Write... To the Future!

With seventy percent of high school students not writing well (Gallagher, 5) by the time of graduation, something must be done. The question is what exactly can teachers do; how can content and writing be taught in all disciplines? I believe it was last week that we did the question grenade asking questions to the class; in it, I posed the question of who's at fault for students not reading well, elementary or high school teachers? The best response I had was "it's everyones and no one's fault" for students not being ready to read. I cannot help but translate this response to writing - each teacher in each discipline should be teaching writing. It should be part of the content of the discipline. For example, how can I, as a perspective science teacher, expect students to read science texts but not write in the discipline? Further, why should it be the ELA teacher's "responsibility" to teach grammar and spelling? Why is this pushed to these teachers when I am trying to have students write science texts? When I co-authored a research paper in undergrad, I did not take it to the English department for proofreading, I proofread it, and other scientists proofread it - and that was it. As content teachers, we need to teach students to write in our disciplines; even within the sciences writing is different especially with chemistry and physics when writing equations and explaining their meaning. The question then becomes how, I feel.

In science writing, the first thought that came to my mind was lab reports. And more lab reports. And a few more lab reports. It was not until reading the Gallagher text that it dawned on me writing in the discipline can happen at any time. Just having students write using the vocabulary of chemistry, for example, is a start. As writing in today's world becomes more complex, so should teachers advance with the changes in technology and writing methods.

Close to the point.

Nike is pretty close to the point of writing in education. Students should write the future; it is this type of writing that we need to show students - a life activity. Students, and I have to admit myself when I was in high school, see writing as a classroom activity and nothing more. I could not agree more with this analysis. I was a poor writer leaving high school, which may be do to only having writing instruction in one discipline - English. However, had I been exposed to specific writing in other subjects, I may have been a more rounded writer entering college. It was not until college that I finally viewed writing with purpose; this is all thanks to taking multiple history courses. I finally viewed writing as argumentative, which then gave my writing assignments life. I was trying to prove a point using primary texts and my own analysis of these texts to defend or argue against topics discussed in class. But why should this type of writing be reserved to the college classroom? Shouldn't high school students be exposed to multiple styles, and thus purpose in writing?

A root of difficulty for students could be that not only is writing a chore, but it is always open ended. Teachers routinely had a prompt or topic to write about, sent me home with it, and expected results at the end of the week. In science, I would write about what I did in a laboratory activity, so my scope was narrowed for me almost by default. However, lab reports becomes repetitive because their structures are consistent and unchanging. Instead, students should be exposed to writing science texts in multiple forms. Drawing on yesterday's class, a little brainstorming about multiple writing styles (emails, newspapers, children's book, etc.) can go far for students and avoid the repetitiveness of scientific report writing. Creating prompts or topics for students will be a challenge, however, this is where the teacher should step in. As Gallagher says, teachers are the best writers in their classrooms, so show them (8). Modeling our individual discipline's writing styles will help students in preparing them for writing in the future. Adding in current social media writings into the classroom would be a great method for engaging students in writing and provide a relative style for their writings. Students write beyond our classrooms on a frequent basis (twitter, facebook, email, texting, etc.) so would it not make sense for teachers to expand writing beyond the classroom? Teaching students to write for the future will be a challenge, but it is necessary to improve student writing skills.

Students trying to place their ideas on paper.

As educators, our objective is to teach students for the future; to guide them through content and their learning. Writing falls off this path as content is taught to match state standards and tests. However, we can help students write for the future, their future, by being a guide and a model for writing in our disciplines. Writing does not need to be reserved to one class, but rather be explored in all classes. Similar to reading, writing in each discipline is important for today's society. Creating critical thinkers is an objective we all share and similar to this is creating creative writers. Each educator should incorporate discipline writing into their courses regularly; through writing we can improve student's futures.