Student Responses To Self-directed Writing

By Author: Karen
Total Articles: 95
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In both the mid-term and final portfolios, students write reflective pieces about the contents of their portfolios. I was surprised by the number of students who said they had never had an opportunity to write on their own topics.

I really enjoyed the self-directed writing portion of the class. I have never had a class where I can just write about anything. I think the Tag Heuer Replica freedom of making my own choices made it much easier to write.

The self-directed writings were somewhat of a new experience, an enjoyable experience. I chose to present my three favorite writings in this portfolio: "Hip Hop Still Lives," "Love of Music," and "Super Bowl XLII." . . . My favorite thing about this class is the self-directed writing.

Some students also thought the continuous writing helped them to find more time to write, and they commented on how it helped them to get to know their peers as well as for the teacher to get to know students.

This class has given me the opportunity to make time to write. I have enjoyed the self-directed ...
... aspect of it, in that we can write what comes to mind using our own language. It also gives us a chance to be creative. I think it gives you a good sense of who we are as writers and people, and as we have shared with others it has given us insight on our classmates.

As I alluded to earlier, some students initially thought the self-directed writing was just a way to fill class time, but their attitudes changed as they began to interact with each other about their topics and to see their writing as integrally related to their learning.

Let me begin with the self-directed writings. To be honest, I started out not wanting to write them. My first assumption was that these were time wasters. But as I began to write more of them, I started to enjoy what I was putting on paper. More of me began to come out and I have now begun to enjoy them. ... I do have to say that I would've never reached this point in writing if not for all the self-directed writing we had to do in the first seven weeks. . . . The bottom line is that you got me to write without thinking I was; and that is what I loved most about the class.

Self-directed writing, as the student testimonials demonstrate, is one way to engage students by giving them choice and the freedom to write on topics important to them. It also serves to build a community of learners engaged in writing and communicating. It enables students to discover their voices as well as to extend their abilities as writers. At the end of the semester, I invite students Cartier Pasha Replica to perform a favorite piece in a. read-aloud to the class, writers sharing with other writers. I also invite students to submit two self-directed pieces for a class anthology, which I assemble along with brief biographical details about the writers. I have found that students are more open to learning the forms and conventions of academic writing when they know that their writing is valued and integral to their development as writers.