Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

After Prof Lowe's tutorial earlier this semester I was really looking forward to her tutorial this week. I learned a great deal last time and the same can be said this time. Prof Lowe's enthusiasm is infectious, and I what I particularly appreciate as I listen to her is the empathy she clearly displays for young readers, writers, and spellers. We are asked to put ourselves in the role of learners, and this is so very effective and memorable. I have taken a great deal of practical advice from this week's tutorial, and a reminder of how important it is to demonstrate information and to actively engage and involve students and to make learning relevant.

Perhaps the most important concept I can take away from the tutorial is that of giving ownership to the writer, of giving many opportunities to write, to share, and to self-edit by reading aloud. I think it is valuable to remember that we learn to spell by reading and writing, so students should be given many opportunities to read and write. I loved the spelling quiz and the curiosity it aroused - I genuinely wanted to know how to spell "accommodation" because none of us were certain! This was a real lesson for me in providing ownership - even just during my two prac experiences I have had a number of students call out "Miss - how do you spell...?" and I have simply given them the spelling, rather than encouraging an enthusiasm for words by responding "Does anyone know? Where might we find that word? Let's look for it!"

I guess the real lesson here for me is to be encouraging and not to get hung up on the details, perhaps ease up on the red pen and support students in their efforts to express themselves. I can see now that being handed back a page covered in red crosses and corrections will hardly create a sense of success or an incentive to keep trying, to keep writing, to keep exploring. So (sigh) despite the fact that things such as grossly misused (and NOT used) apostrophes drive me to distraction... I need to remember that details such as this are not, in fact, the point. The point is that the student wrote something, and that is to be encouraged.

I think this is a very, very valuable inclusion to our research. Providing genuine assistance to students struggling with writing independently is more than just providing them with a set of rules, or skills, or stuff to learn and memorise - it is an attitude to impart, one of "letting the pen take you on an adventure".