Ass 3 - PhoebeWallace20819781
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Phoebe Wallace 20819781
Assessment 3 – EDC121
Essay 1 Writer Identity
Identity is a dynamic, shifting and unstable concept in which we are forever evolving, the
same is true when a writer’s identity is being discussed (Lee, 2013). A writer’s identity is
shaped by distinct differing experiences and histories, things that shape who the writer is as
a person and thus influence the way in which they approach their writing, and further, how
their writing is viewed. Through a reflective lens, we can grasp our developing identity as a writer, drawing upon
the notion of learning from experience (Jasper, 2005)
. Personally, reflection on my own
writing has been a crucial aspect of my personal development as a novice writer. Focussing
a lens of reflection on my writing experience throughout both primary and secondary
school, leading up to undertaking this unit of work has also been an imperative in
understanding and improving on myself as a writer. Furthermore, engaging with others
about their reflections of themselves as writer’s offers an alternative view in the reflective
practice, which has personally afforded me insight into alternate perspectives, which is
invaluable. Throughout my years at school, I had never seen myself as much of a writer as I had never
viewed myself as a creative person, moreover I had never been confident in any creative
areas which inhibited me from ever even giving myself the chance to flourish into a writer of
any sorts. Alternatively, drawing on discussion with a peer who, while she had also never
seen herself as a writer, she had no confidence issues. She just never found enjoyment in
writing, finding it “more hard work than enjoyable”. I believe this would be a common
theme among school aged children and is an interesting perspective shift. In my own experience, my self-perception as a writer was remarkably fragile in my younger
years at school, and unfortunately, I don’t believe I was afforded the support and
encouragement I needed in order to flourish in my identity as a writer. As previously
mentioned, my confidence throughout my school years decreased dramatically and
eventually I was left entirely unmotivated and unconfident in myself as a writer, and in my
creative skill as a whole. Through reflective practice, I do believe that support and
encouragement in terms of my creative works are paramount in my confidence to create.
After completing my week 4 journal entry piece, I had finally gathered the courage to share
my work with someone I trusted to give me honest feedback and advice on my writing.
“Eavesdropping” is a piece of writing that I felt confident in, and felt it was something that I
wanted to share, receiving positive feedback on this piece resulted in a dramatic boost in
confidence in my potential as a writer, and affirmed what I had come to understand about
myself through my reflective practice. Comparatively, my peer revealed that it was being
forced to undertake the creative writing process that pushed her further away from any
desire to write. She discussed how she developed a dislike for creative writing because she
never felt her writing ‘flow’, so she didn’t have any desire to try to write. This again, I feel
would be a common theme among school aged children who are made to sit down and just
write, without direction or support. 1
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This unit has enabled me to learn about myself as a writer, and the processes which aid my
writing. I can now recognise that my writing environment is crucial to my ability to focus and
write effectively, particularly the time of day that I am able to sit and write. I don’t often
have a choice in when I am able to sit and begin writing, as I am largely at the mercy of my
10-month-old, but I have learnt that my writing flows easiest in the early afternoon rather
than later at night. “People Watching” is a piece that I wrote with my daughter in mind, as I
find myself often drawn to the bond between a mother and child. “Write what you know”
(Twain et al., 1990) is a quote that rings true in this sense, I am at ease writing about this
bond as I know it well, and because I know it so well, I felt sure of myself, and my writing
flowed as a result. Contrasting to my own writing processes, my peer discussion revealed
that she had almost completely opposing needs to write. She wants to write late at night, in
an environment free of all distractions. This direct contrast to my own writing flowing
easiest in the early afternoon and drives home that sense of individuality that we all possess
in our writing identities. A good writer can communicate to the reader with confidence and clarity in their voice.
