Writing Affinity

Written by: Romeena Tungol

“Everyone has the capacity to write, writing can be taught, and teachers can help students become better writers.”

That is one of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) beliefs about the teaching of writing which I really agreed upon. Every individual can have the ability to write and that everyone can acquire the skill through the help of their teachers.

I do believe that writing can be an innate ability but this circumstance doesn’t happen all the time. If you were born a not-so-good-writer, then don’t lose hope! It is not yet the end of the world for you because as I have mentioned, writing skill could be developed by everybody. Everyone has the ability to write and one of the keys to better writing aside from believing in yourself and exerting some effort and time is our teachers. Teachers should give support and guidance to their developing students. They should also establish good rapport with their students to be able to effectively teach their subject. It is good to teach to an ambiance where your class is happy and interested to listen to you. But it doesn’t stop there. You just don’t become a friendly teacher who loves by everybody. You also have to become a competent one. You, as a teacher should be the major model for your students. You should apply appropriately the composition theories and different writing methodologies into practice. In short, a teacher who teaches writing should have the mastery of the theories, strategies and methods to be able to apply them properly and for the class to absorb concrete and certain information. Teachers who show dedication and patience in teaching writing will no doubt to have a positive outcome. By being a good and competent teacher to them, students will become inspired and more motivated to learn. As a result, they will gain the writing skill while having fun.

Remember that being an excellent teacher is incomplete without building good relationship to the students. You have to establish an affinity to your writing class for a better result and a less pressured environment.

Thinking until the end

Written by: Jean Ivy Villarmente

When writers actually write, they think of things that they did not have in mind before they began writing.  Thinking a skill goes hand in hand in deep and widespread concerns over writing skills.  The act of writing generates ideas. This is different from the way we often think of writers as getting ideas fixed in their heads before they write them down. The notion that writing is a medium for thought is important in several ways. It suggests a number of important uses for writing: to solve problems, to identify issues, to construct questions, to reconsider something one had already figured out, to try out a half-baked idea. This insight that writing is a tool for thinking helps us to understand the process of drafting and revision as one of exploration and discovery, and is nothing like transcribing from pre-recorded tape. The writing process is not one of simply fixing up the mistakes in an early draft, but of finding more and more wrinkles and implications in what one is talking about.

In any writing classroom, some of the writing is for others and some of the writing is for the writer. Regardless of the age, ability, or experience of the writer, the use of writing to generate thought is still valuable; therefore, forms of writing such as personal narrative, journals, written reflections, observations, and writing-to-learn strategies are important. In any writing assignment, it must be assumed that part of the work of writers will involve generating and regenerating ideas prior to writing them.

Excellent ways in teaching writing as thinking requires that the teacher understands:

· Varied tools for thinking through writing, such as journals, writers’ notebooks, blogs, sketchbooks, digital portfolios, list serves or online discussion groups, dialogue journals, double-entry or dialectical journals, and others.

· The kinds of new thinking that occur when writers revise.

· The variety of types of thinking people do when they compose, and what those types of thinking look like when they appear in writing.

· Strategies for getting started with an idea, or finding an idea when one does not occur immediately.

Writers have several purposes in writing

Written by: Jessica Rose Cortan

Do writers write just to impress or to express? Do they prefer to have a good and productive output or just to comply with what the teachers wanted them to do? Do writers use good form and structure in writing in order to have an excellent output?

Writing is not just one thing. We must assure that when we write it should have corresponding purposes in order to easily determine the outcome of the writing and what would be the possible response/feedback of the reader. The purposes of the writings may vary to the perspective of the authors. The different purposes and forms both vary from the respective writers and to the potential reader. And the relationship between writers and readers must have an assumption in the knowledge of language, structure, form and experiences. The writer focuses more on the information his preparing/organizing or on her own thoughts and feelings. Writing underlies with certain purposes in mind resulting to his focus of what would be the readers think and believe. Therefore, the topics, way of thinking and procedures in writing may vary according to the writers’ purposes.

In writing, the writers must take some considerations when they are writing. These are the following:

ü Topic – the topic ought to be catchy in order for the readers to be motivated in reading.

ü Target audience – the output must be appropriate to the age, interests, cultural awareness of the reader.

ü Strategies in writing – it must be comprehensible and creative.

ü Production – the production must be creative and may vary in different purposes such as literary texts, entertainment, pleasure and exploration.

ü Appropriateness – appropriate forms and varied academics disciplines and the relationship of the forms.

ü and How to create a course for varied purposes audiences.

Voice in Writing

Written by: Sheena Matobato

In early childhood, talking exists at the very beginning. The purpose of all language is to communicate. Talking is one of the most common ways of communication as human. In order to have visual materials for communication is having the voice by writing. Writing is one of the four macro skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading). But it has a complex relationship to talk by representing language through the inscription of signs and symbols. Its process can be in different ways in forms, styles and techniques. It is a complement to speech or spoken language within its structures such as vocabulary, grammar and semantics.

