Writing Conversations At The Start Of A New School Year

In the early weeks of a new school year, I would hopefully expect to hear conversations around writing raising matters with student writers, similar in intent to the types of matters listed below.

Are you writing about things that matter to you -matters you care most about, matters close to your heart?

If your students are writing merely to please a teacher or impress their peers, then this conversation is quite important. We should never embark upon writing we don’t care about. It should matter to the writer. It might actually be a piece they need to write quite urgently because they never want to forget that particular moment/ feeling/ event/ experience.

Is there something you are hoping to see improve around your writing this year? How do you intend to achieve this change?

Do you know why you are writing about a particular topic/issue/idea?

In other words, have you thought about why it is important for you to write about this matter at this time.

What genre best suits what you want to write about?

When writers write about this topic/ idea/ issue what genre/genres do they usually choose?

Have you looked at examples of the kind of writing you are trying to write?

Such conversations help to tease out important considerations for every writer regardless of age, or experience.

What is your aim/purpose for this writing?

In other words are you wishing to inform, entertainment, record for posterity, influence change, analyse, persuade? Knowing what the purpose of the writing piece is helps to guide the writer in so many ways. Word choice, tone, length, mood, all come under consideration at this point. Making the writer aware of these matters is important.

Are you ready to start writing now or do you need to do some more research/ preparation to enable you to feel confident about what you hope to do as a writer?

Do you need to do more thinking/ investigating /talking/ planning before you commence, or are you ready to launch your writing project?

Sometimes the words are already inside the writer just waiting to emerge on the page. Sometimes however, the writer needs to gather more information. Knowing the difference between these two important actions is critically important to writing development.

Have you been thinking about the words you want to use in your writing?

Rehearsal and word choice are further important considerations in the writing process. Fostering rehearsal through a range of pre-writing actions helps the developing writer to think more actively about the words that work best.

What are you reading that is most like what you are trying to write?

Encouraging the reading writing connection for our student writers is something we must do mindfully. Helping the writer to become aware of how reading particular texts can inform the type of writing they are currently trying to perfect is critical to growing their capacity.

Who is your intended audience for the writing you are doing. What do they need from you?

From day one, the writer needs to show courtesy and awareness of their potential readers. Raising the young writer’s sense of audience is deserving of continual maintenance.

Where are you looking for writing ideas?

How are you documenting the ideas in your notebook?

What are your current writing territories and what topics are you finding within those territories?

How are you using your senses to help you notice writing ideas?

Has anyone found a potential idea in a place/ moment/experience that surprised them?  

The identification of writing ideas is something requiring constant care and attention. The ability to detect and collect ideas when out in the world is the essential life source for any writer.

In all these conversation scenarios, it is the most experienced writer who must be prepared to share how they most adequately address these important writing considerations. The reading and writing lives of teachers must be brought into the classroom discussions. The teacher has a genuine opportunity here to support and influence student writing attitudes. They can shine a light on the problem solving aspects of being someone who reads and writes.

There are other questions that no doubt need to be raised. The more these types of conversations are facilitated, the more likely they are to arise and be reflected upon. For me, the critical consideration is allowing for this type of interaction to occur in the classroom on a regular basis. That way we will create some sparks!

Make writing workshop a time and a place where teachers and students are sharing the learning around writing. Such an approach actually enhances your authority (and integrity) as a teacher. Your positions is strengthened because you become viewed as a fellow risk taker. Your teaching is presented from an authentic perspective. 

When you discuss real issues around your own writing (and how you worked to resolve them), when you discuss writing honestly, your willingness to be vulnerable reveals your writing voice. You are doing more than you can imagine to build a sense of trust within your burgeoning community of writers.