I gave my freshmen a writing assignment to test how well they'd picked up on the elements that made up an epic. I knew they could recite the characteristics of an epic to me, but I wanted them to show me that they'd learned what makes an epic by writing one of their own. While I'd hoped they'd do well on this assignment, they've demonstrated their lack of writing abilities before, so I was nervous.
But what I got back was excellent.
The kids not only followed the guidelines of the assignment, demonstrating they understand the concept of what makes an epic, but they were also so creative. I'm in Panera right now grading, and I'm enjoying reading their assignments. They are riddled with grammatical errors, but they're so creative and entertaining, I've adjusted my rubric to make grammar less important.
Yay, freshmen!! Way to make my grading time fun!
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15 comments:
Isn't it great when that happens?!?!?
Congrats!
You are so lucky. I haven't gotten them to that creative stage yet; I am hoping that next semester, we get a few changes and get their writing to become a priority for all of us. Merry Christmas!!!
I'm glad your grading time was fun. A colleague of mine wasn't so fortunate. She had to fortify herself with wine to slog through the stuff her students dumped on her!
ms. h, It put me in such a good mood, I might be baking for the little monsters.
teachergirl, Academic writing still isn't a priority, but this was an assignment they wanted to do. If I asked them to write a literary analysis of an epic, it'd be a whole different ball game.
california, I usually have to give myself chocolate or alcohol to get through my students' essays. I have the lower tracks, so they take quite a bit of patience. Yesterday was nice because the hot coffee got me through.
Congrats! I had a similar experience with some third grade written word problems recently.
The little boogers can surprise you sometime!
I love it when things just WORK like that! *congrats*
How's the countdown to vacation?! Are ya makin' it? I'm pullin' for ya!
How wonderful!
Makes it all worthwhile!
Bravo for the chavalitos.
Aren't such moments so cool?
Miss Profe:)
Hope you have a very happy 2007.
Where are you?
I hope you're back on soon.:)
yay, another english teacher's blog! i'm currently in grad school getting my MA in Ed and a teaching credential for high school english. i'm glad i found your site, and i hope to visit again sometime. :)
feel free to drop by my place anytime!
One year I taught chiasmus as used in Psalms (I was at a private church sponsored school. What they wrote was fantastic! Like Ms. H said "isn't it great when that happens?" Yeah it is.
That's awesome! Congrats on this success!!!! :)
That is the best feeling! Congrats! I enjoyed reading your blog!
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