It's too bad that we focus on the negative. I've had a successful career so far, and I've received a lot of accolades about teaching writing to middle grade kids. I don't mean to say that my instruction is perfect, because I can tell you it is not. But I do get students to work hard. One thing I always tell my students is that you get better at something by practicing. If you want to make free throws, practice free throws. If you want to learn to dance, practice dance. If you want to become a stronger reader, read. And, of course, it follows that if you want to be a better writer...
Write.
Over the years I have given my 6th grade students a lot of opportunity to write stories, narratives, and essays, and I've seen much growth over the course of a year or two.
When parents push back, though, you tend to analyze your existing methods and consider what should be done better. A few years back, after a particular doozy of a meeting, I unintentionally became more intentional about my teaching of the writing process. The tone of the parent requested meeting was completely negative, and we resolved little. And I wasn't planning on changing things.
But I did.
But I did.
While I didn't want specific parental comments to guide my methodology when teaching personal narrative, those negative comments stuck with me and affected change.
At the end of the day, parents want what is best for their kids, and teachers should always listen. With writing process criticisms in the back of my mind, my writing process instruction approached another level.
I don't know how many of you English teachers out there read ALL your students' papers carefully, but I do, and I've worked out an efficient way of correcting over the years. However, efficiency can breed routine, and routine can give birth to stagnancy.
I was not at the point of stagnancy, but efficiency and routine had become close confidants of mine. Don't get me wrong--I think my lesson plans are ever-improving, but this particular meeting was the wake up call I wasn't expecting.
Step it up.
We had recently received a new resource for writing across the curriculum at our school, and I was able to tap into the Step Up To Writing resource for my 6th and 7th graders for the first time that year. I had planned to study the resource and add depth to my writing even without the parental contact, but our meeting caused me pause, and it allowed me to reflect, which in turn encouraged me to tackle the issue head on.
Perhaps I would have improved my methodology anyway when I began to teach that personal narrative unit to the students with the Step Up To Writing resource; I am quite certain I would have. But I guess I'll never know the answer to that.
Regardless, the personal narratives were a success, maybe more so because a parent pushed back.
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