Giving writing a second chance

I have always enjoyed the reading part of English/Languge Arts, and sort of put my head down and run as quickly as possible through the writing portion.  I'm not gifted with words or story telling.  I don't spell particularly well.  And I have a small vocabulary.  I remember being in 8th grade and trying NOT to learn my vocabulary words.  I did not see the point of learning a big, fancy way of saying something with a word that maybe half of your audience could understand, when you could use one or two smaller words that everyone knows.  I walked away from 8th grade having learned only two vocabulary words: noisome and avaricious.  I'm not sure how these two words managed to stick in my head, but I think it has something to do with the fact that they both sound like they should mean one thing, but they actually mean something entirely different.  Noisome has all the letters of the word "noise" in it, so one might mistakenly believe it has something to do with volume or hearing.  No.  Wrong.  It actually means smelly.  And avaricious sounds so harsh and cutting, but it actually means greedy.  Words are tricky that way.  But as I sit here, some 16 years after 8th grade, I wish I had applied myself more and learned those words.

My feelings about writing are similar to my feelings about vocabulary learning.  I did not ever devote much time or effort towards it.  One part of this school program that has been a constant challenge for me is the reflection papers.  I'm not a very reflective person, and if I do any reflecting, it is in my head or out loud.  I am not one to write things down.  I have nevery kept a diary.  I do have a journal that I write in from time to time.  Mostly I write prayers or things I am thinking, but there have been gaps of 2 years between entries.  So, when I found out we had a Reading/Writing/Literacy class, I was somewhat relieved and sad.  I figured we would learn some great tools for teaching, but at the same time I figured we'd have to do some writing. 

I was frustrated by all the blogging assignments at first.  But I am finding that I do like to type out my thoughts.  I don't know that I like sharing them with the whole world, or even all the education faculty, but I'm trying to be a good sport.

I really appreciate that both of our writing texts are engaging and easy to read.  Lots of textbooks are dry and so boring.  I have often wondered if the author ever thought about the poor students who would be assigned to read his or her text, especiall those with 50+ page chapters.  Lamott and Routman both write as if they were talking to me, a real person.  Perhaps that is the key, their writing is personal.  I've learned a lot so far, just from the readings.  I learned how important it is to write (every day) and to model writing for our students.  I am also learning that too much emphasis on form and grammar can kill the writer in all of us.  I don't know if that is what happened to me so many years ago.  I have noticed recently that when I am assigned to write a paper, I am at first disheartened.  Then, as I do the research for the paper, I usually learn something that I enjoy and am excited to share.  When I finish writing my paper (usually the night before because I am such a procrastinator when it comes to writing assignments) I am a little sad that I 1) did not start writing sooner, and 2) wish I could share what I wrote with others.

I am left with one question after doing the readings.  How and when do you correct student writing?  Do you gradually do it?  I don't want to crush the writing spirit, but I also feel like we need to teach the rules of language and proper grammar.   I want to know if spell-check and texting has lead to poor spelling and writing with the general public.