Day One - September 9, 2009

Saw my wife, Alison, off a few minutes ago. It's her first day with a new class of first graders. She's a seasoned teacher who knows what to expect, and still, she's got the first-day jitters. What could I say to allay her nerves? "Start easy." "Remember, they're still kindergarteners for a while."

What I advised to her, I need to take to heart myself. Especially when it comes to writing, which to me as a middle school teacher, is the ultimate learning tool.

Start easy.
Kids think writing is hard. It shouldn't be so. How did it get to be that way? Do they remember the thrill they had at successfully scribing their names? Or dictating the caption for that wonderful drawing they did in first grade? I'm sure at some point in their early years, they practically bounced back to their seats with those completed sentences of their very own words. Who cared if they didn't actually tool the letters themselves, or even if they needed help coming up with the words? They had a piece of paper with their very thoughts encoded on it! They were filled with amazement and pride.

Then, we killed it.

Of course, they needed to learn how to spell. And there are proper conventions of grammar and punctuation that need to be mastered. Let’s not forget handwriting, editing symbols, paragraphing, note-taking, tests, assessments, reports, worksheets, rewrites and final drafts.

Writing became lost. The pride, thrill, and amazement disappeared underneath everyone else’s demands for those encoded thoughts on paper (or screen). Nobody was asking for their very own thoughts anymore – pure, raw, unadulterated thoughts. Writing in school became a painful means of producing evidence for others, rather than a pleasurable means of processing for one’s self. In fact, few kids these days can recall that original joy of writing, perhaps because they rarely, if ever, had the experience.

So this year, I’m going to start easy. I think that this year, I’ll start out with a picture, and a sentence. I’ll tell them, and show them, and continue to remind them, that writing is about capturing thoughts, so you can share them with others, look at them later, learn from the past, and talk to the future. We’ll put those pictures and captions up on the wall, and I will try to bring back that pure, raw, unadulterated thrill.

I’m not worried. This is isn’t kindergarten. We’re not going to stay there. My intention is that by the end of this year, ALL of my students will perceive writing as a useful, active, and pleasurable experience, and from that fertile soil, their writing skills - nay, their achievement in every area - will improve. (More on how we twisted educators turn our mighty acorns into dwarf bonsai trees later).