How transitions should really work, and how to show it by drawing on the page
A question from former college student generated an idea to show how to look at writing in a more graphic way, inspired by journalism copyediting symbols and traditions.
A student in my University of Iowa class for journalism advisers onced wondered out loud if his story wasn’t good enough by Advanced Placement standards. (He was also an AP English teacher.) I said out loud the transitions were excellent for storytelling, but he didn’t see it.
I asked him if I could have his paper back and show how he weaved together his story, while he worked on his next assignment.
I pasted his paper together, then drew lines like the example from his book, below, to show him what I saw when I read it. You could see the light turn on. Realizing this was a teachable moment, I asked if I could share it with the class. He said yes.
I once took it for granted that others could see what I saw that day.
Later, he asked if he could “use” this strategy in his high school journalism textbook with attribution. Of course, I said, but told him this was an idea, and he was the one who posed the question, and I provided a little insight, and that he should share it with the world, if he wanted. And he did.
There is more to writing well than what AP standards would suggest.
I’m sharing this strategy with you so you can use it yourself, and share it with the rest of the world.
Published writers share advice, 42 writing activities, readings, to start your writing journey
Writers In The Schools, established in Portland, Oregon in 1996, contracts yearly with public high schools in Portland and Gresham. Teachers request to host a WITS writer, and residencies further class themes, curricula, and student interests, culminating with a public.
We are not born with a user manual; we have to create it ourselves
I told 41 years of students they weren't born with a user manual, and they need to try everything during high school to find out what they are naturally good at and what humbles them; then work on the things that humble you, focus on the things you do well, and help others along the way. (There’s a handy graphic to hang or in your school or classroom.)
Imagine if we listened to all of our students and modified our lessons based on one thing to keep and one thing to change.
Believe it or not, after I implemented this strategy presented by our local power company (that was later bought out by Enron) as a method for all their crews to engage in continuous improvement on the job, I adapted it for use in my classroom.
Write before writing: Free students from failure, focus on learning, break content into genres, improve reading and writing, and use portfolio-based evaluation
I’ve been a fan of Donald M. Murray since I accidentally discovered this piece “Write Before Writing” in College Composition and Communication at the UO library as I was preparing to pivot from studying journalism at UO, to newspaper work, to teaching high school journalism and English.