“Believe when I say, I want it that way”
The BackStreet Boys have always been known musically for their perfect harmonies (what else did you think all that a capella was about?), dance moves, and public images. All of that perfection paid off: they’re still the best-selling boy band of all time.
As a writing teacher, you know there’s a big payoff if your students can perfect their writing skills. Maybe not $165 million worth, but definitely in terms of college preparedness and career readiness.
…So you try to be the perfect teacher. You always give a writing prompt, and then edit your students’ writing to be perfect in terms of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
But sometimes as you’re correcting their papers late into the night, you find yourself singing “Tell me why / Ain’t nothin’ but a heartache” and something needs to change.
Tell me why
Why do you want it (teaching writing) that way? Because that’s the way (uh-huh uh-huh) you like it (uh-huh, uh-huh). ← We’re not going to play games with your heart, so we’re just going to say it like it is!
Your emphasis on perfection springs from a real desire to help your students—everything you do is for them.
The good news is that teaching writing doesn’t have to be a heartache.
But it starts with letting go of a lot of things. Your students’ spelling and grammar errors? Ain’t nothin’ but a mistake….
…And it’s okay to overlook those mistakes during writing time.
You’ll still want to teach them spelling, grammar, and even vocabulary and reading comprehension—just not during writing time.
Another thing to let go of is all of that editing you’re doing. Your students should edit their own papers, not you. Yes really! It will save you time and strengthen your students’ writing skills.
Let’s help you show ‘em what you’re made of with some resources
- Podcast: 5 Things You Don’t Have to Teach During Writing
- Blog: Why I Took Grammar Out of Writing Workshop
- Podcast: 6 Things I Screwed Up When Teaching Writing (so you feel less alone)
- Video: Ditch the Writing Prompts! (There’s a guest visitor in this one! ?)
- Blog: Teaching Students to Edit Their Own Writing
Who is the Not So Wimpy Writing Teacher?
Hi, I’m Jamie Sears. You may know me from such websites as The Not So Wimpy Teacher or TPT, or Facebook groups with the NSWT name. (Bonus points if you get The Simpsons reference!)
I help teachers overcome the challenges of teaching in the 21st century. I’m a wife, mother of 5 fantastic kids, education blogger, and curriculum author.
I’m particularly passionate about helping teachers up their teaching writing game. Why?
Because once upon a time, I really struggled with it. So I tried out different techniques until I found the ones that worked. I took those, added a few simple changes to my approach, and lo and behold, I had created the recipe for student writing success!
And now I too rock my body writing instruction!
Let’s keep the party going!
Over the next few weeks I’ll be emailing you my top strategies and tools to “make you larger than life” with this whole teaching writing thing. ← And by larger than life, I mean even more effective without having to sink more time into it than you need to.