The Right to Write Badly

Chapter 5


Allowing students the right to write badly is what we do when we encourage daily journal writing. We simply want students to write without the fear of having their writing assessed. Honestly, I do not prefer the term “badly”. “Write badly” sounds somewhat misleading. I do understand Vicki’s point, though. I would much rather call it “writing in progress”, because that’s what it really is. The same way my six year old son, Grant was a potential soccer player “in progress”. During the first few games, his soccer skills were hilarious! Grant kicked the ball in the opposing teams’ goal. He became extremely agitated when another player managed to get the ball from him. Grant even appeared to be performing a relay race instead of playing soccer! I knew (believed) as he continued to practice his attitude and skills would improve. Although, his father and I had to constantly remind him that it was okay not to win all the time, he still became adamant about winning. Eventually, Grant became the star of his team. They started winning game after game. He was very serious about winning. Although, Grant’s coach did an exceptional job explaining to the entire team the importance of just having fun! That’s what writing is all about….allowing students the opportunity to just have fun while writing. As Spandel suggest, teachers may promote “fun” writing when they rid themselves of the “dreadful red pen” overview. After reading this chapter, I am encouraged more than ever to insist that our students not only have journals, but to optimistically write in them daily. Please keep in mind that the author does not suggest we not teach the mechanics of writing. She simply stresses the importance of getting–it-out-on paper first. Allow students to create more than one draft, maybe more than two. Students need to find their voice, identity, and style of writing. By reading Chapter 5, I have learned that true writers have several rough drafts before their final masterpiece is created. I never thought of the writing as a spider spinning its unique web-intriguing comparison for sure!
As I reminisce on the “Mrs. O’Neill” I had as a writing teacher, I can’t help but to cringe. I had to focus on writing in such a way to please the assessor. I wanted to write with her voice (not my own) to receive a good grade. And yes we were all encouraged to utilize various sentence structures we had learned in our English 101, of course. Fortunately, this did not limit my desire to write. I’ve always enjoyed writing mostly poetry to express my thoughts/feelings. I still have several pieces in my 5th grade poetry notebook that I still read from time to time.
What is still amazing to me is that I became a better writing teacher not after teaching fifth grade for five years, but after teaching Kindergarten for three years. What I realized is that the same ongoing fun, energetic, and innocuous environment needed to motivate five year olds to write was pertinent no matter how old a child was. Students need to feel comfortable, encouraged, and most of all anxious to write like Jason Kelleher (pg.73). As I read his writing, I could experience his voice too. I could feel his pain as he discovered his beloved cow dead the next morning. We want our students to experience this kind of writing. Writing that truly matters to the writer not necessarily to the reader. The reader who seeks to identify voice will appreciate this kind of writing.