Making Omelettes: Cooking Up Better Writing
You cut the overhead lights, let your reading lamp burn a soft yellow, and focus in on the stack of essays that were printed about three seconds before class: This explains why about half of them are paperclipped. You give yourself a moment to brace yourself before delving into the onslaught; reminders of the increasing deterioration of writing. You curse the dystopian-level reliance on technology and the ever-so present apathy of the modern day teen. However, you will grade them, you will give feedback, and come morning, you will walk through those classroom doors once more to fight the good fight. Why? Well, you certainly did not get into this profession to make your wallet happy, you did it because you, at your very core, want to help.
Pretty words, but you’re looking for solutions; not words of praise or pizza in the faculty room to tell you how awesome you are. So, let’s try some cooking in the classroom…
Think back to the last time an omelet went wrong. You sprayed the pan, wicked the eggs, got your peppers all sliced and diced, and bought your favorite processed cheese (because these paychecks certainly don’t pay for grass-fed brie). You envision your omelet, the delight of a hot morning cup of joe, and expect it to pan out. Here it comes, THE flip. A hole tears, the integrity of it shatters across the pan as peppers and onions rain down. Defeated, all that’s left to do is enjoy a nice scramble. Tastes the same, looks like a mess. But damn it, it’s your mess, and you’re going to enjoy it.
Writing is a lot like making an omelet; it can be beautiful in a scramble, but takes practice to make it “Insta-worthy”. So, when the writing falls apart, let it be a scramble!
As educators, we sometimes forget how easily our field of expertise comes to us. For the 20+ faces staring up at us, the writing process is akin to one of the herculean trials needed to escape what a student has once described to me as “hell”. This isn’t it! You never wanted your students to fear writing, you wished to share your love of the written word! Back to the lamplight, back to work.
Step 1: Diamond in the rough
Take those essays and put on your rose colored glasses. Ignore the misspellings and the completely off-the-mark analysis that has nothing to do with the prompt. Find the diamond, the ONE thing you can say something positive about and make note of it. Done.
Step 2: Praise Praise Praise
In order to change a student’s approach, you need to change their environment. Up until this point, your struggling writers have been labelled as such. Whether it be through comments in red ink, during IEP or 504 meetings, or an email home about their overall grade. You are in a magical spot…perhaps the best spot a teacher could ever hope to be in…You get to be the one to change this label. Change the label, boost the confidence, and you may just change the child’s relationship with writing. Teenagers, despite what they say, want to be recognized for something good. So, as stated earlier, shower the class with praise. Whether that be a round-robin of each student or a private conversation between the two of you, explain to them just how impressed you were with the one or more areas of positive you found in their essays.
Maybe Karissa didn’t respond to what the prompt was asking, but the explanation of her ideas were against the grain and brave to write about. Perhaps Jay didn’t write in complete sentences, but he used the vocabulary you taught them the week before, showing a spectacular usage of it in it’s proper context. Even Mia, who wrote three sentences of her introduction and submitted the paper without a care in the world; those three sentences were right in line with your expectations of how background information should look, and you are going to use those three sentences in your next example for the class when you review the foundations of writing. By forgetting your frustrations and showing excitement about their writing, you are going to make them feel like, for the first time, they impressed their English teacher. Chances are, Mia, who is probably known for her lack of response, is going to look at you like you're crazy. Hook, line, sinker.
Step 3: Picking our Ingredients
This part takes some time, connection, and a willingness to let go.
Not every omelet is the same; where some may prefer sausage and peppers, others may go for a veggie option. We like what we like and tend to enjoy things when they match these preferences. Use what you know about your student’s and match their prompts with what makes them tick. I always begin my school year with an Identity Chart, an activity where students get to map out on a web-diagram depicting what makes them who they are: Music tastes, hobbies, dreams, cultural backgrounds, sport teams and whatever else they feel makes them unique. You may have something similar, but if you are further along in the year, chances are you already know who your kids are. Tap into this by either making a custom prompt for each kid in a small-class setting, or using a prompt that they can fill in with their preferences.
An example for an individualized prompt could be:
Student Profile: Brian, Junior who just bought his first truck. He is obsessed with it, and often comes in with a little oil on his sweater from working on it the night before.
Prompt: With current technological advancements, Electric Trucks are rapidly becoming more present on the road. Consumers are now faced with a choice between a gas-powered Truck and an Electric Truck, such as Ford’s new F-150 Lightning. Provide two reasons as to why consumers should choose one over the other.
For larger classes
Prompt: One important issue, idea, or question that deserves attention is (your topic) because (reason why it matters). In this essay, I will explore (key aspects of the topic), showing how (the main argument or perspective matters).
For the students with challenging behaviors
Prompt: Why do you hate this?
You’ll be surprised how much a student will write about something or someone they dislike.
Step 4: Scramble
Sacrifice an hour, two if you are feeling generous, and allow the students to cook without the pressure of a chef’s critique. You’ll see large swathes of writing with no structure, misspelled and uncapitalized words, rambling about a hobby or topic: Just…let it go. They are writing about something they want, something they prefer, and are utilizing the class to do so. Once time is up, collect, repeat the praise, and begin building from here.
Step 5: Baby Steps
You have allowed your students to dismantle everything they have been taught about the writing process. Much like why arborists use controlled fires to burn a forest to allow new growth, you now have space to nurture this growth. Take these essays, repeat the praise process, but now pick ONE focus area to improve. Mia’s background introduction is, once again, perfect. However, after this, there is no thesis statement explaining her reasoning. This will be Mia’s focus. Just the introduction, nothing else. For Brian, his essay was passionate, but it was all one paragraph. Highlight an area where he needs to break his essay up and allow him to try and find the other areas where this is needed. Keep the encouragement high, but make the suggestions seem like small points that could improve it. Have them focus on a single revision and give them a positive grade for making this improvement. It may seem crazy to give a good grade for what you previously deemed poor writing, but this small flash of dopamine will push the student to seek it out more often, listening more intently to the feedback you are trying to give to make them better writers.
Doing this takes time, but so does everything with long-term worth. You may not have 100% success the first time around, but that’s OK. The change in label (from struggling writers to specialists) will water their confidence, allowing it to grow, and hopefully bloom further down the road.
For all of my educators out there, keep fighting the good fight.
