Teaching Writing

Why do some students have a difficult time with creative writing? You would think that would be one of their easier tasks. But some educators will tell you, the fault may not be that of the students.. rather, teachers. According to them. teachers are not really taught how to teach writing.

In Assignment: Education.. Bill Ratliff takes you to the Tampa Bay Writing Project.. which is turning teachers into writers.. and it's hoped their students, as well

--[First Grade teacher Kelli Hicks says:] "Too much focus on correctness is bad for spelling."--

That may sound like an odd thing for first grade teacher Kelli Hicks to tell her students, but her students aren't first graders.. they're teachers. And the lesson is not about spelling.. it's about creative writing. This group is made up of elementary through high school teachers. They're taking part in the Tampa Bay Writing Project.. The goal? Teach teachers how to teach writing.

--[Graduate Student Jen Denard says: ] "What about 'save'? S.A.V.E."--

Jan Denard is a good example. After teaching for two years, she is now pursuing a Masters Degree in Language Arts. She considers herself to be a writer, but she says she didn't really know how to teach writing, after getting her undergraduate degree.

--[ Denard says:] ".. And so you go out into the school to teach and you have a whole set of rules and regulations, but nothin' shows you how to get it across."--

One reason for that.. according to Hicks.. is that too much emphasis is placed on the mechanics of writing.. grammar, spelling.. perfect punctuation. She says it blocks the creative story telling process.

--[Hicks says:] "If you focus on the other stuff first, you get that shutdown and the kids don't do the creative thinking because they know they're just going to get red marks on the paper."--

--[Language Arts Specialist Autumn Vavoso says:] "Sieve. Yeah, I can get those both."--

And so during this five week course.. educators like Autumn Vavoso learn how to write.. how to teach writing and how to make the writing process fun..

--[Vavoso says:] "Oh this has been a huge success. It's actually been a life changing event. I find myself now that I'm a writer. And how can we teach writing, if we are not writers?"--

Which certainly makes sense. The "Tampa Bay Writing Project" is part of "The National Writing Project".. which was started 25-years ago. It is the largest in-service training project in the United States. Bill Ratliff, Newschannel 8.

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