Write an essay in which you articulate your thoughts or philosophy regarding teaching writing.  The scope of this essay: around 1000 words.  Your audience: Teachers, prospective teachers, and other education professionals.

Make it Personal

Write a "personal" essay--that is, use first-person, and discuss your own teaching experiences and/or teaching prospects, as well as your own learning experiences.

But also keep in mind that your audience is professional.  My goal is to have you write an essay that you can then revise, if you ever need to, for a teaching portfolio, or for a job application.  (Educational institutions often require statements of teaching philosophy with job applications.)  So this is not a "personal essay" in the sense that it's not all about your feelings--rather, it's about your professional role.

On the other hand, you may have absolutely no teaching experience.  In that case, please don't feel the need to pretend to be something you're not.  You may have some provisional ideas about teaching and at the same time be fully aware that, once you get some experience under your belt, your ideas will evolve.

Other Considerations

Consider the following questions and prompts:
1.  What can you say about the role(s) of a writing teacher?
2.  How do students learn to write?  Is writing even teachable?
3.  What are the components or elements of "writing skills"?  What are some ways to teach those various elements?
4.  How do you prepare students to engage different writing modes or genres?
5.  What is the significance of reading--in students' ability to write, and in your writing classroom?
6.  What are some of the implications of the internet and the proliferation of electronic text?  How do these effect your writing classroom?
7.  Consider some of the basic tasks of a writing teacher: assigning, responding to and grading writing, running classroom activities.
8.  Write about your own experience as a writer. How have you learned to write?  What sorts of writing do you do?  What sorts of writing should college students be able to do?