Process Over Perfection

Based on personal experience alone, I can attest to the healing power of writing as a form of "being", as Robert P. Yagelski proposes in his article "A Thousand Writers Writer: Seeking Change through the Radical Practice of Writing as a Way of Being". Writing draws on the innermost pieces of our souls and names them...and for whatever reason, the naming brings healing and ascribes purpose to even the most painful places. Writing is cathartic and therapeutic in this sense, a means by which we can break the chains and release the monsters that hide within us. Writing is powerful.

Or rather, writing can be powerful, but so often its paths are not traversed based on a fear many people harbor: that writing must be perfect. This belief has been produced over time within the school system as teachers have capitalized on correct grammar and spelling, and marginalized the content that students are writing. Thus, students who are less adept with their writing capabilities will choose to not write altogether if given the option. Because of this, I love the point made at the beginning of the article that highlights the importance of cross-curricula writing. If this were instituted in schools, and if grammar and spelling were not taken into consideration, students would inevitably become more comfortable with their writing capabilities, in expressing themselves in written form. They would be less concerned with the structure and form of their writing, and instead would be involved in the process of composing their writing, focused on the content they are producing and how it affects them.

So, when considering what writing can do for me as a teacher, I can't help but recall the power that writing and sharing our writing has had on the classroom dynamic of this very class. I think that due to the very vulnerable nature that is writing, implementing writing activities in the classroom can give extremely unique insight into students as individuals, and can create a comfortable, safe classroom atmosphere for them to explore more of who they are, more of what they want to know, and more of who they want to be. Writing goes beyond academic knowledge, and delves straight into the heart stuff. Because of this, I think writing can serve as a means of deeper connection with students.

But beyond this, writing can be a means to an end for students, regardless of if the teacher is included in the process or not. As Yagelski articulated, when we write, we have an experience all our own. The product is completely separate from the process by which we arrive there. The important thing is indeed not the finished piece, but rather, the process. Therefore, it is truly a shame that students will avoid writing simply because they aren't comfortable with their own abilities as writers. It is our job as teachers to empower students in both what they feel confident in accomplishing, but also empowering them to find the confidence to engage in that which they are least comfortable as well. Our responses to students are of utmost importance.