Revising and Editing: The Thoughts of a 1st Year Teacher

The topic for discussion for my (online) class for today was "Writing Programs and Curricula: Looking Critically at our practice." After reading chapter 1, The Writing Workshop: A Predictable Structure from Marvelous Minilessons for Teaching Intermediate Writing, Grades 4-6 by L. Rog, I couldn't help but reflect on the way my school requires us to revise and edit student work.

Recently, I posted to a class discussion with the revise and edit checklists that my class/school uses. While I love these because they are so helpful in accomplishing the goal of perfecting our work so that it is ready for the writing folders, I realized that the goal was the problem here. I am constantly struggling with the idea that every single writing activity that we do has to be perfect. Why does every essay/paragraph have to be revised/edited 3+ times to make it perfect? Doesn't that take the fun out of writing?

I love the idea of TAG conferences put forth by Rog in this chapter. I would love to just meet with my students and converse about their thoughts, give advice and answer any questions they might have. Rog did mention that if the writing was "going out into the world," she would look it over and act as the editor to ensure that there were no mistakes. However, she stated that classroom publications should be edited by the student and don't need to solely focus on grammar, spelling, etc.

Sometimes I wish I could go against the grain and revise and edit as Rog suggests but the reality is, that will not be happening at my school. There are very specific ways of doing pretty much everything. Now, while the system we have isn't perfect, it works! I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't reflect upon my teaching and how I can better my instruction. Sadly, the opportunity to completely better myself just isn't going to happen in this setting!

Something to look forward to down the line? Perhaps! If I stay at my school? I will just have to TAG my students every once in a while after I have closed the door... ;)

A Date @ the Met with 7 boys and 3 girls

I am SO beyond excited for my class trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art tomorrow! We were supposed to go way back when during the last week of October, but enter Hurricane Sandy! Needless to say, we are heading there tomorrow. Now the kids are simply excited that they can wear jeans but I cannot wait to spend time with them outside of the classroom. Yes, it is educational but the conversations could go anywhere as we travel from one ancient civilization to another! Stay tuned for an update (and maybe some pics)on our trip, which I know will be fabulous!

A Mini-Thought on Minilessons

Ah, minilessons. We all use them...hopefully. And if you don't, you absolutely, 100% need to. The definition of minlesson varies from teacher to teacher. What may be 'mini' in your eyes would likely take my class an entire period to completely understand. But, if the material is important and necessary, does it really matter how 'mini' it is?

Authors Curt Dudley-Marling and Patricia Paugh penned the book Struggling Writers: How to Provide Differentiated Support & Ongoing Assessment where they detail the importance of minilessons. The area in which I am in complete agreement is that students need to be directly taught specific writing skills and strategies. For instance, I tested my students from day one. After completing a composition, I placed a green pen in all 10 of their hands and said, "Please revise and edit your essay. Take as much time as you need." I had alloted the entire period, knowing that I would need a back-up since I didn't think my students would take very long completing this task. And sadly, I was right. About 7 minutes later, all 10 of them were done. Done! We are talking a five-paragraph essay. There was no way they revised and edited!

The problem was, they didn't know what to do. They even voiced that. "Wait, Ms. Singleton, what do I do? Everything looks right to me." They didn't know what they should be looking for! Writing isn't always about spelling things correctly; it's about manipulating your thoughts into words and revisiting our work to better it by adding ideas, changing our ideas and sentences, showing and not telling, etc. Students need to be taught how to do this because it isn't natural for them, especially my 6th graders. After multiple (not so) minilessons on how to properly revise and edit, they can (mostly) do it on their own. Yes, they need prompting and yes, they need some help, but they know what they are looking for. They're on a mission when they revise and edit.

The same can be said for any number of concepts that fall under the umbrella of writing skills and strategies. Just last week I read the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss to my class. We BRIEFLY reviewed when commas are needed and then I read them the book to really get the point across. Twenty minutes later, they were using commas correctly! Magic! Now, do they still forget commas? Of course! But they have been forgetting them less and less over the past week!

Just like Dudley-Marling and Paugh emphasize, minilessons are critical components of effectively teaching writing. I have seen the difference they make with my students, whom are all somewhat struggling writers. Take the time and evaluate where your students need to improve and plan mini (or not so mini) lessons! And read the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss to your class! They will love it! :)