{"id":33,"date":"2010-10-29T15:51:58","date_gmt":"2010-10-29T15:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=33"},"modified":"2014-04-07T07:16:56","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:16:56","slug":"creative-writing-without-the-pen-and-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"Creative Writing, without the Pen and Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tiffany Buchanan<\/em><\/p>\n

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Mr. Coffman and some of his Creative Writing students take time from their stories for a picture.
Photo by: Silian Oseguera<\/p><\/div>\n

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A unique course has recently been added to Plymouth High School\u2019s curriculum.\u00a0 It allows students to express their creative writing skills, but does not require a traditional classroom setting.\u00a0 Mr. Coffman and various students enrolled in the course provide a deeper explanation of Creative Writing.
\nWith an interest in directing online courses, Mr. Coffman took on this challenge as a perfect opportunity to teach creative writing, which is something he loves.\u00a0 He explains, \u201cBeyond journalism and yearbook, it is the only elective that the English department offers.\u00a0 I think it is a terrific opportunity for students to not only learn, but to have fun with writing.\u201d
\nMost of the students took this class, not only to critique their writing skills, but also because they thought it would be a fun change of pace.\u00a0 Junior Morgan Hill tells, \u201cI spend a lot of my free time writing and the idea of a course that encourages writing and creative thinking sounded interesting to me.\u201d\u00a0 Senior Stephanie Eckard agrees by saying, \u201cI took it because I thought it would be fun to write something other than research papers!\u201d
\nUnlike ordinary daily agendas, these students find their assignments on Moodle at the start of the week.\u00a0 Junior Grace Anders explains, \u201cMr. Coffman posts our weekly assignments on Moodle and we turn them in by their due dates.\u00a0 If we have questions, we can contact Mr. Coffman during the school day or call\/email him.\u201d\u00a0 Senior Christina Green gives a more in depth glance at how this class operates.\u00a0 \u201cWe usually read two chapters a week, write at least 600 words in our weekly journals, submit and reply in our weekly response groups, and write various numbers of poems.\u201d\u00a0 She further explains all class discussions are shared through forums and assignments have specific drop boxes for when completed, leaving no need for the use of paper.
\nAs with any classroom settings, there are benefits to the setting and style of the atmosphere. Mr. Coffman likes that this class allows his students to work at their own pace.\u00a0 Green agrees by saying, \u201cThe greatest benefit of being in a class that never meets is being able to do all the work whenever I want.\u00a0 I can write when I feel like writing instead of at a set time every day.\u00a0 Also, most assignments are due at 11:55 pm on Sundays, so I have all\u00a0 week to work on them.\u00a0 I honestly don\u2019t think there is a down side to the class\u00a0 being online.\u201d
\nOn the other hand, in terms of difficulties Mr. Coffman thinks, \u201cthere is more opportunity for miscommunication, but so far the creative writing class has gone very smoothly.\u201d\u00a0 He explains the hardest aspect is most likely time management and says, \u201cAt least 70% of the workload is due Sunday night, so if a student procrastinates, Sunday is probably more stressful than it has to be.\u201d
\nThis class is designed to help students develop their skills and provide techniques to better their writing.\u00a0 Hill says, \u201cSo far, it has helped me learn how to do quick writes, which is like a scratchy rough draft just filled with ideas.\u00a0 I\u2019m also learning how to dig deeper into details in writing.\u201d\u00a0 Anders agrees, \u201cWe have to write pretty much everyday and that in itself improves my writing skills.\u00a0 On top of this, our assignments are challenging and thought-provoking and my writing skills are honed a bit more every week.\u201d
\nMr. Coffman added an interesting touch to this class when he required each student to pick a published author\u2019s name to use as his\/her own pen name, or alias.\u00a0 He reasons, \u201cWriters need feedback, but as I tell all of my students, each person\u2019s writing is like his or her child.\u00a0 He or she is protective of it and will do whatever is necessary to defend it.\u00a0 This is mostly because people feel such a sense of responsibility for it.\u00a0 It can be\u00a0 hard not to take comments personally.\u00a0 For that reason, it is beneficial to have anonymity where students feel like people are providing positive and constructive feedback about the writing rather than the person.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good feeling both ways.\u201d
\nWhile some students enjoy the alias, others are not a fan.\u00a0 Senior Stephanie Ford is in favor of using an author\u2019s name on the pieces she writes because it helps her feel less self-conscious of her work.\u00a0 Green explains, \u201cI love having a pen name.\u00a0 Our pen names allow us to write on a personal level without fearing what other students will think of us.\u00a0 Also, we are able to criticize and comment on works without being biased in any way.\u00a0 Finally, my best friend (Stephanie Diedrich) is in the class too, and we have the best time teasing each other and guessing what our pen names are!\u00a0 She has no idea who I am, and it is funny watching her rationalize her guesses.\u201d\u00a0 Anders agrees the aliases are fun.\u00a0 She says, \u201cYou know that there are six other girls in the class and it is inevitable that we try to find out who the others are.\u00a0 We have fun because, for the most part, no one knows who the others are, though everyone is constantly trying!\u201d\u00a0 On the other hand, Eckard would rather use her own name, but understands some people might feel more comfortable publishing their writing under and alias.
\nMr. Coffman concludes with two things he wants all students to know about this course.\u00a0 \u201cFirst, it is not fluff.\u00a0 A lot of thinking is required and I think at the end the students will look at the world with a heightened sense of perception.\u00a0 The habits of thinking and techniques a student learns here can provide a basis for a lifetime of creative writing, published or not published.\u00a0 Second, the course employs a portfolio concept.\u00a0 By the end, there should be a deep level of personal satisfaction because a person would have a thirty-page portfolio of one\u2019s own creativity for display.\u00a0 That is a treasure for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tiffany Buchanan A unique course has recently been added to Plymouth High School\u2019s curriculum.\u00a0 It allows students to express their creative writing skills, but does not require a traditional classroom setting.\u00a0 Mr. Coffman and various students enrolled in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-news","tag-october-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}