Writing is an activity that happens every moment everywhere, like taking notes, writing papers, writing letters, and so on forth. In the 21st century, writing is becoming more digital and diversified, like writing a twitter, writing an email, or writing blogs.
To learn about adolescents’ characteristics and interests is a start to improve their motivation and engagement in the writing class. The book “The Art of Teaching Writing” written by Calkins (1994) enlightens me that adolescents are in a stage where they are trying to identify themselves in a diversified world. To satisfy their needs of self-identification, having students taken ownership of writing is necessary, which means the freedom of choosing what they want to write is essential.
Data collection from this video: What motivates adolescents to write?
90% of students do some kind of writing outside of school.
72% of 7th grade students text and email their friends
46% of female students write in journals
42% of students use a computer when they write at home
27% of 9th grade students write poetry
9% of students report that their teachers know about their outside-of-school writing
Based on the fact above, regarding to what to write, students’ choices and interests are primary for reference.
Keeping a journal
students are free to choose writing topics they are interested in
tend to be a lifelong writer
a great chance for me to learn about my students
Writing twitters
access to diverse audience
simple for using
Writing emails
improve students' ability to communicate with different people via formal writing