Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I am almost certain Aesop’s Fable, The Tortoise and The Hare, was written for teachers teaching writing. As I begin this year I realized I often place unrealistic goals upon myself and my students, but as I did more thinking the goal isn’t unrealistic—my process is. High expectations are great to have, but kids are not going to write like college students the first time their pen hits the paper.  So as I am writing this blog at an ungodly hour, I want to remind myself how to get the writing result that I want.  My first year teaching I received advice that I will always try to remember, “Diana, if you want your kids to do anything, you must teach them each step to mastery, so they can perform independently.”

                My homeroom students are just absolutely frustrated with writing at the current moment, and they are feeling defeated, which is partly my fault because I had them write an informative essay with research too early in the year. This particular group of students struggle with writing, I know that about them, and I wanted them to struggle, but not as much as they did.   That first year advice came back to me in a powerful way.  I am rushing the process. Here is the plan, and I really hope it works. Mistakes and failures lead to success and perseverance, right?

1. Journal Writing

Students need to be able to dump their ideas onto the pages, and understand they can always go back to edit.  Being able to put ideas on the paper is the best way to get started.  Grammar and spelling will not matter at first; getting started can be hardest part.  If students are used to the task of just writing, then starting won’t be so hard.

2.  Constructed Responses and Summaries

Taking the next bigger step will feel natural to kids who have felt success along the way and are comfortable with a smaller scale writing piece. Using planning sheets to help students organize their ideas and evidence will help them map out their responses, and show them what   I expect them to be able to do ultimately.  

3. Essays

Essays are a series of constructed responses and summaries, so by chunking, kids should be able to feel less stress and defeat.  The length of an essay seems daunting, but if they know how to break it down, they will feel and be capable.  Once they are writing essays then we can move into the editing and revising process.

With this plan, I think I can get this group of kids writing more independently and successfully by the end of the year, which is the goal in the first place. THE END OF THE YEAR DIANA, not the beginning of September.