The Best Way to Learn is to Teach

 One thing that strikes me as I am reading and learning about how to teach writing is how much I am actually learning about how to be a better writer. Throughout my school days, I was always a strong student in spelling, grammar and language arts. So, to be honest, I just didn't get a lot of feedback about how to grow as a writer. It seemed that my teachers figured I was writing at "level," so they didn't really push me much to grow or edit. As I am learning through the reading for this course, perhaps being a "strong writer" actually keeps me from growing in this practice, and it could keep me from being an effective teacher.

Collin Brooke and Allison Carr point out in Naming What We Know:  

We often forget, however, that successful writers aren't those who are simply able to write brilliant first drafts; often, the writing we encounter has been heavily revised and edited and is sometimes the result of a great deal of failure. (62)

First, this strikes me as a very freeing way to approach writing and teaching writing. Expecting to have bad drafts and some failures means that one is just free to experiment--to just get some words on the page is often the first and most difficult step to knowing what one thinks and how to communicate. If I don't have to be afraid that it is going to be bad (because I expect it will be, and that is ok) means I can start. Begun is half won, so to speak. As a teacher, expecting some bad drafts, failures and experimentation with the process means I can approach my students' work from an attitude of curiosity, not judgement. 

The idea that teachers must first be curious and then give guidance is new to me, in some ways. I have always thought teachers just know how it should be done, and, as a student, I am just trying to do it. But what if teaching were really about being curious about how writing gets done, and how to make it better, more fluid, and more enjoyable? Mary Mortimore Dossin shares in Comp Tales: 

Most of the writing I see in class or in the writing center is not so much "bad" as "raw." Many students have not yet realized that good writing requires time, care, and reflection. That's what they need to learn from us...Speak softly. Hear what they have to say, and they may hear you. (46) 

 Yes! Raw writing seems far more accurate than to call the writing poorly done. It is just too raw. It needs some time to stew a bit--first in your mind, then on the page. I find it really freeing to think of my own writing this way, and I think it will make me a better, more approachable teacher to discuss the "raw work" that needs some care, than to talk about the "poor writing" I see from students who are just learning how to cook their thoughts into a cohesive dish. The concept of approaching writing and teaching with curiosity and grace for myself and the students I teach is one I will not forget.