TBCS - Craig - PLD - 4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing

4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing 

These notes are taken from the PLD conference I attended with Andrew Pudewa entitled Spicing up Your Kids' Learning.

1.  Over Correcting

Correcting is not a good word to use because it indicates wrongness.
  -  It has a negative connotation.
  -  Writing is not as black and white as Maths.
  -  It is not objective or clear.

Rather, use the word editing - to help the writer be the best version of them on paper.

• Mark to make it legal and not good.
• Say implement these changes and finish.
• Use corrections as lesson plans for teaching
• Teach to the point of need.
• A  acceptable
•  I   incomplete

2.  Withholding Help

"I might help too much"

• Students will tell you when they don't need help.
• When you withhold help, you limit learning.

"They need to sink or swim"

• You wouldn't teach swimming this way which is life or death, so why say it...
• Swimming is a skill and it is acceptable to coach.
• It is perfectly acceptable to dictate.
• If they could've they would've.
• Independence in a skill comes from spending time modelling, questioning, and practising.
• Help - Don't meddle.

3.  Unclear Assignments

• It is a form of withholding help...

4.  Over Expectations

• We often have a desire to compare children by age.
• Grade levels used to be by level achieved - it indicated a mastery level.

A book to read is "Understood Betsey" about a country one-room school "But what grade am I in?"

Music Teachers don't care:  

• When you start
• How fast you progress
• what others are doing
• Get on the path
• Are you moving forward?

Any child is expected to do their best, whatever grade.

Are we making progress - That's all that God expects of His people.

8-10 years - Whatever they do is cute.
11-12         - Not good enough.
13 +           - They will never get there.
                  - They need to do far better. 

                  - we need to solve the problem.

                  - Stop writing things that don't make sense!

It's like telling a plant to grow... you can add water and sun, you can sing to it, but you have to wait.

Kids go through phases awkward - then it clicks.

Don't compare kids on age.

Don't over expect.

Where to Next...

I need to focus on encouraging each student to do their best and to work on developing and extending their skills without expecting too much of them.
I need to be prepared to help as much as is needed to give my students confidence to achieve what they need to.
I need to develop the achieved and incomplete marking attitude and celebrate with students who attempt to go beyond the limits of the lesson. 

With students who are struggling, I will set them up beforehand to give them time to think through what is about to happen and help them orgainise their thoughts and know what they need to do to succeed.
With my students who are at level one, I will help spell words and write them on their page so they can use them with confidence, and model correct sentences and get them to copy them to train them.

• Professional Learning

Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.

Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.

Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.