Write In to The Day

I attended a district writing study last week and I got some really good ideas. There was one concept that stood out to me.  It is called Write In to the Day. Students write in to the day about an open topic.  If you would like to guide the class with prompts, ideas, or other topics, then feel free to do so.  For example, students write to quotes, lyrics to a song, a piece of information about a subject they are studying or anything else. 

It’s a quick way to get your students writing early in the morning.  I’m looking forward to using this strategy with my class!

Be Their Compass

Be Their Compass

Who are the best writers in our classes?  How did they become great?  Who showed them the way?  Are they prodigies?  Did they have a mentor, parent, teacher, peer, or author to encourage them?  Why do they have such positive attitudes?

Who are the struggling writers?  Why are they having trouble?  Did they have a mentor, favorite author, teacher, peer, or parent to emulate?  Why are they possessing poor attitudes?  How did they go from telling stories, smiling, and exploration in the younger years to shut down?  What causes this close-mindedness?  I can't!  I'm done!

Curing writing indifference isn't easy to do, but if you create a safe, caring, and nurturing environment, they will shine too!  If you show passion, guidance, and vulnerability, by then end of the year, you might not know the difference between the two groups in your class.  That's my favorite part of the job.  Give students direction by being their compass on this journey.