Honestly, I feel like I’ve surprised myself as a writing coach! I thought it was gonna be way harder than I thought! I mean it still takes me a lot of time to consider every aspect of a writer’s writing and their story, but I feel like I have been able to identify parts of storytelling and elements needed to help enhance their story. My only background has been from SPARK tutoring where the focus was on K-2nd grade on forming letters, making basic sentences, and making sure that the spelling is correct. Which is completely different from what my goal is now as a writing coach! I’ve made sure that my suggestions focus on how to enhance the story and their storytelling in their writing. My goal is not to focus on their grammar or word structure so much as it is to get the writers to engage more with their story to enhance their storytelling. From what I noticed so far as a writing coach where writers need help is with developing their story. I like to ask the writer questions about their story and their writing to help them see if they’re missing anything and/or need to add anything.
Teachers can support writers by demonstrating and guiding writers on what is expected. This comes from a sense where a teacher is giving the student a prompt to write about. I remember a message throughout these readings that has made me think about a technique I should do as a teacher with my students, which is write with them! I think it’s important for teachers to write with their students to help model the writing process, and this can invite students to collaborate with the teacher to help understand what this process looks like and what is expected of them. There’s an idea from Estep’s text, Centering Compassion in The Age of AI, that teachers should help students understand their audience and how their language and writing impacts the story they are telling based off of the audience. Specifically with feedback, I think teachers need to make sure that students are on the right track with the prompt and writing process. I don’t think it’s necessarily important for teachers to overly grade and worry about the grammar. It’s more beneficial to focus on the story telling and writing process to make sure that the student is following the prompt and putting effort into being descriptive and really getting into the role of a writer.
Getting support from peers will help writers with making sure their story is readable and makes sense. I feel like peers of a writer is almost in a sense their audience and having them read the writing will help with knowing how they comprehend and understand the writing. I think it’s important for peers to tell the writer how they interpreted the writing. This will clear up what the writing has accomplished and what it might need work on!
I feel like writing coaches have very similar jobs as the teacher and peers. Writing coaches dive deep into the writers writing and thinks about many possibilities of questions and suggestions to help enhance the writing. I like the idea from Segal’s text, A Writer’s Guide to Giving and Receiving Feedback, that the editor, in this case the writing coach, should understand what the writer wants. Does the writer have a specific question and idea that the writing coach should look for? This is helpful for the writing coach to give specific feedback that the writer is looking for. I think overall, the writing coach should be helping writers by getting the writer to engage with their story and storytelling.
A resource I found that seems very beneficial for young writers is Write The World. This resource invites writers into a writing community where they can share their writing in workshops and get feedback from others and experts. There are also free competitions that they can enter with their writing. This website even provides an AI resource that asks the writer Socratic questions to help them think about their writing.
Olivia, I'm so glad to hear that you've been able to use your experiences as a Spark tutor to connect with the young writers we've been working with, even if it is just in how you greet and respond to them in your comments. This relationship and trust building is a big part of the writing process, to encourage novice writers to take risks.
ReplyDeleteHey Olivia! I think your reflection on shifting from SPARK tutoring to writing coaching is really strong because it shows how much your focus has expanded from correctness to meaning. That transition is not always easy, so it is interesting that you noticed yourself naturally moving toward storytelling and engagement instead of grammar and surface-level fixes.
ReplyDeleteYour emphasis on asking writers questions is especially effective. That approach fits well with helping students develop ownership of their stories instead of just following directions. When you ask questions that help them notice gaps or possibilities, you are basically helping them think like readers of their own work, which is a big step in developing stronger writing.
I also like your point about teachers writing alongside students. That can really change the dynamic in the classroom because it makes writing feel like a shared process instead of just an assignment. It also helps students see that writing is something even experienced writers struggle with and revise.
Your breakdown of peer feedback is solid, especially the idea that peers act as a real audience. That perspective can be really valuable because it shows writers whether their ideas actually land the way they intended. One thing to consider is that peers sometimes need a little structure, like guiding questions or focus areas, so their feedback stays clear and useful instead of just general reactions.
Your discussion of writing coaches is also thoughtful because you highlight the importance of understanding what the writer actually wants help with. That makes feedback more targeted and less overwhelming, which seems to connect back to your overall focus on supporting storytelling rather than overcorrecting it.
The Write the World resource is a great fit for your argument since it emphasizes community, feedback, and revision as part of a larger writing process. The Socratic questioning tool especially connects well to your idea of guiding writers through thinking rather than just giving answers.
Overall, your post does a good job showing how different roles support writers in different but connected ways, especially when the focus stays on helping writers develop their ideas rather than just fixing errors.