Writing holds a central place in everyday life, from talking with friends and family to navigating academia and careers. We are all constantly being bombarded with information, assignments, and tasks that require our ability to navigate a highly literate world. As I continue my transition into the world of adulthood, the demands on my literacy skills will only go up. Gallagher who summed up the importance of literacy in the Information Age says it best: “Today, writing is foundational for success” (4). My role as a teacher of writing is an important job, one that, if done well, can tremendously help students to flourish in this new age. I must, as a teacher of writing, understand the task set before me and work to make sure my students can …show more content…
These assignments, though intentionally crafted by the teacher, must have some aspect of choice in order to spark students’ interests, which should also work to push students outside of their comfort zone into new genres, topics, styles, etc. As a facilitator, I will be giving students the structure that they need to branch out or perfect their skills. The best way to do this, I believe, is to hold small group or individual conferences that work through students’ pieces in order to hone a few skills that students need to improve. This method of conferencing in order to revise/edit student papers helps to function as a facilitator (and not an editor), because it narrows students’ focus to a few things that they can work on so that they will not feel overwhelmed. Also, by conferencing with the students, students can take back the power and purpose that comes with writing that I may take away when I’m unknowingly commenting on pieces without realizing what the student is trying to accomplish by writing it (Sommers 149). These methods can lead to empowering improvement in student writing and can transfer the work back to the student instead of