[NCTE-TALK:2400] Re: Should writing teachers write?
Julia L. Shields (jshields@pen.k12.va.us)
Sat, 20 Jan 1996 14:55:01 -0500
According to MarthaB890@aol.com:
>
> While I have been reading messages on this listserv for many months now, I
> have never sent one until now, but I am really caught up in this discussion
> about teachers writing with their students. I don't really think it is a
> matter of time. Let's face it, we all are busy people, but we find the time
> to do what we want to do and what we need to do. Priorities. What's the
> real issue here? Why don't we as writing teachers find the time to write?
> (and I'm as guilty of this as the next person) I think it's because of the
> same reason I haven't participated on this listserv--we're scared. The same
> way our students are scared. What if what we write is perceived as stupid?
> What if what we say is rejected? Writing is personal in a way that almost
> nothing else is. We are attached to our writing. It becomes us in a sense.
> Why is getting back a paper with a million corrections on it worse than
> getting back math problems that are almost all incorrect? What's the fear
> here, the risk? Any thoughts on this?
> --Martha Bogart
>
For some, you may be right, but certainly not for all.
For me, it's a conflict between what I want to do (write) and
what the bureaucrats say I have to do (fill out forms in
triplicate, etc.) Priority: keep my job.
I am getting tired of seeing others project their fears
on to me. But it supports a hypothesis of mine: that the most
fervant missionaries of writing are born-again folks who once
didn't write. Perhaps those of us who have enjoyed writing all
our lives have different reactions.
Julia Shields