Learning takes time. Learning a skill takes a lot of time. Writing is a skill. Writing is a process. Writing is an art. And learning to write does not happen overnight.

And yet, in the fast-forward, get-it-done-so-it-can-be-scored, follow-the-formula situations we place our kids, we seem to either be unaware of or not care about these truths, which then leads me to believe, we don’t honor perhaps a bigger truth: nothing is harder than teaching writing.

Okay, I am biased. I get it. I teach writing and so my lenses lean to this truth, and as such, I could not possibly know if it’s harder than anything else. So, fair enough. I don’t know that. But I do know this. Teaching writers is hard. Really hard. And here’s why.

It’s Personal

Writing, even academic writing, is a personal investment. It is from us; it is of us. It is ours. I used to tell kids that they were not their writing, and while there may be some truth to that, it undersells the investment. A writer is her writing. But it is not a static self; it is a dynamic self, changing and growing with each experience, but because it is personal, such growing often presents pain, for growth necessitates feedback, and humans tend–with any creative investment–to react emotionally to critiques of their work. It’s theirs. It’s personal.

So, then, writing is not so different from the other creative work that students do? Well, yes and no. In my experience the large difference is, that unlike most other creative endeavors, there looms not the contrived, artificial, high-stakes experience that portends fate and pretends divinity over writers, publishing their results, holding their diplomas. And though I reject such nonsense. I cannot deny that such nonsense has not seeped into my classroom, its nefarious presence taking hold as I struggle with the dilemma of time, the necessity of feedback, and the personal aspect on the eve of the test, which sullies the experience, transforming learning an art into playing a game. And I resent that, for I feel it forces me to move away from a being a writing teacher to playing a BS artist. It’s wrong, and it needs to be righted. But as we continue to develop technology for the sake of convenience (computers scoring essays so they can be returned to school in a timely manner so kids who fail have time to fail again) we are only moving deeper into madness.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…the game craft (sorry, feeling a bit, snarky) of writing.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.