I highlighted a passage from the very first chapter. Bomer describes a process in evaluating student writing that she calls "naming." She explains that pointing out something that a student does well in their writing is not a "throwaway moment." It should not be viewed as "empty praise" but instead may serve to point out something that a student may not realize they are doing well. By drawing attention to their strengths they can gain confidence as a writer and build on that.
I like this passage because as a teacher I think I too often point out all that students do wrong, whether it be through formal grading or an individual conference. I had not thought about the idea that students, especially those in the lower grades, may not realize what they do well as writers and Bomer's "naming" step could really boost their confidence and allow them to grow.
I can't highlight in my book as it is the library's copy but since Friday I have read to Ch. 3 and what surprises me as a teacher is finding out that students have good ideas and some can actually write. I taught 5/6 for a long time and this year moved to 8th. I have learned that writing is not about circling the mistakes and pointing out the wrongs. I can identify with students like Tyrell. We have students who can write everything mechanically wrong (according to our standards) but really have a lot to say. I laughed about Maggie with the 3rd "g". That was the old "me" writing teacher. Tyrell is the new "me" writing teacher. When we did our research papers on careers at the end of this school year, I was surprised how focused and intelligent some of my students were on this, a subject that interested and was about them. They had been rather sluggish in class all year but took off on this paper and really did a great job. If I had graded on mechanics they would have failed. Instead I overlooked all of that (for the most part) and graded entirely on content and if they did what was asked. Most of the students had As and Bs. I also noticed that many were afraid to write anything for fear that someone would read it (aloud especially) or critique it. Many had never been allowed to free write.
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