Effective communication skills are paramount to a writer, to not lose their voice and
messaging within the written piece. Good writers possess the skills to push and challenge
themselves in such a way so they can improve their writing, they would always be pushing
for growth in their skills, perhaps through writing what they don’t necessarily know or what
they aren’t so comfortable with. “In The News” was a writer’s journal entry piece that I felt
totally out of my depth when writing, the concept of writing in the position of journalist felt
entirely foreign to me. Through researching multiple journal articles, and getting familiar
with this style of writing, I feel that I was able to produce a piece of writing that I can be
proud of. When discussing what qualities and skills we believed made a good writer, my
peer brought up the notion that good writers should be surrounded by people with similar
creativity and patience to their own, this was a valuable perspective, effective in broadening
my interpretation of what I believe a good writer to be. The opportunity for encouragement and support through feedback is imperative in my
personal development as a writer. I believe that interaction and conversation surrounding
feedback given on a creative piece is paramount in improvement, this is a facet of
development in my writing abilities that I don’t feel that I had enough access to through my
schooling years, thus resulting in my low confidence surrounding my writing – I never had
the encouragement. A good mentor or teacher was discussed, which both my peer and I
believe is an invaluable resource when developing writing skills. We connected on how we
both never felt fully supported in writing at school, which is perhaps why we both had the
shared experience of never feeling adequate in the creative writing space. Through my reflective practice I have come to find my confidence in my ability as a writer is
major theme in my writer’s identity, and when I have a grasp on my confidence my writer’s
identity is able to shine through in my pieces. Being able to draft pieces of writing that I feel
I can be proud of has resulted in my confidence as a writer building, and subsequently has
allowed my identity as a writer to be at the forefront of my writing. 2
Phoebe Wallace 20819781
Essay 2 Teaching of Writing
A famous French essayist once said that “to teach is to learn twice”. I resonate immensely
with this idea when reflecting throughout my personal writer’s journey, coupled with my
goals to teach and mentor young writers through this same journey.
Reflective practice is widely regarded as one of the most effective ways we can learn from
our experiences and develop our skill, thinking about our previous work in a purposeful way
(Jasper et al., 2013), and finding areas in which we may be able to improve. Reflective
writing is commonly integrated into the academic setting, with heavy focus on that of the
transformation of writing practice in the learner (Vassilaki, 2017). In the context of
educating, reflective writing is crucial in the development of the writer’s identity, as we
begin to understand our own style of writing and the areas in which we may have insightful
and thoughtful ideas to put forth through our writing. When looking back upon on my own
personal journey as a novice writer, reflective practice has played a major role in my
personal development in writing, and furthermore in the development of my confidence in
myself. This understanding of myself as a writer, emphasises the effectiveness of reflective
practice when teaching students to write, and would inform my choice to utilise reflective
practice in my own classroom.
The term “effective praise” refers to a teacher’s use of positive acknowledgements that neither judge a students work or assign a status to the student in the classroom setting (Hitz
& Driscoll, 1989). This effective praise is able to help students to appreciate their achievements, focusing constructive feedback on their efforts and improvements. This teaching theory is extremely applicable to writing, and furthermore to teaching writing to students. Encouragement offers specific, teacher-initiated, and private feedback that focuses on improvement and efforts through the use of sincere and direct comments regarding the work of the student (Hitz & Driscoll, 1989)
. The effectiveness of this theory is especially evident through my own personal reflection of my writing journey. Upon reflection, I do believe the utilisation of effective praise would have been paramount in my confidence development, and in my development of my identity as a writer. However, at the beginning of my writing journey I didn’t receive any effective praise, or constructive advice, which negatively impacted my journey as a writer. This knowledge in hindsight is extremely valuable when talking about teaching writing to students, as I fully understand the positive impact that effective praise can have on a novice writer, and thus will be implemented effectively through my teaching. Through the writer’s journal tasks, and through the undertaking of this assessment, I have
been able to know and understand myself more as a writer. This knowledge and
understanding of my identity as a writer through my reflective practices has subsequently
allowed me to develop confidence in myself as a teacher. Drawing upon on my own
experiences as a novice writer, I am confident in abilities to support and encourage our next
generation of writers through their own journeys. 3
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Reference
Jasper, M. A. (2005). Using reflective writing within research. Journal of Research in Nursing
, 10
(3), 247–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/174498710501000303 Lee, I. (2013). Becoming a writing teacher: Using “identity” as an analytic lens to understand
EFL writing teachers’ development. Journal of Second Language Writing
, 22
(3), 330–
345. Twain, M., Oxley, J., & Parsons, R. (1990). The adventures of Tom Sawyer
. Oxford University Press. Michelle Arrow Professor of History. (2022, February 11). Making change, making history, making noise: Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club
. The Conversation. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/making-
change-making-history-making-noise-brittany-higgins-and-grace-tame-at-the-national-
press-club-176252
Grellier, J., Goerke, V., & Fielding, K. (2022). Communications toolkit
. Cengage Learning Australia. Gaines, Joanna, & Swaney, J. (2020). The World Needs who you were made to be
. Tommy Nelson, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Vassilaki, E. (2017). Reflective writing, reflecting on identities: The construction of writer identity in student teachers’ reflections. Linguistics and Education
, 42
, 43–52. Jasper, M., Wigens, L., & Day, J. (2013). Beginning reflective practice
. Cengage Learning. 4
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Appendix 1
Myself Abby Wallace
1.
