Effective Writing, Coaches, and Standard Expectations

Teaching writing effectively is difficult, but the process approach (Williams, 101) has seemed to work well for me. The term process can sound a bit misleading, as though all steps must be done and in a respective order. (For this blog, I'm attempting a new strategy of planning by writing down all the section headings, even if all the headings aren't used.) Though the question of whether some partitions really exist, like prewriting and planning for example, some "steps" seem to occur more frequently than others. Planning can be formal by actually writing down what is needed or informal if one paints a mental picture of ideas in the mind. Pausing serves to transition between thoughts. Reading allows reflection. Editing also appears to be a critical step for most writing. I've noticed with larger pieces of writing, the other steps seem more important, especially drafts and in some cases huge revisions.

The ideas of student-centered instruction and having teachers serving the role of a coach are interesting. Writing with feedback helps no one if the feedback can't be applied. Also a coach is someone that doesn't push or force learning, but empowers the individual to succeed. A teacher will tell you what you need to know; however, a coach will usually give a sense of purpose as to why knowing what one is learning is important.

With regard to expectations and standards, expectations often follow natural or stereotypical judgements, and breaking down those judgements is hard once the first impression is made. Personally, I often feel I want to show interest, but am worried showing interest may imply expertise in a particular subject. As for standards, they are tricky. A low standard feels worthless or pointless; whereas, a high standard feels impossible to complete.

Addendum:
Keeping in mind the idea of standards and expections, one last topic not really mentioned in this chapter is something called brain plasticity. I saw a show about brain plasticity on pbs that looked very interesting. Research into brain plasticity is relatively recent, and brain plasticity refers to the ability of the brain to change shape or the idea that cognition is very pliable. This involves both expectations and standards. For example, old people can't learn and usually have Alzheimer's. This expectation fails to acknowledge that many people, say in their 70s, are long past needing to learn--school is done and work skills necessary for a particular field have long since been mastered. The last major feature I want to mention about brain plasticity applies to learning. Learning can only be done by having incrementally more challenging tasks or complex situations. We could jump from 1 to 10 or 1 to 2. However, let's not forget 1.5. When an important increment is missed, the connection between a simpler and more complex situation is not made; hence, learning cannot take place. The idea of brain plasticity, that brains are pliable, has been show to be true, even for older people against the stereotype. My guess is everyone's brain is more capable and pliable than we think, in spite of learning disabilities, disadvantages, or predispositions. After all, the brain has greater computational power than the best supercomputers ever known.