Writing histories
22 teachers met at NATE’s ‘Making room for Writing’ workshop, led by Dr Jeni Smith and Simon Wrigley, at the annual conference held at the British Library on February 25th 2011.
In order to support reflection about writing, an important strand of the research project explores teachers' journeys of learning and teaching writing.
Teachers identified a few significant moments in their ‘writing histories’(memories).
These tended to come under some of the following headings:
v Earliest memories of pre-school writing
v Moments of pride or embarrassment at responses to their own school writing
v Experiences of having their own writing assessed/critiqued/ignored/treasured
v Favourite or unusual writing places/partners/materials/subjects/styles (including hand-writing)
v Influential readers or writers - family, friends, teachers, authors, song-writers etc
v Times when they realised the emotional power of writing on paper or online (eg bonding with significant others, expressing anger against injustice)
v Memorable times when a new circumstance called for a new way of writing
v Times of struggle or triumph when they realised that writing was an important part of their identity eg wanting to teach writing or become a writer
v Early attempts/ mistakes/ successes in the teaching of writing
v Feelings of success or frustration in their own ‘published’ writing
v Forbidden writing or writing censored by self or others
v Anecdotes about their own current writing behaviour, in journals, online, texts – in work and out
v Reflections on their current writing or teaching of writing – epiphanies, crises, hopes and tensions
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Teachers were asked to jot these memories/reflections down on post-it notes and display them around the room for others to look at.
Here’s one example of a teacher's 5 'writing memories':
1. Writing to the tooth fairy
2. School-based stories set in Spain, typed out on my old typewriter every night in print. Proud.
3. Writing out his name – over and over and over and over …
4. Safety and distance in MSN conversations, telling transatlantic secrets
5. Will I ever write a novel … ?
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For more examples, click here to go to Snapshots
In order to support reflection about writing, an important strand of the research project explores teachers' journeys of learning and teaching writing.
Teachers identified a few significant moments in their ‘writing histories’(memories).
These tended to come under some of the following headings:
v Earliest memories of pre-school writing
v Moments of pride or embarrassment at responses to their own school writing
v Experiences of having their own writing assessed/critiqued/ignored/treasured
v Favourite or unusual writing places/partners/materials/subjects/styles (including hand-writing)
v Influential readers or writers - family, friends, teachers, authors, song-writers etc
v Times when they realised the emotional power of writing on paper or online (eg bonding with significant others, expressing anger against injustice)
v Memorable times when a new circumstance called for a new way of writing
v Times of struggle or triumph when they realised that writing was an important part of their identity eg wanting to teach writing or become a writer
v Early attempts/ mistakes/ successes in the teaching of writing
v Feelings of success or frustration in their own ‘published’ writing
v Forbidden writing or writing censored by self or others
v Anecdotes about their own current writing behaviour, in journals, online, texts – in work and out
v Reflections on their current writing or teaching of writing – epiphanies, crises, hopes and tensions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teachers were asked to jot these memories/reflections down on post-it notes and display them around the room for others to look at.
Here’s one example of a teacher's 5 'writing memories':
1. Writing to the tooth fairy
2. School-based stories set in Spain, typed out on my old typewriter every night in print. Proud.
3. Writing out his name – over and over and over and over …
4. Safety and distance in MSN conversations, telling transatlantic secrets
5. Will I ever write a novel … ?
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For more examples, click here to go to Snapshots