It seems I spend much of my weekends and weekday nights correcting papers. Recently I came across a blog called "The Daily Grind." The author of this blog like me is an English teacher, and he often writes about the same frustrations I'm feeling. Today's blog was especially fitting. I read it after I finished compiling a list of fifteen examples of run-on sentences and fragments from the students' letters they completed (edited and had a peer edit). After I corrected the papers, I checked my school e-mail. One was from a parent saying her son received all 'As' last year... Of course this same student (honors) turned in a paper with no end punctuation on ten sentences.
The Daily Grind commented on the same thing in his blog today: "I had just finished pointing out that in two paragraphs of writing, he had yet to write a complete sentence. He either had a series of run ons or a series of phrases. The shock on his face was not contrived, and I imagine his response to be honest: 'But my writing workshop teacher last year always told me how good my pieces were.'"
Need I say more? Although I don't know the author of The Daily Grind, I thank him for helping me realize this is happening in classrooms across the country. It is my job to continue to teach with persistence and patience.
The Daily Grind commented on the same thing in his blog today: "I had just finished pointing out that in two paragraphs of writing, he had yet to write a complete sentence. He either had a series of run ons or a series of phrases. The shock on his face was not contrived, and I imagine his response to be honest: 'But my writing workshop teacher last year always told me how good my pieces were.'"
Need I say more? Although I don't know the author of The Daily Grind, I thank him for helping me realize this is happening in classrooms across the country. It is my job to continue to teach with persistence and patience.
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