Someone posed this question to me earlier this week and since then it has been tumbling around my mind. It seems like such a simple question and one I would be able to spout off an answer to within seconds. I do have answers, but they seem to be in my heart and it’s proving a little harder to put them into words.
- Getting started, keeping going, and finishing are important habits to develop. To be able to do these things independently, without someone prodding you along, is even more critical.
- Self-confidence is crucial to the success of a writer. If students gain this confidence as young writers, it will be with them throughout their lives. Confidence is developed when we realize we can do something independently.
- Independence leads to motivation. It is important to help students strengthen their internal motivation.
- As with all things, teachers won’t always “be there” when a person is writing a proposal, business letter, brief, or any other writing which future jobs will expect. Independence is developed bit by bit and must be set into motion when children are young.
So there’s a beginning of a list. Wanna add to it? Just leave a comment.
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I’m changing the poem’s words from “read” to “write.”
The more you write, the more you know.
The more you know, the smarter you grow.
The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice
When speaking your mind or making your choice.
🙂
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Writing independently not only lets us make our thoughts and beliefs concrete, it lets us reflect back on them so we can refine and confirm them. It also keeps a record of our growth! Great question to reflect and write about!
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Someone once said to me- “When you are dead and gone, there may not remain a person who actually knew you, but your words will live forever.” that has always stayed with me. Writing is your legacy of who you are.
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This is such an important question, Ruth, and I completely agree. Too, I believe that when we write independently, we discover who we are, what we think, what we wonder, and what we hold dear. In moments of aloneness (without a well-intentioned teacher filling in the quiet), we learn that our voices matter and that we can tune them ourselves. Many hearty congratulations to you and Stacey on your blog tour!
A.
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