers. It is flexible based on student needs and changes according to unpredictable factors. Plans will also change based on assessing where a class is, and how well the plans you make are impacting the progress of the class. It is important to see planning as a flexible structure, and not a prescription for students. Making plans too rigid fails to recognize the importance of students as individual learners that need specific teaching strategies.

The overarching idea of everything I do is improvement. I can constantly be learning and becoming a better teacher, which will benefit the facilitation of improvement in my students. This also means that I will never arrive at a perfect pedagogy, but will be constantly seeking better avenues of teaching language.