Highschools in U.S. Emphasize Writing
November 1st, 2006 § 5 Comments
I recall my 7th grade English teacher named Dr. Faber at Valley Forge Middle School in Stratford, PA. Dr. Faber was at the time the smartest person I had ever met, and still to this day even being surrounded by scholars and ‘academites’ of every variety, she remains one of the smartest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Dr. Faber was the only grade school teacher that I had ever met that truly had a polished and sincere respect for the art and science of writing, I believe that she instilled the same values in her students which for me resulted in a few essays and blog posts such as, Flesh and Fangs: Risk and Ridicule in Writing, a recent article posted on this blog. These essays and articles receive a very mild amount of attention but the feedback is positive and I owe Dr. Faber some credit which is why I am mentioning her, because she knew the value of writing and shared her knowledge with her students.
Now more than 20 years later a new initiative in the U.S. is surfacing in education. U.S. school are pushing to increase competency in writing as reported by journalist Marianne Holland,
“More high schools around the country are emphasizing the need for all students to be good writers. In Indianapolis, some math teachers are even integrating lessons about writing into their teaching.” (M. Holland, NPR)
I taught 4th and 5th graders in a whole language setting for the last 15 years of my career. We required at least one short piece of original writing every day, done in class, and required longer pieces for extended homework assignments on a regular basis.
I live in New York City… Harlem and these inner city schools, particularly in Harlem are pathetic. My sister teaches middle school children English and Language Arts in the Bronx and she tells me that many of her children are at a 3rd grade reading level… some even lower. It is a shame…
wasalaam
I taught in a low socioeconomic area, where over half the student were on free lunches. This problem has to be addressed from Kindergarten through 3rd grade, or they are lost, for the most part.
My heart goes out to your sister. That has to be a terribly frustrating situation to teach in. There’s no way they can begin to comprehend the high school materials they are expected to understand with reading levels that low.
Salaam Alaikum,
I think it is good that writing is finally going to get more focus. Many companies are complaining about the poor communication in the workplace.
Writing is very important for any society and when its members are unable to express ideas clearly that shows poorly on the society and they are finding out it is costly for companies.
Money always gets the ball rolling.
hi,i am a romainian studet and i am looking for a partenership with one of the many hyschools in the US!i love english people and language(my mates also love your culture)and i was thinkin if some of you would be interested in a partenership with the 10th grade from Ionita Asaan highschool in Caracal,Romania.hope to hear from you!here this is my mail:torretto_cage@yahoo.com
please write back soon,
kind regards
corny