Focus on Learning 

Writing: Building Better Practice

This term, staff are continuing their learning journey of 'Building Better Practice' in the teaching of writing within the classroom. This professional learning journey encourages both teachers and students to recognise that that learning to write is not a linear process, but rather an ongoing cycle that can be adjusted at any time to meet the needs of the writer. 

So far, teachers have explored:

• Different ways to Immerse students in writing through looking at WWW in example texts and co-constructing success criteria.
• The importance of sentence and paragraph level activities, noting that sentences are the building blocks of all writing and sentence level activities should be undertaken in all classrooms, regardless of age.
• Different ways to plan for writing with consideration of the intended audience.
• The purpose of Drafting; to encourage students to focus on writing down ideas free from the constraints of spelling and punctuation.
• How to host effective writing conferences to assist students in developing as a writer.
• The different stages of Refining and ways to assist students in developing the skills required to be self reflective writers.
• The benefits of sharing, publishing and celebrating student's writing in an inviting and non-threatening environment.

A thought provoking quote that we came across last week spoke to the importance of ensuring our students feel valued and respected as developing writers:

'We always want to keep in mind that we are working to teach the writer, not fix the writing.' - Lanny Ball, 2018

This quote highlights the notion that our job as educators is not to fix student writing, but to provide a safe and supportive environment that encourages writers to take risks and experiment with language. 

Both teachers and students have been eager to try new ways of teaching and learning to write and enjoy sharing their success with their peers and school community each week.