Student Voice


Schools often put formula above voice when teaching writing, but Linda Christensen makes it a point in her book Teaching for Joy and Justice that voice should be what comes first. “Too often, schools ask students to drop their identities at the door” (152). If there’s anything that’s clear with Christensen and that I have learned this semester, its that students have to be able to make connections with the classroom and their lives. Students need to be able to not only make these connections but include who they are in their writing. Whether they are writing a profile essay or an argumentative essay, they should not have points taken off for their voice.

In fact, I believe that voice is the most important development in writing. Reading about Christensen’s lesson around profile essays got me thinking about developing students’ voices in their writing. In that particular essay, students wove in scenes and created an essay that worked like a narrative. Here, even though the essay had a point that the student had to create the essay around, they also had to write more narratively and almost casually. This type of writing helps students develop their voice and helps them experiment with how they want to present themselves.

Christensen often talks about how she has students highlight what she is teaching in the models she passes out. If she is teaching thesis statements, she has students highlighting the thesis statements in the models and then they discuss whether it is effective or not and why. I will do the same with teaching voice. Where can you pick up the voice in the example? Does it evoke a personality? This article by Trent Lorcher gives us a little breakdown about what to focus on when teaching voice. I thought the points he had made sense and would absolutely be effective in a classroom. I also think that Christensen would agree with Lorcher. It’s clear that voice is important to her just by what she focuses on with her students and how she directs her lessons.

Link to article:
How Do You Teach Voice In Writing: It's easier than you think. Trent Lorcher

Comments

  1. AdawritesJaneMarch 25, 2019 at 9:19 AM

    I agree with you that "voice is the most important development in writing". When students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, they tend to concentrate and derive joy in doing their work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heather K 445 BlogMarch 26, 2019 at 9:57 AM

    Totally agree that voice is extremely important. If students don't have voice then writing will become a total chore for them. I like the point you make about how she allows the students to write "almost casually" as I agree that by writing like this, students can experiment a lot more with how they write and figure out the type of writer they are. As someone who was given very little choice when I was younger, when I was asked to be more creative in my writing I had no idea how. Even now I still view most writing as a tedious chore, and I very much wish I enjoyed it as much as you do.

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