Journal Article

I found a great article titled, "Helping Writers Find Power," in Education Leadership (v.63 no.5). This article talked a lot about what we discussed in class on Wednesday. The author, Jeff Anderson, gave many great ideas about how we, as teachers, can engage our students when it comes to writing and grammar. He talks about how students that may struggle with writing often feel frustrated and unsuccessful, making them not want to write again. He outlines three essential process that he has found to be very valuable in the classroom. These are: value what students have to say, love their errors, and foster their knowledge of language conventions through visual reminders of underlying grammar problems. He believes that what makes older students dislike writing so much is the way teachers in the past have focused on correcting grammar conventions rather than really seeing the content of their writing and creativity. He suggests always saying something good about the students writing first, before anything else. He also believes that errors are part of growing as a writer, and that making errors means that they are actually thinking. He suggests making a wall with common grammar problems, so students can look up and correct their own mistakes along the way. He feels that visual reminders of grammar work better than anything else, and therefore the wall chart is a great tool. This article is full of interesting ideas and suggestions! I encourage everybody to take a look at it!