As part of my seventh graders’ final, I asked them to write a paragraph to their eighth grade teachers. The topic was their expectations for eighth grade. I explained that once the teachers knew each student's face, they would be able to attach the writing to the face. One of the guidelines of the paragraph was to use TOXIC (topic sentence, organization, examples, interesting, conclusion) which our language arts team invented. These students have used it for two years (6th and 7th).
While my second class was writing their paragraph, I started looking at the first classes’ paragraphs. Two of them started out, “Hi, my name is...” What? Obviously this is not part of TOXIC. This is something I’ve addressed all year. Imagine my dismay when the same paragraphs used i instead of I. I realize it’s the last day of classes (activity day tomorrow and workshop on Wednesday) and frustration easily arises, but I thought I had accomplished something this year with their writing.
While my second class was writing their paragraph, I started looking at the first classes’ paragraphs. Two of them started out, “Hi, my name is...” What? Obviously this is not part of TOXIC. This is something I’ve addressed all year. Imagine my dismay when the same paragraphs used i instead of I. I realize it’s the last day of classes (activity day tomorrow and workshop on Wednesday) and frustration easily arises, but I thought I had accomplished something this year with their writing.
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