At the beginning of this course we talked about who considered themselves readers and writers. I said I was a reader, but not a writer. And yet I write everyday! It seems a little silly in some ways. But part of what we talked about that first class was intention when you read and write, that being purposeful and thoughtful were what ‘made it count.’ I don’t completely agree with that statement when it comes to reading, but I think it’s huge in writing. I wrote papers for school and notes to myself, but nothing that mattered much to me. I was focused much more on the ideas I was writing about than using writing as a process to find meaning.

Now, halfway through the semester, I would call myself a writer (albeit, not a particularly good one). The reason for this change is that I’ve really been forced to use many different styles of writing quite regularly. I have to write blog posts every class for two of my courses. I never know what I could possibly have to say until I sit down and slowly find myself responding. I have to write a one to two page analysis paper every week for my religion class and every two weeks I get a new creative assignment to slave over in my english class. Then I have the typical larger papers due around midterms and finals! What I’m constantly finding is that writing is incredibly difficult for me. And what I’ve found most true–particularly in the english class–is that writing is how I find meaning. I can’t possibly find what I’m grasping at until I hit upon a word that seems to capture something that I didn’t even know I was trying to say. And that just leads to more words that take me somewhere–often somewhere completely different from where I thought I thought I might go.

My point is that the chapters in our textbook this week really resonated with me because they stressed how the process of writing–which can really only be taught by someone who participates in the writing process regularly–is really what creates meaning. That means meaning in the content of what’s being said, but also in the concepts and presentations used to express it. I think that’s what makes writing such a good tool in the classroom. It just naturally evokes meaning of all kinds that we can always use to examine and learn.