How do you convince your students that writing is important?

Question

Do your students ever feel that writing is a waste of time? What do you do to motivate them?

Answer 1

People judge you by not only how you appear, but also how
well you write. And if you don't write and can only print, then
that tells everyone how uneducated you are. And if you are
seemingly uneducated, then you can't expect to have a decent job to support yourself in life.
I learned that in the city where I live, it is not required to learn
how to write in cursive. I spoke with some teenagers who
told me they only knew how to print. And they had stopped to
watch me writing on a tablet, to complement my handwriting.
I was shocked that they couldn't write. I also learned recently
that my grandson doesn't know how to write cursive either.
He can only print. And he is in another school system. I can't
imagine what will happen to this generation that is still in
school when they have to look for work. It's getting more im-
portant to get further education than ever to find a self
supporting job in the workplace. And no one can support
themselves working at a fast food place. So I can see our
college attendance will be way down when it's time for this
age group to start trying to find work. And they can't even
go on to college or a business school to learn more, when
they can read, but they cannot write.

Answer 2

Show them examples of where writing is used in the workforce. Everyone likes money, so show them how they can make money by writing. For example, you can write a novel. Some students are going to frown upon this, because they know they will never have a published novel, because they know that the market is just flooded with authors trying to get published. There are even people on the Internet flooded the market with free novels because they know that is the only way for them to get their book out their.

Basically, show them how they can use writing to make a living.
Another example, teach them how to write a grant.
Teach them how to write a letter to a business.
Teach them how to write a cover letter.
Teach them how to write a resume.
Give an assignment to write a one page paper and post it to their blog account, the one page paper can be about anything.

Answer 3

I have a love for writing because a 3rd grade teacher had us write our own 2 page book. It was based on ourselves so we had a fighting chance at the topic.

Another teacher gave out awards for written work. He recognized paragraphs, poetry, haiku, stories, and articles written for the school paper. He was very ingenious and popular, eventually heading up English for the whole district.

There is a whole category of kids I will call the "Secret Writers." They keep journals and diaries at home but are too shy to share. They are some of the best students you can have if you can encourage them.

Also, you can assign a Mad Lib story. They have to write a story and identify parts of speech. Have them present it to the class. I laughed until I cried because some of them were so hilarious!

I also have students make greeting cards. Hallmark has nothing on some of the ones I have seen!

Best of luck to you and yours!!

Answer 4

You could try suggesting that they keep a journal/diary, about what they want to be in life or how they would spend one million, if they won the lotto.
Make it interesting to motivate them and make them want to write this down. Give them stars or prizes for the best ones.
Good luck!

Answer 5

One thing you might do is pick up a job application with an essay section on it. Then ask them again if writing is unimportant.

Answer 6

i am a student. but you should definitely let them know that people who can't spell well and have horrible grammar come off as complete idiots. to the world.