Practical Writing Activities for Students & Others

Practical Writing Activities for Students & Others Sandra Sinfield, Robert Walsha & Tom Burns Education/LDU/LearnHigher With thanks to Sarah Johnson Students’ Writing in Transition Symposium NTU September 15th 2009

Writing is … Writing is easy – you just stare at a blank piece of paper till your eyeballs bleed!

Writing is … • Thinking • Learning • A struggle • We ‘write to learn’ • Not learn to write 3

SWOT: Reflect on your writing • Strengths: what do you like about your writing? • Weaknesses: what do you dislike about your writing or academic writing in general? • Opportunities: what’s in it for you ? • Threats: what threat does academic writing pose for you? Write for one minute on each… 4

Developing writing Students benefit from being given or making opportunities to: • Practise writing • Practise writing in the discipline • Free write • Reflect on their writing - and other aspects of their learning • Reflect on feedback from their lecturers

To practise writing in the discipline See also www.writenow.ac.uk

Freewriting • Peter Elbow (1998) argues that free-writing encourages students to write at length without fear of censorship. Benefits: • Freedom to explore a topic • Builds & demonstrates knowledge • Encourages understanding • Spelling & grammar (3 min):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlL5W2qA0EA • On writing (9min): • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDUn1c4uxUE

Activities • Try freewriting: • For 5 minutes on any lecture (class) • A definition of a concept in 1 minute • For 5 minutes on previous experiences that will be useful to you in this module • The Path exercise follows: write for one minute on each topic – we can discuss impact of writing in this way… • Resources: • Stopwatch: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/ • Freewrite:http://www.cumquat.co.uk/freewrite/ • http://www.writethink.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/fwt/Free_Write01.html

The Path Path Tree Key House Water

Academic freewriting Use for: • Starting an assignment • Overcoming a writing block • Writing at length • Writing in discipline • Structuring writing • Proof-reading • Editing • Reflecting on your day/learning What will you do with this information? How will it effect you as a student? Write your answers - one minute…

Overcoming writing blocks: • Read the title – just respond to it, without a plan for 10 minutes • Have a stack of postcards to hand – warm up your writing juices by picking one at random and writing… • If stuck – be rude… and write any way • Write with two pieces of paper – one for work & one for what’s stopping you…

To reflect on writing and other aspects of learning See also http://www.arts.ac.uk/cetl/visual-directions/

Reflective learning journal • Have you used a reflective learning journal? • Like the CLiP CETL one? • Use your journal as a space to reflect on your progress … & • Develop aspects of your thinking/writing.

Suggested entries • Reflections on study sessions: what, why, reaction, learned, new goals … • Notes on readings • Questions relating to readings • Freewriting on a topic • Glossary of terms • Planning and drafting • Notes from the press…

Development of the reflective learning journal • Supports student reflection on discipline specific readings • Promotes critical analysis • Encourages deep understanding through questioning • Can be creative & appealing

Reflecting on THIS session • What have we done? • What activities have we undertaken? Why? • What was your reaction? • What have you learned – about writing, about yourself as a writer, about yourself as a student? • Will this change your approach? How? • What will you do next? • Make notes for yourself – and don’t forget to let me know:s.sinfield@londonmet.ac.uk

Practical Writing Activities for Students & Others