Welcome to our blog for Reluctant Writers. The purpose of this site is to provide educators, parents and anyone wishing to know more information for helping reluctant writers. This blog will be a wealth of information about the complicated writing process and will provide links, app reccomendations and professional development in this particular area. Hope you find it a very 'useful' blog for your particular needs. Enjoy and feel free to send suggestions or ask questions regarding the writing process.

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Emotional Barriers to Writing: Are These Sometimes Overlooked?

I am sure we have all encountered students who have writing difficulties because of emotional barriers in their lives. Whether a student is scared, anxious, experiencing low self-esteem, fear of failure or any of the thousands of combinations which can change from day to day, it is critical that we “assist” them in these areas. Before students are able to write, we must be able to minimize these issues.
There are many ways to improve the symptoms of Emotional Behavioral Disorders.

Instead of dealing with the problem after the fact, we must respond at an earlier stage.
After watching this video can you imagine a students like this expected to write?  These factors need to be addressed in order for any written out can be acheived.  Providing and outlet to express their thoughts and feelings could be very therapeutic.  You can use programs that enable some element of fun when learning to write and a program that will build in immediate sucess.  Voice to text would be wonderful to ask them to get their words on paper.  A fun wordle might spark interest in the beginning stages of writing. Making a video and adding text and a little story would also be calming and allow them to process the writing task in increments.

Some apps we have found to help calm and relax the anxious student.




Pocket Pond (free)
Create relaxing ripples, while you enjoy the sounds of nature. This app will help cleanse your worried and free your mind. Interactive water reacts to touches and swipes. You can even feed the fish.


Zen Meditation ($0.99)
Sophiscated sequences of binaural tones, synchronized the listeners brainwaves with low frequency theta waves associated with deep meditation. Headphones are recommended. Induces a meditative state of mind to help relax and calm.




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