The result of writing is called text. It should have the voice as the meaning of the writing output/text. There is sounds that give colorful impact from its resources in the way of understanding. Through creative writing, writers develop their voice better in making different techniques. Even in speech or other forms of speaking events, writing is given to formulate things what would be in presentation.

Voice in writing can be struggle whether in writing novels, short stories, etc., because some of the writers are still wondering what is voice in writing. But, unconsciously, they are creating the voice while processing in nature of writing. Even without the sound waves from the audience of the written works or in spoken language that still part of a written works, speaking and writing show their special relationship.

BE A writer through writing

• Written by: Beatrice Eloisa Cruz
• People view writing as one of the skills that students must possess. Writing can be taught through listening as well as writing. It believes to be acquired by doing grammar drills or perhaps discussing it alone. But writing is proven to be effective if it is learned through writing itself since students have the experiences and the process which it has been successfully overcomed. Write ups are revised repeatedly as ideas run through their minds which slowly help them to have a good output.
• Writing must include information in and out the classroom for the students to be exposed to written materials. Nevertheless, it must include other aspects of writing than on the things that happen inside the classroom. However, providing some sort of personal writing can be the bridge for the students connecting them to see the beauty of writing. This will encourage the students to give more time writing through the fast moving technologies
• In teaching writing, teachers must manage to plan some activities that will help students improve their writing skills. But they must teach one by one the topics or in logical order rather than teaching all the topics just in a session. Better give students enough time to absorb a lesson before moving on to the next round. Furthermore, the elements of formal theme must be minimally understand by the teachers since she will ask the students to write outside the school. Also, social structures which give them time for individual work must be mastered by the teachers. Nonetheless, building connections with other writers must also be included since they are to make their names in publishing world. Like these, the teacher must be knowledgeable in assesing the students while they are writing. In addition, planning on how the students will respond to ongoing research is one of the responsibles of the teachers since they are to guide the students needs. Students must also given a chance to express themselves at any length. Making sure that they will feel free while writing. However, working on the same place takes a big part for the students. So, the teacher must make the place communicable for everyone.

Author of my life

Written by: Ericka Abergas
In the writing process, there are five stages, Pre-writing, Drafting, Revising, Editing and Publishing. Is it true that writing is important? Based on my research writing is really important because by this we can express ourselves what we truly feel we can state all the things that we want to say and we are free to express. In college days the students are also required to write a variety of essays, essay assignment will call a variety of goals and purposes and it covers personal experiences.  Colleges want to see that an applicant can write well and use language and grammar appropriately.  Writing is not only important in academic skill, but writing also important in the career field because you can use it, most of all professions are required some form of writing. Writing is portable and permanent. It makes your thinking visible. Writing allows you to communicate with others to share your thoughts and ideas that may other relate to your experiences. Writing can be a ticket to better college grades because it is very important when you have a gift in writing. Maybe writing is also a career for those who were good in writing they are really give people hope to hold on if someone’s depressed they can read a book that can ease the pain they felt, writing is also a weapon to those whom you want to hurt or anything you can write something for them, well writing is all about expressing yourselves. Write your experiences in life to inspire others, it is good to write to inspire than to write and end up nothing. Words can give a big impact into one’s life, especially to those who need an advice, who need something to read to learn something. Success can also achieve through writing, when someone change because they read what you write. There are a lot of things that writers can do, the humor they have is a gift from God. The message that melts the heart of people that touches the lives of people in the world is great success. 

“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it”.
-Harlan Ellison

Reading has an essential part in writing

Written by: Princess Sarah De Mesa

In four macro skills: Reading was placed on the third level which followed by writing skills. These skills were usually implied since we are young on how teachers taught us to learn the basic skills by distinguishing sounds, imitating for what we have heard, reading a particular word and lastly, by seeing the strokes of letters and speaking the word itself which trying to be shown that these skills were intended to be learn by the students to be able to read and write. If you have noticed that the readers has the advantage to produce better writings unlike to the people who do not want to read since readers were exposed themselves to the author's knowledge, language, style and text structure to his finished texts. Reading can be considered as the source of information and ideas which readers would get and learn from it. Commonly, most of the writers will adopt his or her knowledge for what he reads which can be seen on how he write, the style and the structure he was implied to his writing that can be serve as a proof that reading has an essential part in writing. On account of, the writings you have read from different authors gives you a prior knowledge about the cultures and experiences of people on a particular area which can lead you to understand and appreciate their lifestyle even you are not one of them you can reach their cultures by just reading a material from famous authors of their country.

What does this mean for teaching?

Teachers should expose the student in different kinds of reading material in order to motivate and inspire them to learn with it. You will do that by choosing a good material that will suited to their experiences and age. And also as a teacher you must looked like that you will do reading in order to convince them that you really learn with it and it’s really helpful for their composition. Moreover, you must teach them to determine different genres of writing by knowing the author's purpose and what the authors’ target audience to his writings in order the students know how to approach or hit their audience by knowing their age and experiences.