Rules for Writing

I have to admit, the transition from student to teacher is proving to be more difficult than I imagined, and I'm grateful for the year we have until we're actually thrust into a classroom. Boice's rules from the first two chapters give me some map of how to begin teaching. It begins with preparation, something I had overlooked until now. The rules of active waiting and beginning before feeling ready make sense in theory, and I hope to use them in a productive way, both in and out of the classroom. I have to think that these rules might apply, to some extent, to us as students as well, whether it be a project or large piece of writing we must accomplish.

I was able to relate to the ideas in the other readings, because they specifically pertained to teaching writing. The concreteness of the writings helped me to understand where beginning college students are coming from, in addition to various forms of writing that may or may not be used as examples to teach writing. I’ve been struggling with the idea that writing is so subjective and that there couldn’t possibly be any way to give concrete examples of different forms of writing to students. While I recognized many of the concepts, I was put at ease by having a reference of each rule for “good writers.” If nothing else, I now have a basic concept guide for what is the standard for teaching writing, and where I can stray from it if it does not work for me in a classroom.