Writing...one thing I've noticed about myself as a writer (not that I didn't know this before), is how much of a procrastinator I am. All through my academic life I've been one to get my best writing done at the last minute. Yet as an educator I want my students to plan, to write rough drafts, to revise, to edit, to rewrite and publish. Yes, I give them time to engage in writing on a regular basis on any topic of their choosing. But when it comes to the whole writing process, especially with the introduction of doing their final drafts on computers, the stamina in my classes writing tends to wane. One thing I've noticed on a writing project that we are finally wrapping up, is how many students did not even use their rough drafts to type up their final copies. Today I was typing for one of my students and she told me her story from her mind. It was fantastic! Interesting word choice, comical, suspenseful & just plain entertaining. Time was a constraint for this student. They had great ideas but tended to lose focus when transferring their ideas in written form. As for the use of technology, a lot of my students still need a lot of work on their typing skills. Which in turn hinders them from being efficient when working on the final stages of a writing project, hence the drop in stamina. This really made me recognize that I have to keep giving my students various entry points into their writing lives. I need to keep allowing them the freedom to write what they want to. As well as give them ample opportunities to write across the disciplines, introduce new forms of writing, peer writing, and word processing skills. Next year, I will be blogging with my students at the start of the school year and more importantly we will blog together as a part of the Slice of Life community. Join me on this 31 day journey for the month of March with twowritingteachers.org and their 10th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. #sol17
2 Comments
I love the reflection at the end of this very thoughtful piece.
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Adrienne
3/16/2017 05:29:33 am
"how many students did not even use their rough drafts to type up their final copies. "
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AuthorI am a grade 3/4 teacher in Calgary, AB, Canada. This is a space for my reflections as an educator. ArchivesCategories |