A Healer’s Geste

Sobering

I just summarized everything I teach in Writing 1 & 2 (minus the formal grammar I add to Writing 2), with a smattering of what I teach in Writing 3 in 8 half-sheets. It wasn’t difficult to do. I don’t think it’s difficult to understand. I have been paid hundreds of dollars to teach what can be reduced to 4 pages. Woah.

Actually, I believe I was paid for creating assignments, giving deadlines, and grading papers more than for actually teaching. The content of writing and what to look for in writing takes some practice and deliberate thought to flesh out, but it’s pretty easy to convey once it’s clear in your own mind.

One of the most important things I learned while teaching is that students crave structure and rules. Give them as much structure and specifics about what you want as possible. Detail how many sentences minimum, how many sentences maximum, how many times they can use a specific word, how many openers to use, etc. etc. Give them exactly what to write about, most importantly. Do this for at least half a year, or until they have gained mastery in that. Slowly add choice and freedom. Use the freedom as an opportunity to show why they would want to choose to do it similarly to the way you’ve taught them. Model, on the board in front of them, how to go about completing an assignment. Model, on the board in front of them with their input, how to narrow a topic, create an opinion, state it in a thesis, and brainstorm persuasive points to make (that’s pretty much all we did in Writing 3, 9th grade essay writing, all year, with 6 or 7 essays).

Principles of Teaching Writing to Middle School Students:

1. They will not understand until you model it for them. Explain it. Model it. Explain it. Do it together. Model it. Assign it. Correct it. Explain it. Model it. Assign it. Repeat.
2. They will collapse under the weight of a blank brain unless you have explained (3 times, generally, and in writing in front of them) exactly what you want. Scrupulous students want to know what you want so they can do it just right. Lazy students want to know what you want so they know what they can get away with. Clueless students need to know what you want so they can progress at all beyond a blank paper. Tell it to them 3 times. Write it on the board. Give them assignment handouts with bullet points and post it on the internet. Half the students will follow the instructions.
3. Whenever possible, watch students as they work. Go over their progress as they do in-class work. The earlier you can catch misunderstandings and mistakes, the less likely they will become habits and the easier they are to explain and correct. The most valuable student feedback the teacher can get is what the students are thinking as they do their assignment.