- reflection
- Writing
- Curriculum Design
- Teaching
- Critical Thinking
- mentor texts
- conferencing
- scaffolding lessons
- teaching reluctant writers
- Teaching Creative Writing
- Teaching Reading and Writing
- Teaching Personal Writing
Teaching Writing Specialization
Teaching Writing Reading Learning Leader. Examine and apply theories and best practices to improve the teaching of writing to students of all grade levels and disciplines, in and out of a formal school environment.
Offered By
What you will learn
Theories and practical methods to teach writing to students of all grade levels in all disciplines and situations.
What the writing process is and how it can help improve student writing.
How writing as discovery, low-stakes writing and reflection can help students grow more comfortable and confident as writers.
Reasons why students might be reluctant writers, and tools and techniques to help them become more comfortable and confident as writers.
Skills you will gain
About this Specialization
Applied Learning Project
Learners will examine and adapt best practices in the teaching of writing to meet their own students’ needs and situations, regardless of grade level, discipline or skill level. They will create activities and lesson plans designed to help their students improve their writing skills, and will reflect on the theories and values that guide their teaching.
Teaching experience, or a desire to become a teacher in the future, and to use writing in some capacity with your students, whether within or outside a formal school environment, and regardless of grade level or discipline.
Teaching experience, or a desire to become a teacher in the future, and to use writing in some capacity with your students, whether within or outside a formal school environment, and regardless of grade level or discipline.
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 5 Courses in this Specialization
Teaching Writing Process
Half a century ago, a revolution took place in the teaching of writing. Educators asked, “What if we were to study how professional writers wrote, as a way to learn how we might teach writing more effectively?” The result was the writing process movement, with its emphasis on not just writing as product but as process. Good writing doesn’t magically appear, nor does it spring from the brain fully formed and perfect the first time. Instead, all writers engage in a process, and while that process can vary writer to writer, some stages do seem to apply, in some way, to almost every writing situation. This course demonstrates how teaching writing as process can lead to a significant increase in students’ comfort level and confidence as writers. Learners will examine methods for teaching writing as discovery, and for using low-stakes writing and reflection in their classes. They’ll fill their toolbox with practical strategies and techniques for teaching writing to students of any age, in any situation.
Teaching Reluctant Writers
All educators will encounter students who struggle with writing. This course first focuses on the reasons student writers may be reluctant and then provides learners with a variety of strategies and practices to help reluctant writers develop a greater comfort and confidence with writing. Learners will examine classroom relationships, mentoring, scaffolding, conferencing, low-risk writing and mini-lessons, all tools and techniques that can be brought right into the classroom to help struggling writers increase student participation and success in writing. They'll conduct their own study of one reluctant writer and use their learning to help create a plan for teaching reluctant writers in their current and future classrooms.
Teaching Texts and Forms
The first job of any writer is to get words down on paper, and teaching writing as process helps students gain the fluency, comfort and confidence they need to succeed at any writing task. But complex, comprehensive writing tasks often bring with them specific expectations and conventions the writer must address to be successful. This course will examine some of those more comprehensive writing tasks: personal essays; argument, analysis and other forms of transactional writing; and creative writing. Learners will also identify strategies for supporting the reading/writing connection and practical assignments for engaging students in writing around texts.
Responding, Revising and Assessing Student Writings
When writers write, readers respond. Responding to student writing gives teachers one of the most meaningful avenues to help students learn and grow. In this module, learners will identify best practices in effectively responding to student writing. You will also define revision, identify how revision differs from editing, and examine strategies for teaching students how to engage in effective revision. Finally, because writing can also be used for testing, and because all students learn in increments over time, learners will identify a number of strategies for evaluating and assessing student writing, both for individual writings and a student writer’s progress over a period of time. Learners will also consider ways to involve students in both the responding and assessment processes. At the conclusion of this course, learners will have a toolbox full of strategies and practices for these three significant components of any writing class: responding to, revising and assessing student writing.
Offered by

Johns Hopkins University
The mission of The Johns Hopkins University is to educate its students and cultivate their capacity for life-long learning, to foster independent and original research, and to bring the benefits of discovery to the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the refund policy?
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Is financial aid available?
Can I take the course for free?
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
What background knowledge is necessary?
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
What will I be able to do upon completing the Specialization?
I have no teaching experience. Will I be able to do everything asked in the courses?
I teach privately but not in an academic setting. Can I benefit from this specialization?
I’m not an English teacher. I teach Science, but I’d like my students to write more. Will this specialization help me?
I teach writing, but I don’t enjoy doing it myself. Will I have to do much writing in these courses?
I’ve been teaching writing for twenty years. How can this specialization help me?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.