letter to Rios blog number four

Dear Rios,


I agree with your assessment on chapter one of WAC for the New Millennium. It amazed me how diversified this movement is. After reading this chapter I am sure this movement is here to stay. Writing is a tool that is needed for academic success. There is no reason why it should be taught only in the English class room. I really enjoyed how it has reached out into community programs. Schools are not the only place to learn how to write. It also makes sense to me that if you can learn other content material while learning to write, that is making the most out of the time the school has with its students. Why should we teach only one thing at a time, when we can successfully teach several things at a time. I agree with you that this movement can help with SAT`s scores. I think that writing to learn is a very effective way to prepare kids for tests. This chapter taught me a lot of useful information that will help me in my teaching career.

I think that peer tutoring is a great tool that is not used nearly enough. In Writing to learn and the WAC book, both express the importance of peer tutoring. I believe students are much more likely to listen to their peers, than their teachers. It is a more comfortable experience for them to learn. Both books also point out that it is a learning experience for the tutor as well. I was a English major and in many of my writing classes, we were judged by our peers much more so than our teachers. This was especially true in my creative writing classes. It can be humbling at times, but in the end it serves a vital purpose. My concerns with it are that the right people need to be matched up. A bad experience in learning with your peers could set a struggling student back in their studies.

You made a good point about the importance of starting this process with younger students. If the students are more familiar with these teaching methods when they get to higher learning, then they will be more effective. It is always good to start new teaching methods with younger kids, this way they will know nothing else, but the most up to date teaching theories.

The comment that Bean made that good writing grows out of good talking, I thought to be excellent. I think this is the best way to teach students. We care so much about where a comma is and all that stuff, but we don`t focus enough on the student`s writing voice. That is why there is such a disconnect with students and writing. If you teach them that writing is just another vehicle for them to talk, then they will be much more engaged. It has been a pleasure exchanging ideas with you.

Donald Ritter