Uninhibited writing: The importance of a positive writing environment in the language arts classroom

Writing is unique from other subject areas such math, or science because it so greatly relies on the facilitation of ideas rather than the relaying of constant factual information to the students by the teacher. How writing is taught is heavily dependent on teacher values. Whether it is a preference in implementation methods, expectations in conventions, or approaches to diverse students and their writing content, a teacher’s values and beliefs will be evident through their approaches to this subject. The subjective nature of writing education makes it crucial for teachers to be aware of how every decision in the curriculum and assessment has a significant impact on students’ growth and performance. Teachers often make the error of assigning specific assignments, such as worksheets, reports or writing exercises without truly considering the real purpose of that assignment. It is an understandable mistake, given the sheer mass of lesson plans teachers must create for a number of academic subjects. However, in a subject that promotes a creative thought process and encourages cognitive depth, assigning “busy work” comes with several potential setbacks in student progress.

[...] Although many educators believe that correcting spelling and grammar is important, the constant correction can often hinder a student’s creativity and flow of ideas. Elementary students should always feel that their ideas are the main focus of their work. Many times the students will feel as though they need to use correct spelling and grammar in order to make their work good enough for the teacher. In the article “Correcting and Giving Feedback to Writing,” Zeliha Gultcat and Oya Ozagac of Bogazici University say that teachers should focus only on grammar because students start to think that grammar is the only thing that counts in writing” (par.12). [...]

[...] Process Genre Approach to Teaching Writing." ELT Journal 54 (2000). Blake, Brett Elizabeth. "Fruit of the Devil: Writing and English Language Learners." Language Arts (2001) 435- Mar 2009 . Glasswell, Kathryn, McNaughton, Stuart, Parr, Judy M. "Four Ways to Work Against Yourself When Conferencing With Struggling Writers." Language Arts 80, 4(2003) 291- Mar 2009 . Gulcat, Zeliha and Oya Ozagac. “Correcting and Giving Feedback to Writing.” Boun.edu. Sept Bogazici University March http://www.buowl.boun.edu.tr/teachers/CORRECTING%20AND%20GIVING% 0FEEDBACK%20TO%20WRITING.htm. Jasinski Schneider, Jenifer. "No Blood, Guns, or Gays Allowed!: The Silencing of the [...]

[...] Brian Paltridge, Professor at the University of Sydney who leads Educational Workshops throughout Sydney and conducts research surrounding English for Academic Purposes (EAP) promotes an approach similar to the product approach-the genre approach-which involves,“ investigating the texts and contexts of students’ target situations, encouraging reflection on writing practices, exploiting texts from different types of genre and creating mixed genre portfolios” (par This sometimes includes a system of “scaffolding” in which “students are provided with models, and are asked to discuss and analyze their language and structure. [...]