Why Writing Matters

A language arts colleague at my school shared a link with me, "20 Great Writers on the Art of Revision," which prompted me to ponder why writing matters—for all students, and in all content areas (science included).

Image courtesy of MorgueFile

This quote from novelist Vladimir Nabokov most resonated: “My pencils outlast their erasers.” Writing is never a one-step process, is never easy, and is never done.

Many of our students—more often boys than girls—see writing as a destination rather than a journey. They race to complete any writing task without giving much thought to what they’re actually writing. And editing/revising? Forget it...

At my school, we do a fairly thorough job of teaching kids how to write and expecting kids to write across all content areas, but I wonder about us teaching them WHY to write:

• Why do we write? Why does writing have value? Why do these words on a page matter?
• Why should I as a writer care about what I write? Why should I agonize over every word, sentence, phrase, and punctuation mark?
• Why should I always throw out bad writing? Why should I throw out good writing?
• Why should I care about my audience? Why do I have a responsibility to my readers (and who are these faceless readers anyway)?

Whether it’s writing a masterpiece caption in science class, writing mathematical problems, writing computer code, writing a blog, or writing the next great novel... whether it’s written by hand or written digitally... whether it’s written for millions of people or written just for one, quality writing always matters—to articulate our thoughts and ideas, to make meaning and communicate our understanding, to teach and learn, to share our world with others.

A big "thank you" to all teachers who teach kids (and remind kids, and cajole kids) to own their writing. When I was growing up, I had a few good teachers who would not tolerate sloppy writing. Period. They were strict and tough, but fair—these are the teachers I remember and honor the most.

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PS: I wrote the original draft of this message in a Google document so that I could track my revisions. The first draft took me 29 minutes to write, and in that time I had over 30 major and minor revisions—not including typos. Writing takes practice, practice, practice...

Writing in Science Class

A question posted recently on the National Science Teachers Association blog caught my attention:

We’re having a discussion in our secondary school science department. Some of us think our lessons should incorporate more opportunities for students to learn how to write, while others maintain there’s little time for writing and that’s the job of the English teachers. Who is correct?

I felt compelled to respond:

Communication in all forms is fundamental to science; therefore, writing should be a regular part of the science classroom. Teaching the writing process should not be the exclusive domain of just one teacher or department, but should be shared as part of school, grade level, and/or department goals and curricular expectations. Arbitrarily injecting writing exercises into the science classroom is neither the most efficient nor most effective approach to the task—common language among teachers and students as well as common writing strategies are needed to help maximize student progress in writing. 

Image courtesy of morgueFile

Including the process of writing into the science curriculum takes time, effort, resources, and collaboration—it’s tough to go it alone. It takes a shared vision and commitment to help students become better writers in all disciplines. 

While it may be (and is) daunting to add “one more thing” to the science classroom, better writers ultimately enhance all learning. Start small—incorporate one simple, manageable, and authentic strategy into your existing science repertoire, such as writing descriptive titles or writing scientific questions—then slowly build from there. The key to success is modeling and practicing the process until it becomes routine and comfortable to you and your students. 

As a science teacher, I shared the exact same questions and concerns as you when we first started emphasizing writing at our school many years ago. Now, writing (as well as reading, math, and other shared practices) is a regular and natural part of our everyday science experience, which is a source of pride and achievement for our students, our teachers, and our school.