The Importance of Writing Skills

When asked to respond to essay questions, my students are all too often willing to only provide basic simple answers. I remember this trick from my early days in high school as I just wanted to answer the question to make my teacher happy, then turn and run as fast as I could to avoid focus on any of my half-inspired sentence fragments. I use the word "fragments" since that's all they were at the time. I just needed to give the teacher what they thought I knew, then skedaddle back to other busy work without expanding on any ideas...and no doubt it drove them nuts! Now I find myself on the receiving end of such a strategy and I sense that I need to attack this mindset.

After handing back student exams, I pulled out my stool and asked every freshman to look me straight in the eye in order to concentrate on what I was about to say. I paused until every face was focused at me, maintaining silence until there was total calm in the room.  "How many of you are going to look for a summer job in the coming weeks?"  An overwhelming majority of hands went up and I knew I had captured their attention for the next que.  "Are you aware that when you approach a potential employer they ask you to fill out a job application which in many cases includes a question or two about WHY they should hire you? Several employers also ask questions about your life goals and even a question about how you interact with people. They ask those questions in order to see how you will respond...and if you answer with words rather than sentences, your application will go into their trash. It's the cold hard truth, and if you can't construct a sentence, you will NOT be given any consideration for employment."

I explained how my past career was involved with the hiring of people for an assortment of jobs, be it management, salespeople, truck drivers, warehouse personnel, and high school youth helping us out for the summer. I shared how I reviewed their writing skills to get a sense of how much they wanted the job. It made sense for me to hire the best candidate and if they couldn't communicate their feelings in writing, I didn't want them to waste my time nor theirs. They listened and I sensed that most of them 'got it' for what it was meant to be...a moment of greater awareness of what Mr. D wanted (and expected) from his students. "With that being said, I assure you that we're going to keep working on your writing skills in the days to come...count on it. This can be a learning experience for you in more ways than you think, so work with me!"

In the coming weeks I have every intent on allocating more time to improving their writing skills, not with huge assignments but in simple tasks which will inflict little pain or traumatic stress. In an age when young people text in abbreviated acronyms, there is all the more sense of urgency on my part to make sure they are aware of the need to have the ability to write good sentences...not just for unit exams and the accompanying essays, but for life itself.

Wanting What's Best and Getting Feedback

Make no mistake, a good teacher always wants what is best for their students. We have every desire for them to understand the meaning behind our lessons, much less the knowledge that's associated with it. We want our students to perform to the best of their ability, whether or not they aspire to attain greatness. Recognizing that they are human individuals holding the ability to make personal choices (good, bad or indifferent), we need to remember that they don't always want to travel in the same direction which we point them in. We see them for who we think they should be, rather than accepting the authenticity of their free spirit. I am not advocating that they should be provided with a free reign in their approach to learning, only my acceptance that they will see things from a different perspective. However, it helps when they provide feedback on what they perceive to have learned, offering insight on ways learning has taken place.

Grading on their National History Day projects is just about complete, but prior to giving them their final grades I felt it would be a good idea to get their feedback on the past several weeks. Using a Collins Type 2 Writing Assignment at the end of class, with a minimum of eight lines I asked my students to share three things which they had learned from doing their research. What worked, what failed, what surprises did they experience, what were their frustrations...their surprises...their roadblocks. And what did they learn about themselves after undertaking such a project? Their pencils hit the paper fast, as if they were venting feelings which were pent up inside for many weeks. But I've discovered that young people want (and need) to unleash their feelings with writing assignments, and this one would be extra-special for me as a first-year teacher!

Sitting in my apartment that evening, I read every paper which students had provided to me, taking comments to heart in ways that I cherished as being brutally honest. They hit me in a good way- some in the head and many others in my heart. What follows is just a sampling of their many personal reflections, and they're listed just as they were provided (misspellings and all):

• I learned many things about researching. One thing is how to use Badger Link. I didn't know about that before but now I do. I learned that not all sites are reliable. Some information isn't true. I learned that when I have to to work I should use it wisely and not waste my time.
• One thing I learned while researching was to make sure I keep a citation of the articles I use where I can find it. I also learned to make sure I have everything done well before it is due so I have time to fix things if necessary. I learned to make sure I don't mess around or I won't get stuff done.
• I learned that I was able to write a large research paper like I will have to in college. Finding reliable sources and citing them. Also to control the schedule and get work done in the time given. Also learned about what happened after WWII and what the countries were going through. What I learned about myself is I work well in a group.
• I learned how much you have to actually read to research to get good research...
• I learned how to research using our school website. What I learned about my partner was that I probably won't do it again. I am more of an independent person, and I won't want to depend on someone to do something when they end up not doing it. I also learned how to organize stuff on a board.
• I learned that I need to be more patient with myself and that I need to work more. I learned that I have a short temper but in summary I learned a lot...
• I learned not to procrastinate the project to the last day...
• I learned that I don't like to work with people who don't hardly work and expect you to think of most of the ideas. I learned that I have a great History teacher.
• Setting goals helps getting the research done faster and makes everything run smoother. Slacking only leads to not doing your best and not getting the best grade you could...
• There's a lot of reading that takes place in research. There's a lot of new info out in books and websites that I never would've known. I hate doing research because it takes too much time but you have to do it well in a research paper.
• I learned to stay on task and get things done as soon as possible so I don't forget...
• I learned that you should double-check your save. Sometimes a file may not save correctly. You need to manage time wisely. I almost ran out of time during the project. You need to focus. It's easy to lose focus, but you need to concentrate.
• I learned that with dedication and effort and choosing the right partner, that it makes a project a lot more fun...
• I learned that sometimes when your project is not doing so well you have to think on the fly. That you can't argue with your partner otherwise you could put your project on the line...
• One thing I learned about research is that Wikipedia is not a credible site. In order to be a viable site it must have an author and a @ thing. I learned that I liked researching...
• I realized that there are many fake sites and a lot of false information online. Its hard to research a topic you don't know much about in the start. I thought choosing what to write about was difficult in the writing process. During this project I learned that time flies so you shouldn't procrastinate anything...
• I have learned about different search engines you can use for research besides Google. Along with that I've learned how to tell if information from a website is reliable or not and if it is considered a primary or secondary source. I've also learned how to decide what's important and whats not in research. About myself I've learned that I'm very much a perfectionist and I don't want anything to be done wrong. Also that I am able to pace myself appropriately.
• On doing our history day project I learned how to research properly...by not copying and paste. I learned how hard it was to actually get good research that is true. One thing I learned about myself is that I need to work immediately. I can't fall behind. Once I fall behind, I have to work that much more to catch up.
• I learned that even if your information is wrong or your project falls completely apart, you have to rebuild and redo in a rational fashion. I don't take failure well, but when I get a little help, I can keep a positive attitude.
• I learned that working with a friend on a project isn't the best choice. Me and my partner got in a huge fight during our project and it made us fall behind. I learned that you need to work on the project not just at school, but use your free time to get the project done. Use all the time you have.
• I learned that not everything on the internet is true and using Google isn't accurate. You have to know if there isn't one then the stuff probably isn't true. Badger Link helped a lot because everything on it was true. All the webs cited looked very accurate....