Ray and Strickland

When I was little, I attended a private elementary. And during that time, I don’t think I can remember a time when writing was an important part of our curriculum. Writing was never an important aspect in my life growing up. I know I did a few writing assignments, but I was never taught the significance and the wonders of writing. We were never just given the opportunity to write about any topic we desired or were interested in the most. There was no excitement or encouragement for us to enjoy writing.
Our students today I think still don’t have that motivation or the knowledge to actually comprehend what writing can do for them. I believe that it is important for our students to be able to choose their own topic in a sense of stability to their interests. Students don’t want to write about a topic where boredom takes over. Students at young ages, when writing should be introduced, are full of imagination and most all, curiosity. There is always that one subject or topic that catches a student’s attention in which they “want” to know about. So, we let it happen. I couldn’t agree more with Ray when he stated, “Teachers…they see the writing process as a tool they can give their students to use when rocking the world, not just something to learn to do” (pg 4). While reading Ray and Strickland, I’ve come to understand that writing has no boundaries in which there is never a wrong or right type of writing. Hopefully over time, students will be able to be aware of that characteristic of writing, and be able to appreciate their thoughts and beliefs when writing them down. After all, that’s how writing begins; we write exactly what is on our minds. Time is what everyone needs when it comes to writing. If you think about it, over a period of time, we have come to experience a dramatic amount of memories that stick with us. Well writing takes time as well. A person’s mind is running through thoughts all day that time has become more precious than ever. Just like a person’s life I think, writing takes practicing and hard work, Strickland implies.
Writer’s notebooks or journals are what every student should have. They’re not there to be graded or to be criticized by a teacher. They should be able to enjoy sharing their thoughts with others. Communication between each other is another important aspect to writing. Every person has a different opinion, a different belief, and a different aspect of life. These different ideologies between people are there reason for being, and without that, where else would the beauty of writing come from?