Sometimes being a high school English teacher is downright discouraging. How do students make it to me, in eleventh grade, not knowing how to use "to" and "too" correctly, or how to correctly conjugate verbs, or how to organize thoughts into paragraphs? How do they pass middle school unable to write in complete sentences or correctly capitalize proper nouns or join together two independent clauses using a coordinating conjunction? OK, that last one I can maybe understand, and I don't mind teaching them that. But I feel so disheartened by all the other stuff!
This week of "summer school" has been especially discouraging. I am in charge of five three-hour days of intense tutoring (with 15-20 students, depending upon who shows up). And then, they take the state writing test. I'm scared. The kids HAVE to pass this test to graduate. I'm scared many of them won't. I'm scared that if we keep failing our kids, we'll have generations to come who will only b able 2 talk lk ths and wont kno how 2 rite right.
Today I got to thinking...how did I learn how to write? First and foremost, I think learning to write comes from READING. As a reader, you're exposed to masters of the language, those who weave words to paint pictures and propel a plot and create characters who make you laugh and cry. You pick up on certain words' connotations. You know which prepositions to use with what words. You just KNOW things about the English language because you've encountered them in reading. Research shows that reading and writing are intertwined, and we as language arts teachers are instructed to teach reading and writing together.
But I think I really, truly learned to write through letters to my grandfather, who was a published author and poet, a journalist who loved writing about sports and his political views, a man who would send me letters weekly. I remember writing to him and signing the letter "your grandaughter." In Grandpa's next letter, he wrote, "I didn't know I had a 'grandaughter,' but I know I have a lovely 'granddaughter.'" And that's not the only thing he corrected in my writing! I remember working so very hard to create perfect letters to him and Grandma, all the way down to trying to make my atrocious elementary handwriting adult-like.
We live in a world of texting and tweeting. Print media is in danger of becoming extinct. Cursive isn't even taught anymore in many schools because it's "pointless."
I urge you, just this once...get off your computer, get out a pen and paper, and just write something. A poem, a letter, a list of things to do, a story, a journal entry, whatever. Yes, technology is awesome- after all, you're all reading this on my blog, aren't you? But that doesn't mean that writing with pen and paper has lost its value. I think it's just up to us to keep the art alive.
I totally agree - I really think I learned to write so coherently from my excessive reading habit as a youngster! I used to adore writing letters to people too. I still find that writing things down is the only way to make them stick in my memory, so I get lots of writing practice!
ReplyDeleteAs an aspiring teacher, I also share your worry that we're bringing up an illiterate generation :( x
Island Girl Insights ♥
I have to write things down, too! I go through sticky notes like nobody's business. It's nice to hear that someone else agrees with me and is concerned.
ReplyDeleteIf you were in my line of work, you might ask along with me, "How do these doctors make it through medical school without knowing where to put a comma, the proper use of the personal pronoun 'I', or not to end a sentence with a preposition?"
ReplyDeleteNot all, but definitely quite a few, of the doctors for whom I transcribe make it clear that their expertise is not in the writing department. I do hope that does not reflect on their ability to care for the sick and the injured!