Writing is an exploration.
You start from nothing and learn as you go.
-E. L. Doctorow
Tailored Instruction
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E.L. Doctorow's insight is shared by many writers. But while starting with nothing may be just the trick for some, it can feel impossible for others. My approach to writing instruction acknowledges the diverse ways students process and express language, emphasizing individual strengths.
Most important, I prioritize untrapping thoughts and ideas from students' minds, empowering them to demonstrate their insights, point of view, and knowledge.
We all learn differently from one another.
That's why my teaching style depends on the needs of each student I work with. I differentiate instruction to align with the specific interests, strengths, and challenges your student demonstrates.
Still, some strategies--such as explicit, goal-oriented instruction--have proven successful for students who struggle with abstract concepts and organization of ideas. Other effective methods include breaking down goals, structuring our time, and explaining what to do and how to do it step-by-step. Students practice skill-building with me so that I can guide them and offer immediate, encouraging feedback. If the focus area remains unclear for the student, I repeat and/or vary my approach. I value flexibility, and pivot if and when necessary to ensure dynamic, impactful instruction.
Techniques and tools I use and equip my students with include:
Thinking aloud: the student expresses their thoughts verbally while either I or technology record them
Brainstorming
Freewriting: writing without rules and letting the mind wander
Modeling (sentence/paragraphs/essay construction)
Presenting and reviewing strong as well as weak writing
Graphic organizers such as a mind map, flowchart, spider map, or other visual that enables connections between ideas or between opinion and evidence
Charts: information is organized by column (for instance, one column may be used for a character's name, another for that characters' particular traits, another for their major/general desire, another for their significant relationships, and another for growth)
Charts may also be used for listing and defining (visually, if that works best) literary devices, literary elements, or rhetorical forms. For instance, a comparison/contrast paper comprises one rhetorical form, while a narrative essay comprises another.
Chunking: breaking down material into manageable parts (may be applied to topics, reading, writing, constructing sentences). By focusing on one part of a sentence, paragraph, or essay at a time, we move forward at a pace that best suits the student. I ensure understanding before we continue to the next step
Linking previous knowledge or personal experience to newly gained information (organizing, connecting)
Acting/moving for kinesthetic learners
Objects (to help explain parts of a story or play or poem, and to fill in for different parts of a sentence. This is like using use salt and pepper shakers, as many of us do, to demonstrate a situation)
Games (for everyone!)