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Inspiring Writing - helping children find their inner writers

29 Feb 2012

By Wyl Menmuir, English Leader at Priory School in Slough

As teachers, we are well used to teaching the mechanics of writing – punctuation, grammar and spelling, the shapes of different types of narratives - but do we, in all honesty, teach our children about what it is to be a writer? About the thrill of the idea that emerges as if from nowhere, the hours spent searching for the right word for the job, the further hours of editing and anguish that what we've written is utter toss and ought to be binned before anyone else gets the chance to read it. About the anxiety and anticipation of having our work read and the gratification of receiving feedback from someone you have affected simply by the way you arranged words on a page or screen.

That aspect - the being a writer element of writing - seems to be much more difficult to teach. Perhaps this is because it’s something that has to be discovered rather than taught. I believe blogging is one of the ways we can create the conditions for children to get a taste for what being a writer is all about. A blog can be a space for experimentation, for finding real audiences far beyond the classroom and for getting feedback on a young writer’s work from their peers as well as people they have never - and probably will never - meet.  

Over the summer holidays last year, I set up a class blog for my English set - a group of 30 Year 6 children from Priory School, a large primary on the outskirts of Slough. In my enthusiasm for the project, I named the blog Inspiring Writing in the dual hopes it would be what the blog would both become a home for and what it would do for the children. In reality I wasn't so sure it would would do either. I see this group of children for only one hour a day so would be expecting them to develop the blog in their own time to make it a success, rather than being able to devote school time to it. Would this small, empty plot of webspace be enough to tear them away from X-box and BB Messenger? Would there be enough payback involved to make the effort of writing and the risk of a negative comments or indifference worthwhile? 

We are now six months into the project and already I’ve seen a real shift in many of the children’s attitudes to writing. One girl who would barely put pen to paper in September and actively defied attempts to get her to put ideas down on the page, has become one of the most prolific writers on the blog. I have seen her evolve from being defensive to any form of criticism of her work to writing a serial of stories in response to other children's encouragements and actively seeking out advice from others. Of course, I can't place that all down to the blog, but I believe it has helped her develop an identity as a writer and I have watched her make significant progress over the year.

Another girl is now evolving her use of the blog as a tool for collaboration. Last weekend, she decided to crowdsource her next story by posting a synopsis on the blog with some potential story lines. It’s not something I’ve ever discussed with her, but she’s seen the potential of the blog for involving her readers in the creation of a story. One boy recently posted his first story on the blog and last Friday I watched as he seemed to grow taller when we discussed recent posts in a lesson and his was picked out as being particularly strong (subsequently, other children went back to the post and commented on it - one requested a sequel). 

For others, transformation is only just starting to happen, but it is happening. One boy, up until last week, had posted nothing besides a series of amusing photos and YouTube videos and has only just plucked up the courage to go beyond getting a laugh from his classmates to writing his first story for publication on the blog. And he really cares about it too: he later asked me to take it down while he made some further changes to it (ask him to edit his work in class and this story might be somewhat different). 

I wanted my English set to realise there are audiences for their writing other than their teachers, people who care about their ideas and thoughts, and whose presence - once felt - would help them care about their own writing. But they have taken it further than that: the Inspiring Writing blog has been a chance to see these children starting to find their feet as writers, to see them explore the possibilities of this space for themselves (from the first tentative dipping of toes in the water, to journalistic writing, articles on favourite authors, stories, surveys, questionnaires, reviews and thoughts). 

As teachers we can give children the tools and skills to become writers, but I believe for the more challenging step of helping them discover the writer within, it takes a creative leap only they themselves can make. Our role for this element of their literacy education becomes less teacher and more enabler, creating the sorts of environments that encourage children to explore that identity, by giving them the platform, the creative freedom and real audiences. 

View more on the power of blogging

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Wyl Menmuir is English Leader at Priory School in Slough. He has previously worked with the National Literacy Trust (on the 2008 National Year of Reading), Creativity, Culture and Education and the Royal Opera House and spent several years as a journalist and editor before becoming a teacher. He is also a blogger in his own right, producing the primary literacy blog "now write about it".

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