As I read through student letters at the beginning of the quarter, I noticed how many students claimed they were bad writers but appeared to have a strong grasp on language within the letter itself. Many of the students who claimed that they were strong writers seemed to identify this skill set with a specific type of activity: poetry, debate, fiction, etc. It would be understandable to wonder whether interest in specific writing gave students confidence in their writing skills, if enjoyment was a key ingredient or, similarly, if students who did not identify as strong writers had struggled with the types of writing they had been asked to do partly because of disinterest? Regardless, something about their previous writing education was working for some while not for others.

While grading Project 1, I noticed that every single one of the students I gave an “incomplete” to had tried to structure their literacy narratives somewhat similarly to the way they’d been asked to structure writing assignments in high school. They titled their posts with the assignment name, had placed formal headings within the text, and toed the line of a thesis-driven essay. It seems as if these folks couldn’t shake the rules they’d previously been taught. For many of my students, this process of unlearning old rules and trying to apply new ones is a challenge. However, most of my students appear to be here for it (based on how they’ve self-reported recently).

In midterm conferences, some folks that had struggled gave me insights to their writing process. One was happy with his literacy narrative despite having received an incomplete; it fit what he imagined it should be based on the rules he understood. He had identified as a strong writer; he had enjoyed the type of writing he had been asked to do in previous assignments. Two students identified some anxiety in their writing; one couldn’t shake his inner doubt, another always powered through but somehow couldn’t make it sound how he wanted. These students are succeeding in my class but clearly struggle with their process.

I’d like to think that the frequent free-writes and workshops are helping students have a more flexible and confident approach to their writing. I’d like to think also that expanding what students view as writing, especially as writing that takes place in a college setting, helps folks find some type of writing engaging. When I see them free-write, some appear extremely focused; those are the students who write a lot, who seem to be chewing over the prompts. A few students in particular write very little and do not appear to be very concentrated during free-writes but are some of the most talented writers in any somewhat structured assignment. This leads me back to my first question: does it depend, ultimately, on enjoyment?

So when I consider what their thoughts might be like, I think it will depend on whether or not it is an assignment they find enjoyable or engaging. Personally, I know my process and inner dialog both shift when I’m comfortable with an objective versus when I’m not. I expect this is similar with my students. Ultimately, I can’t know their thoughts. We haven’t had conversations about process, though that would be interesting to do. What I think I see is a group working through a shift in expectations, perhaps at different paces but I think, overall, quite successfully.