Monthly Archives: November 2016

11/2/2016

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70% of high school graduates don’t have adequate writing skills. How does that happen? One way it happens is that students don’t do the foundational activities that teachers provide and then end up trying to write an essay with any support or having learned anything. At least that’s what I’m seeing in my classes.

We discussed the rubric in class today, I made sure that everyone understood what the refutation paragraph is, and then I clarified the difference between an expository essay and a persuasive essay. I’m seeing a LOT of expository thesis statements out there. If you have a question about it, e-mail me or have me look over your essay!

Then, I gave time for people to revise their essays by adding in the persuasive techniques that we did yesterday, but I’ll be honest with you: most people don’t even have a rough draft. I would have thought that students would use the time today to get things taken care of, but instead, I saw most people today just play around.

Y’all. I seriously spend a lot of time developing activities that are based off of the rubric. I spend a lot of time writing the same assignments that you do. For what? Why am I stressing out over this? I have a high school diploma!

 

11/1/2016

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I know I’ve gotten behind with updating my blog: between sick babies, being sick myself, and the end of the grading period, I’ve been struggling to keep my head above water. As of noon today, my family has officially been fever free for 24 hours! Huzzah!

Remember – everything we do is connected. Think of my daily assignments like steps –

steps

If you don’t do the daily activities leading UP to the Final Copy, it’s going to be really hard to do a good job on it. I’m a little worried because there are A LOT of zeros in the gradebook for these foundational assignments. I absolutely can see a difference between the students who do the daily activities and the students who decide to be “trailblazers” and do things their own way.

I am a firm believer that you can’t become a better writer by doing worksheets or defining vocabulary words. The only way you can become a better writer is if you write! Crazy idea, I know! The other thing that can help your writing is if you read examples of good writing. Because of that, we looked at a few examples of powerful persuasion from Miracle on Ice, Remember the Titans, Judgment at Nuremberg, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Then, using our thesis statements, we practiced by using five different techniques.

30% of the rubric is over your persuasive techniques, so if you revise your essay with what we did in class today, you are making sure you have covered this aspect in your essay. See! If you do the daily work, it makes sure you address the rubric ahead of time! Work smarter, not harder!