Students learn to write through writing. It’s a simple concept. If we want students to write well, they need lots of practice. Mondays are writing days in my AP English course. In addition to outside writing assignments, students write a 40-minute timed writing in my class each week. I am amazed at how much my students improve during the semester.
“You’ll hate me on Mondays,” I warn them, but you’ll thank me one day . . . years from now.
Since I know that students will be absent occasionally or will be worried about tests in other classes or will just go blank when they see the assignment, at the beginning of the semester, I give each student 2 free passes. They are allowed to pass in a pass whenever they decide they do not want to write the paper.
Today, three weeks before spring break, many students decided they just didn’t have the energy to write, particularly when they discovered that the writing assignment from the 2003 AP test was about BIRDS.
While students were writing during first period, a flock (or gaggle or skein) of geese flew overhead and made us laugh.
Although I am often tempted to create a couple of free passes for myself, I haven’t yet. How relieved I would be to collect 70 papers and then return them ungraded and say, “Today I’m using one of my free passes.”
Tempting!
Today I might as well have used a free pass. I only had 12 papers from first period, 8 papers from second period, and 17 papers from 3rd period.
It’s been an easy night!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott
2 comments on this topic
16. March - 5:53 pm
I used to give out a couple of homework free passes, but it was rare that they all came up at once. I’m glad you almost got a free pass!
21. March - 9:20 pm
Do you grade those Monday compositions?
22. March - 4:34 am
Absolutely! I try to grade them on Monday night and return them the following day. If a student uses a free pass, however, he doesn’t write the paper, and I don’t have to grade it.