Do you spend hours marking errors on a set of writing assignments only to see those same errors again on the next assignment? And the next? Does it frustrate you so much than you’ve considered throwing in the towel? Don’t change your career; just alter your job description a bit! Instead of a being writing teacher, consider becoming a writing coach.
I love analogies, so
indulge me if I seem to digress. My 12-year-old son Beck plays golf
competitively. Even if you know nothing about golf, I’m sure you know that
every sport involves a variety of different skills. A player who masters these
skills enjoys success in his or her sport. Writing, too, involves a variety of
different skills. A student who masters these skills enjoys success in his or
her writing.
At each of Beck’s golf
lessons, his coach chooses some area of the game as a focus. It may be putting,
chipping, or hitting the ball off the tee. Then he focuses even more. If Beck
is working on his tee shot, his coach watches a few swings and makes one or two
adjustments. By focusing on these little details, Beck is able to improve his
tee shot. Perhaps it’s still not perfect, but his coach will tweak a little
something else next time.
Imagine what would happen
if the coach watched Beck play 18 holes of golf and then told him everything he
had done wrong during the entire round! Beck would be frustrated, he would have
learned nothing (except that he’s a lost cause), and he would probably not play
any better the next time.
Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it? What coach would do that? Yet, that’s the
approach we typically take as writing teachers. We assign an entire essay and
then tell students everything that’s wrong with it (and possibly point out a
few strengths). Students are frustrated, learn nothing, and fail to improve the
next time.
As writing coaches, we must allow students to focus
on just a few aspects (no more than six) of their writing in each assignment.
Let’s say one of those focus skills is using a variety of sentence beginnings.
Teach students about that skill. Show them some good examples. Then lead them
to revise with that skill in mind. Then when you assess the papers, evaluate only
for that skill and the handful of others selected for this assignment (such as
effective topic sentences, transitions, or voice). There may be subject/verb
agreement errors in the paper; but if that wasn’t a focus for this time, let it
go for now. (But make yourself a note so it can be a focus for next time.)
Sounds crazy, right? But
does Beck’s coach say, “Great job with your tee shots today, but your chipping
is really bad” when Beck wasn’t even working on chipping? No, his coach
evaluates the tee shots and saves the chipping feedback for another lesson. I’ll
bet it drives the coach nuts to see other bad habits and not correct them all
at once, but he knows that improvement comes from mastering some aspects of the
game rather than floundering at all of them. Eventually, if given the chance to focus, mastery will come in
each area.
As writing coaches, we
must also remember that every student may not need to focus on the same skills.
While one student may need to focus on parallel structure in this week’s
assignment, another might need to focus on avoiding sentence fragments. If
Beck’s back swing is flawless, his coach doesn’t focus on it anyway just
because his other students are struggling with it. Coaches differentiate very
well.
An amazing side effect of
coaching is that students feel a sense of accomplishment. They believe they can
do something right even if everything’s not perfect. Further, they become more
aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. After years of focused lessons,
Beck can now tell his coach what his trouble spots are, and he can tweak his
game himself in many cases. Imagine a student saying, “Overall, I think this
paragraph is pretty strong, but I’m struggling a little with my pronoun
references.”
Students regularly toss
around such statements on the playing field of the writing coach.
For more information
about using focus skills to coach writers, visit http://www.dgppublishing.com/writing.htm
SPECIAL THIS WEEK! In honor of this week's blog post, you can get Focused Writing or the Burnette Writing Process Teacher's Manual for just $25 (instead of the regular price of $36.95) if you order online at www.dgppublishing.com by August 1, 2013.
SPECIAL THIS WEEK! In honor of this week's blog post, you can get Focused Writing or the Burnette Writing Process Teacher's Manual for just $25 (instead of the regular price of $36.95) if you order online at www.dgppublishing.com by August 1, 2013.
