Wrting Will Take You Places-Week 4

   This week offered me a unique opportunity.  For the first time as a teacher I taught my students how to write an essay.  For some this would be a skill that they would take with them to college; for others, they couldn't care less.  My job was to teach all of them regardless of their interest in the subject.  I think I succeeded...more or less.
   My students had already gained some experience at the end of the previous semester.  They had an opportunity to read a set of documents and then write an essay.  Many did not pass this test, because they had never written an essay before in a Social Studies class.  This Document Based Questioning (DBQ) was a method I had not seen before, but apparently is widely used in high schools.  When I did my research and learned about the process, I was overjoyed.  Giving students actual historical documents to read, study, and write an essay on? That's exactly what I wanted to see!
   But I quickly realized that students needed to be walked through the entire process of essay writing: how to construct an essay, writing a thesis, citing evidence, etc.  I ended up spending three days with the students just showing them how to perform all the essential steps in the writing process, before they even began to write their essay!  Although I saw the necessity in all of these steps, I had never shown someone how to write an essay before.  This seemed like a job for an English teacher, not a History teacher.  I couldn't even remember what steps I had gone through as a student myself, learning to write an essay.  It had been so long ago that I had forgotten. 
   Fortunately, this particular DBQ had come with explicit instructions on how to teach it.  Furthermore, I had the excellent example of a co-teacher for the first two periods of the day.  Building on her example, I was able to show the students exactly what they needed in order to master the essay.  And the best part? That's exactly what they did.  Although I wasn't sure the students were grasping the concepts, when the time came to write the essay, they were confident.  They knew exactly what to do and succeeded.
   Each new unit brings with it new opportunities to grow as a teacher and a person.  I am learning to be even more willing to try new ways of teaching, because despite what I think I know, I am still a novice.  Fortunately, I have excellent colleagues who are willing to offer suggestions and feedback and are always there to provide an example of what good teachers are.  I hope that one day, people will be able to say the the same thing about me.