Writing in college is completely different than writing in high school. In high school the focus is more on writing to answer a prompt that is given rather than writing to argue a point. High school writing can be best described as addressing the prompt. College writing gives you the freedom to actually write. Not only in college does a student write to argue a point, it also gives the writer a chance to establish himself or herself as a scholarly author. College writing is academic writing. College students learn to express themselves in a scholarly way. Education majors have a different way of academically writing. Education majors do not usually write scholarly essays as much as they do other pieces of writing.
Throughout college, writing changes year to year to prepare students to become teachers. Freshmen year of college, students create a base for their writing. Students transform from being told what to write and how to write the prompt, to receiving a topic and being able to go any direction with what he or she is trying to say. The education field is different from any other major. Throughout the college career as an education major writing changes. Students start to writing less papers and constructing more lesson plans. Teachers must learn how to write academically to communicate to other colleagues and even parents. Nick Meldrum expresses that, “written communication can either make or break a person in the field of education. It is one of the most important aspects to becoming a successful teacher”(Meldrum, p. 2). Meldrum goes on the say that communication is one of the most important aspects of being a teacher. Education majors throughout the years do not write as many papers as they do lesson plans. Towards the end of their college career education majors still do write papers however, they focus more on their specific major. Even though papers are rarely written, the papers still do explain who the author is as a writer.
Academic writing still plays a major part in being a teacher. Teachers write academically all day long. I did not realize how much teachers actually write until after I read what Judy Spielhaupter discussed about what she wrote about by saying, “ Most of the writing I do includes things such as making lesson plans, homework assignments, quizzes and tests, student- teacher evaluations, emails to parents and colleagues, letters, and report cards” (Meldrum, p. 3). Spielhaupter also must have a well-designed lesson plan at the start of the year. She expresses that teachers write often. Teachers write I.E.Ps for students with disabilities and referrals (Colombia College, p. 3). Teachers can also develop and publish education articles. These articles can be used for many different reasons. Most of the times these articles are used to help other teachers or even aspiring teachers. Many beginner students over looked how much teachers write besides writing lesson plans. Lesson plans are important because it “provides a coherent framework for smooth efficient teaching”(The Importance of Lesson Plans, p. 1). Writing is an important factor of being a teacher.
When education majors make it to their senior year, they put the essays to the side. I spoke with a senior elementary education major, Chelsea Lewter. Lewter and I sat down and discussed her thoughts on academic writing. I asked Lewter if all of the writing she has done has been beneficial to her. She quickly responded with a no. She expressed that she has been writing academically for her college career and now she focuses more on writing lesson plans. I then asked her what kind of papers does she write? She responded I write papers about other subjects such as history. (personal communication, November 17, 2014). Writing academic essays can be affective because teachers write on a daily basis.
Education majors should continue to write for four years of college. However, education majors should focus more on education base papers. Many people, such as community members, parents, principals, superintendents, and board members, read the work the teachers produced. It is important that the teacher can academically write because of the numerous people who read teachers work. `
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