“No one is going to tell you to
write for a grade.”
In Mr. Ryan’s Creative Writing
class, grades don’t matter. As far as I
have seen, grades do not even exist...
This week, the students were
finishing their work on a book of paragraphs.
Modeled after a published book of paragraphs, each student wrote their
own paragraph on any topic of their choice.
Mr. Ryan collected the paragraphs into a single GoogleDoc so that
students could work on them together in class and also at home by themselves. On Tuesday, the authors took turns reading
their paragraphs aloud while the rest of the class provided warm and cool feedback
about the author’s piece. For homework,
the students each added (at least) one line to the foreword of the book. Over the weekend, one student is supposed to
scan another student’s artwork and email the file to Mr. Ryan so that he can
format the work for the cover. Once all
of this is completed, the book will be printed and distributed at the
school.
“I’m going to treat you like
writers.”
Being published is something to
brag about. Being published is something
that writers of all kinds dream of. Way
back in third grade, my classmates and I all wrote poems and submitted them to
a book for publication. I almost quit school when my poem was the only one in the
class that wasn’t selected. Publication
for an audience besides the teacher is important. Published writers become part of a
community. Writers don’t get
grades. Scathing reviews in the New York Times maybe, but not grades.
“I used to think that I was a
pretty good writer. Now that I am in a
classroom of writers, I feel like I am not so good anymore.”
Before class ended on Tuesday,
Mr. Ryan noticed that one of the lively students in class didn’t seem so
alive. He invited her into the hall and
asked what was wrong, expecting to listen to teen angst about love. He was rather surprised when the student
admitted that she was feeling down about herself as a writer. Though it is difficult to watch a student
experience these feelings of inadequacy, I was impressed by her (and her
classmates’ commitment) to being writers.
I was impressed with Mr. Ryan’s resistance to grades. Even in his 10th grade English classes, he has
established communities where writing more than that thing you do to get an A. Specifically, they talked how writing memoir
is a way to connect with other and a way to understand oneself. Katie and I are lucky to have been welcomed
into these communities of writing where there people come first.
Were these all from a creating writing class?
ReplyDeleteAll of this, except the line about memoirs, is from the creative writing class. The first two quotations were from Mr. Ryan's mouth and the third was from a student in that class. And even though I did focus on the creative writing class, he takes a similar approach with his 10th graders. For example, for a few days this week, the 10th graders were drafting and decorating their six word memoirs on large index cards. While holding a picture of a lizard with a large grin, one student asked Mr. Ryan, "Mine is about smiling. I want to put smiling things on it. Is THIS okay?" Mr. Ryan didn't answer the question as much as remind the concerned student and the rest of the class that they can do what they want with their card. He reassured them that this was about expressing themselves. This activity also has a bit of a public audience, as the cards will be laminated together - like a giant poster - and be displayed in the classroom (which many other classes of students use throughout the day). When the poster is complete, I plan on taking a picture and sharing it here :)
Delete“the authors took turns reading their paragraphs aloud while the rest of the class provided warm and cool feedback” I love that. Warm and cool feedback.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ryan sounds like a really great and interesting teacher. The assignment you described sounds so innovative and interesting. I am impressed by the use of internet media, and exited to hear word of an actual student generated text in action. It’s great too that they are eventually distributing their text to a wider audience of their peers, and even better that they are accomplishing it though collaboration and group effort. It’s nice to see the achievements of the individual contributing to the greater good of the whole.
I’m going to start lurking in the bushes below Mr. Ryan’s windows to listen in on his classes. So if you hear a munching of Doritos or a battle with bees, that’s me; don’t worry.