Each week, my students are given a writing assignment as homework, and while that work is based on the instruction, practice, and discussion we have done in the classroom, sometimes starting is its own challenge. There are many legitimate reasons to have difficulty beginning, the easiest to dismiss being "too busy"; school is much about teaching content as it is about preparing people for a life in which the richness of obligation contends with a dearth of spare time. The most common reason seems to be that they lack confidence in the quality of the work they will produce; without the confidence that the student will "get it" and ultimately get a good grade, they sit waiting for inspiration to come.
Rather than leave students waiting for inspiration, I thought I could provide some assistance by making myself a model. Not the Calvin Klein kind, mind you. I will try to blog about the work that is expected from the homework assigned, and discuss how I would approach it. I make no claim that my way is the best way or either the only way, but if seeing how I would approach an assignment can prove useful to any of my students, it is worth doing.
FOR MY STUDENTS: If you are reading this, please consider leaving comments! I would love to know if this is useful, or if you have more specific questions I can address.
(Originally Published Feb 1st, 2016)