Did you see yourself as a writer? Why/why not?
I have never seen myself as much of a writer, I have always seen myself as more of a reader.
I don’t believe I am particularly ‘creative’ which I do believe, when going deeper, is a result of the low sense of self confidence I have in areas of creativity in particular. However, as an avid reader, I do think that I have all the tools and literary skills to become a proficient and confident writer, through practice. No, I never saw myself as a writer, because I don’t see myself as a very creative person in that way. I felt it was more hard work than enjoyable, and I think that a creative process like writing should be enjoyable. 2.
How did you develop this perception of yourself in relation to writing? Throughout primary school and high school we had always been given creative writing tasks,
and while I always did relatively well in those tasks, I don’t believe I was ever afforded the support or assistance I needed to properly build my skills and subsequently my confidence. Throughout my early teen years, while I stayed an avid reader, my confidence in writing began to decrease and consequentially I stopped writing all together. I do believe this lack of proper support while developing my writing skills contributed to this negative perception of myself as a writer. Being forced at school to try creative writing, and basically disliking it because I was unable to get the ‘flow’. I was surrounded by people who were able to come up with interesting and engaging stories, but I was unable to come with those stories. 3.
What processes do you use/go through when you are writing?
Through undertaking this assessment, I have come to learn about myself as a writer, and the
processes that aid in my writing. I can now recognise and understand the environment and environmental factors that assist or hinder my ability to write, such as the time of day I sit down at my computer to write. I don’t often have much choice in when I can sit and write but have figured out that my writing flows easier in the early afternoon rather than at night, which is usually the only time I am able to get uninterrupted time on the computer. I also have found through this assignment, and practicing my writing, that I feel most creative when I’m listening to soft music through my headphones, and able to tune out the rest of the world and just focus on the task in front of me.
A clean environment totally free of any distractions, late at night, is necessary for me to be able to write. I also need to have my mind free of any other tasks, so to write effectively I would need to have any outstanding tasks completed and off my mind. 4.
What kinds of things do you write most? Least? What do you like to write about?
As the quote says, “write what you know”, I find it most natural to write about motherhood.
Either positioning myself as the mother, or looking from the outside in on a mother and child relationship. I find it extremely difficult to write according to a prompt, so throughout this unit’s journal tasks I have struggled somewhat. 5
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I tend to write about animals, because that is an area of interest for me. Whether it be about an animal, or from an animals perspective. I find that the easiest to write about. What
I would write about least is anything that is not relevant to me, for example, I wouldn’t write
about having children, as I don’t know what that experience is like.
5.
What did you think makes a person a good writer? I think that a good writer is able to write with confidence and clarity, and someone who communicates effectively with the reader. I believe that writing with clarity allows the reader to easily understand your message, ensuring that the message doesn’t get misinterpreted. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of a good writer is someone with innate creativity and patience.
6.
What skills and support do you think good writers need? I think that a good writer is one who ensures they write regularly, practice is something necessary to improve and ‘perfect’ the craft. A good writer is one who can push and challenge themselves while writing, perhaps writing outside your comfort zone, or writing what you don’t
necessarily know. Good writers need to be surrounded by people with a similar creativity and patience to them, they also need to possess adequate English skills like grammar and sentence structuring. They should also have good communication skills. 7.
