"They can't do that!"
"Didn't I teach this already?"
These sayings can be heard across all walks of life. I think the best way to fix this mentality is to start by doing and we, as teachers, need to lead by example.
In our classrooms, students might struggle with various academic lessons. It's easy to say they can't do that. I know... I'm sure we've all said this at some point. I truly believe if you make writing a consistent part of your day, then students will begin to soar. In upcoming blog posts, I will discuss strategies I have found to be quite effective through all my years of teaching.
Our daily writing volume is substantial, but it becomes the new norm (a favorite kindergarten teacher friend of mine always says this). Sometimes when we say they can't, meaning the students, what we really mean is- I don't know how... and this is OK. This is when we turn to our colleagues, the people we see as experts, anyone that will listen, and lean on them for advice. This goes for any subject matter.
Here are the topics of discussion
- Teach mini-lessons daily
- Provide anchor charts
- Use mentor texts
- Allow for student sharing
- Celebrate success
- Don't handcuff the writing with constant negative feedback
- Offer choice with the various text types (narrative, opinion, expository)
- Don't grade everything
- Provide a model for the students to follow
- Put graded/ungraded practices in place
- Build writing stamina
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