Fluency - Clarity - Correctness

Ruminating upon the week’s readings and attending a PDE Institute where Common Core Literacy Standards, curricula, and assessments were a primary topic of discussion, really has me wondering where the writing experts’ and writing teachers’ voices are in the process of developing and deciding upon our state’s (and country’s) Literacy standards and curricula.

From the moment I began to look over the standards our state (and 46 others) has agreed to adopt and transition to within the next three to five years, I was shaking my head and wondering what the hell is going on. If you’ve seen the Common Core State Standards, and have compared them to PA’s, you might be relieved. They’re less broad and more focused than the PA standards, and they’re more user friendly and recognize that the learning taking place in ELA classrooms is process learning, not content learning. They’re definitely a step in the right direction.

So, what’s my issue? My problem lies in the expectations implied by the exemplars included in the numerous appendices for the document. The exemplars shared with us were daunting, even from educators’ perspectives. We gasped, collectively, with incredulousness when we viewed the first grade exemplar. Shortly thereafter, what had been a respectful Q&A panel discussion quickly eroded into an uncontrollable mudslide of questions fueled by anger and disbelief, and the flinging of accusations.

If years of experience and research have told us that writing is most effectively taught via the progression of fluency – clarity – correctness, why are we expecting first graders to write in prescribed, neat little boxes, dictating form and regurgitation of text for purposes of assessment if we are not first doing as Steven Lynn and countless others have advocated, by asserting that we first develop what writers need most – “confidence and commitment, which is like to come only from a genuine sense of control and success” (134).  If I am crestfallen by the mere sight of the exemplar, how will a first grader just beginning to write sentences, feel and react when an exemplar is modeled for them?

In other news, as some of you know, my sophomores are in the thick of writing their research papers. I have attempted different methods and strategies every single year I have taught, and this year I decided I was going to be a much better coach of writing, as opposed to an editor of student writing. So, it’s taking us a really, really long time to write. BUT, good news is that I am helping my students to become more developed, confident, and inspired writers – at least according to Lynn and Elbow (130). We do plenty of freewriting and discuss its value and hypothesize about when we might find it valuable. We also make use of more prescribed, traditional methods once they have some content to work with. We may be taking a really, really long time to write, but I’m wagering that I’ll recoup some in the form of a much easier grading of papers, especially since I’m now considering a submission only grade for the final paper, as I have done with the drafts. I also think we’re going to try some of the activities Lynn suggested in my Writing and Rhetoric class. My horoscope said it was time to do what I really wanted at work. I think I’m going to go for it. I just hope I remember to close my door.