What supported you best to develop as a writer? Although it is daunting to share creative works with others, I believe that sharing my creative writing pieces with others, whether it be my parents or my friends, is something that allowed me to improve my writing overall. To have someone with experience and a good understanding to guide me through the writing process, a mentor or a teacher.
8.
What did your teachers do or not do that supported your development and confidence as a writer?
I believe that a conversation surrounding the piece of writing and interacting with the feedback given is extremely important to develop and grow as a writer. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that I received this support throughout my primary and secondary schooling years, which as I have mentioned in a previous response, had somewhat contributed to my lack of confidence in my ability. Teachers did not provide me with any answers, ideas or suggestions that would point me in the right direction. They encouraged me to follow through with my own ideas, but I didn’t believe they were any good so I lost a lot of confidence and motivation. 6
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Appendix 2
Week One - Observation of an object
The kitchen, the true heart of the home. So often spilling with the most wonderful aromas, but because it is so often full of these aromas, it too often goes unnoticed. The kitchen of my home is a relatively small and perhaps dated space, but it possesses everything that’s needed to create meals and memories for, and with, family. The white tiled splashback meets a blue chipboard bench, atop white cupboards and drawers. This benchtop serving many uses through the years; preparing food, a place to sit, a place to lean after a long day, the list goes on. A big window to the right of the room, looking out to the backyard decking. Week One – Reflection
I have always been an avid reader, and in turn that allowed me the understanding of language and the imagination to write stories. However, through my school years I lost a lot of confidence in my skill as a writer and subsequently stopped writing all together.
I am rather observant of my surroundings, this has always come quite naturally to me, which
I believe has transferred into my writing. Children are often also very naturally observant, which should be encouraged as this helps with their writing. Upon learning that we would be expected to keep a writer’s journal through this unit, I honestly felt a bit worried, perhaps stemming from my lack of confidence in writing. However, I am excited to gain that confidence back through practice and feedback. Week Two - Observation of a natural place
I wander out onto the soft green grass, damp with the morning dew. The leaves of the trees
sway rhythmically in the light breeze, as they sway it’s almost like they flicker and change their colour, two-toned with both dark and light green. Week Two – Reflection
In all honesty, writing to a prompt is a little bit daunting, as I don’t feel that I’m a confident writer and often second guess myself and end up blanking out, and feel like I’m not able to write anything. I find that I come to a standstill when trying to put my thoughts into words and have come to realise this over the last two weeks when reading the writing prompts, this week has particularly stumped me. Having to write descriptively about nature feels very foreign to me.
I don’t think my position on the expectation to keep a writer’s journal through this unit has changed at all just yet, it is still quite daunting to think about the expectations. Hopefully through some more practice I will begin to feel a bit more comfortable with it. Week Three - People Watching
A little, brown-haired, blue-eyed girl, probably no older that 2 shuffles from foot to foot at her mums’ feet. She holds her mums’ hand, and watches as everyone moves forward in the line toward the cash register. She’s watching the cashier intently, in the way that little children do, with that unwavering stare - even when you catch them staring. Her free hand, that’s not engulfed in her mothers, shoots out and she points toward the cashier, whom she is still staring at. She looks up at her mum and says something inaudible, in a ‘language’ 7
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probably only mum could understand, her mother laughs at her and nods her head, which seems to make the little girl very happy as she drops her outstretched hand and grins. Week Three – Reflection
“Write what you know”, a quote by Mark Twain rings true in terms of the subject of this week’s prompt. I am a mother to a little girl, and anyone who has had a baby knows that from the day they are born, everything in life leads back to them, every moment or happening makes you think of them. This week while practicing my people watching my eyes were drawn to a mother and her baby girl, who took my attention while they were waiting in the line. The beautiful bond between mother and child, something I know well and
something that sparked my interest to write. Through reflecting on the compositional process of writing I can recognise that I do feel a bit
flustered and stressed when trying to get my thoughts together and write them out. Journaling has never been something that I thought I would be able to commit to or keep up with, but through partaking in this unit, I decided that I would attempt to journal and get my
thoughts onto paper. I find that writing both in the early morning, and later in the evening after my daughter has gone to bed for the night, are the times that I find it easiest to put my
thoughts to paper. Week Four - Eavesdropping “I didn’t want his sympathy as a father, I wanted him to use his power as Prime Minister”
I slipped into a vacant seat at the back of the National Press Club Meeting, as the room clapped solemnly, in support of the young woman behind the podium telling her story. “Some of his language last year was shocking, and at times admittedly, a bit offensive – but his words wouldn’t matter if his actions had measured up. Then, or now.”
