The Teaching Method of Natalie Robinson Cole

Creative Writing

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As with the other art modalities Natalie Robinson Cole uses in her classroom, creative writing is used as a way to get in touch with the child's inner thoughts, emotions and spirit.  It is also used as a way to build a rapport between her and her students.  Children are asked to write about themes in their own experiences.  

As Robinson Cole says, sometimes "grammar and punctuation could take a vacation if need be" (p. 99).  The content and the ideas are more important than proper grammar in the beginning.  Her students didn't all start out writing literary masterpieces to start with.  She came up with a way for them to feel proud of their work and want to try their best by implementing a "Wall Newspaper" (p. 99).  As with painting, she felt the writing surface should be large enough to hang on a wall cupboard.  

The students in her class wrote about their life experiences, their dreams, and things that made them feel embarrassed or insecure.  By sharing these often very deep and private experiences, she built a level of trust between her and her students that isn't often found in many student-teacher dyads.  As they went through the process of writing, she taught them punctuation.  Spelling was taught only when a child asked how to spell a word.  This way of teaching kept freedom and creativity at the forefront of the writing process, rather than being bogged down by structure, grammar, and spelling.  Robinson Cole had the children illustrate their stories as well, which deepened the creative process.  

For Robinson Cole, creative writing was a way to get children to express themselves, which would help her better understand them.  She felt it was a process much like painting that couldn't be rushed.  It had to unfold on it's own as the teacher student bond of trust was built.