How a writer teaches writing
Peter Roop, an award winning teacher tells of his experience in teaching writing as a writer. He believes that his own personal knowledge of the writing process enables him to offer his students a deeper understanding of writing than teachers who do not write.
A central feature of Roop’s writing program is to share his writing with his classes. The aim of this is firstly to demonstrate that writing is enjoyable but requires great effort. Roop regularly shows his drafts to his students so that they will understand the different stages of composition and will accept the fact that they too will have to work hard on revision in order to succeed. According to the author, children are often surprised to see that teachers and writers also make spelling and grammatical mistakes and that they often write and rewrite several times.
Roop emphasises the use of words like author and proofread in the classroom. He believes “Using the language of writers helps to demystify writing” (p. 283).
Roop concludes: “As more teachers write, personally and professionally, as more students become involved in writing, our students will become better writers” (p. 284).
Roop, P. (1990). The magic of writing: How a writer teaches writing. Childhood Education, 66(5), 281-284. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com
