The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA
Education:How To
I'll never forget the "C" I got on my first English paper in college. I was walking across the quad in the warm eucalyptus-scented California air when I confidently pulled my paper from my bag to look at the comments. The day suddenly slid into grayscale as I saw my grade.
After a lifetime of "A" and "Great job" written at the bottom of every paper, fresh from winning the English award at my high school awards night, I was totally unprepared for the many, many scrawled notes about the problems in my paper.
I walked into class the next day in a daze, and listened to my professor as he went into a terrifying but effective rant. Apparently I wasn't the only freshmen to confidently turn in a paper that wasn't nearly complex enough.
His speech has stuck with me.
"Your rough draft," he said at one point. "Is a chair."
He scrawled an incredibly messy chair on the whiteboard for emphasis.
"And you have to take that chair," he sputtered. "And build a boat!"
We students glanced at each other, a little overwhelmed.
A boat?
Today I want to talk about the chair and the boat, and some of the process that happens in between. Because let's face it, most kids (high school me included) really struggle to understand the work that happens between ROUGH drafts and final drafts. And it's perhaps the most crucial part of the writing process.
The strategy we're going to dive into now, self-editing stations, can really help scaffold editing for your students, saving them from falling into the usual traps, allowing you to intervene on behalf of key writing improvements you're trying to help them make BEFORE they turn in their work, and ultimately, saving your commenting time for only the most important personalized suggestions.
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033: The Quick Guide to Genius Hour
032: Shakespeare Activities for Any Play
031: Using Murder Mysteries, Ted Talks, and SNL Clips in Class
030: The Simplest Method for One Pager Success
029: A Beginner's Guide to Teaching Abroad
028: Empower your Students, with John Spencer
027: Turn your Class into a Discussion Panel with Audience Tweeters
026: My Teacher Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
025: The Best of ELA this Year
024: A Beginner's Guide to Student Blogging
023: Why you Need Discussion Warm-Ups
022: 10 Top Books for your Classroom Library
021: The Best Websites for ELA Teachers
020: Authentic Audiences for Student Work
019: Active Learning outside the Classroom Walls
018: A Simple Trick to Cut Grading Time
017: Get Started with ELA Escape Rooms
016: ELA Maker Spaces
015: Building Professional Community as a Teacher
014: Creative Secondary Decor
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