Just Writing

“What did you learn in English today?” It's a ticket in the door, but that door is at the student’s house, and the question is asked by the parent. The answer is one that we hope they give thoughtfully. Reflectively. But what if it’s not? What if the student literally describes what he saw for today’s 55 minutes: I dunno, Mr. Newman talked to kids in class about our essays, but he didn’t get to me, so I just typed all period.

That is literally what happened today. And I can’t say that this kid isn’t telling the truth, or is leaving out the most important part. I did talk to them about their papers today. I didn’t get to everybody.

I don’t feel today was a wasted day, though. I’ve seen their drafts. The first 100 words—and then the first 300 words—were posted on the discussion board. I’ve taken those errors that many of them are making and I turned them into teachable moments: “Many of you seem to be struggling with how to add your own thoughts after a quotation. Let’s talk about that.” And we did. We looked at it done well, and we looked at it done not so well. And we went back and made it well.

That was the first 10 minutes, and about 2 of every 15 minutes thereafter: teachable moments.

And then there’s the conferencing. The payoff for that moment of clarity a student has can carry me through the day. Just yesterday we were working semi-independently in the library—I like a change of scenery now and then, to be honest—and students were at various points of “done-ness” with their single-text analysis paper. Their purpose was to determine if a magazine article’s author was successful or not in delivering the intended message. In a 10-minute span, I helped work a student through the concept of causation vs. correlation, I debated Little Richard’s contributions to music, and I advised a student to delete her whole conclusion and challenge herself to write a better one, having the full confidence that she could.

I am anxious in the best way to see the changes that occur from those early drafts to the ones they submit in the end. I have to get better at making sure those students with whom I didn't meet don't feel it's a wasted day. Could they be doing peer editing in the way described by Peter Elbow? Could they be recording a screencast of their own essay, or even someone else's? 

Evan & Keane

As the parent of two young boys,  I know I'll be asking them what they did in English today when they walk in my door. If they spent the day "just" working on their writing, knowing that this means they were crafting their writing, incorporating feedback, and exploring creative ideas, then I'll know they are doing meaningful work.