Teaching Writing & Sand Tobogganing

As a second language teacher teaching English, I wish there was some magical potion that I could give my students that could turn them into English native speakers. Unfortunately, until they come up with that pill from the movie limitless, that's just not happening anytime soon. Thus, one of the practices that I emphasis with my students is the constant practice that they have to do in order to improve their language. Especially in writing.

Practicing is important and should be done on a daily basis. This is to generate momentum so that it becomes easy to start and continue doing so everyday. Once you have done so often enough, this should lead to you mastering the language, the content as well as the writing. Whenever I advocate the need to have momentum when writing, it reminds me of my experience sand tobogganing in up north in New Zealand.

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Climbing Up The Hill

The first thing before you do any sand tobogganing is to climb up the hill. That's fairly obvious, but keep in mind that the climb is important especially when you look back on how far you have climbed. Furthermore, its not a short climb and that is when your mind starts filling up with fear and doubt.

Much like writing, the climb is the part when you start planning on what to write. Do you remember your first article on Steemit? I am sure it took you much longer to write then as compared to how fast you are able to write now. In terms of teaching my students, the same applies, it takes the students close to 2 hours to write a short 150 word essay. That is because they are unfamiliar with the content, the format and the language. This takes time and many do give up after just two days of writing consistently.

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However, after 2 weeks of doing so, something starts to change. These students start to reach the top of the mountain, they start to become more familiar with what they are writing about. This is also the time when writing on a daily basis becomes a habit. It is also the time when they step on their sledge and go tobogganing down the hill.

Picking Up Speed

Once you are barreling down the hill, you feel invincible as you gather momentum and speed. In the context of writing, this is the stage when you have achieve some form of mastery over writing. This is the time when you are able to churn out articles and essays under an hour. That is because you have done your due diligence earlier in the previous stage. You have become familiar with what you are writing about and it comes rather easy to you.

When you are in this stage, it is important to continue practicing, continue writing and continue to improve. That is because while it may seem as if you have become relatively adapt at writing, there is always room for improvement. Furthermore, there are times even the best of us do stumble and fall.

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Even If You Stumble...

I am not great at balance and out of the many times I went tobogganing down the hill, I stumbled, nay, tumbled down the hill. It was uncomfortable, as I tumbled, I would see sand-sky-sand-sky until I reach the bottom of the sand dune. Once I reached the bottom, my shirt, pants and underwear would be filled with sand. That does not mean that I did not have fun.

The point is this, creating some form of momentum in writing frequently does not mean that you would be able to write flawless posts or essays on a daily basis. Like anything else, there are days that you would stumble and go tumbling downhill.

The only silver lining I can think of from stumbling is that you would still reach the bottom of the hill. You just land in a less than cool fashion. In the context of writing, you will still complete your post. However, it may not be as great as you would hope for it to be. That being said, when that time comes, it is important to never give up. That is because if you do stop, it gets harder.

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It Gets Harder If...

When you do stop, you lose all the momentum that you have worked so hard to achieve. All the hard work, due dilligence and preparation would require some form of reboot. Thus, you will be forced to climb up the hill again and start practicing all over again.

As such, it is impossible to never give up and never stop to hone your writing skills. That is because while it is possible to master the language and some of the content, you may not be able to write as fast compared to the times when you were practicing everyday.

This is very much similar to sand tobogganing where as you go barreling down the hill you stop yourself with your legs and hands. If you did that, you would probably be stuck in the middle and this would require some effort to walk back up the hill to start all over again.

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Conclusion

Be it practicing for an exam or writing a post on Steemit, it is important to be consistently practicing. It is through this practice that things get easier and the frequency of your practice would lead you towards the mastery of the skill. This is the skill that I use with my students when it comes to the teaching of writing. They are required to write on essay everyday near exams. At first they were relunctant but with each passing practice, the writing became easier and easier for them.

I hope you found this post useful. Did you have a similar experience when it comes to teaching or learning writing? Do let me know in the comments below.

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