Linking Reading to Writing for Caribbean Teachers

 We hope to answer the needs of some young teachers in Trinidad and Tobago on how to be better writers in order to teach writing. In this regard they asked several questions. The following were among them.

“How can we use our writing skills to help our students  acquire Standard English?”

“I left secondary school many years ago so I am a bit ‘rusty’ do you think it will be hard for me to pick up writing again?”

“Can we use readings from Caribbean authors as a starting point for our classes?”

“I hope you are the only person who will be reading what I write.”

*The aim is to have our teachers see themselves as writers, in order to gain confidence in the act of writing and to link  their reading to  their writing.

This  blog seeks to encourage young teachers in Trinidad and Tobago to see themselves as writers. This is one way of improving their own writing skills and readying themselves to teach writing. It also seeks to link the reading habit to the act of writing. The ideas came from the expressed needs of  the teachers themselves at one of our teacher training institutions in T&T. This space is dedicated to them.  

 A note to our teachers:

DON’T BE  SHY, share you reflections and writing efforts with others in the response spaces that are provided.  Post up your dreams.

Read the following sections and raise questions  on them:

• A mindset for writing: Caribbean authors and you
• Reading in order to write
• Journalling and personal expressive writing
• Getting the writing habit and resources for writing