To Be, or Not to Be, a Writer?

To Be, or Not to Be, a Writer?

                                                     By Collette

During my schooling, I enjoyed my English classes and usually did well. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers in this field. Most were very encouraging and pushed me to want to do better, except for one. Please keep in mind “writing” in those days was judged by mechanics, not what you had to say. She was a stickler for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, usage and the conventions of writing. Did I mention I got 100’s on my spelling tests, but was a lousy speller?

One misspelled word was an automatic “C.” Graded themes had no comment about what I had to say. One time she wrote “I had an interesting way of writing.” I read comments she put on other student’s papers and their higher grades helped determine my belief that I could not “write.” This was reinforced in college as well.

Hired to teach English in several schools (I had a minor in English and was certified to teach 6-9^th grades), I did what my teachers had done to me. In the middle of all my teaching I was “writing” lesson plans, curriculum, school improvement plans and mentoring schools not meeting the state’s standards. My “writing” was even published. I woke up to the surprise I was a “writer.” It is amazing what one can do when she develops a little confidence.

I learned some valuable lessons from the teacher who made me feel I could not “write.” Whenever possible I went to “writing” conferences. I read book after book about how to “write” and how to teach “writing.” My district instituted the instruction of the Six Traits of Writing into our classrooms. I took training and worked with state assessments involving “writing.” I provided instruction about the different types of “writing” available today. Also, I “wrote” with the students each day.

Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned from that teacher was to find other ways to determine the value and importance of what a student had to say in “writing.” In fact, I have taken the quotes away from writing because I know I am a writer who helps others find their voice and express themselves.