Write the World in the Classroom

Guest Post by Jodie Scales, high school English teacher

One of our biggest challenges in teaching writing to high school age students is getting them to

recognize the authenticity of themselves as writers. Younger students love writing stories, then we

get them into high school and introduce them to the world of academic writing and if we are not

very careful, strip the joy of writing right out of them. They still have stories to tell and opinions to

express, but too often writing becomes a task instead of a joy; an assignment rather than a process;

an in class activity rather than a real world experience.

I start each school year out with a program on understanding and using Writer’s Notebooks, teach

writing in a writing workshop environment with mini-lessons, writing partners and small groups.

Students in my classes write daily and they see me writing daily in my own Writer’s Notebook. Some

of our writing is private, some shared within the class, some put on our school district web

discussion groups, and some published on Internet wide sites. Choice is also a significant component

of any successful writing program. It is sometimes difficult as a teacher to keep prompts and writing

activities fresh while providing that element of choice that sparks a writer’s personal motivations.

When I discovered the Write the World web site it seemed too good to be true. I posted a link to

the site on my English 10 My Big Campus group and offered the students a choice between our

normal quick write activities and the Write the World platform. Over sixty of my eighty students

elected to use the Write the World platform. Jumping on the enthusiasm and momentum building in

the students, I did a mini lesson using the peer review suggestions directly from Write the World to

encourage the students to respond to the writing of others. As the students published their writing

I followed them so that I could keep an eye on their participation, but never graded their writing.

It was so rewarding seeing the students get excited about other people, from other places following

them and commenting on their writing. This is exactly the kind of real world writing experiences that we want for our students.