This specialization will provide learners with proven methods to improve the writing of students of all ages, in all situations, including K through University classrooms as well as homeschooling, tutoring, in business and the private sector. In four courses and a final project, you’ll learn effective theories and practices to teach writing that you can adapt to your own teaching situation and needs. You’ll learn how to teach writing as process, how to reach even the most reluctant writers, how to help students construct specific texts and make the reading/writing connection, and how to respond to and assess student writing in ways that are meaningful to both teacher and student. If you use writing in your teaching, or want to, this specialization will provide you with tools and practices you can use with your students right away.
Overview
Syllabus
Course 1: Teaching Writing Process
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. Half a century ago, a revolution took place in the teaching of writing. Educators asked, “What if we ... Enroll for free.
Course 2: Teaching Reluctant Writers
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. All educators will encounter students who struggle with writing. This course first focuses on the ... Enroll for free.
Course 3: Teaching Texts and Forms
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. The first job of any writer is to get words down on paper, and teaching writing as process helps ... Enroll for free.
Course 4: Responding, Revising and Assessing Student Writings
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. When writers write, readers respond. Responding to student writing gives teachers one of the most ... Enroll for free.
Course 5: Teaching Writing Final Project
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. One of the goals of the Teaching Writing specialization has been to help every learner consider ways to ... Enroll for free.
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. Half a century ago, a revolution took place in the teaching of writing. Educators asked, “What if we ... Enroll for free.
Course 2: Teaching Reluctant Writers
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. All educators will encounter students who struggle with writing. This course first focuses on the ... Enroll for free.
Course 3: Teaching Texts and Forms
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. The first job of any writer is to get words down on paper, and teaching writing as process helps ... Enroll for free.
Course 4: Responding, Revising and Assessing Student Writings
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. When writers write, readers respond. Responding to student writing gives teachers one of the most ... Enroll for free.
Course 5: Teaching Writing Final Project
- Offered by Johns Hopkins University. One of the goals of the Teaching Writing specialization has been to help every learner consider ways to ... Enroll for free.
Courses
-
One of the goals of the Teaching Writing specialization has been to help every learner consider ways to adapt what they are learning and apply it to their specific situation, needs and interests. The theories, strategies and practices presented in these courses are sound, and can work with any student of any age and skill level, provided each learner is able to adapt their learning and apply it to their specific students, current or future. In this final project, learners will select one component from each of the four courses that are among the most important things they learned from that course. They will describe what these components are, explain why they are important to the learner, and create a plan for incorporating that new learning into their teaching or their own writing going forward.
-
All educators will encounter students who struggle with writing. This course first focuses on the reasons student writers may be reluctant and then provides learners with a variety of strategies and practices to help reluctant writers develop a greater comfort and confidence with writing. Learners will examine classroom relationships, mentoring, scaffolding, conferencing, low-risk writing and mini-lessons, all tools and techniques that can be brought right into the classroom to help struggling writers increase student participation and success in writing. They'll conduct their own study of one reluctant writer and use their learning to help create a plan for teaching reluctant writers in their current and future classrooms.
-
When writers write, readers respond. Responding to student writing gives teachers one of the most meaningful avenues to help students learn and grow. In this module, learners will identify best practices in effectively responding to student writing. You will also define revision, identify how revision differs from editing, and examine strategies for teaching students how to engage in effective revision. Finally, because writing can also be used for testing, and because all students learn in increments over time, learners will identify a number of strategies for evaluating and assessing student writing, both for individual writings and a student writer’s progress over a period of time. Learners will also consider ways to involve students in both the responding and assessment processes. At the conclusion of this course, learners will have a toolbox full of strategies and practices for these three significant components of any writing class: responding to, revising and assessing student writing.
-
The first job of any writer is to get words down on paper, and teaching writing as process helps students gain the fluency, comfort and confidence they need to succeed at any writing task. But complex, comprehensive writing tasks often bring with them specific expectations and conventions the writer must address to be successful. This course will examine some of those more comprehensive writing tasks: personal essays; argument, analysis and other forms of transactional writing; and creative writing. Learners will also identify strategies for supporting the reading/writing connection and practical assignments for engaging students in writing around texts.
-
Half a century ago, a revolution took place in the teaching of writing. Educators asked, “What if we were to study how professional writers wrote, as a way to learn how we might teach writing more effectively?” The result was the writing process movement, with its emphasis on not just writing as product but as process. Good writing doesn’t magically appear, nor does it spring from the brain fully formed and perfect the first time. Instead, all writers engage in a process, and while that process can vary writer to writer, some stages do seem to apply, in some way, to almost every writing situation. This course demonstrates how teaching writing as process can lead to a significant increase in students’ comfort level and confidence as writers. Learners will examine methods for teaching writing as discovery, and for using low-stakes writing and reflection in their classes. They’ll fill their toolbox with practical strategies and techniques for teaching writing to students of any age, in any situation.
Taught by
Mark Farrington
