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Best teaching practices
Do less, but do it better

Full portfolio Research and experience tells us the best teaching practices for writing instruction are those that produce student learning.

Big surprise, right?

Sometimes, however, we and get wrapped up in teaching, trying to make lessons enjoyable, and lose sight of the goal of teaching: learning.

Tatoo this on your writing hand or put a sticky note on your lesson plan book:

The very best teaching practices for teaching writing are those that enable every student to write competently.

Here's an overview of what we know about best teaching practices for all-student learning. Although designed as a middle school through high school English teacher guide to teaching writing, the information is equally useful for homeschoolers.

Teach less in more depth

Focus on helping students master essentials. In English language arts, the essentials are skills and knowledge necessary for upper level work or for everyday use.

Skills have to be taught differently than information because they are tested differently. Skills can't be evaluated on a bubble test.

Teach all students to be competent in writing skill.
Incorporate college and workplace standards in your definition of writing competence.
Each year, work to eliminate a few common writing mechanics errors from students' writing.
Make writing competence by the end of high school your goal.

If you rush through a writing unit, you risk of producing whole classes of students who

Cannnot write.
Hate the thought of having to write, and in many cases
Hate the thought of having to read.

It is far preferable to take six years to turn out competent writers than to run that risk.

Teach one writing genre

Have students master one writing genre before you requiring them to use a second genre in graded work.

The most teachable pattern is the expository paragraph and the expository (or persuasive) essay.

Teach writing as a process

Writing must be taught. Almost no students learn the basics readily from reading about writing or from reading good writing. Also, teaching individual aspects of writing in isolation through exercises or worksheets is not efficient or effective at developing writing skill.

Teach students writing as a process.
Match the writing process you teach to the genre of the writing students must do.
Give extra practice in a problem area (like one specific punctuation rule) as a writing aid.

Be a coach, not a presenter

If you want to know how to improve writing skills, take your cue from good sports coaches. The way they teach skills are best teaching practices for writing teachers, too.

Define writing skill clearly and teach toward it single-mindedly.
Encourage and suggest options instead of criticizing.
Don't rush to keep students from mistakes; trial and error is a great learning tool.

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Be fair

Give explicit directions so students can tell whether they did or did not meet your standard. Vague directions and hints are both unfair and counterproductive.
If material is essential for students to know, present it at least once from each primary learning mode. It's not fair to expect all students to learn well the way you do.
Don't evaluate student writing on factors you don't teach. For example, don't evaluate work for creativity unless you teach all students to be creative.
Evaluate for a grade only writing in your chosen instructional genre.

Use only authentic writing prompts

Use the essential course terms, concepts, and skills as topics for formal writing prompts and informal writing activities.

Writing about course content gives struggling writers something to say and improves learning of course content. It also lessens the risk that students will learn to hate writing. Teaching an aversion to our subject is not one of the best teaching practices, is it?

Repetition aids learning

Students must go through the entire writing process many times before they learn what to do and what not to do. Presenting isn't teaching.

Use multiple approaches, repeated exposure, and consistent practice to assure students learn your essential course content.

Teach to the middle

Plan your writing instruction for the "average kid" (regardless of IQ) who has no particular interest in writing and is willing to put out only a modest effort on most writing assignments.

Require a medium amount of work on a regular basis. Distributed practice is far more effective (and far less stressful) than trying to cram writing skill into students.

Scale back for those who struggle

Instead of lowering your standards for students with learning difficulties, give them longer to achieve writing competence.

Be lazy

Keep your focus on the basics you must teach to accomplish your desired annual outcomes.

Teach one lesson multiple times in multiple ways.
Make every writing assignment do double or triple duty.
Give explicit directions so you don't have to keep re-explaining.
Enlist other students and outside readers to provide students with an audience.
Develop good writing prompts that you can reuse year after year.
Focus on a limited number of serious issues when you grade papers.
Teach students to use checklists, rubrics, and other aids to monitor and correct their writing behavior and make them responsible for correcting their own work.

Above all, do no harm

Far too much of what passes for teaching turns students off from the subject being taught. The best teaching practices convey the impression that . . .

Writing is a useful skill.
Each student can learn to write competently.
Good writing can give pleasure.

If you imply that the only writing worth doing is imaginative writing, or that writing is a talent only a few rare people possess, you may do more harm than good.

I'll discuss best teaching practices under various headings on this site, depending on where I think it fits best.

created 11-Jul-2008; updated: 22-Sep-2008

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The best practices in teaching writing give all students basic writing skill.
~Linda Aragoni

Teach just one way of writing, but teach that one way thoroughly.
~Linda Aragoni

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Best teaching practices Do less, but do it better