"Ta Da", You Can Write Ch. 17

Before I began my observation and practice, I had many assumptions about the way children learn to write. My assumptions were so broad that I thought all children could pick up a pencil and either copy words or trace them and then like magic, "ta da", they could now write fluently. However, I was completely wrong and there is more to writing than tracing a bunch of words. Some of the important things that I never knew about writing for young children is how you hold the pencil and paper, hand strength, and knowing how to do basic strokes like the pull down and the backwards/forwards circle. All of these are aids that help assist students to become stronger writers.

When I went to my mentor's class for the first time, I felt like he had low expectations and didn't really challenge the students. It seemed like everything he did was in tiny steps. For example, inside of the students journals, he would have them write what they could and we would write in what they really wanted to say. I guess I thought like this as a teacher with standards and all that crap on my mind. Yet again, I had to sit back and just soak up this new information because my beliefs were taking over the facts. The more I am in the classroom, I am understanding that no matter which grade I teach, I must learn what my students are capable of and what they should be capable of and push them as often as possible.