Making writing enjoyable

Shelton-Colangelo, Sharon. “Joy in the Classroom.” Teaching with Joy: Educational Practices for the Twenty-First Century. New York: Rowman & Littlefielf Publishers, Inc. 2007, pp.109-114.

Summary:

Sharon Shelton-Colangelo provides an insight into how she makes writing more enjoyable, engaging, and stress free for her students. By breaking the writing into a developmental process for the students with feedback given in a similar manner. With these assignments, she allows her students to complete them outside in nature and as an active observer of nature. This allows them to experience nature and have a less confining writing environment by being in the environment they are writing about. In addition, she briefly explains how she is able to do this, her process.

Though I enjoy and agree with most of her points, the data she provides leaves me a little skeptical. In particular, when she is talking about how she makes the writing assignments for her students “...to be with the moment...” and states that “all learners enjoy the assignments.” (110) I can understand that most might but all? Also, the successful of these assignments are explained in vague terms with no real concrete data supplied to back up the statement.

Quotes:

-“So if we who have embraced the profession of education can reawaken in students the unselfconscious pleasure that most preschoolers feel as they explore language and their surroundings with curiosity and a sense of play, we can help them grow as writers, as thinkers, and as people.” (110)

-“When learners have difficulties, it is often in fact the teacher who feels the most frustrated and unfulfilled; yet when true learning takes place, we all benefit.” (110)