My Writing Experience 2

I could start this paper talking about all the challenges I had to face when I started this course and how successful or not I was. I could point out the fact that I was too comfortable in one style and that I was reluctant to try new paths. I could talk for hours about the fact that I have learned that I have to pay extra attention to details and improve my accuracy. I could do all of this but I choose not to. Instead of describing how I managed to overcome these language challenges, I would like to talk about what really changed my writing experience. Process writing.

When process writing was first introduced to our course we were all thrilled by the idea of not facing that terrifying moment of handing in blindfolded. We were never sure what to expect from the feedback we would receive from our teachers. We spent anguishing hours trying to work out corrections made by our teachers without being able to understanding what had gone wrong. Process writing gave us a chance of getting a second opinion before handing in and also, a chance of being a second opinion. We learned to learn not only what we were told to learn but also learned to discover things on our own. For the first time, we were also in charge of our learning process.

Although peer feedback sessions were helpful and changed the way in which I was used to learning writing skills, I believe that what was really a breath of fresh air was the last stage in process writing. Publishing made a difference in the quality of our pieces. We were not writing for ourselves and for a grade, we were now writing for a real audience with a real purpose. This meant an extra pressure for me, but also made the process more exciting and encouraging. We were given a voice, an opportunity to make our writing tasks meaningful and interesting. I believe this became essential to the way in which we decided to approach our writing tasks.

All in all, this course gave me a new understanding of what writing means. Perhaps, I will still misspell “believe” or use the wrong collocation every now and then, but what I will never forget is the importance of being aware that what we write is important and hence, we should give meaning to our pieces. I am fully convinced that I leave this course with an extremely valuable tool that will help me carry on the process I have started this year and that will probably never end.

I'd like to share a presentation I prepared for IT studies on Process Writing

CV

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Relax! It's just a narrative!

When I was at school, I was often asked to turn in narratives and college essays. This made me a quite flexible writer. I wrote for academic reasons, but soon I discovered writing for pleasure. My school held writing competitions, in English as well as in Spanish. I won the competition twice and that made me feel as if it was my destiny to become a writer.

Unfortunately, that never happened. Instead, I had to devote myself to studying and writing academic pieces. I had neither time nor energy to write for pleasure. Whenever I did find my muse, I would sit down and scribble a few lines, but then I was never able to finish a piece. This really frustrated me and eventually, I stopped trying.

Nowadays, whenever I have to write for a language assignment, I feel as if it was someone else writing. Usually these pieces have little of me, and a lot of what an English student should be like. I remember trying to "innovate" in my writings for Language II, but these innovations were not welcomed by my teacher.

Somewhere in between the past and the present, I realized I have been quite a good academic writer. When I was at Letras, I loved writing papers on theory on literature or human studies. I still enjoy having assignments that require working with different sources and usually, the results are good. However, this practice has led me to be what I consider a boring writer and to write plain pieces such as the present one.

As a teacher, I find it hard to assess the writing tasks I assign to my students. Usually I cannot really explain why I think the writing piece is not altogether well-written. I tend to focus on grammar and spelling mistakes although I know I am missing more important issues that would help me guide my students into successful writing.

This year I have begun to realize there is a whole world behind teaching writing skills. I'm very interested in process writing, not only because of what I have heard in this Language course but also because of what I have heard from other teachers at the Joaquín V. González.

All in all, I am looking forward to finding a different approach from the one I have been taught and worked with so far. This will not only help me improve my own skills but also those of my students.

SCs

Biodata

Jacqueline Kramer is a Year three teacher trainee at the college Joaquin V. Gonzalez. She studied two years at the department of Literature at University of Buenos Aires. Jacqueline is currently teaching English in companies. Her main interests are Linguistics and Literature.

Profile

Hello people,

I'm Jackie Kramer and I’m 22 years old. I was born in Vancouver, Canada but I came to Argentina when I was one year old with my mother and two sisters who I live with at present.

Ever since I can remember I've loved travelling and getting to know places and people. Unfortunately, I don't get to travel as often as I wish. In 2008, I lived in London for ten months working as a waitress. It was a life-changing experience since I got to know what living on your own means and most importantly, I got to know people from all over the world.

Since I'm interested in languages, especially in the strong relationship between language and the self, I started studying Spanish (Letras) at the University of Buenos Aires in 2006. I studied there for 2 years but I had to drop out once I started working. I really hope I'll be able to take up the course again in the near future. Nowadays, I'm teaching English in companies to businesspeople. It is definitely not my ideal job, but I value it as a work experience and I learn a lot.

When I entered the Joaquín V. González (JVG) I just wanted to enhance my knowledge of English and knew very little about teaching. The JVG has taught me that teaching is not all about "knowing" contents, it is a commitment to others. I'm fully convinced that education is the most valuable tool we have in society to understand who we are and that we are not mere subjects to history. Although this is usually overwhelming, I'm willing to take up the challenge.

I value my precious and scarce free time. I try to use it to meet friends, spend time with my boyfriend and my family. I enjoy looking up information about random topics that arouse my curiosity, such as writers, music, historical facts, stories, whatever strikes my attention. Of course, there's a lot of sleeping and laziness in my free time as well! My favourite hobby is bar tendering, I learnt the ropes of it in London as well as in a bar in BA. I know I won't be serving 007 his martini dry any time soon, but I have fun bartendering for friends.

I really hope this year we'll discover new ways to learn, teach and relate to people.

See you soon!

Jackie

SCs