In 1998, I put on my teacher hat and stepped into my 7th grade classroom for the first time.
In 2001, I started my Master's degree.
In 2003, I stepped out of my classroom and put on my mom hat to rear my three children.
In 2009, I began feeling like something was missing, and my desire to get back into the classroom and finish my Master's became stronger and stronger.

So here I am. Three classes away from my Master's degree. Trying to go back to work full time. Getting ready to do some substitute teaching. And feeling a bit overwhelmed--and really excited--as I transition back into a professional role.


The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~ Mark Twain

Monday, January 31, 2011

Voice

Style is the outer trappings, and voice is even different from language, which is a manifestation of something. But a "voice" is almost without words . . . it's something in the spaces, in between.

--Donald Murray
in Good Advice on Writing by William Safire and Leonard Safir

What an amazing way to describe voice . . . "almost without words." That's the truth, sometimes, isn't it? There's no formula or rules you can give to a student to "teach" how to develop voice. Not to mention that I think voice changes as writers grow and mature. As Elbow pointed out in his essay, different voices are called for in different situations. Students need variety and exposure to different kinds of writing--as well as different kinds of writing assignments. Faigley mentioned the spontaneity of expressive writing, of originality and imagination.

Spontaneity. Freedom of choice. Originality. Creativity. No wonder students have trouble! In a current test happy climate, these are things that are very hard to test in a traditional way. And exposure to a variety of types of writing and types of assignments? Not usually enough time. And if we allow variety, they how will we standardize?

I can't help but wonder if we're setting our students up to hate writing and fail at finding their voice and their niche. After years of writing the same way and for the same ends (i.e. the test), it's no wonder they can't find their voice--and, I think then, a comfort level with writing. Macrorie's concept of Engfish was funny and yet sad at the same time . . . how many of us can remember writing something the way we thought it should sound because that's what a teacher wanted? Most of us, I'm sure, broke away from that and found our own voices . . . or are actively trying to. How many students do the same? I loved the quote he included from Nietzsche

Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.

Spot on. If you've watched young children play, create, write--anything they do really, you can see how they become totally immersed in what they are doing. When they play dog, they are the dog. When they paint, they are an artist. And when they write (on their own and not in school), they usually write what they want and how they want to without any thought to what others may think of their writing. They have their writer's voice.

Sadly, I think that the way writing is prescribed in school chips away at that voice instead of building it up. To build up, they need to read good writing, practice good writing, and experiment with finding their voice and making it work for the situation called for. But that all takes time, freedom, trust, and creativity. Not exactly easy to come by in a standardized, test-crazed educational environment.

That's where our job comes in as teachers of writing. To make sure we fit those things into our classrooms any way we can . . . to blend what we know about process with what is required with regard to task.

Ah, "The Space Between." While I realize Dave Matthews is most likely not talking about Murray's concept of writer's voice here, the images he creates of what's found in the space between reminded me of writer's voice. Plus, it's Dave Matthews. There's nothing like a little Dave Matthews on a Monday morning.



Or any time for that matter.

3 comments:

  1. I think what you said about voice is really true. Students write best when it is about something they like and/or know. Schools are killing the creativity when they suggest specific format and process. Free thinkers are important to our society. The more freewriting I ask my students to do, the more I love reading their writing or listening to them share their stories. They have taken on a new glow while writing too.

    I like your song selection too! I'm a HUGE DMB fan!!! :)

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  2. I echoed some of these same thoughts in my Blog for this week. I am inspired by what we are reading, but am finding it hard to imagine how to realistically incorporate it into public education. Unless, as I think you mentioned in a previous Blog, the entire system changes, I guess we do just have to do the best we can to insert process pedagogy wherever possible.

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  3. Macrorie's Engfish and your examples of how children become what they are "playing" reminded me of fourth grade and learning about the Puritans (what is it with 4th grade and the Puritans this semester??). After we read in our history books, my teacher (Mrs. Troberg <3) would ask us to write in our in class journals. I took this so far as to "become" a Puritan when I wrote, using "thee" and "thou" appropriately in my entries for weeks. These were set on our desks for open house and my family read them - puzzled as to why in the world I would use such pronouns. Too funny - thanks for triggering the memory! :)

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