Steps To Success
How can a writing teacher possibly compete with text messaging and netspeak? It is not an easy task. One represents the societal trend toward quick, immediate gratification, while the other embraces substance, organizational skills and a control of language. Sadly, the roi (return on investment) is dependent upon time spent, not quality of product. Smiley faces have usurped the beauty of a well-placed metaphor. Gone are fluent connections between supporting evidence and examples. Instead, wysitwirl (what you see is totally worthless in real life) applies more to a well-written essay than the slang that has replaced it.
Undoing Bad Habits
Writing instruction needs to engage students who honor technology and immediate gratification. Short attention spans and the lack of entertainment value hinder a teacher's ability to plan lessons. While these pages do not eliminate such barriers to writing instruction, they do give students a step-by-step approach to writing an effective essay using technology or good, old-fashioned pen to paper, This program is based upon a variety of methods including: the six traits of writing, the use of graphic organizers; and essays analyzed and compared from the OSPI web site.
Writing Voices
Every human being has a unique voice that speaks from their heart. Even with the onset of video gaming and texting, song lyrics continue to trigger passionate responses in teenagers. Tap into their culture, their heritage, their interests or their emotional responses and their essays come alive. See a chart of Writing Suceess at Chief Leschi Schools
To know when one's self is interested, is the first condition of interesting other people. - Walter Pater (1885)