Teaching Writing Fast and Effectively!

The Dentist

A while back I was having some rather annoying dental issues. My dentist, Dr. Karen, had all sorts of ideas. She was saying, “Well, we could try this procedure or we could try that procedure…”

In the end I explained to her that my bottom line was, “I want it fixed. The truth is… I don’t want to do anything if it’s not going to fix it. I want the problem solved.”

She laughed and said, “You are such a guy.”

Teaching Writing Creatively

She’s right, I am. In fact, my teacher credentialing program (many years back) was a bit of a paradigm shift for me with so many new and creative ways of engaging students. In fact it was a seemingly endless sea of creative ideas and creative ways that one could be creative in creating creative lesson plans.

When I began my teaching credential program I had already been substitute teaching for a year and had been quite successful. My philosophy (if I had one…) was kind of old school. School like it was when I went to school. My teacher credentialing program was an eye opening learning experience. It was quite the opposite of what my “current teaching philosophy” was. It was really, really… creative.

Initially, I thought all these wild and creative ideas were the secret keys to student success. True breakthroughs! As I gained experience, I started to move a little bit back in the other direction… to the way I am with my dentist.

I began to hear exciting and enticing ideas and think, “Sounds great… but wait a minute. I want something that’s going to work. I have a lot to cover and I would need an extra hour every day just to get in everything that I want to get done. Now is this thing going to work? I want a guarantee!  It sounds good… but is it going to work?  Will it be AT LEAST somewhat practical and somewhat time efficient in a classroom of 30-36 students?

A Compromise

I like the Six Traits of Writing model. Makes sense to me! It lets me clearly see what I’m teaching in my writing instruction. But at the end of the day I’m not sure I really look at whether I have been successful at teaching the Six Traits of Writing. I look at my students’ writing and the state standards to determine if I have been successful teaching my students to write.

Here are just a few of the questions I ask:
1. Do I clearly understand what my students have written?
2. Do I like what they are saying?
3. Is what they have written enjoyable to read?
4. Do I like the way they have said it?
5. Have my students met the standards?

Now much more than ever I determine if the writing instruction has been successful by the students’ reactions to their own writing. I expect students to be thrilled and blown away with their own progress. (If you haven’t heard by now… Pattern Based Writing…Quick & Easy Essay…)

Teaching Writing Videos

Here are two videos on the Six Traits of Writing. One is on organization and the other is on ideas. I find the videos interesting. In fact I find them fascinating. Mastery of teaching writing is always fascinating to me.

However, the part of me that was a frustration to my dentist is also saying, “Look, I want something I know is going to work. What exactly have you said that my students need to understand in order to write well? And how exactly am I supposed to make them understand this?”

After you watch these, compare them to this video on the five paragraph essay that I have posted here. This is the video from Ashworth University that is designed for high school students.

Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay is kind of like “The Six Traits Lady” meets “The Ashworth University Lady.” (Actually, it’s a much more visual and kinesthetic version of the two…)