(Jenn gave me permission to share Peter's writing with you.)
Of course, I don't know what conversation, if any, transpired between Peter and his teacher. Maybe she did tell him how proud he made her feel and how his words moved her. I just wish that's what would have been left behind on a piece special enough to share on social media and probably cherish for a long while.
Personally, I don't believe in writing on my students' writing unless we're preparing to publish. They edit as much as they can, and I edit the rest for free. Otherwise, my writing utensils don't touch their work. (I understand that in the upper grades written comments can be useful.) As a writing teacher, I must tread carefully though. Of course I want to nudge my writers, which I can do without writing on their work, but I must also inspire them. I cannot nudge or inspire, if in the end, they do not remain intact.
I love this post! I feel inadequate when it comes to teaching writing. Why? because I don't like being critical of the ideas that my writers put on the paper. It takes so much effort for some of them to grasp a pencil and get their ideas down on the paper. The I'm supposed to critique it...Yikes...It is so difficult to balance critique vs. criticize when working with fragile young souls! Thanks for giving me this to think about all day!
ReplyDeleteJenny
Jenny, there's definitely an art to conferring. Lucy Calkins has got it down pat. Me? Not so much, but I'm working on it.
DeleteDon't get me started . . . okay, go ahead. Yes, in the upper grades some margin notes are expected, maybe even wanted (in some cases) by students. But I make far fewer than I used to. I don't use pen, red or otherwise. I have been guilty of marking every punctuation and spelling error, and I know that some teachers still do. The truth is, some parents want us to do that. Here is the bottom line, though: marking all of those errors is not only painful for students, it is also ineffective writing instructions. Research tells us what we all probably instinctively suspected all along: unless students are rewriting that particular piece, the margin notes and marks on the papers don't teach students how to write better next time. And even if they are going to rewrite, if students are mindlessly repairing what I already marked, they don't learn from that experience either.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be on my high horse. I don't have this all figured out. Writing instruction is hard. But the truth is, I think most teachers mark conventions because they aren't sure what else to do, and in the process they do more harm than good.
Rant concluded. For now. (fragment)
Laur, you're right. Marking conventions is something that's easy to do. Helping writers with their ideas is much harder. I don't envy the kind of sophisticated conferring that you must do with your older writers. I wouldn't have a clue. Thanks for your rant.
DeleteGreat post, Tammy! Writing is about developing ideas. We can always clean it up afterwards. The writing process can be difficult, but the more we work at it the better we get at teaching it and the better the students become at developing their ideas.
ReplyDeleteLori
Conversations in Literacy
Lori, yep there is a place of conventions but ideas, like you said, are what writing is about. :)
DeleteThis is an interesting post because as a grown-up writer I'm thankful for an editor who doesn't mind bleeding all over my manuscript ... and truly, that's what happened in "hard edits" this week. But if I had gotten that back as a budding writer, I'm not sure I would be a writer today. You hit the nail on the head about it being all about balance and I admire you for waiting until publishing to even write on their writing ... your students are likely to flourish under your guidance and mentorship!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Barbara, I appreciate that you're not afraid to tell me what you think but always in a very respectful way. :)
DeleteGreat post today as always, Tammy! I feel that my job as a teacher of young writers is, first and foremost, to help them develop a love of writing.
ReplyDeleteConnie Anderson:)
www.welcometofirstgraderoom5.blogspot.com
Connie, I like how you view your job as a writing teacher. If our conferring centers around developing a love for writing, we're doing well.
DeleteAs usual, I nod as I read your ideas. I work hard to only answer the question asked. I ask them what they want me to be reading their paper to look for. Then I tell them what I think about that. We can only learn so much at one time and if we give them too much feedback, they will stop trying.
ReplyDeleteKimberley, yes and yes. I like how Lucy, Regie, Donald, etc. suggest one teaching point during conferences. We sure don't want to nudge with a heavy hand.
DeleteTrue confession...I worried too much about conventions and spelling that first year teaching first grade. I still don't have it all figured out...would say I've learned to focus more on the writing as a whole. I do still feel that the kiddos need to practice using conventions and spelling strategies as well. So I guess I'd say there is a balance...and giving feedback appropriately will keep those little writers intact. Thanks again, Tammy, for giving me something to think about!
ReplyDeleteCrystal
Crystal, yep there definitely is a place for conventions. I guess the trick is figuring out what a particular child needs most at any point in time. Too often we teachers go too quickly to conventions because it's easiest to spot in a child's writing when there might be something more important. Oh to figure all this out! :)
DeleteThanks for the powerful reminder of why I no longer do that.
ReplyDeleteLee, we're definitely all on that journey of progressing to better teaching practices. I'm still figuring out what not to no longer do. :)
DeleteIt amazes me how alike we are in our philosophies! :) For me, the ideas expressed are the most important part of their writing. We use a rubric-4 being the highest score. An administrator came in my class the other day and a student went and got a paper out of his mailbox to show her his paper that he had received a 4 on (not a common occurance). Her response was-look how you spelled that word and where's the punctuation-that's wrong you have to go fix that. You could just see his little bubble deflate. Yes, conventions are important, but I also think we have to do anything we can to keep them excited about writing!
ReplyDeleteNotJustChild'sPlay
Miss Trayers, ahhhhh! You've shared a perfect example of what drives me crazy about the way we approach writing. It's just way too easy for adults to zoom in on the convention problems and not see the development of great ideas in a child's piece.
DeleteThis is a good post and has me thinking. I know that everything you said is so so right, but I admit there's a big part of me that wants to fix those conventions, too. I know it's not helpful, I really do ... but sometimes I just can't help myself. I always try very hard to comment on the content and I try not to mark up their pages, but it's HARD. Why is that? I need to remember they're only 6 years old and really, just getting coherent thoughts on the paper is a miracle in itself:) This would be a good mini poster for me to tape on the back of my hand!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, well we expect perfect spelling and punctuation in our environment outside of school. We respect proper conventions. So in the classroom, it's a good goal to work towards. I like how Lucy Calkins in her Units of Study does make conventions a goal but development of ideas is the main thing. It's not always an easy balance to find though. :)
DeleteI'd love to come visit your classroom and watch you teach writing for a week. Sara
ReplyDeleteSara, well that's sweet of you to say. I've come a long way from the way I used to teach writing, but I sure do have a lot to learn still. :)
DeleteTammy, I love how your posts generate discussions. I would never fix conventions on anything my little ones write but I wasn't sure, when I first read your post, how I would feel about not correcting conventions on an older child's writing. It was actually the comments (and your responses) that helped me see that the child's actual paper is not the place to work on conventions. Thanks:)
ReplyDeleteLyn, yep conventions is one of our goals. I just choose not to write on their papers. :)
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