This is a short post that occurred to me while writing about\u2026 well, writing about writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nI was looking for ways to use technology to help students improve their writing and I kept realizing, over and over, that I was thinking about the writing process and how crucial it is to the quality of what the writer produces in the end.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Great writing begins at the start, whether with an idea, a need, a social purpose or a spark of inspiration. Whatever \u201ctriggers\u201d the beginning of writing, what forms there at the outset is like a lump of clay. Without that clay, not much can happen, and the quality of that clay matters; its texture, purity, consistency and overall composition have a lot to say about what it can produce. To a large extent, what you can create with that clay depends on the quality and quantity of that clay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Goal of the Writing Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Put another way, the writing process itself is everything. It does not have to be used the same way every time, and that is another conversation for another day. I mention it briefly only because the worst thing you can do is read this post and then impose the \u201crigor of the writing process\u201d on aspiring writers\/students who just need to believe they can write and then have the opportunity to do so within an enriching environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of this brings me to the title. Instead of grading the final outcome of that process (the finished product), grade the quality of the student's use of the writing process, ideally based on their specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as the purpose and the audience of the writing task itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the Writing Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Using the writing process takes years of practice, because producing excellent writing requires constant insight and refinement. It requires the writer to understand what they are trying to say and to express it in a way that has some effect on the world. Research, organizing ideas, paragraph structure, sentence construction, word choice, punctuation, breaking rules, tone, literary devices: using these concepts to communicate complex ideas is hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why writing is less an activity and more a process similar to the scientific process. Although we might grade professionals, it would make little sense to grade children conducting scientific experiments based on the accuracy of their data. Instead, their ability and tendency to use the scientific process to test theories and gather data would be far more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For enthusiasts in many fields, the process is far more important than the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If these goals (or similar ones) are at least partly true, then a viable alternative for grading students' writing is to assess whether the student writes and how they use the writing process itself in a way that makes sense to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in a way that shows ownership of that writing process that will last long after they have left your classroom.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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