Parental concerns
Last semester, a few parents decided to remove their kids from class about halfway through the term. The parents argued their children were doing too much work during class time — specifically drafting their writing tasks as well as redrafting them after I had edited them. The parents believed that students should be doing all of that work at home. They believed that the three hours of class time should be for teaching new writing techniques and that any time spent reviewing or rewriting in class was wasting time. To them, this was evidence of a lack of learning. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, students at Englist review and rewrite their writing assignments every class. But that’s on purpose, and for good reason. We hear parents’ concerns and understand that we need to remind parents about why we do what we do to prevent misunderstandings.
With that being said, let’s explore how we collaborate and learn in the classroom, specifically in regards to time spent on drafting, reviewing, and rewriting.
Our philosophy — why we do what we do
One-on-one teacher feedback
Each class session I spend at least 30 minutes talking to class about their writing, discussing my written comments, and my constructive criticism. I have a dialogue with my students and pick their brains about why they phrased something a certain way, about what they meant to say, how we can improve their clarity, about common mistakes that I see regularly that I can help them avoid, and much more.
This time is far from a waste.
We use this time to build the writing and thinking skills required for students to do more quality work outside the classroom. In other words, what we do in class is sharpen the skills students need to be able to work more independently. Ironically, that is what the aforementioned parents claimed to want.
Teaching new styles of writing
On days when I teach a new style or format of writing, I spend about 30 to 45 minutes hosting a discussion about the basic structures of the new writing style. I then spend time modeling how I would create prewrites (or outlines) and use them to build a solid piece of writing. Showing the students each of the steps that go into writing a good piece gives them an example they can reference while writing themselves. They use these examples as blueprints to build their own thinking and writing. If they are having a hard time getting started, get stuck somewhere along the way, or just want to check back to ensure they are on the right track, the work we do in class and examples we make help them to succeed. As they gain experience, knowledge and confidence, students will need less and less direct instruction in this way.
Rewriting
We use rewrite days for exactly that: rewriting previous drafts that I have edited and commented on. This idea may be new to anyone who hasn’t taken a writing class. You may think this process should be left up to the students to work on outside of the classroom so that we can move forward and learn more new information. You would be wrong though. Collaborating with a teacher and rewriting your work are imperative steps in the writing process. As William Zinsser, a preeminent writer and teacher of writing at Columbia, said,
Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost. That idea is hard to accept. We all have an emotional equity in our first draft; we can’t believe that it wasn’t born perfect. But the odds are close to 100 percent that it wasn’t. Most writers don’t initially say what they want to say, or say it as well as they could.
The big picture
At Englist, we like to say that writing is thinking. What we mean is that writing and thinking are the same cognitive process. The act of writing is quite literally the act of bringing thoughts into the world so that an audience may digest, discuss, and disseminate these ideas.
The writing process helps to organize a writer’s reasoning. Some of the most common issues with students’ writing are problems with clarity and depth of thought. The rewriting process, especially when done with the teacher present to help guide it, is essential in addressing issues of clarity.
Writing and thinking, while in many ways the same, are also a feedback loop. This means that the better students get at writing, the better they will get at thinking and reasoning and analyzing and creating and forming opinions and on and on and on. Similarly, the better they get at thinking, the more their writing improves. This virtuous cycle leads to concrete progress not just in writing, but in overall cognitive function, which benefits students across academic subjects. Obviously, then, this process of writing and rewriting is the opposite of a waste of time. It’s absolutely essential.
Final thoughts
What we want parents to remember is that learning to write, and by extension to critically analyze and think, is not something with easily quantifiable outputs like test scores. It is a process that takes time. As such, teachers and students must approach it with an open mind and a willingness to spend time critically analyzing and interrogating processes that aren’t readily visible. It is also a process that must take into account each student’s individual experiences and strengths. Our goal is to make our students not only the best possible writers, but also the best possible thinkers. Everything we do in class, including writing and rewriting during class time, is singularly focused on that purpose.
— Mr. Zine