Blog Entry #2 Reflection on my writing experiences

Blog Entry #2 Reflection on my writing instruction experiences referencing learning/acquisition views

You’re asking me to go way back into my memory bank and recall my own writing experiences.  When I think back to the days at Calvary Lutheran Elementary School, I remember report writing most of all.  And. . .what I remember about that report writing is mostly copying word for word out of the World Book Encyclopedias.  I remember taking great care in making sure the words were spelling correctly and that my penmanship was letter perfect.  I’m sure my teachers used the learning way as their instruction model a  I’m sure it was the only model out there at the time.  Although the teacher did not expect nor want students to copy out of a textbook, I don’t remember any instruction on writing authentic responses. 

Junior high and high school writing instruction remains one big blur other than some social highlights here and there.  Chaos reigned at home and school gave me relief and a solid friendship base.  Writing instruction?  Nothing stands out other than more of the same from my elementary school days.  When reports were assigned, out came the World Book Encyclopedias and off I went.

College is where I began to develop a love of writing although it was still taught in a very traditional way. There was some of the “spillover” technique where we would read specific genres and then try our hand at imitating the particular style.  This was the first place where I “put myself out there” and took risks with writing and received positive feedback.  I remember one college professor commenting on my paper about my comma use.  He told me in very harsh words that I shouldn’t be making these kinds of errors on college level papers.  What he didn’t take into account was the fact that I never had a reason to pay any attention to commas until then.  He did, however, compliment me on my style and I ended up learning lots about the writing process from his class.