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Doing Freewriting With Your Student
by Cindy Ebeling, 1997
Freewriting is a great mental exercise for students (and aspiring writers). We encourage tutors to do occasional freewriting with their students. Please don't comment on the grammar or structure of your student's writing. Just point out your student's stronger points and suggest s/he do freewriting as a relaxation technique or as a warm-up before writing. Study the dialogue below and see how the tutor approaches this subject with his student. You will see it's strictly a peer-to-peer thing.
Tutor: We have about fifteen minutes left. Why don't we do some freewriting?
Student: What is "freewriting"?
Tutor: Freewriting is when you sit down and write anything that comes to mind. You and I both can do this together. Afterwards, we can share our writing samples if you want to. Freewriting is quite fun actually.
Student: Really, I'm not sure what to write about.
Tutor: Not knowing what to write about is a frequent reaction people have when they first experience it. That's why I have a list of different topics we could write about.
Student: Hmm. I will write about divorce. I saw my parents go through it and it was a strange time for me.
Tutor: Good topic. I'd like to see what you will say. I'll write about "divorce" too.
| Student's Paper: | Tutor's Paper: |
| My parents got divorced when I was 13 years old. It was a really rough time for me. I remember seeing my little brother crying when our mother left. I wanted to kick her! She really hurt him. He was too young to understand why she left. Dad was a lousy cook but he got better over time. (He preferred using the microwave, not the stove, but we ate well anyway.) Now my father is remarried to another woman who is really nice. I like her even though she is not my real mother. I still keep in touch with my real mother but my brother is nasty to her. I know she hurt him a lot but he really needs to get over the divorce and forgive her mistakes. My father wasn't perfect either but I know both still love us. When I see other kids whose parents are divorced, I feel bad for them because I have gone through it myself. I have a friend whose parents never married and they raised her just fine. Maybe I'll never get married but will just raise my kids myself... | Divorce. It's that big "D" word many people are reluctant to discuss. A lot of my friends come from broken homes and some seem bitter about it. Divorce scares me because I don't want to be heartbroken and in debt. What if I get married and end up divorced later? Is it worth it? Better make sure I marry a good person. I will try to find someone who is a lot like me. That way we can always be friends no matter what happens, especially if we have children together. My uncle got divorced and my (former) aunt got custody of the kids, but they STILL fight over these kids. My cousins frequently complain about how their parents use them against each other and how they are stuck in the middle. Statistics have shown that the divorce rate has gone down eleven percent since 1980. Saw it on some TV documentary. Used to be that 50% of all marriages ended in divorce...It seems people are working harder to save their marriages... |
Tutor: Wow! Time is almost up. How did you feel about this activity?
(Let Student share their feelings. Don't criticize or judge. If you feel comfortable, you may ask the student if they would like to read your paper while you read theirs.)
Tutor: Freewriting is a good activity to do. Remember you can do freewriting anytime you need to. It helps to do a bit of freewriting before starting any paper whether it's a term paper, an essay or a letter to your friend. It warms the mind before composing a paper just like stretching your limbs warms your body before playing sports. Freewriting is also good when you need to sort out your thoughts and feelings. It not only excellent writing practice, it's great exercise for the mind, body and soul. Let's do it again the next time we meet.
Note: See Dialogue Journals.