I\u2019m feeling this at both the university level and the high school level, this request for a template and\/or a model for the work. I\u2019ll take on the university question another day. Today\u2019ll be about high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I try to provide models, as much as I can, knowing that the best versions break the rules. For example, I wanted to try and give a George Saunders piece about a Donald Barthelme story to the kids. It was brilliant, mostly because it broke all of the annoying rules you try to teach in order to ensure kids don\u2019t make basic mistakes. Models can produce disengagement \u2014 how will I ever get to that level \u2014 and they can produce mimicry where I end up reading a much reduced, BudLite version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I can, I offer hall-of-fame versions from previous classes, but as an unrepentant tinkerer, I change the assignments every year, making this difficult to do. Sometimes it\u2019s helpful to read the work from previous students that is like the current assignment, sometimes it is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I try to provide templates but that creates other issues as you get the same paper over and over again. Or kids see the template and stop thinking about stuff; they just use it as a checklist. And it eliminates the issue of form, which is a powerful one to grapple with and part of the writing process; what is the best form for what you\u2019re trying to say? The basic five-paragraph essay usually isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s another issue, though, that I was trying to solve with templates this quarter, that of the student who sits there, unsure what to do next, without consulting any of the work they\u2019ve already done. In the olden days<\/a>, I can remember sitting there with a pile of index cards and a legal pad full of notes, and that\u2019d be the material I\u2019d use to write my papers. (I can also remember the analog version of another issue that computers cannot solve \u2014 having no notes to draw upon because I hadn\u2019t done the work.) Too often students start writing and forget about all of the work they\u2019ve done before the final project begins. Too often students start writing and forget all about the collective work we\u2019ve done. I say it constantly: all the work we\u2019ve done up to this point should have filled your toolbox and given you everything you need to write the paper. But it\u2019s one thing when you have a pile of analog notes to draw upon; it\u2019s another when it\u2019s a mix of files, Canvas links, discussion board posts, and some of those analog notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the world of AI, I also know I need to have the entire writing process visible. One colleague recommended Draftback, which is awesome, and does allow the writing process to be seen as a video. And unlike some of my colleagues, who ask students to put their final version into a separate document, I want to see it all in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I tried this quarter was to pile all of the big project documents into one template so that as they were writing, they could sweep up and down through a single file to look at those pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kids hated it. Hated it. Hated. It.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s too much. I am thinking of the following replacements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One, having kids submit a screenshot of several moments when they are writing, where they have three or four tabs open with the work they\u2019re drawing from. That way I could impress upon them the need to use their previous bits as starting points. And even faking this \u2014 crap the bald man wanted us to submit a screenshot, let me open five tabs of my work \u2014 would underscore the need to use their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two, having kids submit a process document at the end, where they link to the three or four bits of homework and\/or classwork that were the biggest help. I envision a hyperlink with two sentences describing how this piece was helpful; maybe I could make it part of the works cited page. I could also use it as a way for them to measure their own process work \u2014 which documents proved to be the most helpful and which documents were worthless. This would give me a sense of what activities I need to replace. If I look at the entire group, too, I would get a sense of which wells everyone was drawing their water from. (This document could be something I do alongside or in place of the old \u201ctell the story of the benchmark\u201d process piece\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plan for next time: have the works cited document include a section that includes the four to five classwork or homework activities they drew upon most for their paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m feeling this at both the university level and the high school level, this request for a template and\/or a model for the work. I\u2019ll take on the university question another day. Today\u2019ll be about high school. I try to provide models, as much as I can, knowing that the best versions break the rules. … Continue reading Thoughts on Templates and Models<\/span>
I can\u2019t find my work.
I don\u2019t know where to put my work. I don\u2019t work this way.
I want a fresh document. (I said keep inserting page breaks until everything is moved all the way down the document, but that didn\u2019t help.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n