She commanded the attention of the room and told a harrowing recount of the deplorable act that took place in parliament house, and subsequently the lack of action that was taken by anyone in power. The courage that this woman possesses to stand up and tell her story, a story that as we are coming to realise through the action of her, and women like her, is unfortunately not an isolated incident. “…
as if sexual violence falls out of the sky. As if it is perpetrated by no-one...”
I looked to my lap as a tear fell. Just as silently as I had slipped into my seat, I got up and exited the room, the weight of the topic being discussed a little too heavy on fresh wounds. Week Four – Reflection
I have always been an avid reader, and in turn that allowed me the understanding of language and the imagination to write stories. However, through my school years I lost a lot of confidence in my skill as a writer and subsequently stopped writing all together.
I am rather observant of my surroundings, this has always come quite naturally to me, which I believe has transferred into my writing. Children are often also very naturally observant, which should be encouraged as this helps
8
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with their writing. Upon learning that we would be expected to keep a writer’s journal through this unit, I honestly felt a bit worried, perhaps stemming from my lack of confidence in writing. However, I am excited to gain that confidence back through practice and feedback. Coming out of the fourth week of this unit, I do indeed feel more confident in my abilities as a writer. I do believe that, as I mentioned in last week’s reflection, my journaling has played a major role in my confidence boost. Practicing collecting my thoughts and putting them on the page has been invaluable in boosting my confidence. I believe that successfully finding a way to increase my confidence in writing has subsequently given me more confidence in my ability to teach writing, as I understand what it is like to overcome that low self confidence in this aspect, which I do think is valuable experience in the role of educator. Week Five - Memory Lane I barely took notice of a beautiful butterfly that had landed on the windscreen of the car as I opened the door and got out. I couldn’t describe the weird suffocating feeling of heaviness on my chest as my family and I made our way up to ramp toward the main entrance of the hospital. I tried to shake it off as we got closer, but as we approached, I saw the tear-stained face of my uncle speaking quietly into the mobile phone he held up to his ear. Suddenly I knew what the heaviness was.
My aunty, my dad’s only sister, had been bravely fighting breast cancer for 11 years. I broke down in tears as we listened to my uncle tell us how she had passed away not even 20 minutes before we had arrived to visit her. My mum pulled me close to her in a half hug as I wiped my still flowing tears and followed my uncle down the hallway of the hospital toward her room. Week Five – Reflection
Grellier and Goerke (2014) discuss the importance of reflecting on our writing, putting emphasis on reflective writing rather than just reflective thinking. I believe that this week’s prompt and subsequent reflection really affirmed this. Immediately as I read the prompt for this week’s Writer’s Journal task, I thought back to the day my family and I found out that my aunty had lost her battle with breast cancer after many long years. As this was the first death I had ever experienced, I believe it was a pivotal moment in my young life and changed who I was as a person. Looking back, I believe that going through the grieving process of loving a loved one enables you to discover a deeper empathy for others and understanding of yourself. This week’s journal prompt brought back in full force the emotions of that day, feelings that you think you have dealt with until you need to go back to that day. Writing this week opened some old wounds but was cathartic to reflect and connect to my aunty again in this way.
Week Six – Metamorphosis
I watch as the little thing crawls around on its hands and knees. When it first came home, I thought it was a puppy... but it doesn’t smell like a puppy… so I know it’s not that. The humans seem very taken by it, just like they were with me when I met them. I must admit I feel some jealousy toward it, because the attention of my humans is taken from me most of the time, even though I know they’re trying to make me feel included. It’s beginning to crawl over to me, and I know if it gets too close it’ll start pulling on my hair. 9
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I hate that. I get up and start to circle the little being, as I do it smiles at me and squeals. I must admit, it looks a lot like my mum. “What are you doing?” I ask.
It squeals again and rushes toward me, still on its hands and knees. Week Six – Reflection
Through reflecting on the compositional process of writing I can recognise that I do feel a sense of relief when I do finally get my thoughts together and write them out. Journaling has never been something that I thought I would be able to commit to or keep up with, but through partaking in this unit, I decided that I would attempt to journal and get my thoughts onto paper. My initial thoughts regarding journaling couldn’t have been further from the truth, journaling has allowed me more clarity in my day-to-day life and has subsequently helped me to feel more confident in my writing in this unit. I find that writing both in the early morning, and later in the evening after my daughter has gone to bed for the night, are the times that I find it easiest to put my thoughts to paper. As the weeks progress, I feel more comfortable in my writing, and the whole process of writing is becoming more enjoyable for me. I mentioned in my week 1 reflection that I had always been an avid reader and writer, but through the years at school I lost my confidence. Through my regular writing, I am finally starting to feel that sense of confidence that I lost through school, which is a wonderful feeling, and adds to the sense of confidence I feel at the thought of teaching writing to students. Week Seven - Children’s story
“The world needs who you were made to be” – Joanna Gaines
“Wow! We all work so differently!” Exclaimed Sarah, as she stood up and observed the groups of children creating kites to fly at the beach. Sarah’s group had decided to begin building their kite by creating a plan on paper, thinking through every possibility before they begin, not wanting to miss a step to avoid making any mistakes. Michael’s group had begun by beginning to create their kite, knowing what they want before they even begin, not wanting to waste any time getting stuck in. They were not at all worried about making a mistake, they would tackle any problem that arose head on!
Sarah’s group seemed to rely on planning and science, relying on their smarts!
Michael’s group showed off their creativity and penchant for arts!
Whatever the group chose to do, together they learn and grow. Week Seven – Reflection
This week’s analysis of multimodal texts was helpful in leading me toward my idea for this week’s journal prompt. Familiarising myself with the style of writing, sentence structure and patterns typical of a children’s book, or picture book, allowed me to feel more confident in my writing in this style. Reflecting on this prompt, I have found another area that I don’t feel
as strong in regarding my writing.
Week Eight - In the News
10
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Grace Tame, a survivor of sexual assault, is awarded Australian of the Year for her efforts in highlighting child sexual abuse and the warning signs of grooming. Her story begins in 2010, at the age of 15 when she was groomed and repeatedly sexually abused by her 58-year-old high school maths teacher. Due to archaic gag laws in Tasmania, Tame was prevented from speaking out about her abuse for years, but no more. In 2019, she won a legal case to be able to publicly self-identify as a sexual abuse survivor, she was granted this with the help of the #LetHerSpeak campaign. This campaign paved the way for the reformation of these oppressive and dated gag laws in nationwide. Her powerful speech at Monday night’s Australian of the Year awards has been commended, praising Tame as a “legend” who would do everything she could to keep campaigning for those silenced. “All survivors of sexual abuse, this is for us” – Grace Tame. Week Eight – Reflection
I have always been an avid reader, and in turn that allowed me the understanding of language and the imagination to write stories. However, through my school years I lost a lot of confidence in my skill as a writer and subsequently stopped writing all together.
