Ready or Not
Eleven years ago I left the elementary classroom for the college classroom. There are things to love about each setting. I knew that there would be unique aspects to teaching at the college level. What I didn't anticipate was the similarities as the first day of school approaches. I still get butterflies the night before classes begin. I hope I always will. I still can't wait to meet my students and to learn about them and their goals. I still feel like the luckiest person in the world that first moment when class begins in the fall.
What I'm noticing more this year is a struggle that plagued me when I taught at the elementary level. I'm wrestling with making sure that I'm including purposeful writing balanced within my course. I want my students to experience meaningful writing activities that they can replicate in their own classrooms. I am thinking very hard about how that will look in every single class with more scrutiny than in other years. I'm feeling very committed to building in authentic writing activities each day and being explicit about why I selected the activities and how they are relevant.
The other struggle I am having is one I think all teachers face. How do we assess writing? I tend to grade for content. When I do so I am possibly doing a disservice to my students. They will be measured as professionals by how they present themselves in writing. I can't ignore mechanics. I use rubrics for scoring and I'm toying with the idea of providing the bulk of a score on content but balancing this with feedback and suggestions for the mechanical aspects of the writing presented. I want my students to feel free to express what they are learning in writing but I also want to hold them accountable for professional writing. Their writing is their thinking made visible and it will be judged in their job search and future career. Parents will form opinions of them from writing sent home. They will be modeling for their own students and they need to continue to build their writing skills at all levels and in all genres.
The job we do as teachers is not for the faint of heart. We have a big job and a big responsibility. I look forward to updating you on the writing happening in my classroom and some projects I hope to implement because ready or not.... School's starting!
What I'm noticing more this year is a struggle that plagued me when I taught at the elementary level. I'm wrestling with making sure that I'm including purposeful writing balanced within my course. I want my students to experience meaningful writing activities that they can replicate in their own classrooms. I am thinking very hard about how that will look in every single class with more scrutiny than in other years. I'm feeling very committed to building in authentic writing activities each day and being explicit about why I selected the activities and how they are relevant.
The other struggle I am having is one I think all teachers face. How do we assess writing? I tend to grade for content. When I do so I am possibly doing a disservice to my students. They will be measured as professionals by how they present themselves in writing. I can't ignore mechanics. I use rubrics for scoring and I'm toying with the idea of providing the bulk of a score on content but balancing this with feedback and suggestions for the mechanical aspects of the writing presented. I want my students to feel free to express what they are learning in writing but I also want to hold them accountable for professional writing. Their writing is their thinking made visible and it will be judged in their job search and future career. Parents will form opinions of them from writing sent home. They will be modeling for their own students and they need to continue to build their writing skills at all levels and in all genres.
The job we do as teachers is not for the faint of heart. We have a big job and a big responsibility. I look forward to updating you on the writing happening in my classroom and some projects I hope to implement because ready or not.... School's starting!
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