The Angel of Writing

(**The title of this blog was inspired by the musical Phantom of the Opera that I saw this weekend. The Phantom was Christine's Angel of Music. Christensen's is my angel of writing.)

"Essay writing is boring!!" Every student in my class has said this at one point or another. Despite that, I still feel proud that each student respects the topic enough to still be invested because they understand the importance of essay skill. I was very excited to read Christensen's chapter on the subject due to the fact that she has made each past subject seem so much more interesting in ways that would invest students. I was pleasantly pleased!

Firstly, I was excited to find that there was one thing that I do that Christensen also does. I find feedback during IN CLASS writing time to be greatly beneficial to students. Before this strategy, my students would work on a paper, and I would give feedback. However, they were usually too discouraged to change their work because they were so invested and proud of the work they had already done. By providing feedback more often and while they work, it changed the mindset and allowed me to address misconceptions and 'trends' faster.

Secondly, I loved her Criteria for Essays. I feel that I have encouraged students to use evidence from multiple sources and in multiple ways. However, this list provides clear examples of how to do this in different and engaging ways. I also am excited to spice up my introductions because they are pretty dry write now with my models of hooks being 'interesting facts' or a 'relate-able question'. I look forward to implementing these within my classroom next year.

Lastly, there are some things I am looking forward to using but still have some questions. I found it eye-opening that the thesis statement isn't the first/main focus in her writing process. I have always coached students to develop their thesis once the brainstorming is complete. Of course, I have instructed them to be flexible in case they find their point to change later. But Christensen's approach seems to make more sense. But I wonder how this would apply to 'on-demand essays' where the thesis really needs to guide the work to finish in a timely manner. I also wish I could pick Christensen's brain about the 'research' of the topic she models. I love that personal experience is used as evidence, but I wonder if kids focus more on the experience than the literature. I also wonder how/if a list of resources on the subject at hand is created/presented/found.

Christensen is amazing. But I sure wish we were best friends so that I can have 24/7 access to her brain!