An archived stack of papers: 'Writing'
They Don’t Know
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Apr
- 23
- 2009
Sample videos. Model paragraphs. Professional sentences. Anchor papers. Published works. Student drafts.
Students read them. They vote on which is best. They talk about why they like them. They find identifying characteristics that explain what one does better than the other. Dead silent classes and phrases straight off a rubric that are meaningless, this almost never changes the way students... read more
Writing: Freedom Vs. Definition
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Feb
- 24
- 2009
We’ve steadily worked our way through the majority of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. We have about one-hundred pages left. One practice, group paragraph and one big-point, solo paragraph later, we’re about ready to dive into the conclusion. I’ll hit them with a writing assignment Thursday and move on to a ... read more
Give A Little Bit
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Sep
- 26
- 2008
I walk around the room and give one of two lines to struggling writers. We have five minutes to write each day (actually, ten minutes today) and some want to stall the whole time. Staring at the blank page that is even more intimidating than the actual assignment, “I’m thinking” being the excuse du jour for not writing, The Shrug meeting my questioning glance, these are the students... read more
First-Draft In Video
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Aug
- 08
- 2008
I’m sure this gentleman is a nice fellow, that he’s got lots of things to tell the world, that he’s incredibly smart, and that he could teach me a thing or nine about how to better use my computer. However, this is the video equivalent of a first-draft essay being turned in as a final draft. As it ends up, that’s great because this does a nice job in making the point about the... read more
Horrible Music Day
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Aug
- 07
- 2008
Bad music lingers like bad food: you feel the effects hours after initial contact; gradual nausea sets in; you finally throw up and feel much better about things immediately after; but, when the memory returns to your head a short while later, it’s just as bad as in the beginning. While eating lunch, we heard the following songs:
“How Will I Know” – Whitney... read more
Can’t Separate
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Apr
- 07
- 2008
In theory, my idea for writing assessment this year was good. In practicality, it did not work.
I started off with the idea of assessing writing for only one thing at a time. Every so often, I’d assign a piece of writing that evaluated several of those skills at once. As I tried to keep that going, the realization hit me that when... read more
Picture Write
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Dec
- 18
- 2007
Something hit me tonight, browsing around and thinking about how to fix a mess I’ve made of student writing this semester (more on that tomorrow — possible solutions first, though you don’t know the exact problem yet). I’ve spent... read more
Put Your Comments In A Table
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Oct
- 16
- 2007
Do you find yourself writing the same comments on student papers? For any given assignment, are you finding patterns of errors that you comment on? Probably a mix of 5-10 different comments, but everything you write is a variation of the same set of comments, right?
Here’s how to get that base set of comments that will make the rest of your grading easier (at least for that one assignment).... read more
Scaffolded Writing Assessment
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Sep
- 17
- 2007
Here’s the first thing I’m evaluating in writing: evidence. I’m practically giving them the thesis and seeing if they can find evidence to match their interpretation. We’re working with the technicolor paragraph model, something I emphasize every year and that never goes out of style. It’s a model that works on... read more
A Drastic Grade Policy
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Mar
- 26
- 2007
My juniors spent about 2 months working on timed writing. The rubric I use is based on the SAT rubric and the English Placement Test rubric for the state college system. We are preparing for two fairly significant tests in their academic future and reasoning skills needed in their employment future. We wrote paragraphs, examined samples, rifled through the rubric, and sketched skeletons of arguments... read more