"Implementing Something New"

     As I am a language arts teacher, and not specifically a writing teacher, I must normally combine a writing lesson with a specific lesson objective. This means that the students usually have a very specific rubric or assignment to follow when they are writing. I have been very inspired through many stories shared by Penny Kittle in her book, Write Beside Them. I loved the idea that it is important for students to learn to make choices in their writing and I wanted my students to begin to see where making your own choices in writing can lead you. With this in mind, I assigned my students to write a creative essay, 2-3 pages, and while I wanted them to write well and within the confines of essay writing, I otherwise told them they could write about whatever they wanted in any style they chose. I was excited, and it seemed they were too. On Monday, I had the students exchange their essays with someon else, edit them, and then had the student make any changes they felt were needed. While we all thought this would be a simple assignment because there weren't any specific guidelines, we found out we were wrong! As the students began to share their essays, I found that many explained before they began that they had a difficult time because they didn't know what topic to write and about, and so they just chose something. After that, they found it difficult to complete 2-3 pages because they didn't know what to say about their topic, or where they wanted the essay to go. So, after the students shared, we discussed choices in writing and ways we can make those choices. In the end, it was a really informative lesson for all of us. I learned just how much my students need to learn about writing. It is important for them to know how to write a book report or a research paper, but to be able to write in order to express themselves and have their voices and opinions heard is practically a life-skill! In the future, I plan on continuing to assign open essays in order to encourage my students to make choices in their writing, and hopefully to one day begin to successfully write independently.