Lets face it, writing can be hard, it’s full of rules and it takes up so much time, but authentic writing? Well that’s another beast in of its self entirely. Any Joe schmoe can sit at a computer and type away till his fingers bleed, even if he’s not interested. However, writing authentically takes creativity and passion. You’re not just writing cause some schmuck told you to. You’re doing it because you’re interested in the topic and have something to say. I like to consider myself something of a writer, and even I have trouble being authentic all the time. So, as a fledgling teacher, I’ve been thinking (and worrying) about how to best impart knowledge unto my future students that will not only help them grow as writers, but as authentic writers! While reading Keeping it Real: Valuing Authenticity in the Writing Classroom, I was struck by all the methods that could be used to help students improve their abilities as authentic writers. Here are three ways that we as teachers can help encourage students to become lifelong authentic writers, that I thought were amazing!
Firstly, diversity in what we write about. No one wants to write the same old stuff every single assignment, we don’t learn and grow from that at all instead we should be doing a wide array of different types of writing, in Keeping it Real: Valuing Authenticity in the Writing Classroom Classroom there is an answer, “They should be writing travel essays, book reviews, advice columns. Study the layout of bookstores, magazines, and websites to see the nuances of genre”. Student should also feel like their writing is meaningful and not just a waste of time for them, we need to show them that all of these examples of writing are valid forms and can be used in everyday life.
Teaching authenticity in the writing classroom is a two way street. My students are not gonna be inspired to go out and write something that changes the world if I don’t give them genuine authentic writing exercises and help them feel their way around this new frontier, and what better way to do that then to write with them. Sitting down with students to show them that you write too is a great way to inspire them. A teacher could even pull up a word document and write there in front of students, walking them through the process and showing them different methods of writing. “Write along with your class—and when you do, sometimes do it on your word processing screen in front of students”. Writing and taking out portions of your writing, and changing things around, will show your students that no one is perfect, and that brings me to my next point.
No one in the world is perfect, and no one writes perfectly. Many people see the writing of others and grow discouraged, thinking, “I could never write something that good” and “My writing has so many mistakes.” Heck, even I get discouraged sometimes when I look at my best writing compared to others. Here’s the thing though, authentic writing is a process, a long process, where a person will make a lot of mistakes, and that’s okay, but that’s part of what authentic writing is all about. Writing, making mistakes, and working on fixing those mistakes. If the writing wasn’t authentic we wouldn’t care if there were any mistakes at all – we’d just move on without a second thought. But with authentic writing, we have to have strive to be better with every single sentence. A quote that really stuck out to me while reading Keeping it Real: Valuing Authenticity in the Writing Classroom was the one made by Brené Brown as she says that authenticity is “cultivating the courage to be imperfect”. So while we mentor the future writers of the world, it’s important that we show them that being perfect isn’t what makes a good writer, but instead it’s the effort they put into their works that will help them grow.
Cheese Bistro 