Oh, Well......I did say they were Old Habits, didn't I?

I didn't really change it, but I did another option for the resource for the paper.  

I had learned a long time ago that options are good when assigning a topic to students, especially adults.  Their experiences are all so different that one set topic often will create a blank canvas and they just can't write about it.  When I offered options, the results were better.  That was my goal---to help them become more comfortable in the writing process and it is easier if they can choose the focus for their writing, or at least be guided into an acceptable choice for my objectives.

Instead of changing everything, I just added another file with a second choice which I explained during the instruction last night.  I have a feeling several will select it since it is much shorter than the original resource.  That is ok too.  Whatever works to get them to write and meet the parameters of the assignment!

Some nice things happened last night.  One is that a student had emailed me about the assignment that was due, needing some clarity about using resources.  After I responsed, she sent another note thanking me and adding that she appreciated my little hints about 'easy things to remember when writing anything.'  I try to give them hints or tips to help them with whatever they may be writing, in or out of the classroom.  This was one of those.  While introductory paragraphs are important, they should be written AFTER the body of the paper is written. After all, how could you introduce a person you don't know?  You need to learn about that person, get to know a little about him/her, THEN he/she can be introduced.  So how can the topic in the paper be really introduced when the body hasn't been written yet?  Start with the plan for the paper (step two of the writing process), write the paragraphs of the body, then go back and introduce it to the reader.  This student said that was a huge revelation to her and the stumbling block she had always encountered when starting a paper was gone.  

Another student said this last night, using hand motions, kind of like the jazz hands the girls used to do in show choir.  She said what she had learned in the previous English class was like loose threads (insert the jazz hands motion) that were dangling around, never connecting to make any sense to her.  I was the thread that was sewing it all together and making the writing process work for her.  Ok...two different analogies there, show choir jazz hands mixed in with loose threads and sewing techniques.  Sorry!  The guy who sits next to her was nodding enthusiastically in agreement.  Each of them said they liked the straightforward approach I gave them to planning their papers, the breakdown of word counts, and suggestions on how to get to that point on their own.   

She also thanked me for the topic of their first essay, Literacy.  I had asked them to think about when they first realized they were reading and writing, what their reading interests were when they were younger, and just reflect on how their own personal literacy habits had changed.  She said that after writing her paper, she was sad that she had drifted from any type of reading for pleasure. She realized that the time she now spent just sitting in the chair, watching television for an hour, or checking Facebook or other social media could be better spent picking up a book and reading for pleasure.  She was happy to announce that she was now on Chapter 3 of a new book she had selected.  Good for her!

Plus the questions from the 'at home' students were good ones, ones that indicated they were listening and needing more information.  That was encouraging.  I know when I listened to webinars or participated in an Ivy Go-To-Meeting, my attention would stray, I would be grading papers or doing something else and not focusing on the topic at hand like I should have been.  These students did seem to be listening to what I was saying.

It was a good night. Two of the students stayed until I was ready to leave. One took care of the lights and pulled the front door shut.  

Let me tell you...I drove home smiling.