Writing is a celebration of risk taking

Wow Regie Routman tells it like it is in the book Writing Essentials. She claims, "The celebration of children's writing needs to move right up front to become a major goal. Routman wants teachers to make writing enjoyable for kids and she says teachers can do this by celebrating the risks students take when they try something new or choose to rewrite a piece of their paper. She says what teachers celebrate sends a message of value to students. If teachers are going to turn kids into writers then teachers must also express joy in writing. If teachers see writing as another task that it simply a means to please the teacher they will not enjoy it. Routman wants teachers to focus on how they can engage their students in writing and encourage them to invest in their writing with their hearts and minds. Routman claims many students already dislike writing by the first grade and essentially it is because teachers put a lot of requirements on students writing the need for correctness and the lack of choice offered to students kills their creativity.

My niece is staying with me this week she is four. She was sitting at the kitchen table tonight drawing while my daughter was doing her homework and I was watching her. She was drawing scribbles on the paper however, she was thoroughly engaged in her writing and she was telling her story as she wrote it she said. "this is the dog, his name is Scooby. This is his milk bones he loves doggy treats". She went on like this fro a long time. I made the connection between what Routman was saying and what I saw my niece doing because she was engaged in her writing she was seeing herself as a writer. As I was listening to my niece write and tell her story I saw that she was doing a good job she had a beginning a middle and an end.

I thought it was very interesting that Routman encourages teacher to tell stories to their students. She says you have to tell "personal and commonplace stories that relate to everyday happenings...put [your] heart on the page" (25). This is important, if teachers want students to write meaningful stories they should be willing to do the same so they know what you expect.

In chapter two Routman discusses the idea that teachers need to see themselves as writer before they can effectively teach students to see themselves as writers. She said teachers need to be willing to take risks in front of their students. Composing and writing on the spot and not over planning a lesson. Let our students see you struggle to get your thoughts down. Let them see you make mistakes and let then see you as a writer and let them see you enjoy it. Routman also notes that if teachers set high expectations for writing the better students will write better especially if the students writing is valued.

I remember the first writing class when I returned to college. I have never enjoyed writing, mostly because I never felt like I was good at it. I remember writing in one of my papers about what I was supposed to write. My professor said what you are supposed to write? He made it clear to me that writing is not about what I think I am supposed to do to please the teacher. It is about what I want to say and how I want to say it. Later in the next quarter when I was taking my second writing class with the same teacher he  used one of my essays as an example for the class. He put it up on the doc camera, with my name crossed out of course, and I will never forget how proud I felt at that moment when I realized it was my paper up there and he was using it to point out all the good things about my writing. I was sharing my writing life for the first time and it felt good. I felt like my writing had value and that feeling forces me to always try to do my best work and enjoy what I am writing about.