How can we show our students that we care about what they have to say in their writing?
We could limit the topics to those in which we are interested personally.
We could tell students that they HAVE to choose from the list we are providing – that may actually be a good idea because uninspired students wouldn’t have to torture themselves to come up with something to write about.
We could make a list of “banned due to disinterest” topics so that the students know I won’t even read papers about stuff I don’t care for.
OR
We could just care about what our students have to say! This isn’t about us. It isn’t about making life easier for the teacher. It is about helping students to discover their interests and opinions and voices!
So, how can we show our students that we care about them? By teaching them that they have to decide what is interesting to them, by guiding them in their quest to find inspiration and their own voice, by making our students understand that we grade because we have to and not because we are trying to tear them down.
Now, I understand that we are not always fortunate enough to have a classroom full of students who just need to be pointed into the right direction. Maybe there should be lists of topics, but these lists should be put together by everyone in the room. Maybe those uninspired students will become inspired when given the opportunity to research a topic one would consider unconventional, yet appropriate for the classroom, of course!
Perfection should not be our goal and neither should we assume that we will always be excited about what students have to say, but maybe we could make it our goal to get excited about how the students formulate arguments or interpret information or even just the fact that they will leave our classrooms at the end of the year with the knowledge that we cared enough about them. At least that’s what I hope for – everything above that is just icing on the cake, albeit a very delicious topping!
Ellie Myron
We could limit the topics to those in which we are interested personally.
We could tell students that they HAVE to choose from the list we are providing – that may actually be a good idea because uninspired students wouldn’t have to torture themselves to come up with something to write about.
We could make a list of “banned due to disinterest” topics so that the students know I won’t even read papers about stuff I don’t care for.
OR
We could just care about what our students have to say! This isn’t about us. It isn’t about making life easier for the teacher. It is about helping students to discover their interests and opinions and voices!
So, how can we show our students that we care about them? By teaching them that they have to decide what is interesting to them, by guiding them in their quest to find inspiration and their own voice, by making our students understand that we grade because we have to and not because we are trying to tear them down.
Now, I understand that we are not always fortunate enough to have a classroom full of students who just need to be pointed into the right direction. Maybe there should be lists of topics, but these lists should be put together by everyone in the room. Maybe those uninspired students will become inspired when given the opportunity to research a topic one would consider unconventional, yet appropriate for the classroom, of course!
Perfection should not be our goal and neither should we assume that we will always be excited about what students have to say, but maybe we could make it our goal to get excited about how the students formulate arguments or interpret information or even just the fact that they will leave our classrooms at the end of the year with the knowledge that we cared enough about them. At least that’s what I hope for – everything above that is just icing on the cake, albeit a very delicious topping!
Ellie Myron