🚀 go-pugleaf

John, yes, I wondered how you'd survive 300 pieces of writing to go through in a short time.  I'll have to admit there are times when I appreciate my lazy kids, the ones who don't get around to handing in much work.  But that's only when I'm busy being stessed out.  The ones I really appreciate are the ones who work hard and want to learn. There are SOME like that.
 
Lit logs.  I'm not about to consider mine a failure, but for some of the students I suppose I'd have to say that.  I follow Atwell's
rules, requiring the students to write a minimum of once a week, and to me at least every other week.  A majority of them write in the logs part of the time.  Maybe half of them make it every week.  I grade down considerably if they don't meet the minimum requirement. 
 Apparently a number of them don't care that much.  Successes:  Yes! 
 A fair number of my 150 students have come to the point of doing 
some literary analysis in their letters.  Not anything major yet, but they are thinking in that direction.
 
When I'm tempted to feel down about my classes, I remind myself of how much more the students are reading and writing than they would be in the more traditional English classroom setting.  They have to be learning more by doing than not doing.  I've had a number of kids who refuse to do nothing at all in my previous two years.  At least this year they are each doing at least some writing and reading.
 
I have about five of my crew who have written some fairly good stories to enter in a national contest coming up.  What a pleasure to work with them as they put themselves into revision and rewriting with a vengence.
 
I don't think my reading program would work if I didn't give the students time to read in class.  It gives many of them enough time reading to get hooked on the stories and then they go on and read at home too.  Of course, some only read during class, but, still they are reading.  A few of my students have read between 40 and 50 books already this year.  A few have only read 4 or 5.  I don't think any have read fewer than four though.
 
Back to the lit log.  I try NOT to sound teachery.  It is easiest to write when I've also read the book they write about.  That isn't always the case.
 
I'd better hang up before it is too obvious that I'm kind of scattery today.
Laura 


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