The entire English Department recently attending a workshop titled “Writing to Learn.” It was a great reminder for myself about how I learn and the importance of being allowed to collect my thoughts through the writing process. It has been quite sometime since I was a student. So, having the opportunity to do so at the workshop was invaluable.
Essentially, the idea is to promote learning through self-reflection while writing. I was reminded how writing forces one to think instead of just blurting out initial thoughts without thinking. While there is value in spontaneous responses, I was reminded that writing forces students to collect thoughts in a cohesive manner as they have time to think individually and reflection is done with purpose before any small-group conversations, etc.
Overall, I am very excited about the possibility of applying these strategies in the Writing Seminar curriculum and into my other English courses. Creating daily writing practices well help cultivate an environment that uses writing as a tool for reflection and learning about oneself and the world we live in.
Through using the writing process always before speaking, thus applying writing as part of the critical-thinking process, students are encouraged to develop an awareness of themselves. We all have personal experiences and cultural capital, however writing forces us to reflect on our biases, especially when we read what peers have written or hear their verbal responses to what we have written.
Some strategies to use writing include:
- Use in small pair/share – helps generate ideas both in writing to one another and verbally.
- A Dialectical Notebook – eencourages understanding through reflecting on quotes for overall idea and confusing or frustrating quotes from within texts while asking for partners to respond in writing to one another.
- Learning through observation – writing down observations about texts and images.
- Short writing pieces – focused writing with a purpose.
Finally, the workshop reminded me of the importance of putting pen or pencil to paper, rather then sticking only to digital keyboards. I have fallen prey to Schoology and using digital writing mainly. This workshop reminded me that forcing myself to write is a kinesthetic experience that enhances the learning experience.
Below is the Script and a couple of handouts from the workshop: