The reason this interests me so much is that my younger brother was the victim of an extremely bad case of bullying in middle school, and after reading Christensen’s book, I wondered if perhaps the students had been in a classroom like hers, where they were all encouraged to write deeply personal essays, if they may have realized my brother’s humanity as well as their own and that, just possibly, the bullying would have stopped. Somehow, kids find it so easy to dismiss others, even dehumanize others, but it becomes a much harder thing to do once you really get to know someone. When you get to know someone and understand how they feel, as well as what you share, it’s so much harder to write that person off. It’s harder to stop yourself from caring. If I were to become a teacher, this is something I would definitely want to foster in my students. There are few things more important than empathy.
I’d like to write my paper on this subject, but perhaps also including Ballenger’s idea of “Writing Badly”, and possibly another’s work in the realm of revision (where my students, much like we do in class, help each other to revise, instead of always looking to me, the teacher). I want to create a place where students feel comfortable to, first of all, actually start writing, and next share that writing with others. I want them to write about what THEY want to write about, and I want them to connect with one another. I want them to learn to care about others. I want them to learn from one another. Through this, their writing will improve, as well as their character.
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