Writing Taught, Not Simply Assigned

Recently, I did a bit of tutoring. During this time, I helped the student work on a final writing assignment for an English class. I was shown more than four pages of text from the teacher. These pages served as the assignment. I was unable to find a scoring rubric. I was unable to find clarity in what the focus of the writing should be. I did not see a clear length requirement or limit. I could not find an example to use as a benchmark. I looked. I read the four-plus pages of directions aloud. I looked again. Still nothing. I felt concerned about how to help this student, since I wasn’t totally sure of what we were working on.

This writing assignment was done almost completely as homework, meaning that the writing occurred when the teacher was not there. So, if the student became confused or had a question, help could not be found until the next class. If the student was working on a Friday evening or a Saturday, which was often the case, this meant there might be no answers for at least two days. Is this the way writing should be taught? Do students learn to write well in this way? I think not.

So, I helped the student with what we thought the assignment should be. We put together a plan. We worked together, crafting sentences, revising what was written, and reading everything aloud. Once finished, I thought the student had a good piece of writing. I thought the ideas were creative and the crafting was solid. I advised the student on last edits, and the assignment was submitted. The student received a low score. I was frustrated for the student and for me. I felt that we were put in a lose-for-sure situation. Directions were ambiguous. Scoring was a mystery. The teacher was not available to answer questions as the student wrote. As the tutor, I tried to decipher the intent of the writing, but because I was not present in class, I was unable to get anything clarified. The student told me that this was how writing was done in their class. Apparently, students simply did what they thought was assigned and hoped for the best.

This situation led me to think about many of the writing programs used in English classes today. Writing in these programs is, indeed, assigned. It is not taught. With no real introduction, and no real assistance, students are asked to write the very best essay, or story, or personal narrative they can think of. The assumption is that they will write something, and through revision, they will make it better and better. And it is assumed that they will be willing to revise and revise and revise some more. But the students I work with are in middle school! They are 11 or 12 or 13. Revising is painful for them. For some, it is nearly impossible. For most, it never truly happens. And, developmentally, that makes sense.

Most of the writing work in these programs is completed at home, as homework, where the teacher is not present. This makes it difficult to get questions answered. It makes it nearly impossible to get real-time feedback. Oftentimes, the scoring rubric is not shown to the students until just before the due date, making it almost a gotcha situation. That is simply not fair.

Doesn’t it make more sense to set the students up for success, instead of a gotcha? Shouldn’t we do what we can to make sure that the students learn what to do and how to do it well before the work is turned in? What if students knew exactly what was expected of them before they really began writing? What if the teacher wrote the assignment as the students wrote? And what if the students saw the teacher’s writing well before the due date? What if all writing occurred in the classroom during class time? What if nothing was homework? What if students were truly taught how to revise their writing? What if it was done in class, with the teacher present, and not left up to the student to do…or not do?

When it comes time for you to assign a piece of writing, think about this. Don’t assign it. Write it. Let your students watch you struggle to find the right word or phrase. Let them see you delete whole sentences or paragraphs. Show them how. Use objects—something they can touch or see—to inspire stories or essays. Prompt them through their idea generating. Show them the scoring rubric right away. Then entertain questions. And most important of all, have them do the writing in class, while you are there.

Give this a try. Teach writing.

For more details on this method of writing instruction and more, take a look at Shoes and Boxes and Peanuts and Keys.