Throughout my life, both in my childhood and in my adult years, I have received advice in a lot of different situations. When I was young, I thought I knew it all and only halfway listened when my parents, teachers, or coaches tried to give me suggestions. Maybe they knew this, probably so, and I had to fail quite a bit in order to recognize the value of the feedback I had received. Now that I've been teaching for almost 20 years (and also from just living life!), I know that the advice that was given was spoken in love. I know this because my advice to students now is spoken in love. When I comment on a student's writing, I'll labor over how to best help them out so that they can use my encouragement for the next time.
Do our students get that?
If they're anything like I was, it will take time and consistency.
As a middle school English teacher, I believe that one of the strongest keys to success is the communication of ideas. These ideas might be spoken, written, or even non-verbally delivered. And each student has valuable ideas to share. My job is to bring out the best in students and their delivery of ideas.
I've also coached for many years, and a recent analogy I used when teaching personal narrative to my 6th graders was to keep your eye on the ball when standing in the batter's box. I had recently returned the students' expository pieces (how-to essays) with feedback on their Google Docs via Google Classroom, and I wanted them to "use the advice" that I had offered in that previous feedback when beginning their personal narratives.
That warranted a few giggles from the kiddos.
I had them pull up their previous returned how-to essays (with my comments) in a new tab on their chrome books right next to the open personal narrative tab they had open and were beginning to type up.
I desire to provide writing advice for more students! I set up an online tutoring site to help middle grade students strengthen their writing through personal connection and valuable feedback. Take a look at the video I created to see the professional feedback I can provide.
And click through my JustWrite Website to see if this is something your middle grade students might need. Or just contact me via my gmail if you've got any questions: justwritewitht@gmail.com
Now it's time to grade these personal narratives, 54 to be exact. While that can be a harrowing task, I look forward to learning if my students followed my advice and kept their eyes open during this at bat!
Do our students get that?
If they're anything like I was, it will take time and consistency.
As a middle school English teacher, I believe that one of the strongest keys to success is the communication of ideas. These ideas might be spoken, written, or even non-verbally delivered. And each student has valuable ideas to share. My job is to bring out the best in students and their delivery of ideas.
I've also coached for many years, and a recent analogy I used when teaching personal narrative to my 6th graders was to keep your eye on the ball when standing in the batter's box. I had recently returned the students' expository pieces (how-to essays) with feedback on their Google Docs via Google Classroom, and I wanted them to "use the advice" that I had offered in that previous feedback when beginning their personal narratives.
"If I were your baseball or softball coach and I noticed that your eyes were closed when you were swinging the bat, the perfect first piece of advice I could give you is to...Keep Your Eyes Open!"
"And of course, if your eyes are closed during an at bat, there is likely more to work on than simply opening your eyes. Shifting your weight at the right moment and then leading with your hands should also occur, among other things, but let's just take care of that eyes open thing first. After you get that, then let's build into the next piece."
I had them pull up their previous returned how-to essays (with my comments) in a new tab on their chrome books right next to the open personal narrative tab they had open and were beginning to type up.
"Take what I commented about from your how-to essays and use that advice for your personal narratives. Wouldn't it be silly if I told you to open your eyes in the batter's box and you ignored my advice? I'm here to help you succeed and strengthen your writing. Use my advice to become a better writer."
I desire to provide writing advice for more students! I set up an online tutoring site to help middle grade students strengthen their writing through personal connection and valuable feedback. Take a look at the video I created to see the professional feedback I can provide.
And click through my JustWrite Website to see if this is something your middle grade students might need. Or just contact me via my gmail if you've got any questions: justwritewitht@gmail.com
Now it's time to grade these personal narratives, 54 to be exact. While that can be a harrowing task, I look forward to learning if my students followed my advice and kept their eyes open during this at bat!
Comments
Post a Comment