Ideas Which Require No Out-of-Class Time


Grading methods: Don't! Don’t even collect the writing. Students benefit from the act of writing it. (Do music teachers listen to tapes of their students’ practice sessions?)

Looking for a new way to start your course? Introduce a little writing, and find out what your students really know on the first day of class. Try teaching them "LYING AND STEALING." Here's how it works:

Ask students to take five or ten minutes to record everything they know about whatever topic you wish to begin the term with (e.g. photosynthesis, the Restoration, free will, sex roles, etc.) Tell them that only quantity counts, that they should write rapidly, and that after recording everything they know to be true, they may tell lies. As the writers read these short papers aloud, those listening may steal and record any information they hear which they realize they once knew but forgot to write down.

During each reading, record all the information on the board. (If the class is large, have the reading done in small groups, with each group preparing a composite version for the class.) Then lead the class through a discussion to determine which information is true. At the end of the session, your students should be intrigued with the topic, should realize what they know and what they need to learn, and should see how writing helped them clarify their thinking.

To get discussion of readings off the ground, ask your students to spend the first five minutes of class (while you're returning papers, marking attendance, or whatever else you do as your students drift in) recording the point at which they disagreed with the author (and why), or the point at which they became hopelessly lost in the explanation (and how it happened), or how this author's point (or style or historical perspective) differs from that of another, or how what they read fits into the discussions of the previous class period.

These bits of writing will help students focus their attention upon the subject at hand as they enter the classroom. It will also give you a sense of how well the reading is fulfilling your goals. Finally, asking students to share a few of their written observations will get the discussion going for you and perhaps ignite a few sparks.

(Variations: Assign this writing as part of a journal if you want to give credit for it at the end of the term. Or collect it each day if you want a quick sense of how your students are thinking about the material. Or just have them share
it with each other.)

When a discussion gets heated and everyone is speaking at once (or when no one will say anything), ask students to stop talking and write for a few minutes to focus their thoughts.

Help students explore a problem thoroughly with focused free writing as homework or during class. When reading poetry, for example, students can free write on the poem's title before reading the rest of the poem. After they read the poem, they can set the text aside and write down all the images they can remember; then they can write at length about one of the images. This kind of writing helps students avoid rushing to closure (one of the more common problems faced by novice writers).

After your students have read some texts in your discipline, ask them to think about how writing in your discipline is different from other kinds of writing. Students can write informally about this subject individually (or spend time in peer groups brainstorming ideas). Then the class can discuss how they're attempting to incorporate these features into their own writing.

Ask students to create a metaphor or simile that compares some aspect of your course to something else. Examples: "Writing an essay is like . . . [pulling teeth? Swimming? Baking a cake?]" "Baroque music is like . . . , but romantic music is like . . . ." The comparisons can be used as seeds for class discussion.

At the end of class, ask students to write a brief summary of the day's lecture or discussion and to prepare questions to ask at the beginning of the next class period. (Some teachers take roll by having students write out a question during the last two minutes of class and submit it on a signed slip of paper.)