Do you find yourself having to “make” your students write? Do you use writing mainly as a way to test students? What if you could find ways to “invite” your students to write, making the experience meaningful and even enjoyable for your students and yourself? In this module, after being introduced to the Teaching Writing specialization and considering the importance of good writing skills in virtually any career endeavor, learners will examine ways to “invite writing” from their students, identifying the characteristics and benefits of adding low-stakes writing to the more common approach of using writing as testing. They will practice low-stakes writing to experience firsthand the challenges and successes their students experience when writing.

When you were a student, how were you taught writing? When a former student comes back to visit you after ten years have passed, what would you like that former student to say about you as a teacher? In this module, learners will identify and reflect on how they were taught writing as students, and consider how the teaching of writing has changed over the last half century. Learners will also reflect on their own goals and values that will determine what kind of teacher they want to be.

We’ve already used the term “writing process” a number of times. You’d probably encountered “the writing process” well before you started this course. You may even teach it to your students. But what is “the writing process,” exactly? How does it work, and how and why can it help your students improve as writers? In this module, learners will be introduced to writing as not just a product but a process. You’ll identify “the writing process,” its components and its many variations. You’ll examine how and why the process works as an effective approach to teaching writing. You’ll identify how the writing process movement led to not only a new approach to teaching writing, but to a new definition of what makes writing good. You’ll adapt your learning by creating an action plan for incorporating writing as process into your teaching.

Why do we look in mirrors? Even though we know what we look like, a mirror can give us a new or different, or just a more immediate and detailed view of how we perceive ourselves at that moment. Reflective writing is a way of providing that more immediate and detailed perspective on our learning. In this module, learners will identify the characteristics and value of using reflection as a tool for teaching writing. They’ll practice reflective writing by examining what they have learned in this course and how they might incorporate that learning into their teaching practice.