This week’s Friday 4 includes several pieces about student writing and how we are/should be teaching it in our classrooms. My inspiration for the topic was this past week’s Open House in the Writing Studio and the “soft opening” of the space. I am extremely optimistic that the Writing Studio will be seen as a valuable resource for all Loomis Chaffee writers and look forward to watching its evolution in the coming weeks and months. Kudos to Sally Knight and the Writing Initiatives Think Tank for bringing this valuable resource to the LC community!

• Are We Teaching Composition All Wrong? is a recent piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education that conveys some of the frustrations that many of us have felt about teaching writing to students. The piece does end with a number of suggestions that may address some of the frustrations.
• A response piece to the Chronicle article appeared on the Inside Higher Ed website titled Getting Better at Teaching Students Writing: Work With What They Know. The author offers a “simpler” straightforward strategy that seems to be spot on to me.
• For those who want a few more pragmatic suggestions, 4 Strategies for Teaching Students How to Revise will offer up a concise set of strategies.
• The final two pieces this week (I know….3 + 2 = 5 NOT 4…so sue me!) are more philosophical in nature and might be great fodder for discussions in departments or at a Thursday morning PD session.
  • The Examined Life explores the value and purpose of Socratic discussions and mentoring. The first half of the article is certainly targeted more towards the public school world, but the second half of the piece is well worth pondering.
  • Think Like a Fitbit:Measuring What We Value is another conversation-starter-type of article that is certainly relevant to our school culture and the hyper-testing environment we now live in.