What can you do to motivate students to write well in your classroom without limiting them by restricting time, use of proper spelling, grammatically correct sentences, etc?
This is a tough one because the whole premise of writing well is expressing oneself, but expressing oneself using the rules of our language. I think the first issue to tackle, is just the concept of writing. Hot pens seem to work really well for me, it gives them a chance to write what they are thinking or feeling and get used to the idea of handling words. Later in the period you can revisit the same topic but put a slightly larger emphasis on "intelligent thought," or presenting the information as clearly as possible. Maybe put the class into groups with different topics and have a mini-competition who can come up with the best defense of their topic. (Who is more eloquent with their words? How is it more convincing? Did they use facts to convince the audience?) I know it can be difficult, especially in classes that don't necessarily deal with writing on a daily basis, but as long as you ease into it, and stress the importance of presenting ones ideas concisely and as unconfusing as possible, I think students will come around.
This is a tough question. Most of my students write with very poor conventions in my classes. I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that students feel they don't need to write properly in a health class or what. What I did, that did improve their writing, was circle errors in their writing. This let them know that I actually was reading what they had to say, and that I would like things like "cuz" turned into "because" on future assignments.
This is a tough one because the whole premise of writing well is expressing oneself, but expressing oneself using the rules of our language. I think the first issue to tackle, is just the concept of writing. Hot pens seem to work really well for me, it gives them a chance to write what they are thinking or feeling and get used to the idea of handling words. Later in the period you can revisit the same topic but put a slightly larger emphasis on "intelligent thought," or presenting the information as clearly as possible. Maybe put the class into groups with different topics and have a mini-competition who can come up with the best defense of their topic. (Who is more eloquent with their words? How is it more convincing? Did they use facts to convince the audience?)
ReplyDeleteI know it can be difficult, especially in classes that don't necessarily deal with writing on a daily basis, but as long as you ease into it, and stress the importance of presenting ones ideas concisely and as unconfusing as possible, I think students will come around.
This is a tough question. Most of my students write with very poor conventions in my classes. I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that students feel they don't need to write properly in a health class or what. What I did, that did improve their writing, was circle errors in their writing. This let them know that I actually was reading what they had to say, and that I would like things like "cuz" turned into "because" on future assignments.
ReplyDelete