Eanes ISD Writing Philosophy

In Eanes, we believe that each writer has important ideas to communicate with the world and that each writer can use writing as a tool for thinking and learning about his/her world. In English Language Arts classes, teachers will fully engage students in writing processes, using a research-based writer’s workshop model. We want to develop writers who make critical decisions about their own writing and who create authentic texts that connect their ideas with the ideas of others.

Goals for Student Writers in Eanes

Eanes’ students

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. use writing as a tool for thinking and communicating.
            2. understand their individual processes.
            3. analyze others’ writing (texts) to learn how to create authentic products (genre, structure, craft).
            4. construct knowledge collaboratively in conferences with peers, teachers, and other writers, in person and digitally.
            5. find and pursue their own ideas and purposes (researching, thinking, learning, communicating) for writing.
            6. generate multiple texts that reflect their rhetorical knowledge and their understanding of their world.
            7. prepare their writing for a variety of audiences, adapting and shaping their forms for the audience’s expectations for conventional use of language.
            8. use a variety of tools and modalities (stylistic and technological) that are most appropriate to their purposes and audiences.
            9. reflect on their own processes and products.
            10. transfer their knowledge of writing to all areas of study/academic disciplines.

Goals for Teachers of Student Writers in Eanes

Eanes’ Teachers

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. expect all students to write.
            2. create a safe environment to encourage students’ risk taking.
            3. provide multiple opportunities for students to write – informally and formally, for a variety of authentic audiences
            4. guide student writers to read like writers – how to study others’ texts.
            5. create opportunities for students to talk about their writing.
            6. prepare units of study for both process and product (genre-based).
            7. allow writers to use processes that fit their individual styles and purposes.
            8. understand the difference between genre and mode (or purpose) - for example, teaching students to write a feature article, not an expositor piece
            9. provide opportunities for student choice (for example, topic, genres, structures, audiences, etc.).
            10. use a variety of assessment tools (such as self-assessments, student generated rubrics, conferences, and technologies) to decide what and how to teach writers.
            11. understand that growth of fluency and control of conventions may not occur at the same time.
            12. embed language study, including the teaching of conventions (grammar and mechanics) within genre studies.