Thick Description #2

Writing has always been difficult for the majority of my students. One student in particular loathed writing. She is an African American girl who is very lively and most of the time eager to learn. She comes from a household of a working mother and is very proud of her daughter and happy with her progress.

In the morning the known procedure is to unpack your things, go to breakfast if you want, then begin writing in their writing journal. At the beginning of the writing journals students would write their 3 words and yell, "I have three sentences!"  As I reviewed my field notes from a prior date, I found this particular student taking their time unpacking..slowly putting things in their cubby, looking at the breakfast cards, talking with friends/teachers that entered the room. When she sat down, the announcements came on, she smirked and put her notebook away. It was like she felt she was "off the hook" per say.

Recently, I asked students to take a peice of paper out. They all put their names on their paper and they looked at me. I explained to students they had 15 minutes to write- they could choose the topic. I immediately looked this this student to see her reaction. To my surprise, she started writing with no visible signs of discouragement. She was writing without talking or taking her eye off of it. When she was done she smiled and was super proud.

 

This student was able to share her paper with other people in the building and I could tell she felt so happy with herself. From that point on- writing has been easier for this student. She comes in and starts writing. She will ask, "is it freewrite or are we writing what you want?"- - It is sooo nice instead of her dreading writing!