I am rather observant of my surroundings, this has always come quite naturally to me, which
I believe has transferred into my writing. Children are often also very naturally observant, which should be encouraged as this helps with their writing. Upon learning that we would be expected to keep a writer’s journal through this unit, I honestly felt a bit worried, perhaps stemming from my lack of confidence in writing. However, I am excited to gain that confidence back through practice and feedback. Coming out of the fourth week of this unit, I do indeed feel more confident in my abilities as a writer. I do believe that, as I mentioned in last week’s reflection, my journaling has played a major role in my confidence boost. Practicing collecting my thoughts and putting them on the page has been invaluable in boosting my confidence. I believe that successfully finding a way to increase my confidence in writing has subsequently given me more confidence in my ability to teach writing, as I understand what it is like to overcome that low self confidence in this aspect, which I do think is valuable experience in the role of educator. In week 8 of the unit, I can feel myself coming into my own as a writer, I might not be the best with words or metaphors, but I do feel confident writing my thoughts and feelings down on paper for others to read. I feel confident in myself to be able to write and subsequently educate on the process of writing. Week Nine – The Essayist
Reflecting on the writing assignments there are many tensions and challenges I can think of that I experienced. As I stated in my first week of journal reflections, I do lack confidence as a
writer, and while throughout this unit and the multiple weeks of journal entries and reflections I have felt that my writing has improved, I still second guess myself when writing a passage. Writing proves to be a struggle for me as I don’t believe in myself and my creativity as much as I possibly could. I also struggle to find time in a day to sit without any distractions and write, I underestimated how difficult it would be to find time to write with a baby to look after, which has proved to be one of my most arduous struggles throughout this unit. 11
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Week Nine – Reflection
Reflecting on the writing assignments there are many tensions and challenges I can think of that I experienced. As I stated in my first week of journal reflections, I do lack confidence as a
writer, and while throughout this unit and the multiple weeks of journal entries and reflections I have felt that my writing has improved, I still second guess myself when writing a passage. Writing proves to be a struggle for me as I don’t believe in myself and my creativity as much as I possibly could. I also struggle to find time in a day to sit without any distractions and write, I underestimated how difficult it would be to find time to write with a baby to look after, which has proved to be one of my most arduous struggles throughout this unit. Week Ten – Portrait of the Writer
When she was writing in her younger years, she seemed to have more motivation and drive to write stories and present them to her teachers and her peers. However, as the years progressed and she received lesser and lesser direct feedback or reassurance that she was on the right track, she started to retreat from her writing. She seemed to be slowly losing her identity as a writer.
Week Ten – Reflection
I have always been an avid reader, and in turn that allowed me the understanding of language and the imagination to write stories. However, through my school years I lost a lot of confidence in my skill as a writer and subsequently stopped writing all together.
I am rather observant of my surroundings, this has always come quite naturally to me, which
I believe has transferred into my writing. Children are often also very naturally observant, which should be encouraged as this helps with their writing. Upon learning that we would be expected to keep a writer’s journal through this unit, I honestly felt a bit worried, perhaps stemming from my lack of confidence in writing. However, I am excited to gain that confidence back through practice and feedback. Coming out of the fourth week of this unit, I do indeed feel more confident in my abilities as a writer. I do believe that, as I mentioned in last week’s reflection, my journaling has played a major role in my confidence boost. Practicing collecting my thoughts and putting them on the page has been invaluable in boosting my confidence. I believe that successfully finding a way to increase my confidence in writing has subsequently given me more confidence in my ability to teach writing, as I understand what it is like to overcome that low self confidence in this aspect, which I do think is valuable experience in the role of educator. In week 8 of the unit, I can feel myself coming into my own as a writer, I might not be the best with words or metaphors, but I do feel confident writing my thoughts and feelings down on paper for others to read. I feel confident in myself to be able to write and subsequently educate on the process of writing. My journey through the weekly writing tasks has definitely been an up and down experience.
I felt on some weeks, through some of the prompts, that I was really coming into my own as a writer, but other weeks I felt as if I was back to square one. The week 10 journal prompt was one of those that made me feel as if I was back to square one. I have come to recognise that above all, I struggle to write about myself, moreover, I struggle writing about myself as an outsider looking in. Reflection upon not just myself as a writer, but on myself as a person,
leads me to think that this may unfortunately stem from a lack of self-confidence – the 12
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Phoebe Wallace 20819781
underlying thought that perhaps I don’t think that I am interesting enough to write about. Even so, I do believe that I am evolving somewhat as a writer and as mentioned previously I do feel more confident about some of the writing tasks, which is definitely an improvement from my first weeks journal. 13