Why Blog on The Writing Web?

The first question that we are often asked at The Writing Web is: “What will they write about?”

At The Writing Web we know that everyone can write and has something to write about, because we know that everyone has something to say.  However, we also understand how curriculum demands can inhibit teachers in providing learning opportunities that are genuinely lead by the students.

  • The best way to improve students’ writing outcomes is to provide opportunities for them to experience the whole writing process. (Graham & Perin, 2007).
  • Many excellent teachers encourage blogging in their classes but they often decide what they want the students to write about, devising carefully thought out ‘invitations’ to blog. The Writing Web demands students choose and develop their own blog content.
  • The Writing Web model embodies freedom for the students to choose the content of their own writing and supports them in doing so.
  • Teachers who blog with their classes often use free at the point of access blogging sites or blog onto their school websites. However, this means that they invest significant amounts of time and effort to administering the blog, as a quality-control measure.  The Writing Web does this for you, monitoring every blog post and comment before publication.
  • Writing on the computer increases students’ motivation to write.  They enjoy writing and revising their text on the screen and this approach is particularly successful for encouraging unconfident writers.
  • The Writing Web model values teachers’ considerable existing experience and expertise, encouraging collaboration during CPD sessions and via an online forum. We value this so much that we pay you to run the blogging sessions with your students.
  • The Writing Web model embodies freedom for the students. This is also true for their teachers, who are encouraged to be creative in how sessions are delivered, in order to timetable additional provision for writing in school and encourage further research outside of school:
    • Weekly after school sessions
    • Weekly sessions before school
    • Twice weekly lunchtime sessions
    • Laptops vs the computer suite
  • Blogging sessions are limited to 10 students, enabling every teacher to engage meaningfully with every student during every session.
  • The Writing Web blogging sessions generate no additional marking.