All you have to do is ask!

What a novel idea! Ask and you shall receive! I don't intend for you to take this and ask for miracles, but I do want you to ask your students what they need. They'll tell you. Its really that simple.

I'm in the middle of a persuasive essay with two classes of juniors. We did a ton of frontloading--research, website reviews, persuasive writing exercises--you name it. (There are some great activities in Barry Lane's Why We Must Run With Scissors.) At one point during planning, I was lucky enough to be sitting in the midst of several students, albeit advanced students, but teenagers nevertheless. I sat there and pondered what I wanted to do next in the unit (no I didn't have it mapped out beforehand--I could plead the balance of two different jobs, but this is pretty typical for me). I talked things out with the students around me. I asked them what they would want me to do. They, of course, offered up how this compared with what their teachers weren't doing, but I did get some good advice.

So I sat down to do written conversations with my students. They turned in rough drafts and I expended hours writing letters to each of them. Typing made the letter writing easier and faster, but I got to give personal advice to every child. They got those letters and their rough drafts back yesterday. They were floored. They could not believe that I had taken time to not only read their work but actually talk to them about it. They were actually grateful.

So, with my letters in hand, final drafting began. We didn't get done yesterday. There's a lot of work left to do with these essays before they are up to snuff. At the end of class, I jumped out on a limb and did the unthinkable AGAIN--I asked them what they wanted from me next. I told them that they weren't quite done, but if they would like, I would read what they had typed up and type my comments in the paper. They all went for it. No one said, no, just grade mine. No one said, I'm ready to be done with this. They all went the route of improvement.

They saw that I was out to make them better writers and they came on the journey with me.