Writing teachers need to be risk-takers.
It is risky for writing teachers:
- to believe all students will learn to write competently when every English teacher in the faculty room says it can’t be done
- to believe that they can get all students to write competently when veteran teachers don’t even attempt it
- to stick to their plan when a third of the way through the course there’s no sign that the plan is working
But remember this: The students sitting in our classrooms are also taking a risk by:
- believing us when we say they can write competently
- believing we can teach them to write when all their teachers in all previous grades couldn’t
- doing their work when though a third of the way through the course there’s no sign that they are becoming competent writers
Writing teachers have to be willing to take chances in the hope of creating changes.
This material is excerpted from The Writing Teacher’s ABCs, © 2015 Linda G. Aragoni. You can read more about qualifications for teaching writing in chapter Q of the book, which is available in three different digital formats at LeanPub.
