Driving, Teaching Writing, and $$$ (For 11-8-17)

So, like usual, I get caught up on one specific reading, and then my brain takes over and I have to run off with the thoughts in my head. As for what reading I can't stop thinking about, I think it's pretty clear that it's the blog post based off of my title.

For me and my experiences, I think that the analogy of driving and teaching writing (or teaching in general) is so spot, that it's kinda scary. But before I get into the questions swirling around in my head, let me start off by sharing my story of learning how to drive (and also, write).

My mother is one of the smartest and most patient people that's been a part of my life. From circling our church parking lot, to first turning out onto the open road, she is the sole person who taught me how to drive. During my first on-road class in driver's ed, my instructor told me to give my mom a pat on the back because he had never seen someone drive so well for a first lesson (even though it wasn't really my first). Regardless, she demonstrated many good strategies to teach me how to drive. And as I write this, I can hear her voice in my head sternly telling me let off the breaks as I'm turning.

Similarly to driving, my junior year and senior year English teachers are responsible for really teaching me how to write. Not only did they give me plenty of opportunities to practice, but they had me focusing singluar  skill sets depending on the work we were doing, so I never felt like I was doing everything wrong. Because of them, I now already envision introduction and conclusions as triangles, and know that editing and revising are two totally different things. And if I'm really being honest with myself, I would have really struggled with first year writing without their guidance.

Regardless, what's really on my mind are my millions of social reconstructivist  questions that were bombarding my mind as I read this, and how it connects to writing. What about the kids from families who struggle to afford school supplies? The kids who's teachers in the past bashed their writing, and now they're reluctant to it? What about the students who dismiss writing as unimportant? In some cases, all of these could be happening at once, with other things going on as well. The way I see it, I was privileged to learn how to drive in a light to middle traffic area, the roads were paved, and the parent teaching me was loving and kind and had a legally registered car that I could use for testing. Having these resources and environment made this learning process relatively painless, but after working through the majority of this course and program, I understand that this is not the reality for all students.

I guess my bigger question has to do with teaching writing and resources. When it comes writing, and personal journaling especially, I'd love to treat my class to writer's notebooks. Honestly, I'm certain I'd give the shirt off my back for students, but I'm not made of money. Then on top of that, I know that throwing money at things doesn't solve problems either. I want to teach my students how to be good writers regardless of what zip code they're growing up in, but I want to know more ways to teach good writing on a budget. Hell, I grew up in the suburbs and I remember habing a paper shortage for 2 years (which to this day blows my mind). Is there a proper formula to know if I'm spending too much of my own money on my class? If so, I want to know it.