Seasons of Writing
Matching Student Needs to Specific Writing Tools
Hands down, autumn is my favorite season. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a sunny summer day, and I appreciate the fresh colors in the spring. I even find joy in a cold winter’s day with the sun reflecting off snow. I know people who don’t enjoy fall because everything is dying, and it is leading to dismal winter days. But I see fall as a time for new beginnings: a fresh start with refreshing weather of cooler nights and warmer days; a new year of my life with my October birthday; a new school year; fresh faces of students eager to learn; and a chance to incorporate new lessons and tools into my classroom.
Since I have gotten to know my students and their writing, I have a little better idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, I now know which online writing tools might be best for each individual student. Left to their own devices, I have found my students are relying on The Writer’s Diet when using online writing tools because that’s the one they became familiar with their freshmen year.
By using my chart of online tools (pictured below), I am beginning to match them with other online writing tools to expand their horizons with the various websites. This little seed planted in their minds is giving them the chance to explore and get some better feedback to grow as a writer.
This feedback is crucial because writing is daunting for some students, and grammar can be overwhelming. I was reminded of this last week when a student expressed how he wanted some hard and fast rules about comma usage. He had Googled his specific question, and he was frustrated he couldn’t locate a definitive answer. After our conversation, it made me think about how these online writing tools are not perfect, but they do help writers. They can give confidence to some writers and areas for discussion for others. By listening to my students and their questions, the chart guides me to point them in the right direction for online tools to use.
Overall, my students are struggling with transitions and expanding their support explanations. Because of this, I am going to use Grammark with them as a class to hopefully help them with their transitioning. To fully utilize the site, I know it is important to model some writing and run it through the Grammark website. I want to model this tool and teach them what to do with the Grammark suggestions while guiding them with this new-to-them tool. I also need to recognize that just like how autumn is my favorite season, students might prefer other tools. Their actual voice needs to be heard when matching them to a site, but I also need to help them appreciate the others they might be overlooking. I am excited to try this experiment. As I match them to a Grammark or another site they want to try, I can’t wait to hear their thoughts and see if they get the growth we are both wanting.
While Grammark will help point out transitioning problems, The Graide Network can assist with the expansion of support in their essays. When I create the assignment in The Graide Network, I can ask the graider to look at specific items in the essay. By designating support explanations as an area, my students will get feedback from a real-life person on their Google Doc as to what they can do to improve. This can improve the conferences I have with them when we discuss their essay since they are sometimes unsure of themselves and the direction they need to go with their piece. Once they have used online tools, feedback from peers and The Graide Network, and conferences with me, I hope they reap a bountiful harvest of good writing.
These new experiences and tools are just like the season of fall. They are a chance for a fresh start and new beginning as a writer. Students will no longer have to dread the approaching season of winter — they can blossom well before spring.
