I have always had authentic and genuine writing experiences as a student. It wasn't until my later years of high school when I slowly began to dislike writing. My elementary teachers made writing fun and motivating. They often allowed me to choose what I wanted to write about or be creative and publish my work in different ways. I even remember creating a video piece where I wrote a book report and summary, but filmed it in a special location with my friends and dad, while I acted as the narrator. I wrote a lot during school and even during my free time. I had aspirations to write a children's novel or submit other works for publishing. I loved the connection between literature and writing, and was often inspired by the literature I would read in school and at home. The progressive learning model (Gibbons, 2002) exemplifies how I was taught to write. I was behind the driver's seat of my own learning. My teachers served as a passenger guiding me and mapping out the different routes I would follow. My teachers allowed me to focus on both the process and product of learning during writing instruction and activities.
